While Jarrad Davis’ sophomore season has not put him in any all-pro conversations Color Rush Isaac Nauta Jersey , it does not take much to see how much he has improved in year two. A linebacker that looked a step behind for much on his rookie year has proven to be a fordable man at the center of the Lions defense this season.The former first-round pick still has a long way to go until he reaches expectations. He still makes the occasional mistake, and he has yet to live up to his first-round billing. No one is more aware of his faults than he is, though. While the mistakes have been fewer and farther between in 2018, they prove to be more frustrating for him.“It’s more frustrating now when I make mistakes,” Davis told reporters Thursday. “When I see something, I’m able to put two and two together and say, ‘Hey, you should have seen that coming.’”Davis had struggles early in the season, but he grew as the year went on. He started the season as a liability in run defense and was partly responsible for the Lions’ leaky front seven. He benefited greatly from the addition of Damon Harrison Sr., though, and has been a force at the second level of the defense ever since. His role has grown as well. Not only has he played in 100 percent of the defensive snaps in 12 of 15 games this season, but the coaching staff is asking him to do different things, as well. The linebacker became a regular part of the Detroit’s pass rushing packages and is usually on the field as a rusher on passing downs. Davis has clearly earned rapport with the Lions coaching staff and he is doing the most with the increased chances he is given. He has been credited with five sacks this season, compared to only two his rookie year. But as his roles on the team increase, so do the amount of things that he has to work on. “There’s so many different things,” Davis said about where he needs to improve, “My role expanded this year with pressures and blitzing.”“I can definitely get better as a pass rusher. I could still improve in my [pass] coverage. Continue to improve as a tackler,” he added.The linebacker is set to miss the playoffs once again in his young career. After barely missing out in 2017, Detroit never truly seemed to be in the playoff race this time around. For a player with the fire and competitiveness of Davis, that becomes frustrating. “A lot, huge motivating factor,” the linebackers said about missing the playoffs once again. “You got this bad taste in your mouth. You gotta go home and sit down and watch playoff football.” It gets even more frustrating when Davis accounts for the potential talent Detroit has on the roster.“We got a team that’s good enough to go out there and play versus anybody,” he said.As bombast as that may sound in the midst of a 5-10 season, Davis and his teammates have proven this season that they have what it takes to hang with the best. Detroit defeated a New England Patriots team that is set for a first-round bye in the playoffs way back in Week 3. They were a last-second field goal away from defeating the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys a week later. They had a chance to upset both the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears if not for a few late blunders. While Detroit has been able to hang with the best, they have struggled in winnable games. The season started with an infamous Monday night blowout loss to the New York Jets. The team struggled against the Arizona Cardinals and a loss to a beatable Buffalo Bills team effectively ended their season in December. “We didn’t do enough to win the games we needed to put ourselves in that situation,” Davis added, reflecting on some of the team’s shortcomings this season.For now Cheap Isaac Nauta Jersey , he is focused on the task ahead. The Lions will be in Green Bay this week and have a chance to beat a team that has historically dominated them for the fourth time in a row. While the path from here to the Super Bowl may be long and winding, for Davis and the Lions, this week is as good as any to set forth in that direction. The Detroit Lions were able to get off to a hot start—especially defensively—against their in-division rivals. However, a game-changing play to end the first half seemed to derail the entire team, and the Minnesota Vikings just dominated the second half to defeat the Lions 24-9. Here’s how it all happened. First quarterThe Lions lost the coin toss and that meant their offense was to take the field first. Detroit started the game off by hammering the running game, and it appeared to be working. LeGarrette Blount for 4, Zach Zenner for 5, then Zenner for 29. But Detroit only went backwards from their, working their way out of field position. Punter Sam Martin, however, was able to pin the Vikings at their own 2-yard line. The Lions were able to immediately get a three-and-out, giving the offense good field position to work with. Matthew Stafford hit Kenny Golladay on a crossing route for 21 yards, but Detroit, again, failed to do much once in field goal position. They didn’t go backwards, however, so Matt Prater was able to put the Lions up early. 