The San Diego Chargers spoiled the NFL debut of Ameer Abdullah. After squandering an early 18 point lead, the Detroit Lions fell to the Chargers 33-28.
Abdullah took his first NFL carry 24 yards up the middle, shaking Chargers safety Eric Weedle out of his shoes, and scored a touchdown. The run completed an 80-yard scoring drive to start the game for the Lions.
The Lions defense then forced a three-and-out by the Chargers. Defensive End Phillip Hunt had a sack on that series and things appeared to be looking up. Early in the second quarter Detroit safety Glover Quin intercepted a tipped ball and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Darius Slay had an interception toward the end of the first half as Phillip Rivers under threw a receiver in the end zone. In the third quarter, defensive end Jason Jones stripped Melvin Gordon to force a fumble that was quickly recovered by Stephen Tulloch.
Those were the bright spots for the defense. Although there is plenty of optimism surround the turnovers, the defense sputtered and ultimately surrendered 30 straight points to the Chargers. The reasons for the breakdowns on defense were aplenty.
The tackling was simply not good. The pass coverage, other than the plays that resulted in turnovers, was not much better than the tackling. The defensive line, other than early in the game, got no push and were soft against the run. Yes, the Lions were playing without DeAndre Levy, but he could have only helped so much.
As far as the offense goes, it was night and day from the first half to second half. The team began the game showing great balance and good pass protection. The running game, led by Ameer Abdullah, looked like a breath of fresh air to anyone who has followed the Lions over recent years. Calvin Johnson was not involved, but at that point he was simply not needed. Stafford looked sharp, in particular on a second quarter touchdown pass to tight end Eric Ebron.
But the second half was another story. Stafford began to feel the heat from the San Diego defense, in particular outside Linebacker Melvin Ingram. Ingram was lining up at multiple positions and the Lions had no answer for him. Stafford was rattled the entire second half and had no chance to throw any deep passes, not many passes at all for that matter. On one particular hit during the third quarter, Stafford appeared to come up holding his throwing arm/elbow. When Stafford returned on the next series he had a sleeve over his elbow.
The Lions, for some unknown reason, abandoned their run game. The Lions only rushed the ball 16 times for a total of 69 yards, with nearly all of those runs coming early in the game and helping the Lions build on their early lead.
As the second half wore on Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers torched the Lions with slants and crossing routes to which the Lions had no apparent answer for. Wide Receiver Keenan Allen set a franchise record with 15 receptions, a mark previous held by Kellen Winslow. Rivers used short passes to Stevie Johnson, Allen, and tight end Ladarius Green to march their way to 30 unanswered points. Rookie running back Melvin Gordon looked solid, other than the fumble, and finished with 14 rushes for 51 yards as well as 3 receptions for 16 yards.
Matthew Stafford and Theo Riddick connected for a late score, but the proceeding onside kick was kicked out of bounds.
For the Lions, Ammer Abdullah was their leading rusher with 7 carries for 50 yards. Eric Ebron led all receivers in yardage with 4 catches for 53 yards.