By: Jeremy T. Ballreich
The night was calm with the weather, the Lions get to receive the ball first, and after the 8:24 pm Eastern start time. For 30 minutes, the Lions looked like the wheels we falling off of one the highest scoring offenses in the league.
The Texans seemed to be scoring at will off of 3 turnovers and ended the half with a 4th to take a 7-23 lead over the Detroit Lions. Many fans were messaging saying they were feeling hopeless. It had that ‘Same Old Lions’ feel as we were reeling over countless mistakes. But I saw something that made me very calm about mounting a comeback. Half way through the 2md quarter, James Houston IV #41 in the program, was spying CJ Stroud! I could not believe what I was seeing! Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator, has said on multiple occasions. He didn’t like to spy mobile QBs. Stroud rolls to the left, Houston moves with him at the same time. And while he was rearing back to throw. He sacks CJ Stroud!
I don’t know what the halftime speech was, at this point, all I knew was it mattered! The defense came and held the Texans scoreless the entire second half of the contest. The defense, amassed a total of 4 sacks. Making.life miserable for the second most sacked Quarterback in the NFL. Houston, McNeil, O’Connor, and Paschal hit home while pressuring CJ Stroud. There other times where the manipulated the Texans QB into incomlpletions.
Jake Bates hit two field goals in the game, a 58 yard (3rd longest in Lions history) to tie the game at 23. And the one as time expired, from 52 yards! The definition of clutch with the 2nd of his first year, as a place kicker in the NFL!
Stars of the game offensively
Penei Sewell
Amon-Ra St. Brown
David Montgomery
Sam Laporta
Defensively:
Carlton Davis III
James Houston
Alim McNeil
Josh Paschal
Aaron Glenn
Synapse:
This is what great teams do, they find a way to win. Despite a miserable half performance. The Texans are a very young team. And will figure out how to close out these close games. It just didn’t happen this week.
One injury to watch is second year Sam Laporta with a strained neck/shoulder injury. It may keep him put of the line up this week. We have the Jacksonville Jaguars coming to Ford Field this week coming up!
Final Score:
Lions 26 (8-1)
Texans 23 (6-4)
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