The Detroit Lions put up a valiant effort, and for a minute, it seemed like they had a real shot to win this game. Then all hell broke loose, and everything just went wrong from there, leading to the Lions suffering a 41-34 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

With that, their playoff chances went down a bit, and the road got harder. The good thing is that most people expected this to happen.

Goff ReportJared Goff played probably his best game of the season in this one. He threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns. He was great under pressure; he made big throws, and he just, all around, played an excellent game.

Sadly, it wasn’t enough. This team is going to be as good as their defense allows them to be, and that’s that.

The worst explanation of all time for one of the worst calls we’ve seen this season

My eyes hurt from rolling them so hard after Dean Blandino got on the broadcast and said that not only did the NFL rule it both a catch and a touchdown, but also that it was a catch in which the player apparently lost control and then magically regained it just as he crossed the plane.

Just embarrassing stuff from the league.

The Lions’ defense did a lot of things right, until fourth downThis was actually a fairly good showing from the Lions’ defense for most of the day, believe it or not. It managed to take this explosive Rams offense and force them into multiple fourth-down attempts.

At one point, the Rams were 0-6 on third down and didn’t convert one until the end of the third quarter. The problem is that the Rams were perfect on fourth down.

The Lions’ defense just couldn’t get off the field in some big moments, and it hurt in the end.

Still, it made the most of the effort, and with a beaten-down secondary, the Lions forced some punts and kept the Rams out of the end zone at key moments. That’s all you can really expect from a secondary full of backups.

Lions’ offense got neutered in the second halfThe Lions were balling in the first half, and Goff was having one heck of a game. We thought Amon-Ra St. Brown might go for 200 yards receiving. Then, in the third quarter, it all went away.

In its place came a run game that wasn’t going anywhere, bad blocking that got Goff sacked, and receivers who just stopped getting open. The Rams’ touchdown from the officials was bad enough, but the Lions’ three-and-out on the next drive only made it worse.

What a sequenceThe beginning of this game had a little bit of everything. First, you have Dan Campbell getting conservative and not going for it on fourth down in the red zone. Then you have Jake Bates missing a kick.

Then the Rams came out and had a big pass play to Davante Adams.

Then Matthew Stafford throws a pick to Aidan Hutchinson, who has a 56-yard return. Then Goff hits St. Brown in the end zone for a touchdown. This all happened in what felt like two minutes.

Superman vs. The FlashEveryone has always wanted to know who would win in a race between Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, and on Sunday, we found that it was Williams. Granted, nobody was going full speed.

New York Rangers Announce Punishment for ‘Great Human Being’

The New York Rangers are drawing a line in the sand and making it clear that nobody gets a free pass for violating a team rule, even a highly compensated player like forward Mika Zibanejad.

The Rangers have announced that Zibanejad has been designated as a healthy scratch because he missed a mandatory team meeting prior to their matchup on Monday evening against the visiting Anaheim Ducks at Madison Square Garden.

According to head coach Mike Sullivan, Zibanejad was expected to be present despite some of the challenges that commuting in a major metropolitan area like New York City can present.

“Mika and I had a conversation about it,” Sullivan said. “There are logistical challenges this city presents sometimes, but having said that, I think Mika understands the importance of the rules that we all expect of one another.

This is something that, I think, from his standpoint, obviously, he feels terribly. The one thing about Mika is he’s an honest person. He’s a great human being. He takes responsibility for it. It’s certainly not something that we would like to happen.”

Sullivan concluded his remarks by saying that the team stands by the standard that they’ve set in place, leaving nobody above the rules.

“But having said that, we believe strongly in the process that we have in place,” he said. “The process that we have I think is important for everyone to understand what the expectations are. Mika understands that as a leader of the team.”

Zibanejad will be eligible to return to the Rangers’ lineup when they face another former New York forward in Filip Chytil, who is now with the Vancouver Canucks following last season’s blockbuster J.T. Miller deal, on Tuesday evening at home.

New York Rangers’ Mike Sullivan Is Putting His Foot Down

The Rangers were among the teams that made notable changes in leadership during the offseason, as general manager Chris Drury dismissed head coach Peter Laviolette and hired Sullivan in his place.

Sullivan, who had just been recently let go by the Pittsburgh Penguins, arrived in New York with a championship pedigree after having led the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.

The Rangers, who failed to claim a playoff berth last season, are depending on the leadership of Sullivan to help get them back not only into playoff contention, but eventually into title contention.

Sullivan isn’t playing favorites with his new players, regardless of their star power, and the punishment of Zibanejad for missing a team meeting is a clear example.

Mika Zibanejad’s former Rangers teammate Chris Kreider returns to New York

Zibanejad’s absence from his team meeting means that he will not get the opportunity to play against his longtime former teammate Chris Kreider, who was traded during the offseason to the Anaheim Ducks.

Along with former Rangers team captain Jacob Trouba, Kreider makes his return to New York this evening for the first time since the trade was made on June 12.

The Rangers, who are 1-1-2 in their last four games, are scheduled to face-off at Madison Square Garden against the Ducks at 7:00 p.m. ET.