Detroit Lions faceoff against struggling Panthers on Sunday Week 11 – NFL Preview
Detroit Lions will want to put in a performance completely opposite to the one they gave against the Chicago Bears last week as they welcome the Carolina Panthers to the Ford Field in game week 11 of the National Football League.
Detroit Lions are 6-3 and 2nd in the National Football Conference North as they started the season in good form winning five of their opening games yet have won just one of their last four games played with the 37-13
loss to Chicago particularly hard to take.
The match was physical with numerous hits and a brawl at the start of the fourth quarter that resulted in the ejection of Bears running back D.J Moore. The National Football League disciplinary committee has investigated all the
incidents in retrospect fining those involved with a total of $ 62,500 in fines.
The Lions quarter back Matthew Stafford and Coach Jim Schwartz blamed the wind which was blowing at 30 mph for the error strewn performance which saw Stafford throw four interceptions and complete just 33 of 63 attempted passes.
"We are 6-3, we don't want to forget about that, and we had a chance to put this team way behind us, and we didn't," Schwartz said. "We still have seven games to play, we have a long way to go and how we bounce back from this game
in the long run will be more important than what happened (Sunday)."
The visit of the Panthers will be the perfect opportunity for Lions to bounce back and they should be easily able to crush the Panthers who have struggled throughout the season and are the punching bags for teams looking to spark
their season to life with a 2-7 record and coming on the back of a 30-3 loss to Tennessee Titans.
Carolina Panthers are struggling both offensively and particularly in the defence as they rank 28th in the NFL allowing an average of 137.6 yards per game to opposition rushes. The offense also failed to click in their
previous games as quarter back Cam Newton was hounded throughout the encounter getting sacked 5 times and completing a mere 23 passes from 40 attempts.
Coach Ron Rivera however is optimistic that his team has what it takes to turn the season around and was in a bullish mood when discussing the prospects of his team against the Lions
"We'll continue to have ups and downs, but it's how we handle the downs that's going to dictate who we are," coach Ron Rivera said. "This is a good opportunity for us to bounce back and play well."
Panthers fans have one reason to be optimistic about this fixture as the Lions have not beaten them in the four games the two teams have played in the current decade with the Panthers winning 31-22 the last time the two teams met
in 2008.
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