Every dog has his day ... except for the Lions, apparently, with Detroit, coming off a missed opportunity in Week 10 (they tied the Steelers, who were playing without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger), staring down the barrel of another winless season. Lions newcomer Jared Goff has largely disappointed this year, but even after his dud against Pittsburgh (114 passing yards with most of that output coming in overtime), the former Ram would have to be better than the alternative, which is backup quarterback Tim Boyle, an undrafted 27-year-old whose career stat line includes three completions for 15 scoreless yards. But with Goff missing a second straight practice Thursday, the result of an oblique injury suffered early in Week 10, Boyle could be under center Sunday at Cleveland.
Unsung heroes like Mike White and D’Ernest Johnson are a dime a dozen in the NFL, where anonymous stars come out of the woodwork on a near-weekly basis. But before you get cocky thinking Boyle might join them on the Mount Rushmore of overnight sensations, let’s first consider his track record.
Boyle, who, to this point, has played all of 43 NFL snaps and none since December of last year (the last we saw him, he kneeled down on three straight plays against the Titans), boasts prototypical quarterback size at 6’4”/227. Unfortunately, as evidenced by his disastrous college career spent at UConn and Eastern Kentucky (both existing on the fringes of NCAA football), there’s not much else in his arsenal. Boyle’s ghastly tenure in Storrs produced one touchdown, 13 interceptions, -122 rushing yards and a miserable 48.4 completion percentage. Not to pile on the poor kid, but the Middletown, Connecticut native fared only marginally better at EKU, again finishing with negative rushing yards (-40 on 19 attempts) and more interceptions (13), than touchdowns (12).
Given his lack of college success (to put it mildly), it’s a marvel Boyle has made it this far in the NFL, surviving long enough to potentially make his starting debut in Week 11, albeit for a winless Lions team with a -110-point differential. As inept as Goff has been, looking nothing like a player who was once drafted first overall, the prospect of Boyle taking the field against a swarming Cleveland pass rush led by Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney and presumptive Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett (league-high 13 sacks) seems objectively cruel.
Even against a maddeningly inconsistent Browns team with an injured quarterback of their own (Baker Mayfield admitted this is the most beat up he’s been in his career), it’s no wonder FanDuel Sportsbook has installed the Lions as 11.5-point road underdogs (a line that, at first glance, seems overly conservative) in a game that’s bound to get ugly.
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