Detroit Lions Week 2 report card: Stafford not good enough Womens Christian Jones Jersey , secondary struggles The Detroit Lions may be a little happier with this week’s report card, but it’s anything but post-to-the-fridge worthy. Here are my grades for the Lions’ Week 2 performance against the San Francisco 49ers.Quarterback: D+I’m probably being overly harsh here because the bar is set so high for Matthew Stafford, but the Lions quarterback made some critical mistakes on Sunday, and was also uncharacteristically shaky at times.The mistakes were obvious: The fumble deep in Lions territory was undefendable, and Stafford missed on a handful of big plays. Obviously, deep passes are low-percentage plays to begin with, but Stafford was not even close on some of these throws. When Marvin Jones Jr. gets two steps on his defender, you have to at least give him a shot to catch the ball.But just as troubling was Stafford’s composure on Sunday. Last week, he admitted he did tried to do too much against the Jets. It seems like he went in the opposite direction this week. When his first read wasn’t there, Stafford showed no patience and immediately checked down, whether it was a good option or not. The offensive line often gave him time to sit and wait for routes to develop, but Stafford rarely actually waited.Overall, his statline was quite impressive, but I don’t think it’s really representative of his performance.Running backs: B+If it weren’t for Theo Riddick’s absolutely gut-wrenching drops at the end of the game, this was a full A performance from the Lions’ tailbacks. LeGarrette Blount was in full beast mode, breaking several tackles nearly every time he touched the ball, while rookie Kerryon Johnson proved what everyone already knew: he’s ready for more touches. Together, the two combined for 81 yards on 16 carries (5.1 YPC). Perhaps there is actually a running game developing in Detroit.Wide receivers: BKenny Golladay continues to look like the Lions’ best player on either unit, scoring this fantastic touchdown to give the Lions their first and only lead. Overall, Golden Tate was more good than bad, but the drops just have to stop with him. Marvin Jones Jr. has a pretty quiet day, butthat wasn’t much his fault. I’d just like to see this group get consistently more open now that Stafford is actually getting more time to throw.Tight ends: CCongrats to Michael Roberts on his first NFL touchdown reception. Many of us probably thought he would have had a few by now, but that’s a moment that had to feel great for the Toledo product, especially considering it was a tough catch to make and one that brought the Lions within a score. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else positive to say about the tight end group. They were targeted a total of two times all game, and while Luke Willson successfully caught the other pass, that’s just not enough production out of this group. Offensive line: B+The Lions had a run game and Stafford had time to throw the ball. That’s something this offense hasn’t been able to say in a very long time Calvin Johnson Jersey White , and this was up against one of the best defensive fronts in the league.Of course, they were far from perfect. Frank Ragnow continues to struggle early on at left guard and Stafford was probably hit a little too often (2.0 sacks, 5 QB hits, per ESPN), but considering the tough matchup against the 49ers and Detroit sporting a shorthanded offensive line, I thought this was the best performance out of this unit in a full year. Defensive line: DIt was a pretty quiet day for everyone involved on the defensive line. Starters Sylvester Williams and Ricky Jean Francois combined for two tackles. While A’Shawn Robinson was better in his debut—four tackles—and Da’Shawn Hand looks like the best guy out there (5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), it’s just not enough out of this group. This run defense is absolutely horrible. Even taking out the 49ers big 66-yard run, San Francisco was able to rush for 124 yards on 27 carries (4.6 YPC). Those numbers would be unacceptable alone, but with another long run it’s downright horrible. Linebackers: C-It’s hard to downgrade a unit that was responsible for literally all six sacks in the game, but this unit was just as culpable in the awful run defense. Jarrad Davis continues to look like he’s trapped in his own mind, while just about everyone in this unit was missing tackles on the regs. But on the bright side, Davis also showed a little coverage abilities in this game, which, I’ll admit, I thought was a lost cause for the young linebacker.Secondary: FNo excuses for this unit. It was terrible on Sunday. With a completely decimated receiving corps, Jimmy Garoppolo was able to still complete 69.2 percent of his passes at 7.9 yards per attempt. The problems were everywhere: tackling, coverage, miscommunications and penalties. This has to be the most disappointing unit on the team thus far, and if Darius Slay misses any extended time, it’s not going to get any better.Special teams: D-Another big return nearly put the game out of hand in the third quarter, and while the Lions had a big kickoff return of their own, the nullified punt return touchdown by Jamal Agnew sticks out more. The Lions had two awful penalties on punt returns, one nullified that touchdown, the other put the Lions deeper in their own zone when trying to run a one-minute drill at the end of the half. I don’t know how this unit got so bad so quick, but for a team that isn’t winning elsewhere on the field, they can’t afford these continued mistakes.Coaching: DLet’s start with the good. Head coach Matt Patricia deserves a lot of credit for generating some quarterback pressure with this roster. We knew the Lions were going to rely on their linebackers a lot more for sacks Kerryon Johnson Jersey White , but I don’t