showing drastic improvements Youth Sam Martin Jersey on both sides of the ball. When the team is working so well together, it’s sometimes tough to point out impressive individual performances. There were no shortages of good play from the Lions against the Miami Dolphins, but unfortunately I have to whittle down the the field to five Player of the Game candidates. Before we get into this week’s candidates, here are the Game Ball standings after six weeks. (Remember: First place in voting gets three points, second place gets two, third place gets one.) Game Ball standings through Week 6:Kenny Golladay - 9.5Devon Kennard - 3Kerryon Johnson - 3Golden Tate - 3Da’Shawn Hand - 3Matthew Stafford - 2Frank Ragnow - 2Quandre Diggs - 2Darius Slay - 1.5Romeo Okwara - 1Here are this week’s candidates: Kerryon JohnsonStats: 19 rushes, 158 yards (8.3 YPC); 2 catches, 21 yardsI don’t need to really get into this, do I? Johnson’s day was electric from the first quarter until the last. The Lions running game finally feels legit, and while Johnson wasn’t the only one who was successful in the backfield, his breakout performance was the best the Lions have had in years. Michael RobertsStats: 3 catches, 48 yards, 2 TDsThe Lions’ red zone issues seemed to have rolled over from last season, but if Michael Roberts can continue to play like he did on Sunday, the Lions may figure things out quickly. Roberts grabbed his second and third touchdowns on the year against the Dolphins and added an impressive 29-yard catch, too. Those big mitts should be a really big weapon for Stafford and this offense. Now he just needs to pile on performances like this on top of each other. Matthew StaffordStats: 18-for-22, 217 yards http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-darius-slay-jersey , 2 TDs; 4 rushes, 9 yardsMany will point to the Patriots or Cowboys game, but I think this was Stafford’s best performance of the season. He was cool as a cucumber in the pocket, he was lethally accurate, and he even showed off some Wheels for seemingly the first time all season. Best of all, he was accurate from the very first snap. Too often, we’ve seen Stafford get off to some slow starts, but there wasn’t even a single series in which he looked off. A near-perfect performance from No. 9 on Sunday.Matt Prater Stats: 4-for-4 FGs (long 50), 2-2 XPsAfter some uncharacteristic misses earlier in the season, it seemed like Prater may be entering the twilight of his career and he wasn’t quite the kicker he used to be.That may still be true, but Prater was perfect on Sunday, and his 50-yard game-clinching kick was no gimme. On the road, in the 90-degree heat with the crowd pretty darn loud, Prater was flawless. Don’t take him for granted, Lions fans. He’s still very good.Ricky Jean Francois:Stats: 2.0 sacks, 3 tacklesRicky Jean Francois hasn’t has 2.0 sacks in an entire season since 2015, but he tallied two on Brock Osweiler Sunday. But this is really a group award for the interior defensive line. There were hardly any running lanes up the middle all day thanks to Francois Tavon Wilson Jersey , A’Shawn Robinson and Da’Shawn Hand. But getting a little pressure up the middle help create sacks and force some throwaways from Osweiler, which was huge in limiting the Dolphins offense earlier in the game. Confidence in the Detroit Lions took a big hit over the weekend after the team followed up a big road win over the Miami Dolphins with a poor effort against the Seattle Seahawks. A 28-14 beatdown on your home turf is never the kind of performance you want to put on display, especially on a day in which you could’ve overtaken the division lead.That being said, the Lions are still 3-4 with more than half of the season to play. Being just a game out of the division lead, Detroit is actually in a position where they could contend for the NFC North, especially with five division game still left on the schedule.But Tuesday blew up everything. When the Detroit Lions traded Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles, everything changed. Detroit’s leading receiver was suddenly gone in an instant, and many declared the season over on the spot. But will the Lions’ young playmakers step up in his absence? Will defensive improvements help offset the loss of Tate on offense? Today’s Question of the Day is:After the Tate trade, is the Detroit Lions season essentially over?My answer: I’m not one to claim that a season is over with two months left on the schedule—especially for a team that’s at 3-4 and undefeated in division play.However, this seemed like a team that had an extremely tough road ahead and would have to defy serious odds to make the postseason. With the defense still struggling mightily and the offense inconsistent, I didn’t have a lot of confidence that they were better than any team in their division, despite the fact that the Packers, Vikings and Bears are all pretty flawed. Now the Lions have made their path to a division title undeniably harder this season. I won’t go as far as to say the Lions season is over, because weird things happen in the NFL. But my personal expectations have certainly lowered and I’d be pretty darn surprised if Detroit is still in the mix come the final few weeks of the season. Your turn.
