Friday Morning Coffee: Lions have no room for error after Packers loss

There’s an old saying and it goes, “it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.” For the Detroit Lions performance on Thanksgiving against the Green Bay Packers, it was both. They ended the game the same way they started, slow with poor execution and ultimately, they got in their own way.

It’s been a concerning trend for the Lions and despite the expressed concerns, there hasn’t been much changing with this team. Much of this season has felt like Groundhog Day. Every week, we’re searching for a different scapegoat because we refuse to believe what we’re all thinking when it comes to this specific Lions team.

Here’s the reality folks: they’re just not as good as we think.

That’s what it boils down to. If they were as good as we think, the lack of execution wouldn’t be so problematic every week. The “put your nuts on the table” mindset they’ve carried since the arrival of Dan Campbell would still be there but it’s missing. The whole identity of the offense is missing and for the last two games, the Lions defense hasn’t been much better.

As I’ve said, enough with the scapegoats and the finger pointing. Time to pour some coffee and live in reality. While we do that, I'm going to talk about what I saw from the Detroit Lions in their Thanksgiving loss against the Green Bay Packers. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to find some type of hope with what remains of this Lions season.

The offense continues to be addition by subtraction

Going into Thanksgiving, it felt like Lions fans received a gift from the football Gods. That gift was that Frank Ragnow was returning to the Lions. While it’s great news and it should certainly help this football team, you have to ask the question, will it even matter now?

As we await the return of Ragnow on the field, the Lions announced that Graham Glasgow would be out against the Packers due to a knee injury. However, I just have a feeling that we could be without Glasgow for a few weeks. Despite playing through injuries, there’s been far too many poor performances this season from him. If he can get healthy and move back to guard, maybe we’ll see improved play from the veteran offensive lineman. For now we wait.

Speaking of waiting, it may be a week or two until Amon-Ra St. Brown is back on the field for the Lions. He got rolled up on against the Packers and it looks like it’s an ankle injury for the star receiver. We’ll see when Amon-Ra can return but it’s going to take everyone to fill the void. This Lions offense was already struggling and has felt one dimensional for a few weeks now.

The offense has been playing without Sam LaPorta and there’s been obvious struggles stemming from that. Now you add Amon-Ra into that equation and I’m just not sure how it gets better. There are plenty of things that need to be cleaned up, especially on the communication side of things for the offense.

That was evident on Thanksgiving against the Packers.

Sure, there are fresh faces on the Lions offense but it was a bit eye-opening to see the lack of urgency and poor communication from the offense this week. On the communication aspect, there were times when certain skilled players didn’t know when or where they had to move on pre-shift motions. Sometimes it looked like Tom Kennedy wouldn’t motion correctly, and there were most certainly times that Anthony Firkser stood there with his arms out. I’m fairly positive one of them led to an illegal formation.

If communication isn’t an issue, then many of their problems stem from their lack of urgency. Right out of the gate, the offense came out slow. In the first quarter, the Lions had two drives that combined for three minutes and 59 seconds. In that timeframe, the Lions offense ran 8 plays for 5 yards, and Goff started 0-for-3 on the day.

This opened the door for the Packers to go up 10-0 against the Lions. Slowly from there, the Lions started to get things moving. Jared Goff completed 15 straight passes, and the Lions scored two touchdowns before halftime. It felt like they had a chance.

During the Lions first drive in the second half, it appeared that Jared Goff checked into a run play on 4th and 3. On the broadcast, you can hear Goff yelling, “kill” multiple times and as we know, that’s a clear indication of some type of adjustment. The run play was a loss of two yards, and it gave the Packers the ball back at midfield. They scored two plays later to go back up 10 points.

But as I mentioned to start this article, the Lions started the same way they finished -- with very little urgency. On their final two drives of the game, the Lions ate up almost 12 minutes of clock and only had three points to show for it. Granted, one of those drives ended on 4th down with Goff rolling to his right and firing a pass to Jameson Williams, but it was dropped.

Pointing fingers doesn’t do anything. Sure, Goff could have thrown a better ball but the pass hit Williams in his hands and chest. Regardless, the offense has to execute and keep the drive alive. But they continue to fail in this area. The Lions have gone for it 25 times on 4th down this season (4th most in the NFL). Unfortunately, they’ve only converted 52% or 13 of those attempts (18th in the NFL).

If the Lions would have taken their offense off the field in that scenario, they could have attempted a 38-yard field goal to make it a one score game. Obviously, we didn’t and the result is what it is. It just felt like another scenario where you take some points, especially after what happened in week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s clear that Campbell is going to live and die on his sword. Nothing is going to change that. Not even the changes that Campbell is going to have to deal with on offense moving forward are going to impact that. Some changes are good and others are bad. Losing your most consistent receiver is less than ideal but maybe the offensive line can be pieced together well enough to sustain some type of momentum. We'll see but it feels as if the offense is what it is up to this point.

Lions defense has hit the brakes

Over their last 8.5 quarters played, the Detroit Lions' defense has given up 836 total yards and 58 points. They’ve forced one turnover in their last four games and they only have two sacks in their last three games. Just against Jordan Love in both games this season, the Lions haven’t been able to sack him.

For a defense that has so much talent, that just can’t happen.

Especially after giving Aidan Hutchinson a contract extension worth $180 million dollars. That’s game-changing money and eventually all of these pressures and QB hits have to result into something more. Getting around the QB and actually getting to the QB are two different things.

As we know, bringing the QB down has a direct impact on the game. Getting near the QB may or may not impact the game. If your pressure is able to impact the throw and help the second level defenders out to make a play on the football, then all is right in the world. If they can’t find the football and let passes just hang in the air to be complete, then it’s frustrating.

That’s what kept happening against the Packers. We saw Jordan Love stand tall in the pocket or extend plays beyond it and find open receivers downfield. But that’s becoming the norm for this Lions defense – close but not close enough.

All of it is leading me to become frustrated. There’s been injuries with this defense and players working back but they’ve been far more consistent than the offense. Then you enter the stretch with the most important games of the season being played and this defense continues to lay an egg. Whether they send blitzes, use line stunts or just let their guys play 1-on-1 with the opposition, none of it seems to matter.

Pressures aren’t getting home and the 1-on-1 battles are being lost all over the field. Whether it be a cornerback being outran vertically on a 51-yard touchdown or a hard hitting safety jogging during a play from two weeks ago. No doubt, the offense has to execute on their opportunities but the defense has to start providing opportunities of their own.

Where do we go from here?

I’m doing my best to find positives, but it’s hard when this team isn’t giving many positives. And no, I'm not going to talk in circles about the referees. I agree, Packers head coach Matt Lafleur did not call a timeout prior to that false start, but that gives all the more reason why the Lions execution is so crucial.

Aside from that, the film and the results from these games speak volumes. This team just doesn’t have the same juice that it once had. I don’t believe it’s all on just two coordinators changing teams. Is it a factor? Yes, but it’s not the only reason. This team has played a lot of football over the last two or three seasons, and they’ve been doing it just as physically as anyone in the league.

This Lions team just isn’t beating up the opposition; they’ve been beating themselves up. Whether it be the injuries or catastrophic execution – none of it is good. There’s no doubt about it, the Lions and Packers tilt on Thanksgiving was an absolute must-win for Detroit. They’re still going to play meaningful football over the next month or so. But after moving to 7-5, the Lions have no room for error during the rest of the season.

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Friday Morning Coffee: Lions have no room for error after Packers loss