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Editor's note: This is an opinion piece written by MLive.com reporter, Kyle Meinke.
MINNEAPOLIS – The Detroit Lions continue to claim they can compete for a division title without Golden Tate. Stop that.
Stopped.
You can not.
Of course, this could have been the case even though they had not traded Tate to Philadelphia last week. Many people would argue this, and it seems to be the calculation of Lions even if no one wants to admit it. At 3-4, it's not like they were burning the house with Tate on the ground.
But they were also at a first-place match in the NFL's most open division. They certainly had a chance of punching. And after being beaten 24-9 Sunday against Minnesota, it's clear that they do not even have any more.
Yes, Tate makes a lot of difference.
I realize that many of you are not in agreement. You see 10 bags and you wonder how an additional receiver could have changed something. But what you have to understand is that Tate was not just a receiver, nor the best receiver in Detroit. He was also the security cover of Matthew Stafford.
No one was better at passing a quick pass and creating something, and that was especially true during the third crash, when his 15 catches almost doubled the rest of the team. combined. This makes him the ultimate blitz buster – making it the ultimate weapon against Minnesota.
The Vikings always insist on lobbying, but it was something else. They blew on Detroit with an exotic array of blitzes and stunts. Their goal was to test Stafford without his safety valve and Stafford failed this test.
In 132 career games, he has never been sacked more than seven times in a game. In his first match without Tate, he was fired eight times before the beginning of the fourth quarter – and then he was fired twice more for good measure.
For the prospect: only 25 quarterbacks have already been fired at least 10 times in one game. This has only happened eight times over the last two decades. Jon Kitna is the only Lions player to do it already. And the Vikings had never fired anyone so many times.
"To Pee Wee, yes," said Minnesota defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. "High school, maybe, but it was not fair, I was the biggest person on the ground."
It was something historically wrong, and of course, a receiver would not have put it aside. The offensive line played badly, just as it did before against that defense. No one has harassed Stafford as the Vikings over the years, including when Tate played. Nobody says the opposite.
But Tate's game is also particularly suited to a game like this. With the bullets flying at Stafford, the recipients must open quickly. And there is no more dangerous receiver in the short field with the ball in his hands than Tate.
This has played against the defenses of coach Mike Zimmer over the years, because he relies heavily on the blitz. Stafford did not have that Sunday. And, although there were rooms where the pocket collapsed before you could find anyone, including Tate, there were also plenty of blankets.
"The blame is on everyone," Stafford said. "I have to get the ball out faster."
Yes he did it. But it's hard to do when no one is open.
Theo Riddick started in the slot and finished with seven team catches. But they also traveled 36 meters and none – not even one of them – moved the chains to third place. TJ Jones and Andy Jones also ran a lot there. They combined for two catches and 13 yards.
Listen, none of this means that Tate would have changed the outcome of the match. But he could have. I know that many of them will not agree, but the Vikings had a lot of good defenses under Mike Zimmer and Detroit still beat 5-3 against them. The rest of the league went 23-36.
There are a ton of reasons for this, but Tate's ability to neutralize Minnesota pressure was obviously an important factor. And without him, Stafford tied a franchise record for the number of times he found himself on the back.
Now, they have received the Bears twice in the next three weeks – their defense has been as good as Minnesota's. Oh, and there will also be clashes with the Rams and Panthers next month. What makes Lions claims about the possibility of competing without Tate is even more ludicrous.
With him, the Lions were probably struggling to qualify for the playoffs. But without him, they have no chance. They acknowledged that the moment they sent their best skill player to another NFC competitor while they were still only at a first-place match – and hey, If they really did not think they could participate in the competition this year, it's the best step forward for this franchise.
But if you want to do that, stop pretending that you can still compete at the same time. Obviously, you can not. Maybe it was still true, maybe not. Either way, that's certainly the case now.
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