Detroit Lions Week 10 player of the game: 5 Game Ball candidates vs. Bears

Another loss, another tough week to find the silver lining. The Detroit Lions don’t appear to be progressing much, and it’s harder to get excited about individual performances when even the best players on the team are talking about how horribly they played.

But despite the disheartening loss to the Chicago Bears, we must hand out our Game Ball. It is our duty to hand out meaningless, theoretical hardware. Here are the Game Ball standings prior to the Bears game.

(First place in voting receives three points, second place gets two, and third place gets one)

Game Ball standings through Week 9:

Kenny Golladay - 9.5
Kerryon Johnson - 7
Damon Harrison Sr. - 5
Darius Slay - 3.5
Devon Kennard - 3
Golden Tate - 3
Da’Shawn Hand - 3
Matthew Stafford - 3
Marvin Jones Jr. - 3
Frank Ragnow - 2
Quandre Diggs - 2
Michael Roberts - 2
Romeo Okwara - 1
Matt Prater - 1

Onto this week’s candidate:

Damon Harrison Sr.

Stats: 6 solo tackles (1 TFL)

Perhaps the only real positive to take from Sunday’s game was that the Lions’ run defense finally put up the statistical performance that we knew they were capable of since “Snacks” was added. Harrison once again led the charge with a team-high six tackles.

As a crew, the Lions held a Bears team that was averaging over 4.4 yards per carry and 128 rushing yards per game to just 54 rushing yards at 2.5 YPC. This was the seventh best run offense by DVOA standards, so this was truly an impressive performance.

Kerryon Johnson

Stats: 14 rushes, 51 yards, 1 TD; 6 catches, 38 yards, 1 TD

Sure, the rookie’s fumble was costly for Detroit, but for the rest of the game Johnson showed why he can be electric. With rushing lanes few and far between, Johnson made the first defender miss almost every single time he touched the ball. He was a first down machine, and although he didn’t hit 4.0 YPC, I think it’s fair to say he had an efficient game on the ground, all other factors considered.

Quandre Diggs

Stats: 3 tackles, 1 pass defended

On a day in which the Lions secondary was truly awful, even a mediocre performance stands out. Diggs was clearly the most talented defensive back on the field for Detroit and he showed why he’s still a fierce defender is the run and short passing game:

He also had a nice pass breakup in the end zone, which was one of just two on the day for the entire Lions defense.

Kenny Golladay

Stats: 6 catches (13 targets), 70 yards, TD

With Golden Tate gone, it’s starting to look like Kenny Golladay will assume the majority of targets—not Marvin Jones Jr. Golladay wasn’t particularly efficient with his looks, but he did make a couple of really nice grabs on Sunday, including this one:

Matt Prater

Stats: 1/1 FG (52 yarder), 1/1 XP

Prater lost the “How many times can you hit the upright?” contest 4-0, but a 52-yard field goal at Soldier Field is no easy task, and he deserves some props.