Detroit Lions Weblog

This Too Shall Pass

2 October 2006

Sometimes in the life of an avid sport's fan there comes a breaking point. This weekend was one of the cruelest in recent memory for me (at least that I can recollect). My beloved Detroit Tigers gagged away their precious opportunity for their first division championship in 19 years by finishing 19-31 and improbably, losing their last 5 home games. My alma mater Michigan State, a 26 point favorite to win their homecoming game against Illinois, clutched defeat from the jaws of victory by turning in one of their most inexplicably uninspired performances in recent memory. This loss, entering into the toughest part of their schedule, has sparked a firestorm that will be so potentially damaging to the school's football program that it may take another five years and a new head coach to regain any semblance of stability.

That leaves the Lion's, stalwarts at playing just well enough to lose. Admittedly, the team is playing a thrilling brand of offense that will light up scoreboards and make them competitive against nearly any team in the NFL. The emergence of a bonafide offense provides me with a lot more hope that they can finish this season respectably, as long as they are able to reverse their defense's trend towards profusely bleeding out points, which effectively undercuts any success that the team's offense has enjoyed to this point.

The Lion's defensive statistics are nearly surreal. After 5 sacks from their front four in the opening game, they have garnered 1 sack in the last 3 games. Opposing QB's have completed 71.3% of their passes for 10 TD's and 0 INT's. This output makes the Lion's four opposing QB's collective passer rating an astonishing 121.9. The Lion's defense has allowed 99 points in the last three games. Unfortunately, defense's who allow this type of production can't expect to win very often, not even in the Arena League.

This type of output really puts a lot more pressure for the Lion's offense to perform at a high level and decreases their room for error. The Lion's 3 turnovers were a major factor in their loss to the Ram's especially considering that the Lion's were unable to create any Ram's turnovers. Their was not one Lion's fan who has not seen the script to the ending of yesterday's game played out before.

The game's ending is what is most troubling about yesterday's loss. As a Lion's fan, I have come to expect losses like the team suffered Sunday. It's like a visit from a familiar friend or a cup of warm tea, things that may create some initial discomfort but overall are pleasureable experiences. Rod Marinelli has to make it his first priority to find ways to change the culture of this team so games with familiar endings, like Sunday's, become a distant memory.

Comments

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orangeandbrown replied on October 2, 2006 11:14 PM:

The defense has some problems. I wonder how smart it was to pick a D-Coordinator who wants to blitz and pair him with a head coach who wants to play a gap system that doesn't blitz. You have teams that go into max protect, and pick apart our d-backfield with fewer receivers.

Anyway, the other problem the defense has is a lack of good players, especially at LB.

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