DETROIT >> For the second straight game, the Lions played two rookies on the left side of the offensive line.
On Sunday, it was not out of necessity due to injury.
It was because guard Graham Glasgow played well the previous week when guard Larry Warford was out with an injury.
So for the second straight game Glasgow started at left guard alongside rookie left tackle Taylor Decker.
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Matthew Stafford was sacked twice and the run game churned up 94 yards with the newly configured line.
“(Glasgow) performed well, and I think that’s what it really boils down to,” coach Jim Caldwell said. “We have to do what’ best, what we think just in terms of the preparation. We let him practice during the course of the week, we made a decision late in the week.”
Warford returned to his usual spot at right guard on Sunday.
Laken Tomlinson, the 2015 first-round pick, was the odd man out.
Zenner’s first
With Theo Riddick and Dwayne Washington out with ankle injuries, Zach Zenner was the starting running back for the second straight week.
He scored his first ever Lions’ touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter to put the Lions up 10-3.
Zenner finished with nine carries for 29 yards.
Justin Forsett, in his second game with the Lions had eight carries for 33 yards and two catches for 15. It was a huge improvement over his first game when he had five carries for five yards.
Also, Matthew Stafford contributed 32 rushing yards on two carries.
Home sweet home
The Lions are halfway through their home schedule with a 3-1 record, including three wins in the last three weeks at Ford Field.
Caldwell believes there is something to home advantage.
“I’m not going to discount that notion because of the fact that I do think that play at home – obviously with our crowd, our crowd affects a lot of teams,” Caldwell said. “I think you can see them trying to get snaps off. There’s delay of games there’s offside, there’s a lot of different things that they make it real uncomfortable so playing at home, I think without question is a huge advantage for us.”
The Lions play next week at Houston and the following Sunday at Minnesota.
They return to Ford Field on Nov. 20 against Jacksonville.
By the numbers
Golden Tate was targeted a dozen times and had six catches for 93 yards. … Marvin Jone Jr. had four catches for 94 yards – a 23.5 yard average. … Matthew Stafford was 18 of 29 for 266 yards, one touchdown and a 103.5 rating in his 100th game. … The Lions were 3-of-9 on third downs. … Penalties were not an issue with just four for 30 yards for Detroit. … Once again Tahir Whitehead led the defense with 12 tackles. … Rafael Bush and Armonty Bryant each had a sack.
Ins and outs
Tight end Eric Ebron (knee/ankle), linebacker DeAndre Levy (quad/knee), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (shoulder), running back Theo Riddick (ankle), running back Dwayne Washington (ankle) and tackle Corey Robinson (ankle) were not active due to injury.
Rookie cornerback Adairius Barnes was also inactive.
Tight end Jordan Reed (concussion) was inactive for the Redskins.
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