The Lions are not a good football team, but they’re competing down the stretch.
Today in Atlanta they came up just short in a 20-16 loss that dropped Detroit’s record to 2-12-1, while the Falcons stayed alive in the playoff race by improving to 7-8.
The game went down to the final minute, when Lions quarterback Tim Boyle threw an interception in the red zone to seal the Lions’ loss.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed 18 of 24 passes for 216 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Ryan wasn’t great, but he was good enough.
Both coaches were smart on fourth downs, with Dan Campbell going for it four times and the Lions converting three of them, and Arthur Jones going for it once and getting a Cordarrelle Patterson touchdown run on the play.
The Lions have a long way to go, but they have to be satisfied with how hard they’re fighting in a lost season. The Falcons would be this season’s most improbable playoff team if they were to make it, but they’re still in contention.
