Lions vs. Giants: What just happened?

Well, that sucked. The Lions had several opportunities to do big things against the Giants on Sunday, but they unfortunately squandered them all, leading to their fifth loss of the season and second in the last nine. Let’s not waste any time here. We’ll rip it off like a band-aid. Here are my thoughts.

Bad-Zenner

I’m not going to put this loss on Zach Zenner. The Lions lost as a team. But, man, you have to hold onto the ball in a key moment like that. This fumble was really the tipping point of the entire game. The Lions offense never recovered. Little stuff like this has to be left in New York.

Odell vs Slay was a bust

Going back to the offseason, this was a matchup I couldn’t wait to see. Darius Slay vs Odell Beckham Jr. seemed like a heavyweight bout that would be the story of the game. Instead we only saw a quarters worth of it as Slay went down with a hamstring injury. Hopefully we get another shot at this bout in the future.

Cooter lost the keys to the Duke boys’ car

Jim Bob Cooter did not handle this game the way you would hope he would. There seemed to be no imagination to the play calling. Just the same old Dwayne Washington run up the gut to no avail. Short passes when the Giants clearly scoped that out. Hats off to Matthew Stafford for playing well, but he didn’t have a lot to work with on Sunday.

Odell is good

I already knew this, but I haven’t had a chance to watch a full game with him in it because I don’t like him. But he worked the Lions over today and to be honest, probably helped my fantasy playoff chances. Don’t hate me.

Stupid Bears

The only hope for Sunday was that the Bears would upset the Packers. They almost pulled it off. Then they settled for a field goal and left 24 hours of clock for Aaron Rodgers. Bears lose. Lions really have a problem now if they can’t beat the Cowboys and the Vikings don’t beat the Packers.

Ziggy got a sack

Jackson made an Asa of himself

This one is on Teryl Austin, too. You don’t put a guy you picked up off the street two weeks ago on the best player on the field. But still, Asa Jackson, you have got to get in there. Turn your head, stick him, jam him, do something! Instead he got burned multiple times and likely found himself demoted.

Marvin

I grow concerned with the lack of attention Marvin Jones has received the past few weeks. He went from leading the NFL in receiving yards to being the Lions’ mystery man. He got some play on Sunday and made some things happen, but when that wasn’t going on, I honestly can’t tell you if he was on the field or not. Target this cat.

The Bird

I can’t say that Stafford’s play was affected by his injured finger. At least to me, he looked pretty on all day, outside of a pass here or there that looked wobbly. Having said that, it would be nice to see that finger feeling even better in Dallas next week.

Skyfall

I have never seen that movie. I also don’t see the sky falling on this Lions team based off the loss they had Sunday. Look we all knew this would happen. There’s no way to stay red hot in this league forever. The Giants came packing the best defense the Lions have played all year. They got pressure on Stafford and never stopped.

The trick is to not let this affect your confidence going forward. Dallas may look like world beaters. But they’ve proven themselves not to be in the past few weeks. The bad news is this: The Lions are now 0-3 outside this year. The good news is they may not play outside again this season.

... or in the playoffs, where they’re still heading at this point. The issue here is that the Giants loss makes a wins over the Cowboys and Packers way more important than they need to be. Don’t freak out. Just hope for the best. And a Packers loss next week.

Either way. This is how I feel right now.

What do you feel, Lions fans? Go ahead and let it out. Have a good cry. Or break stuff in a fit of rage. Whatever makes you feel better. Or just stay inside and comment on this article. That will keep you out of prison.