STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
NFL Team Report - Detroit Lions</h2><br>PLAYER NOTES<p></p> --WR Marvin Jones Jr. missed practice Wednesday and his status for Sunday's game against the Panthers is uncertain because of a bone bruise in his right knee. Jones has played in 40 of a possible 41 games in his 2.5 seasons with the Lions and currently leads the team with five touchdown catches.<p></p> --TE Michael Roberts is expected to miss Sunday's game with a shoulder injury, but the Lions could get TE Luke Willson (shoulder) back after he sat out the Bears game.<p></p> --QB Matthew Stafford has been sacked 16 times in the last two games and is now on pace to be sacked a career-high 52 times this year. Stafford was sacked 47 times last season.<p></p> PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DE Romeo Okwara. Okwara is tied for the team lead with five sacks despite joining the Lions off waivers just days before their season-opening loss to the New York Jets. Okwara has started eight games this year at right defensive end, and he tied a franchise record with a sack in four straight games earlier this year. A native of Nigeria, Okwara moved to the United States in 2005 and settled in Charlotte, N.C., where he got into football because he enjoyed watching this week's opponent, the Carolina Panthers, on TV.<p></p> GAME PLAN: Matthew Stafford has caught some heat locally for his recent struggles, but the Lions need to give him more help. Stafford has been sacked 16 times in the last two games and he ranks as one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks (eight interceptions, three lost fumbles) in the NFL. Wide receivers Marvin Jones Jr., TJ Jones and Kenny Golladay aren't winning regularly vs. man-to-man coverage, so it's up to offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter to try and scheme them open more. That hasn't been easy with the lack of pass protection, so if running back Kerryon Johnson can get going early to loosen up the defense that would be welcome.<p></p> Defensively, the Lions are awaiting word on whether cornerback Darius Slay will return from a one-game absence due to a knee injury. The Lions struggled badly in coverage without Slay last week, and cornerbacks DeShawn Shead and Teez Tabor have been exposed for their lack of speed this year. Perhaps the Lions will play more zone coverage this week given the threat of Cam Newton running the ball and the do-everything Christian McCaffrey. Whatever the back seven plays, the Lions need to heat up their pass rush as Newton is completing a career-best 68.5 percent of his passes in Norv Turner's offense.<p></p>MATCHUPS TO WATCH<p></p> --Lions LG Frank Ragnow vs. Panthers DT Kawann Short. The Lions' offensive line has been a sieve the last two weeks, and now they're dealing with the loss of their most dependable interior blocker in T.J. Lang. Kenny Wiggins will start in Lang's place Sunday. He's been inconsistent all year, and the Lions might have to slide help his way. If that happens, that will leave Ragnow, the Lions' first-round pick, in one-on-one battles with Short. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle has just two sacks this year, but he's a proven interior rusher who plays well off Dontari Poe.<p></p> --Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Lions LB Jarrad Davis. McCaffrey leads the Panthers in rushing and receiving yards and rarely comes off the field. He's an excellent pass-catching back, and he has home-run ability, something the Lions have struggled with stopping from the running-back position all year. Davis leads the Lions in missed tackles, and he'll have some spy duties on Cam Newton. But he's one of the few sideline-to-sideline players the Lions have on their defense, and keeping McCaffrey in check will fall somewhat on his shoulders.
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