Sep 13, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) is pressured by San Diego Chargers nose tackle Sean Lissemore (98) during the second half of the game at Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego won 33-28. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions came into their first regular season game flowing with optimism, they had a great offseason and looked to be in their best position to succeed in years. The first half of their first game followed a similar trend, the Lions new offense couldn’t be stopped and the defense was doing just enough to keep points off the board. However, once the second half started the wheels fell off the train. The Chargers scored 31 unanswered points and were able to steal a win away from the Lions. The defense gave up 483 yards, the most since the 2011 game against the Green Bay Packers and weren’t able to adjust to the Chargers short area passing game. Phillip Rivers carved the Lions up and the Charger’s defense was able to stall the Lions high powered offense. The Lions offense couldn’t stay on the field and only had 47 plays on the night(average is about 63, Chargers ran 74).

What happened? Who is to blame for the Lions collapse in their first game of the season? And what can be done next week to stop it from happening again? Throughout this article I will try to answer these questions and diagram key moments where the game was lost. If you want more coverage check out my twitter @Nick_Pursel.