think anyone expected a six-sack performance out of a Ezekiel Ansah-less Lions team. Additionally, Patricia had this team motivated enough not to panic after another awful third quarter put the Lions down three possessions.However, I remain completely baffled by how clueless most NFL coaches are when it comes to time management. His decision not to call a timeout after his team notched a sack late in the first half is indefensible. And Patricia unbelievably defended his actions after the game. (Quotes via the Detroit Lions)If the plan was really to not give the 49ers any time to get the ball back, you can much better dictate that when you’re on offense. As it was, the Lions only got the ball back with 45 seconds left, needing to go 66 yards for a touchdown. Sure, the Lions eventually got close, and had a couple shots at the end zone, but don’t tell me they wouldn’t have been better off with an additional 40 seconds on offense. As for the coordinators, I still have my issues with the Lions’ offense, especially on third-and-short situations. Detroit had several opportunities to keep drives alive early on third-and-3s, but uninspired playcalling made the Lions come up short. Also, I never want to see a draw on first-and-29 ever again. You have Matthew Stafford, fergodsakes. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — It's an NFL cliche, the crafty cornerback fooling the rookie quarterback.That's exactly what happened in the biggest play of Detroit's 17-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.Darius Slay, who tied for the lead in the NFL with eight interceptions last season, stepped in front of intended receiver Trent Sherfield, picked off Rosen's pass and returned it 67 yards for the game's first touchdown, putting his team up 10-0 in the third quarter. "I kind of baited him," Slay said. "I knew it was coming. I knew it before the play even happened. The only thing I was concerned about was if I was going to score with it. I knew it was coming and I made a play on it."Rosen said Slay "made it seem like he was giving him (Sherfield) space. It made it seem like he was playing really soft because it was third-and-long. But right when our receiver broke at the sticks, he just made a really good play."He's a veteran. That's why maybe go away from him next time."The Lions (5-8), losers of five of their previous six overall, ended an eight-game losing streak in Arizona that dated to 1993. It was a matchup of two first-year coaches who are having their struggles and this one clearly went to Detroit's Matt Patricia over the Cardinals' Steve Wilks."It is great to get the win," Patricia said. "It is great to see some of the improvement in some of the things we have been doing in the last month or last three weeks or so."Arizona (3-10), which fell flat coming off its biggest win of the season a week earlier at Green Bay, avoided being shut out with Zane Gonzalez's 22-yard field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 with 8:14 to play.Rosen completed four of six passes as Arizona drove to the 5-yard line Womens Luke Willson Jersey , but a fade pass to Larry Fitzgerald was incomplete and the Cardinals, who fell to 1-6 at home, settled for the field goal.Detroit took the subsequent kickoff and went 75 yards in seven plays, with the help of a pass interference penalty against Budda Baker, and Zach Zenner's 1-yard touchdown run with 4:05 to play put the game safely in the Lions' control."It was missed tackles and penalties that got them down there," Wilks said. "I thought the defense kept us in the game pretty much to that point."Matt Prater's 47-yard field goal in the first half accounted for the other Detroit points on a day neither offense could do much."It was one of the games you had to kind of wear them out," Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "They got some good players up there. That fourth quarter our guys really started leaning on them, dominating."Fitzgerald caught five passes, all in the second half and most when the game had been all but decided, to move ahead of Jerry Rice for most receptions by a player for one team at 1,286.Detroit took the opening kickoff and moved downfield with a strong running game. But after a short pass from Stafford, LeGarrette Blount had the ball knocked loose by Baker, who recovered at the Cardinals 30.Neither team threatened again until the Lions used up 7 minutes, 55 seconds to drive 65 yards and set up Prater's field goal with 9:35 left in the first half.Arizona took the kickoff and got a 19-yard pass from Rosen to Sherfield, combined with a facemask penalty against Detroit, moved the ball to the Lions 30. But a pass to David Johnson lost 6 yards and Gonzalez's 54-yard field goal try had plenty of distance but bounced off the left upright.FINALLY FITZGERALDFitzgerald, who entered the game with at least one catch in 223 consecutive games, was targeted once and didn't have a catch in the first half. Finally, with 5:48 left in the third quarter, Fitzgerald's 14-yard reception kept the streak alive and moved him ahead of Rice. Three of his catches came the last time Arizona had the ball.INJURIESDetroit was hit hard by injuries. In the span of three plays, the Lions lost defensive ends Ezekiel Ansah (knee) and Da'Shawn Hand (shoulder). Later in the half, right tackle Rick Wagner left with a concussion. The team also lost fullback Nick Bellore (ankle), wide receiver Bruce Ellington (hamstring), cornerback Marcus Cooper (back) and safety Charles Washington (hamstring)."Injuries happen," Patricia said. "Certainly we had a couple of them today. It is just important for us to always maintain our philosophy of everybody has to be ready to go."Arizona wide receiver Chad Williams was inactive after aggravating a hamstring injury late last week.UP NEXTLions: at Buffalo next Sunday.Cardinals: at Atlanta next Sunday.