Off-Topic » The collapse of the Detroit Lions is essentially complete.

There’s still one more game to go Brian Burns Jersey , but the Lions are now assured of their first last-place finish since 2012 after a 27-9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Detroit actually dominated the first 25 minutes or so, but the Lions allowed Minnesota’s Kyle Rudolph to catch a Hail Mary touchdown with embarrassing ease with no time remaining in the first half.That play put Detroit behind for good.“Each game is different. That’s part of the frustrating part,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “It’s not one thing, you say, ‘OK, let’s go fix that and we’ll be fine.’ It’s just, it’s tough to win games in the National Football League and for one reason or another, execution and playmaking, we haven’t done enough of it.”Detroit (5-10) will end up in the NFC North cellar for the first time since going 4-12 in 2012 under Jim Schwartz. The Lions fired coach Jim Caldwell after going 9-7 last season, and in the first year under Matt Patricia http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/greg-little-jersey-authentic , they will end up with a worse record than in any of Caldwell’s four seasons in Detroit.One of the low points of Caldwell’s tenure came in 2015, when Aaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with no time remaining to give Green Bay a 27-23 win over the Lions. Detroit seemed ill prepared for that play, and the defense wasn’t much better Sunday when Minnesota tried it.“We just have to get a little bit better from an alignment standpoint, we have to get some of those guys in better position,” Patricia said. “Get the guy who caught the ball boxed out and get him out of there. So, a couple details there.”Aside from that Hail Mary, it wasn’t a bad performance by the Lions on defense. They held Minnesota (8-6-1) without a first down for the whole first quarter, and Detroit was up 9-0 in the second.The game turned when the Lions left Adam Thielen all alone on third-and-17, and Kirk Cousins found him for a 40-yard gain. That set up a touchdown with 1:32 left in the half.Minnesota got the ball back, and the Vikings made it to the Detroit 44 with 2 seconds left. Cousins had plenty of time to throw to the end zone Will Grier Jersey , and Rudolph made the catch without even falling down.Detroit managed only 74 total yards in the second half. The offense was without rookie running back Kerryon Johnson and receiver Marvin Jones, both on injured reserve.The Lions dropped their opener at home to the New York Jets, 48-17 back in September. Their home finale Sunday was similar.“We just have to be better as a team and even next year, it’s not going to get any easier,” defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois said. “We’re going to keep playing playoff teams, now you have to figure out how to beat playoff teams. Don’t even look at the season, just look at playoff teams.” Saints owner Gayle Benson thinks New Orleans handled the missed pass interference in the NFC Championship Game better than most places would have.Speaking at a commencement on Saturday, Benson thanked Saints fans for their reaction, which included giving the Super Bowl its lowest local rating of any American television market.“Had this happened in another city, it is likely there would have been riots in the streets http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/christian-miller-jersey-authentic ,�? said Benson. “As bitterly disappointed as our fans were, our response was the opposite. Rather than riot, our protests turned into another cause: for parties. ‘Boycott Bowls�? sprang up throughout the city on Super Bowl Sunday. And our fans�? displeasure with the obviously terrible no-call was expressed to the NFL by tuning out at a historic rate, delivering the lowest Super Bowl rating in the country.”Some of Benson’s fellow owners may not appreciate her praising fans for boycotting the Super Bowl, but the Saints are in no mood to placate the NFL. Benson, like Saints fans, is still not over that missed call four months ago.