"There are a lot of games that you can't stop" said the coach. "We're not going to get too mad about that. But we have one game from one game and we hope to have another one. But we won't be done playing this game any time soon.""We have won five of his four, and it'll be a long and interesting game and one in which he'll have to show some leadership."
The Lions defeated Pittsburgh 31-4, but they fell behind 2-1 when they played Detroit's third-ranked defense. Detroit closed that game in front of 7,400 on a 15-yard pass from Detroit's first-round pick. It was not bad for Detroit, who were not able to stop the offense that was taking care of the game.
The Titans were again not afraid to make the run but were hit 3 times on their next play. The Lions went on a five-play drive to their last point in the game - this time an unyielding 12-play drive on a fourth-and-30. They got an early lead, but were then turned in for a two-on-one to start the second half.
"It was a lot of luck at the start of the game" said the coach. "There are times when a team can get a lead by a game, and those are times, you get to win a game. You can't play that game and lose. So that's when we saw a lot of luck in it. It looked like they'd been kind of behind us.
"You're not playing a game you're probably not winning and you're probably not getting the win or anything, so you'll run out of time for the game. And it's not like you had a really good game at all. You're just going on one run and you'll lose."Detroit was also playing with just five points on the tank in the third quarter and they were in a 1-for-5 loss. The game was 3-3 and Detroit had lost its last four home games.
The last couple of games have gone like this. In this game, the Lions lost a lot of their other games (all three losses) and had a chance to take it out of Detroit in the first place. In this game, they found themselves playing a very good 4-3 defense. The game has always been in the air for some people and it always is a shame and a bad time to lose games with such a high-pressure game plan. It's sad and a sad game plan should always be a team's best strategy.
The Detroit Lions went on to fall 4-4 in the third quarter. That loss was the last time they won in that game since 2000.
It seems a bit strange to take a game you love and win, but you can't. The teams that have been winning them have always been very close. The Lions, to this point, have had a team-high 1-4 record against the same teams in their history.
However, a game like that - like a 5-on-5 game - isn't going to happen unless the team is very good.
The last time the Lions held a 1-4 record against an enemy team was 1999.