Season Review Week 1-7: Detroit Lions – Part III
With three defeats in a row the Detroit Lions could not have found a better time to go on a bye-week and get their focus back.
They faced a tough assignment at Philadelphia Eagles in week six before travelling to fierce NFC North rivals Chicago Bears in week seven.
Week 6: At Philadelphia Eagles
The Lions needed the win to keep their hopes of challenging for the NFC North division title alive but for long periods of the game the Eagles were in complete control.
Like in previous games, Detroit’s offence struggled to break down Philadelphia’s stingy defensive unit while their own defence struggled to contain the Eagles and their quarterback Michael Vick.
By the end of the third quarter, Detroit was down 13-6 against the Eagles and that gap was extended to 16-6 early in the fourth quarter.
Stafford scored a rushing touchdown with 10 minutes left in the fourth to close the gap to 16-13 and give the Lions some hope for a comeback.
Vick though was not about to let that happen and made a big play as he threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin to once again restore the Eagles 10-point lead.
It seemed game over for Detroit with just five minutes left in the final quarter but Stafford was not ready to give up.
The Lions quarterback marshalled his teammates and threw a 57-yard pass to Tony Scheffler to drive deep into Philadelphia’s territory.
Stafford then connected on a 17-yard pass to Nate Burleson to bring the Lions to 23-20 with just three minutes left to play.
The Lions regained the ball right at the death and Stafford setup a field goal attempt for kicker Jason Hanson to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Hanson scored the winning field goal from 45-yards with Detroit finally ending their three-game losing run.
Week 7: At Chicago Bears
Back to winning ways the Lions next travelled to Soldier Field in Chicago to face their biggest rivals in a crunch encounter.
This was a huge game for both teams as Chicago looked to maintain their dominance of the NFC North division while the Lions needed victory to keep them on track to challenge for the title.
Chicago started the game brightly striking early on as quarterback Jay Cutler and wide receiver Brandon Marshall combined for a seven yard touchdown to open the scoring.
What followed next was a brilliant defensive display by the Bears completely shutting out Detroit’s offence.
The Bears extended their lead to 10-0 in the first quarter through a Robbie Gould field goal from 39 yards.
For the entire second and third quarters the Lions offence was expertly shackled by Chicago with Stafford unable to make any meaningful impact on the proceedings.
The Bears were firmly in control and further extended their lead to 13-0 thanks to another field goal from Gould this time from 21 yards.
It seemed like Detroit was about to be shutout in the game as they failed to make any scoring plays with Chicago’s defensive unit delivering a textbook performance.
Stafford finally managed to ensure that the Lions were not shutout when he connected with Ryan Broyles from 12-yards with 30 seconds left in the game.
However, Detroit once again lost taking their record to 2-4 and it looks increasingly difficult to see them as getting back in the playoffs without a significant turn of fortune.
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