Another slow start offensively hurts Lions: 'We stalled out early'

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — At the opening of Highmark Stadium, the new home of the Buffalo Bills , most fans were in their seats and ready to go with more than 20 minutes until game time.

Most players from the Detroit Lions , however, didn't show up until the end of the first quarter.

Quarterback Jared Goff was under duress in critical situations on the first two drives, which lasted a combined seven plays and netted negative-1 yard. Add in some fast-and-furious work from the Bills' offense, and the Lions were behind the eight ball before the smoke even cleared from the pregame fireworks in a 41-31 loss on Thursday, Sept. 17.

Goff said the team needs to have more "urgency early on." The Lions have scored 17 points in the first half and 45 points in the second half and overtime through their first two games. Detroit overcame it in the opener against New Orleans, a 31-30 overtime win , but couldn't afford the early stumbles against Buffalo in a game that was shaping up to be a shootout from jump.

"I think for the last two games, really, we've had good moments, but I think we need to really understand that we need to start good," Goff said. "We need to start on that momentum and ignite some of those plays in the first drive and not allow ourselves to get in these holes."

On the first drive, running back Jahmyr Gibbs was stuffed for no gain on second-and-8 and Goff was sacked on third-and-long, ending the series with a three-and-out.

On their second drive, Gibbs gained 16 yards and got the offense to second-and-1 the next play, but Goff was sacked on second down to make it third-and-11. Then backup center Juice Scruggs snapped the ball over Goff's head, ending the series after four plays.

Last week against the Saints, Detroit punted on four of its first six drives and fumbled on another.

Against a Bills offense that put up 36 points against the vaunted Houston Texans defense a week prior, their early stumbles were a death sentence on Thursday night. The Lions trailed 21-0 with 11:48 to go in the second quarter and were down 27-10 as they entered the locker room at halftime.

"We knew we needed to score some points. We stalled out early in that game. That got us early," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "You're down three scores, and really, we haven't done anything offensively. So a lot of that help needed to come there (on offense), to be able to answer back. So, we fell short there."

As the Lions looked to make it a one-score game with less than two minutes left in the first half, Scruggs was called for a false start on third-and-1 near midfield and Goff was then sacked on third-and-5, ending the series. The Lions committed three false start penalties, including two on Larry Borom, who was starting in place of Blake Miller.

"We got to handle it better, and some of those penalties killed us, man, it really did," Goff said.

The Lions will have extra time to diagnose the problems behind their slow starts before they take the field against the New York Jets on Sunday, Sept. 27. Goff said he's looking forward to working on "consistency."

"And again, like, finding a way to be very intentional about starting fast. I think both games, like I said, we have good moments, we've really had good second halves in both games, but being intentional about, 'Hey, this game starts in the first quarter, let's go,'" Goff said.

Plenty will be written and talked about this Lions' defense, and rightfully so. But the strength of this team has always been its offense, and without better starts, the Lions don't stand a chance against the league's best.