Detroit Lions' Ricky Jean Francois has career day in return to Miami
Plus, Matt Patricia defends his decision to go for two late in the third quarter
Dave Birkett
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In 10 NFL seasons with six different teams, Ricky Jean Francois had never played in his hometown of Miami until Sunday.
And back in the stadium he once starred at in high school, Jean Francois had one of the best games of his career.
The veteran defensive lineman tied a career-high with two sacks Sunday as the Detroit Lions beat the Miami Dolphins, 32-21.
“A lot of people said, ‘Did you feel different about (playing at home)?’ ” Jean Francois said in the locker room postgame. “Nah, it’s just another game. I never got a chance to play in the stadium. Only time I played in the stadium was when I was in high school. Besides that, I’ve been everywhere else around. I’ve done seen every damn stadium in the league but this stadium.”
Jean Francois went to high school at Miami Carol City, a 7-minute drive from Hard Rock Stadium, and he said he played in the Dolphins’ home venue twice in high school against rival Miami Northwestern.
Northwestern beat Carol City in the first game, Jean Francois said, before Carol City got revenge in the state playoffs.
On Sunday, Jean Francois wasted little time showing off for his hometown.
He sacked Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler on Miami’s first pass attempt, splitting Jesse Davis and Travis Swanson on the play, and he beat Davis again for his second sack on the final play of the third quarter.
Both sacks — his first two of the year — helped stall Miami drives in Dolphins territory.
The Lions had four sacks, and while they played one of their most complete games of the season, Jean Francois left town not completely happy with what the result.
“I’m happy we started off after the bye week with a win,” Jean Francois said. “We’ve got some places that we need to get better at, but we played a good Dolphins team. They did their job. They went out there and executed when we made mistakes. But we got to straighten up on the penalties and we got to straighten up on a lot of mistakes that we made. Had a lot of missed assignments. Details to the game. I wish we could have did a lot better, but we came out with a W. It wasn’t pretty, but the W still showed up.”
Standard operation
Lions coach Matt Patricia defended his decision to go for two after the Lions scored their third touchdown of the game with 3:16 left in the third quarter.
“Standard operation there with the points,” Patricia said. “That's what it is. That's what you should do in that situation.”
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The Lions led 26-14 after Matthew Stafford’s 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Michael Roberts, but Patricia’s two-point decision nearly backfired after running back LeGarrette Blount was stuffed on a run on the conversion attempt.
Matt Prater made a 35-yard field on the next Lions’ possession, but when the Dolphins answered with a touchdown of their own, they trailed 29-21 — down by one score instead of the nine points (and two scores) they would have needed to tie, had the Lions made an extra point after Roberts' TD.
Ultimately, the two-point try didn't impact the game, as Prater answered with a game-clinching 50-yard field goal that left the Dolphins down 11 points when they got the ball back for their final, failed possession with 1:55 to play.
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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
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