Detroit Lions let 14-point lead slip away after high flying Dolphins take over Ford Field

DETROIT – The Detroit Lions did it again as they gave their fanbase false hope while holding an early 14-point lead against the high-powered Miami Dolphins.

What did Lions fans expect? The team in Honolulu blue does this every week. They give you false hope as they come back from an insurmountable deficit and fall short at the end, or they let go of a double-digit lead as they did Sunday (Oct. 30) and get you excited to have you punching the air as the clock strikes triple zeros.

The Lions had a 21-7 lead in the second quarter and then took a 27-17 lead into the half behind the stellar play of quarterback Jared Goff.

Jared Goff

Goff had himself a day, especially in the first half, as he went into the locker room completing 18-25 for 264 yards and one touchdown.

But there are two halves in the National Football League, and when the Lions left the locker room, they forgot to bring their offense out to finish the game. Goff completed nine of 12 passes in the second half and ended the game tossing 27-37 for 321 yards in defeat.

Tua Tagovailoa

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa matched Goff’s first-half stats and raised him one as he completed 17-22 for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

Trailing by 10 to start the third quarter Tagovailoa led his team of track stars down the field, which ended with a trick-or-treat play by fullback Alec Ingold who lined up under center as the offense acted puzzled as they waited for the play signal.

The Dolphins drove the field in nine plays for 75 yards in 5:49 to bring the lead within three, and as they say, the rest is history. Tagovailoa finished the day with 382 passing yards and three touchdowns, with one going to tight Mike Gesicki for their fifth straight scoring possession.

Jaylen Waddle

Two of Tangovailoa’s touchdown passes went to speedster Jaylen Waddle who had himself a monster day. It was like every time we looked up, all we could see was No. 17 Waddling in the end zone.

Waddle finished the day with eight receptions for 108 yards and two scores. His fellow speedster Tyreek Hill didn’t score on the festivities, but the cheetah had 12 receptions for 188 yards.

Defense

The difference in the game was defense. The game started as an old-fashioned shootout, but the Dolphins held their water while the Lions’ putrid defense spilled the beans all over Ford Field once again.

“As frustrating as it is, I know how close we are because we are still talking about one play,” said Dan Campbell. “The hard thing is to just keep doing your job and staying in the thick of the storm. The easy this is to go down below and get under the blanket and eat all of the food.”

Campbell continued:

“The guys are going to stay on the deck and just continue to do their part because they know the suns coming. Those are the guys we are looking for. That’s how I choose to deal with this. The only way to clean up everything is to just go back to work.”

The Lions are 1-6 and losers of five straight since their lone win against the Washington Commanders back in week two.

Detroit will look to get back into the win column next week as they’ll play host to Aaron Rodgers and the 3-5 Green Bay Packers.