Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions 17 Falcons 10

The Lions came through with a major victory this Sunday in Atlanta. The extra week of preparation and excellent execution provided the Lions with bountiful opportunities to win the game. Atlanta also contributed by not performing well in the elements of their game that have allowed them to win football games thus far.

The Lions Defensive Line may have single-handedly decided the outcome of the game. Their persistent pressure, creation of turnovers and containment of Michael Vick made Atlanta appear out of sync on offense. Dick Jauron is to be commended for being creative in his use of the Lions D-Linemen. He rotated the linemen effectively and more importantly moved the linemen around positionally in order to better pressure Vick. Many times the D-Line sets features Shaun Rogers on the end and either Kalimba Edwards or Jared DeVries at nose tackle/defensive tackle. Throughout the day, Vick was continually pressured and hurried. 6 sacks by the defensive line was an absolutely stellar performance. Even more importantly, those hurries and sacks caused three Michael Vick fumbles, two of which the Lions were fortunate enough to recover. Shaun Rogers continue to assert his status as one of top two or three Dt’s in the NFC if not the game. Rogers appears motivated and his weight gain problems appear to be behind him.

The Lions ability to control the ball and the fact that they had no turnovers also were a major component to their victory. Tom Rathman has stressed ball preservation with the backs and it seems to be taking hold. Many times Artose Pinner (23 carries 68 yards 3.0 yards/carry) would get stood up by the tackler, or be digging in for extra yards by giving a second effort as he entered a pile of would be tacklers. These are both situations where another defender will often swoop in and knock the ball from out of the running backs hands. Pinner always seemed cognizant of the importance of concentrating of the “4 points of pressure” on the ball that Mariucci’s coaching staff stresses. Joey Harrington did an excellent job of spreading the ball around( 8 different receivers made catches). He was very efficient in his decision making. Harrington was 16-24 for 146 yards with 1 TD pass. His Qb rating for the game was 96.9, increasing his season rating to 92.3 which is very respectable. The Lions played it very safe with their play calling. Harrington completed no passes over 15 yards downfield. I believe that this was in deference to the Atlanta pass rush. Az Zahir Hakim did have a 39 yard gain for a touchdown but most of those yards came after the catch on a short slant that he turned into a big gain. Harrington also missed on a pass to Roy Williams on the Lions 1st drive of the second half. That pass would have gone for more than 15 yards and had Harrington thrown the ball well, quite possibly a touchdown.

It was also very encouraging to see the Lions rise to the occasion early in the ball game. The Lions had stopped the Falcons and forced Atlanta to punt. An Atlanta penalty forced the Falcons to have to punt again. On the second punt, Chris Mohr was noticeably closer to the line of scrimmage but the Lions were slow to react to his fake as he hit Brian Finneran for a 24 yard gain. Inevitably, as Lions fans can attest to, this type of situation will lead to a score by a Lion’s opponent. Remarkably, the Lion’s had a quick answer. Even more importantly, they scored a large gain for a touchdown on a 4th down conversion. At that point the Lion’s made it known to Atlanta that they were facing a different team than they had become accustomed to.

The next play from scrimmage after the score Alex Lewis made an excellent play that turned the tide of the entire game. Alex Lewis was dropping into his zone reading Vick’s eyes on a pass play. Vick somehow managed not to find Lewis sitting down in the coverage and Lewis jumped the route in order to make a huge play and return the ball to the Atlanta 5 yard line. The Lions did have difficulties executing their short yardage offense inside the red zone all day but Artose Pinner was able to punch the ball in for his first career touchdown.

The next Atlanta series was pivotal to the outcome of the game. Jim Mora may have his decision he made on this drive come back to haunt him should Atlanta not make the playoffs at the end of the season. The Falcons moved the ball back down the field after Vick evaded the pass rush and threw a ball that hung
in the air like a punt and was caught by Peerless Price for a big gain. On the play, Keith Smith made the mistake of leaving Price in order to attempt to make a play on the scrambling Vick. The Falcons drive stalled and they would have to kick a field goal. Inexplicably, Mora called for a fake field goal. This was a risky call that his kicker should have audibled off or called a time out. The Lions had it snuffed out. Terrence Holt was in coverage and Jay Feely lost two yards meanwhile the Falcons lost three sure points. In this case, this was a pretty risky decision by Mora because the Lions would be receiving the kickoff after halftime. This could have quite possibly have ended up in a 10 point swing for the Falcons had the Lions scored on their opening drive. The Lions led 14-7 at the half.

After the first drive of the second half the Lions again were the beneficiaries of an Atlanta turnover after Allen Rossum coughed up a punt. Keith Smith made an excellent hit on the play causing the fumble. The Lions moved to the Atlanta 2 yard line and were unable to convert on a Harrington pass in the back of end zone. Harrington was pressured on the play and according to Jim Brandstetter, Dominic Raiola did not pick up a crucial block in the play.

Atlanta answered the Detoit field goal with one of it’s own. Later in the second halfthe Lions were running down the clock and were effectively moving the ball. Dominic Raiola and Jeff Backus effectively killed that opportunity by drawing penalties. The Lions radio announcers were unrelenting in their criticism of Raiola’s poor play and decision making. This is the point of the game where Lion’s fans get that feeling deep within the pits of their stomachs of impending doom. Especially after Atlanta marched down the field with relative ease to get near field goal range. Jared DeVries nearly single-handedly turned the Falcons
downfield march back by sacking Vick and forcing a fumble within the span of two plays.

One other point of concern is the fact that Jason Hanson has missed 2 field goals over the Lion’s first four games. Hopefully, he will perform better over the rest of the season.