Golden Tate calls Lions offense ‘embarrassing’

"Embarrassing" was the only way Golden Tate could describe the Detroit Lions' horrendous offensive performance on Sunday, the latest in a series of poor outings from a group that was supposed to be one of the league's best units.

"It's one of those games, we just ... it's embarrassing," Tate told ESPN after Detroit was run out of New England in a 34-9 loss to the Patriots. "We've got to chalk it up and have a short-term memory. That's the most important thing, not to lose our swagger, not to lose our confidence."

The Lions charged out of the gates this season by hanging 35 points and 417 yards on the Giants in Week 1, an outing that earned them instant Super Bowl hype. That hype hung around for the next 10 weeks, but only because the defense was playing at an elite level. The offense hasn't posted more than 24 points since the opener and a unit that was supposed to be one of the league's most prolific is averaging a paltry 17.9 points per game, fifth-worst in the league.

"Everybody has one of them games," receiver Jeremy Ross said. "We just weren't executing, weren't playing Detroit Lion football, the football that we know we are capable of playing. Whenever there's dropped passes, there's just lack of focus on our part."

At 7-4, Detroit sits just one game behind the Packers. But catching up won't happen until the offense begins playing to its potential. While Green Bay's offense has hit full throttle over the past month, the Lions are faltering.