Detroit Lions Weblog

“Unbelieveable”-Joey Harrington

That one word statement pretty much summed up what all Lion fans were feeling after Don Muhlbach botched the snap on the Lion’s final PAT attempt. As the camera panned on the ailing Harrington, the words he mouthed summed up the situation as Lion fans regained the sinking feeling that has permeated our being for years and has become all too familiar. The Lions not only lose games, they are creative in the manner by which they undertake each loss!

Amazingly enough, this is not the only loss this season that is not at least partially attributable to the blunder of a long snapper. If you will recall, Muhlbach’s predecessor, Jody Littleton, attempted to snap while injured against Washington and his poor snaps had a direct outcome on that game as well. As good a coach as Chuck Priefer has been through the years, far too many games have suffered from special teams mishaps and general poor play. This should be a major concern for Steve Mariucci as the team moves forward.

This is a game that hopefully provides the impetus for the team to begin to turn around from the tailspin that has seen the team lose 7 of it’s last 8 games. Joey Harrington, who has been under heavy scrutiny, displayed some of the requisite toughness and fortitude that Lion fans have been longing for. For him to go ahead and play when he could have easily opted out was notable. Even more notable was the fact that he was willing to attack the poor Vikings secondary and at no time did the offense not valiantly attempt to bounce back from a Minnesota lead. Roy Williams also exhibited a great deal of grit, not only playing through pre-existing injuries, but also grinding out an excellent performance while adding a hip injury to his already ailing body.

Other than Kevin Jones’s fumble, for the most part the offense performed very well. Az Hakim was as much a factor as he has been the entire time he has been a Lion. I especially enjoyed watching him have the field awareness to add to an already large gain by pitching the ball to a streaking Shawn Bryson after a second half catch. The Lions receivers still dropped far too many balls, an ongoing problem for more than one season, that MUST be addressed this offseason. Joey Harrington had a pretty good day, even with his two interceptions. One came on a miscommunication between he and Roy Williams and other probably came as a result of Williams being injured and unable to catch a pass that was thrown a little ahead of him. Steve Mariucci called a good game. I still have a problem with the fact that the Lions were unable to score six points instead of a field goal just before the half, but Az Hakim’s drop was equally responsible for them having to settle for a field goal. I also think that Mariucci still is plagued by getting away from the running game too soon. Kevin Jones ran pretty well, but with only 19 carries and 7 in the second half, he was given little opportunity to be the game-changing factor, he has been in recent weeks. I think the Lions would have definitely edged Minnesota in time of possession had they better utilized Kevin Jones and possibly benefited most during the second half as they would continued to wear down the Viking defense.

On defense, I believe the front seven had one it’s best games of the year. The Defensive line rotation consistently effected the running game and applied a lot of pressure to Daunte Culpepper. The linebackers also were very effective, the Vikings really did not have one of their better offensive days if you exclude their 3 big plays that lead to TD’s. Disappointingly, the defense allowed the Vikings to march right down the field after the offense had tied the game, not being stout during crucial situations has been their downfall as a unit. The defense should have rose to the occasion here and the game may not had to have come down to the last minute. The secondary was terrible, the safeties in particular have become a liability. I didn’t count, but there were a number of occasions where Brock Marion missed tackles. On the big plays by the Viking receivers, it seemed that the safeties were unable to provide any over-the-top help to the badly beaten Lion’s corners. Most notably, the Randy Moss 80 + yard touchdown. On a third down and extremely long yardage to go, their is no excuse whatsoever for the most dangerous receiver in the entire NFL to split the secondary and get behind the safeties. That is just plain terrible football. I was glad to see Terrence Holt get some playing time. I have high hopes for him as a performer and have wondered why he has not played more this season.

As a footnote to this season, I can think of no way more appropriate for the Lions to yet again lose a close game. As deflating as the loss was, I still left it feeling more positive than I could have at any other point during the season. As the team moves forward, hopefully it will be able to build upon performances like the one it had yesterday.