Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Butch Dill, AP

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions after Sunday's 52-38 defeat in New Orleans:

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford had his first five-turnover game since Week 9 of his rookie year. Stafford threw three interceptions, lost two fumbles and had three of those turnovers returned for scores. He completed 25-for-52 passes on the day and had 12 – 12! – passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Stafford said his sprained ankle wasn’t an issue, and he was clearly frustrated playing behind a beat-up offensive line. Still, this is the worst game he has played in a long time. He seemed to stare down receivers at times and held onto the ball too long when he lost a fumble in an end zone on the Lions’ opening drive. Grade: F

Running backs

The Lions didn’t have much success in the running game. Of course, falling behind 35 points in the third quarter, there isn’t much need to run. Ameer Abdullah had one nice 34-yard carry, but had 20 yards on his 13 other runs. Theo Riddick caught five passes for 45 yards, but missed a read on Stafford’s second fumble, when he was supposed to be the hot receiver, and had an interception bounce off his hands. Zach Zenner couldn’t gain the one yard he needed on his lone carry on third-and-short. Grade: D

Butch Dill, AP

Receivers/tight ends

Golden Tate shook two defenders on his 45-yard first-quarter touchdown before diving into the end zone, then left in the second half with a shoulder injury. Marvin Jones also made a nice play on his one-handed 22-yard touchdown grab. As a whole, the Lions’ receivers once again struggled to get open against tight coverage. Tight end Darren Fells was hauled down short of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play late in the first half and Eric Ebron had another quiet game with one catch – on a tipped pass – for 9 yards. Grade: D

Offensive line

It’s almost unfair how much turnover the Lions had on their offensive line Sunday. Right guard T.J. Lang was scratched two hours before the game with a back injury. His replacement, Emmett Cleary, missed time with a right ankle injury. Right tackle Rick Wagner left the game twice but returned with what appeared to be his own ankle injury. And left tackle Greg Robinson appeared to be benched for a snap, then injured his ankle upon his return. That certainly contributed to the struggles up front, as did the big deficit the Lions faced. Stafford took five sacks and the Lions averaged 3.5 yards per carry. That said, the line held up reasonably well in the first half. Travis Swanson had a nice kick-out block on Jones’ 8-yard first-quarter catch on a bubble screen. Cleary was steamrolled by Cam Jordan on a sack in the first half. Grade: D

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Photos: Saints 52, Lions 38

Defensive line

In their first game without Haloti Ngata, the Lions got a nice game from A’Shawn Robinson. The second-year lineman had seven tackles and intercepted a pass near the end zone that he returned 2 yards for a touchdown, though he did get overpowered on one of Mark Ingram’s touchdowns. Akeem Spence beat Larry Warford to help stop Ingram on the first third down of the game, but missed a tackle on Alvin Kamara later. The Lions did not have a sack, and the deactivated Cornelius Washington before the game for what Jim Caldwell said was a coach’s decision. Grade: D-minus

Linebackers

The Lions gave up 193 yards rushing as their front seven struggled to win at the line of scrimmage. Jarrad Davis had a team-high eight tackles, but he also appeared to take a poor angle on Ted Ginn’s touchdown catch, and was too shallow in coverage on a 26-yard pass to Michael Hoomanawanui in the first half. Tahir Whitehead missed a tackle on Ingram’s 51-yard run that set up Ginn’s score and Nick Bellore didn’t shoot a gap fast enough on Ingram’s first touchdown. Jalen Reeves-Maybin made a nice tackle for loss with the Saints backed up near their own goal line. Grade: D-minus

Defensive backs

Drew Brees had a modest day with 186 yards passing and two touchdowns, but he completed 12 of his first 14 passes before throwing his first two interceptions of the year. Darius Slay got bumped on a pick play at the line of scrimmage on Ginn’s touchdown, and he appeared to bust a coverage on Willie Snead’s third-down conversion in the first half. Slay followed Mike Thomas on the play, when slot corner Quandre Diggs was passing Snead off to his outside help. Slay did have a nice interception, ripping the ball away from Thomas, and DJ Hayden made a diving pass breakup on a pass to Coby Fleener. Glover Quin, the Lions’ best defensive player, missed most of the second half with a concussion. Grade: D

Bill Feig, AP

Special teams

Jamal Agnew returned a punt for touchdown for the second time this season, but he also made a couple costly mistakes. He picked up a taunting penalty on that TD return, then muffed a punt later in the fourth quarter, forcing the Lions to start at their own 1. Agnew also let the first punt of the game drop inside the 5, plays before Stafford lost his first fumble in the end zone, though Agnew said Lions special-teams coordinator Joe Marciano told him that was the right decision. Matt Prater missed a 56-yard field goal wide left but made a 41-yarder. Diggs and Reeves-Maybin had penalties on punts. Grade: C-minus

Coaching

Give the Lions credit for fighting back from a 35-point third-quarter hole to make the game close, but this was an ugly performance overall. Teryl Austin’s defense looked overmatched from the start and Jim Bob Cooter’s offense is running into the same mistakes. One example: The Lions didn’t learn from their crushing loss to the Atlanta Falcons and threw short of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play that was stopped short late in the first half. There were too many turnovers and too many missed tackles in what was one of the more disappointing performances of the Caldwell era. Grade: F