3-0 Lions.Detroit’s defense continued to control the line of scrimmage, as the Vikings went three-and-out again. Quandre Diggs laid the boom on a curious third-and-6 draw play from the Vikings.Once again, the Lions offense successfully worked their way into Vikings territory. Once again, questionable play calling an execution caused Detroit to move out of field goal position. Facing a third-and-13 at the Vikings 33-yard line, Detroit opted to run a safe draw play... except it lost yards and pushed Detroit out of field goal position.But, again, the Lions defense forced a three-and-out, this time thanks got a Damon Harrison tackle for loss and a Nevin Lawson sack on third down. At the end of the first quarter, the Lions had the yardage advantage 90-4, but only led by three points.Second quarterThe second quarter got off to a good start for Detroit, as the Vikings ensuing punt went just 29 yards Isaac Nauta Jersey Womens , giving the Lions offense great field position—at Minnesota’s 38-yard line. The Lions offense was able to pick up one first down, but nothing more. Prater knocked through another to push the Lions’ lead to six early in the second quarter. 6-0 Lions. Detroit’s defense forced a FOURTH STRAIGHT three-and-out on the next possession. This time, Romeo Okwara came up big with a third-down sack. Detroit’s defense was just absolutely dominating: Back-to-back passes to TJ Jones and Golladay for 12 and 16 yards respectively got Detroit onto the Vikings’ side of the field again. But, again, Detroit couldn’t muster much once getting into field goal position. Prater was true, this time, from 48. 9-0 Lions.But the defensive floodgates would not hold forever. The Vikings not only got their first first down on the next drive, but they would find the end zone. On a key third-and-long, Kirk Cousins drew Darius Slay away from his zone commitment, and found Adam Thielen for a 40-yard play. Slay was injured on the play after delivering a big hit, and Cousins would pick on Marcus Cooper Sr. for a touchdown a few plays later. 9-7 Lions.Thanks to smart timeout usage, the Lions offense had a great opportunity to get more points on the board before the half, but the offense couldn’t muster up any points. Unfortunately, the Lions offense got off the field so quickly that they allowed the Vikes an opportunity to score. Then this happened:14-9 Vikings.Third quarterThe Vikings started with the ball, and suddenly their offense had life. Minnesota was able to run the ball effectively for the majority of the drive, but Detroit’s defense held up strong in the red zone. Vikings kicker Dan Bailey avoided the Audible Dong on the 24-yard field goal attempt, and pushed Minnesota’s lead to 17-9. The Lions offense responded with a quick three-and-out, giving the Vikings a chance to extend their lead to two possessions, but Detroit’s defense forced a speedy three-and-out of their own. However, Detroit gave the ball quickly back after Matthew Stafford was sacked for the first time in the game on third down.Fourth QuarterThis time, the Vikings offense took advantage of the good field position and pushed the score to two possession. Detroit’s defense looked gassed and couldn’t get a stop, as Cousins ended up finding Kyle Rudolph for his second touchdown of the game. 24-9 Vikings.Detroit’s offense had a couple of chances to respond, but couldn’t get anything going. Eventually they would turn it over on downs deep in their own territory, giving the Vikings an easy field goal to extend their lead to three scores. 27-9 Vikings.Matt Cassel came in the game late to go four-and-out on his own, ending any distant hope of a miraculous comeback. The loss drops the Lions to 5-10. This is the first season since 2012 that the Lions have suffered double-digit losses and only the second time during the Matthew Stafford era when he has played in at least 11 games. The Vikings, on the other hand, hold onto their six-seed in the playoff race Isaac Nauta Detroit Lions Jersey , but the Eagles remain hot on their heels. PregameIf you’re here, it either means you’re going to make a snarky comment about watching the Detroit Lions game inebriated, or you’re a Minnesota Vikings fan, or you’re someone interested in the NFC Wild Card Race, or you’re a Lions fans going down on the sinking ship.At 5-9, the Lions’ playoff hopes are gone, as are their hopes to finishing .500 or above. The only thing left is to play spoiler, and boy could they be a big spoil this week. The 7-6-1 Vikings are clinging to the last playoff spot, just above the 7-7 Eagles and 7-7 Washington team. To stay ahead of both teams, the Vikings desperately need a win, especially with an incoming game against the Chicago Bears next week. Unfortunately for Detroit, they’re pretty beat up this week, and they haven’t had a ton of success against this Vikings defense recently. Detroit hasn’t scored more than 20 points in five weeks, and the last time they faced off, Detroit was held to just nine points. So if you’re interested in watching that kind of matchup, here’s how to do it!How to watch Lions-VikingsDate: Sunday, December 23, 2018Time: 1 p.m. ETLocation: Ford Field — Detroit, MITV: FOX Week 16 TV Map: Courtesy of 506 Sports hereAnnouncers: Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston, Laura OkminOnline streaming: Fox Sports Go, Yahoo Sports appLocal radio: WJR-AM NEWS TALK 760Radio announcers: Dan Miller, Lomas BrownOdds: Vikings by 7
