The Detroit Lions started the season 5-0, powered by nine touchdowns in five games by Calvin Johnson. Now they’re 5-2, and they’re finding that Megatron can’t win a game by himself.
Johnson was the Lions’ sole big play threat, and their offense missed plenty of opportunities, as the Lions dropped their second straight game in today’s 23-16 loss to the Falcons.
When throwing to Johnson today, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford completed five of 11 passes for 115 yards (10.5 yards a pass) and a touchdown. When throwing to everyone else, Stafford was 10-of-21 for 68 yards (3.2 yards a pass) and no touchdowns.
Particularly troubling for the Lions is that even when Stafford was going to Johnson he wasn’t always effective: Stafford twice misfired on passes that could have been touchdowns, once missing Johnson on a short pass in the end zone and once underthrowing Johnson after he had beaten the Falcons’ secondary deep.
Also troubling for the Lions is that Stafford appeared to suffer a leg injury when he was hit low just after throwing his final incompletion of the game. It was not immediately known whether Stafford was seriously hurt.
For the Falcons, the win moves them to 4-3 and puts them right into the thick of the NFC playoff race. The Lions are right in the thick of the NFC playoff race, too, but compared to where they were a couple weeks ago that’s a disappointment. The Lions thought after their fast start that they were one of the league’s elite teams, but now they look more like they’re in the middle of the pack.
