Historically, which one of these franchises doesn’t belong, as far as NFL success: the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, more recently, the Philadelphia Eagles, and… the Detroit Lions?
The ellipsis may have given it away.
If not, the loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday probably did.
The Lions, trying to keep up with the other three teams mentioned earlier for home field in the NFC, stubbed their toe on the road on Sunday, dropping a 28-13 decision to NFC North rival Chicago at Soldier Field (Justin Fields leads Bears to 28-13 win over NFC North-leading Lions). It was the Lions’ second loss in their last three games.
The game was tied at 13 in the third quarter, but the Bears went on a 15-0 run, and the Lions never scored again.
Detroit drops to 9-4 on the season, fantastic compared to where the Lions normally are. But in the race for the NFC lead, one mistake like this can drop a team all the way down to fourth.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was picked off twice, also lost the ball on a fumbled snap and was taken down four times on sacks.
The best of the early games, though, was in Baltimore, where the Ravens won a 37-31 thriller over the visiting Los Angeles Rams (Tylan Wallace’s 76-yard punt return in overtime gives the Ravens a 37-31 victory over the Rams).
The end of the game: the Ravens won in overtime on a 76-yard punt return by Tylan Wallace.
In the rest of the games that had early starts:
- Tampa Bay either loses late, it seems, or wins late. This time, they slipped by Atlanta late, 29-25 (Otton hauls in 11-yard scoring pass with 31 seconds left. Bucs beat Falcons 29-25)
- The New York Jets are trying to stay in playoff contention for the return of Aaron Rodgers, and dealt the Houston Texans a 30-6 loss in a steady rain (Zach Wilson leads Jets to 30-6 win over Texans in return. C.J. Stroud leaves late with a concussion)
- Trevor Lawrence did play on a sprained ankle, but Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes and Cleveland still got by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-27 (Joe Flacco throws 3 TD passes, Browns pick Trevor Lawrence 3 times in 31-27 win vs Jags)
- Jake Browning is looking good in place of Joe Burrow, as the Cincinnati Bengals won their second straight, this time beating the Indianapolis Colts, 34-14 (Backup QB Jake Browning shines again as Bengals pound Colts 34-14 to stay in playoff mix).
- Carolina holds at one win on the season, courtesy of the New Orleans Saints this week, 28-6 (Derek Carr overcomes recent injuries and rough start, leads Saints past Panthers 28-6)
