Raiders at Lions 1st Half Summary: Raiders defense strong, offense stagnant against Lions

The Detroit Lions started with the ball at home today, and they knew exactly what to do with it until they got down inside the 5 yard line. The Raiders defense was an absolute sieve throughout most of the drive but they came up huge in their goal line defense with two stopped runs from the 2 yard line, one of which the Lions were holding on, and then 2 broken up passes to force a Detroit field goal which made the score 3-0 Lions.

Oakland's drive started out on the 20 with some good news included; Rodney Hudson was able to start the game despite being questionable. It didn't help on this drive though, they went 3 and out right off the bat. Marquette King came out for his first punt of the day which went 40 yards with an 8 yard return so the Lions would start their next drive at their own 25 yard line.

Once again, the Raiders defense was basically non-existent early on. The Lions used their running backs and Calvin Johnson to push their way up into Raiders territory very quickly but again the Raiders defense came up big in the red zone. This time it was Benson Mayowa who got a big sack on 3rd down to force a second field goal for the Lions from Matt Prater. This one was 41 yards out and made the score 6-0.

The Raiders had to be feeling good after being completely dominated in time of possession (Detroit had the ball for 12:36 of the first 15 minutes) in the 1st quarter but still only being down 6-0. Oakland started out with the ball on their own 16 for their next drive, and they even had a nice drive going until the bullshit catch rule was inappropriately applied resulting in an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Marquette King's punt was a good one as it pinned the Lions down at their own 11.

Oakland's defense showed up right away this time and forced a three and out. Their offense started at the 46 yard line after the 53 yard punt was returned 12 yards by Amari Cooper with a 5 yard penalty added on after that. Too bad the offense still couldn't capitalize despite the great field position, they went three and out and punted it back yet again, this time the punt went 32 yards and was fair caught at the 15.

With the Raiders defense playing well now, they again came up with a three and out (though it looked like they got the first but were mistakenly marked short) on the Lions offense. Oakland started their next drive at their own 25 after the Detroit punt, and a nice 16 yard run from Latavius Murray got them into Detroit territory finally. However, they faltered after that and had to punt for the 4th time already today.

Detroit started out with the ball at their own 10 yard line after the nice punt from Marquette King. It looked like the Raiders might stop the Lions again but then on a 3rd and 15 in the final minute of the half Calvin Johnson hauled in a 36 yard pass to get Detroit into field goal range. An intentional grounding penalty pushed the Lions back, but Matt Prater kicked the 51 yard field goal no problem to make the score 9-0 at the half.