ALLEN PARK
Taylor Decker Jersey , Mich. (AP) — Last year, the Detroit Lions started 3-1 and didn’t make the playoffs — so what happens in September doesn’t have to define
the season.The Lions better hope that’s the case, because a loss at Dallas last
weekend has them in a hole.“There’s a lot of work in front of us,” first-year
coach Matt Patricia said Monday. “I think we’re learning a lot about our team. I
think we see a lot of different things on the field. I would say these guys are
tough, these guys work extremely hard. They will fight all the way to the end
for 60 minutes.”The Lions appeared to be rallying a bit when they beat New
England two weekends ago, but Sunday’s 26-24 loss to the Cowboys left them at
1-3.Detroit certainly looks more competitive now than it did in a 31-point loss
to the Jets in the opener, but the reality is that the regular season is now 25
percent over, and the Lions are in last place in the NFC North.A huge home game
with Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay looms this coming weekend — the first
divisional matchup of the season for the Lions.“He is an elite player, I think
that goes without saying,” defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand said. “Everybody
knows him
Graham Glasgow Jersey , and they’ve got a great team.”It’s still fairly early, but dropping to 1-4 would put Detroit in a tough spot heading into its open date.The
Lions have been outscored 59-17 in the third quarter this season. In all three
of their defeats, they faced double-digit deficits entering the fourth.Detroit
was down 20-10 after three periods Sunday, but eventually took a 24-23 lead on
Matthew Stafford’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate with 2:17
remaining.Detroit’s defense couldn’t hold. Dallas drove into field goal range
and made the winning kick on the game’s final play.“I think when you play in
those types of games where you’re kind of relying on last possession or it’s
coming down to the end when there’s really no control in the game, I would say
you’re kind of holding your breath,” Patricia said.“These are extremely good
teams on both sides of the ball and good offenses that you have to face for us
as an opponent. We obviously have an offense that can do a good job there at the
end of the game of coming back but you don’t want to be in that position.”The
Lions struggled to contain Ezekiel Elliott, who ran for 152 yards on 25 carries
and had four catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.Meanwhile, Detroit couldn’t
build on its encouraging rushing performance against the Patriots . Rookie
Kerryon Johnson ran for 55 yards and a touchdown against Dallas, but he had only
nine carries.“I think we have a lot of really good running backs and I think we
try to use them appropriately. I think Kerryon played a significant amount of
the game,” Patricia said.“We had two other running backs
Color Rush Travis Fulgham Jersey , plus we had a couple two-minute drives in there with some other personnel packages and things like that. So, there were
quite a few reps in there for Kerryon.”The Lions have allowed 157.8 yards
rushing per game, the worst mark in the NFL through Sunday’s games.“We just have
to get better. Get back in the meeting rooms, lock in, be on one accord, all 11
even the backups,” linebacker Eli Harold said. “We just have to find out what is
killing us in the running game obviously, and just go from there.” Should 88 be
retired or is that setting a tough precedent?"Detroit Lions rookie T.J.
Hockenson decided to select the No. 88, which seems like an innocuous decision.
However, given that Lions Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders once sported the
88
Cheap Travis Fulgham Jersey , there’s a little more that goes into that decision. Hockenson knows the weight in carrying that legacy, but his decision
to pick the number has sparked a different conversation.In an official statement
from Charlie Sanders’ daughter, Charese Sanders-Sailor brought up the idea of
retiring he father’s number.“Although we would have loved for our father’s
number to be officially retired...” she said. Obviously, retiring a number can
be complicated in football. NFL rosters are so big—90 players at this time of
year—and if a team makes it a habit of retiring numbers, they could find
themselves in a very difficult place down the road when trying to assign numbers
to players. So today’s Question of the Day:Should the Lions retire the number 88
for Charlie Sanders?My answer: This is a difficult situation, because you’d love
to honor more players from your franchise’s history, but can obviously only hold
the retired number in extremely high regard if you’re going to leave any numbers
for current players. At Wednesday’s Taste of the Lions event, team president Rod
Wood addressed the situation, and probably came up with a solid solution.“The
more numbers you retire, obviously that creates issues with numbers for current
players
Travis Fulgham Jersey Womens ,” Wood admitted. “With the ‘Pride of the Lions’ folks we’ve inducted this year, I think we're’ probably going to tilt in the
direction of recognizing players by putting them in the ‘Pride of the Lions’ and
be very judicious with retiring numbers.”Pride of the Lions is Detroit’s version
of the “Ring of Honor” in which former players get permanent fixtures of some
sort at Ford Field. Last year, Lomas Brown, Alex Karras and Herman Moore were
inducted to the Pride of the Lions, joining 15 other former Lions
players—including Charlie Sanders. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s likely
the most practical. Your turn.
