The Detroit Lions (4-9) fell again on Sunday to the lowly St. Louis Rams (5-8) in St. Louis. Stud rookie running back Todd Gurley ran for 140 yards on 16 carries and 2 TDS. Gurley ran wild in second half for 14 Rams points to build a 21-7 lead.
The Lions pass defense was strong and forced an interception by Darius Slay on a pressure by Isa Abdul Quddus on a blitz. Case Keenum had a 56 QB rating and 0 TDs with only 124 yards passing. The Rams punted 6 times and had the one interception.
The Rams scored two second half TDs by Gurley and received points from a pick 6 by Stafford.
The Lions offense was stagnant due to pressure and a lack of weapon separation by Johnson and others. Detroit ran the ball well (5.6 YPC) but had very low YPA (5.3) in the passing game plus the 4 sacks allowed (3 by Aaron Donald). Stafford was under pressure and off on some throws with an 84 QB rating on the day.
During this game, a terrible chop block penalty and non-call of defensive pass interference call doomed the Lions. The chop block was obviously a terrible call and negated a 36 yard pass to Tate to the Rams 8 yard line down 7-0 in the second quarter. The Lions had to punt on the drive instead. Stafford threw an underthrown pick 6 intended for Calvin Johnson to Trumaine Johnson for the Rams only TD and points of the first half earlier in the 2nd Quarter.
Detroit was tackled short of the sticks by one yard twice and punted 7 times on the day in total due to pressure, the bogus penalty, short by one yard on completions and the 4 sacks.
Detroit tried to come back with a late TD to Golden Tate (2 on the day) and an onside kick recovered by Michael Burton down 21-14. However, Detroit turned the ball over on downs late in the game after a drop by TJ Jones on 3rd down and 3 and a botched snap on 4th down with a frantic throw to Ebron. More importantly than the botch due to Swanson, a non-PI call with the Rams defender tripping Ebron caused the incomplete on 4th down. Detroit was doomed again by poor referees.
Detroit fell to 4-9 on the season even though we all know that Detroit is really a true 7-6 and the 6th seed for the playoffs behind the 8-5 Packers and Vikings. However, due to the refs and the refs alone, Detroit is now 4-9 and eliminated from the playoffs.