Tennessee Titans

The Lions lost to the Titans in the most Lions way possible

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Lions had one of the most thrilling wins of Week 1 last Sunday when they came from behind (after blowing a big lead) to defeat the Colts in Indy. It was almost the exact opposite story Sunday, as the Lions gut-wrenchingly blew a tight game at home against the Titans.

Fans of every NFL team experience varying degrees of misery every season, but few teams devastate their fans as effortlessly as Detroit. In their 16–15 loss against the Titans, the Lions had a whopping three touchdowns called back due to penalties. Particularly embarrassing was one sequence late in the first half, when the Lions had a first and goal at the one-yard line, but ended up having to settle for a 42-yard field goal.

As a team, Detroit was penalized 17 times for 138 yards. Adding injury to insult, Ezekiel Ansah and Ameer Abdullah left the game early, while DeAndre Levy didn’t even suit up. The Titans, who had won only three road games in the last two seasons entering Sunday, won despite 13 penalties of their own and their otherwise general ineptitude.

Even after the Titans took the lead on a fourth-down touchdown pass to a he’s-still-in-the-league Andre Johnson, all the Lions needed was a field-goal drive with one minute and 13 seconds left on the clock against a defense that gave up 25 points to a Shaun Hill-led offense in Week 1.

Instead, Matthew Stafford threw an interception to end the game.

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