One thing Head Coach Jim Schwartz was looking forward to heading into last week’s bye was getting injured players healthy.
Detroit was rewarded greatly for the time off, getting rookie quarterback 
One big hole in the Lions 17-10 loss to St. Louis, however, was left by wide receiver
“Calvin makes big plays for us,” said Schwartz. “We were toothless today. We didn’t have a chance. We didn’t make plays down the field. I said before, it was small-ball; we ran the ball fairly consistently in the game but that’s not enough. You can’t control the clock. You can’t move the ball between the 30s. This is a game that’s scoring. It’s nothing else. It’s all about scoring. We didn’t score enough.”
Johnson was limited throughout the practice week and worked out pregame to see if he could go. After testing his knee, however, the decision was to hold him out.
“I don’t know what it will look like next week,” said Schwartz. “But it was a game-time decision at 10:30 this morning.”
Johnson obviously leaves a significant void for the Lions. The third-year pro draws defensive attention every time he is on the field, and without that presence, it is a completely different ball game.
The Lions successfully ran the ball between veteran
“I think accuracy was a little bit (off),” said Schwartz regarding Stafford’s first game back. “I think his timing was pretty good. We picked up their blitzes well; we didn’t do a good job protecting against their four-man pass rush. They went to a little bit more of that in the second half.”
In addition to Stafford shaking the rust off, the Lions struggled with dropped passes – particularly in the first half. Schwartz acknowledged those passes as a big factor in the game.
“We had drops from all our positions: wide receivers, running backs and tight ends,” he said. “All of them are balls that our receivers should be able to get. There were a couple incidents where we threw the ball away on purpose.
“There were some other times where we had chances to make some plays and we had balls dropped.”
From an offensive standpoint, the Lions played things conservative, but Schwartz says that wasn’t just because Johnson wasn’t in the game. He attributed the fact that the offense was often seen in two-back, two tight end sets to protecting Stafford and sticking with the run.
“It’s a little bit of an attitude-setter and (you) try to affect the defense and how they want to defend you in that situation,” he said. “Calvin is usually on the field in those packages, but that was one of our ways we were running the football and we were consistent.
“They made a couple adjustments late in the second half that started slowing that down. But that package was effective for us today.”
Defensively, Detroit’s biggest problem was the one they expected: Steven Jackson. Jackson came into the game third in the league in rushing and second in total yards from scrimmage.
When the Lions were able to pin the Rams back deep into their own territory, Jackson was able to bowl his way through the middle for chunks of yardage. He finished the game with 149 yards on 22 attempts and the game-winning touchdown.
“He’s big and tough to stop, but he’s not a run-like-a-cloud-of-dust back – he is more shifty and stuff like that,” said linebacker
It looked like the Lions had gained momentum in the third quarter after defensive end Dewayne White batted down and intercepted a pass intended for Jackson to give Detroit the ball on their own 18. Prior to that interception, it looked like the Rams were going to make it a two-score game, driving in the red zone.
The Lions turned that possession into their first touchdown of the game and converted for two points. With the game tied at 10, though, is when Jackson turned things up.
“He’s a big guy,” said White. “So, regardless, it’s going to be a 240-pound guy coming at you.”
When the Rams got the ball back, they were at their own 22 when Jackson popped a 6-yard gain. He then ran for a 7-yard gain to cross midfield. Though St. Louis had to punt, it hurt the Lions in the field position battle.
Detroit had to punt after its next possession, but punter
Jackson hit the hole for 11 yards on the first play and then 10 and 5 yards over the next four plays.
“We let them out,” said Schwartz. “They flipped field position and they stopped our offense and then that was really the game right there in that fourth quarter. We didn’t execute well in those situations. We let them off the hook when we had them backed up.”
Schwartz was asked after the game if he felt, after the Lions’ loss at Green Bay and then to St. Louis, his team was taking a step back in regards to progression.
He said he didn’t think so and that he was just as determined as ever to get things going in the right direction.
“It was definitely a bump in the road in Green Bay,” he said. “We played poorly in all aspects of that game. This game fits into a different category. We had chances to make plays (and) we didn’t get it done, but I don’t see a trend there. I think both games were completely different games.”
The team will meet in Allen Park tomorrow to review film before beginning Week 9 preparation.
“It’s rough,” said Foote. “It hurts your pride and everything. I’ve been a part of this many losses before. This isn’t my first time. I know how you’re supposed to react to it: hope that you can come back, get it behind you and keep fighting.”
