Detroit Lions Weblog

Week 4-Lions at Bucs

Coming off a disastrous loss on the road against the Chicago Bears and a LONG bye week, the Lions have a lot to prove. They have to prove that they can weather some serious adversity, win a big game on the road, and build some confidence and momentum as potential contenders in an extremely weak NFC North. In order to do so they are going to perform much better than they have thus far in several major areas of their game.

This is really a poor matchup for the Lions. They have yet to prove they can stop an opponents ground game or establish a ground game for themselves. The Buccaneers feature the second best ground game in the NFL which rides on the back of rookie phenom Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. They also feature the best rushing defense in the NFL by a large margin (2.72 Yards/Rush and 51.7 YPG allowed Rushing, zero rushing TD’s allowed) These two factors will decide the outcome of this game. Until the Lions prove they can perform in either aspect of their game, it will be difficult imagining them winning any games for the remaining duration of the season for that matter.

After the Bears game, Steve Mariucci lamented over the criticism he and his coaching staff were receiving for their conservatism. He said that they had blitzed more often in that game than they ever had and that they had in fact attempted to spread the Bears defense with multi-receiver sets and had attempted to thrown the ball downfield more often. The issue in these matters is the situations in which the Lions decided to utilize these concepts in their game plan. The Lions under Mariucci are predictable because they only deviate from their conservative game plan when their backs are against the wall. Facing the Bucs this week, for example, they will need to attack the Bucs secondary early. The Bucs play a cover-2 zone defense which allows teams to exploit soft spots in the Buccaneers zone defense 10-15 yards downfield. Occasionally, you can also beat the Buccaneers deep due to blown coverages by their safeties. If the Lions stubbornly cling to their dink and dunk passing schemes the Buccaneers athletic and quick linebackers will gobble up the Lions skill players in a manner similar to that of how they handled the Raiders in the Super Bowl a few years ago. Needless to say, if the Lions plan to throw downfield more often, the Lions offensive line will have to perform a lot better than it has thus far. The Lions offensive line will have it’s hands full with DE’s Greg Spires and Simien Rice. The Lions also face the formidable task of trying to create holes in the middle of the Bucs defense with stout DT’s Chris Hovan and Anthony “Booker” McFarland plugging the middle. The Bucs also feature active linebackers in Ryan Nece and Derrick Brooks, who if they viewed recent tapes of Def. Coordinator Monte Kiffin’s devotees defenses (Lovie Smith with the Bears and also the Smith built Rams defense) manhandling the Lions with blitzes, will wreak havoc on the Offensive Line and running backs attempting to pick up blitzes. It is imperative that the Lions offense start to be able to operate more efficiently and generate some big plays. At this point, opposing teams are content in shutting down Kevin Jones and forcing Joey Harrington and the inexperienced receiving corps to try and beat them. If the Lions expect that situation to ever change, they are going to have to make teams pay for this strategy. Since Steve Mariucci and puppet/Off Coordinator Ted Tollner show no signs of attempting to take advantage of this situation, I can offer no optimistic predictions for the Lions offense untill further notice.

On Defense, the Lions will have to do their best to bottle up “Cadillac” Williams. Of course, this is no easy task. If they can contain Williams, they can pressure Bucs QB Brian Griese into making costly turnovers. Again, if Dick Jauron chooses to stand pat in the Lions “Bend and Break” defensive scheme, Griese will methodically pick apart the Lions defense with capable receivers Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, and Michael Clayton. Jon Gruden utilizes a similar dink and dunk scheme, being that he and Mariucci are disciples of the holy Bill Walsh/Mike Holmgen coaching tree, so the Lions will be up against a mirror image of themselves. The differences being, the effectiveness of Williams in the ground game, and the innovative formations that Gruden’s version of the West Coast Offense will utilize as opposed to the more conventional version the Lions use. This is a game that the Lions front seven can dominate and win. It will be interesting to see if Gruden attempts to attack CB Andre Goodman, who is the replacement for injured Fernando Bryant.

Until the Lions prove me wrong, my expectations for them performance wise are decidedly low. If they can’t get Kevin Jones going in the ground game, or stop the “Cadillac” Williams express, they will get bitch-slapped on the road again. BUCS 27 Lions 10

The highlight game for me this weekend!
Michigan St. 41 U-M 38

Week 4:Lions at Tampa Bay MatchUp

31. Detroit Offense vs./ 4.Tampa Bay Defense

Yardage

Yards
488/655
YPG
244.0 (30)/218.3(1)

Scoring

PTS
23/32

PPG
11.5/10.7

Passing

YPG
178.5(26)/166.7(4)

TD
3(18)/2(5)

Sack
5(6)/7(12)

INT
5(27)/6(2)

Rushing

YPG
65.5(29)/51.7(1)

TD
0(26)/0(1)

2. Detroit Defense vs. /18. Tampa Offense

Yardage

Yards
956/552

YPG
318.7(19)/276.0(6)

Scoring

Points
60/41

PPG
20.0/20.5

Passing

YPG
152.7(28)/159.8(3)

TD
4(12)/1(1)

Sack
5(6)/6(19)

INT
3(16)/2(18)

Rushing

YPG
166.0(2)/116.5(22)

TD
3(10)/2(12)

Turnover Ratio

Turnovers————Takeaways—-+/-
—-FUM–INT———-FUM—–INT–
DET-0—5————1———-2—/-2
TB–0—-3————3———-6–/+6

Team Efficiency
—-Offense—————————————-
–OFF Plays—RushAvg—-PassAvg—OFFAVG
DET-124——-2.67———4.76——–3.94
TB-194———4.45———5.59——–4.93
—-Defense—————————————
–DEF Plays–RushAvg—-PassAvg—DEFAvg
DET-126——4.31———4.43——–4.38
TB–152——-2.72———5.26——-4.31

RED ZONE
Offense——————————————
—POS—TD—-FG—Scor%—-TD%
DET-5—-2——1—–.600——.400
TB–9—–5—–1—–.667——-.556

Defense—————————————-
—POS—TD—-FG—Scor%—-TD%
DET-5—-2——0—-.400——.400
TB–5—-1——-2—-.600—–.200

Bryant’s Season Finished, etc.

It was announced on Monday that CB Fernando Bryant’s season was finished. The Lions signed WR Scottie Vines to fill the roster vacancy left by Bryant. Vines has bounced on and off the Lions roster so often in recent years it’s surprising that he has never caught on. It also has been announced that Andre Goodman will start in place of Bryant and that R. W. McQuarters will remain the Nickel Back.

The Lions hired former NFL receiver Shawn Jefferson to serve as their Intern Receiving Coach. It would seem that Jefferson, who briefly played with the Lions, would serve as an excellent mentor to the young Lions receivers. His presence can’t come a moment too soon. Charles Rogers is upset about his lack of involvement in the Lions offense and “Big” Mike Williams is starting to establish himself to the point that he will begin to take some plays away from Rogers. The Lions “Big 3″ had better improve in a hurry, in two games they have 12 receptions between them (Roy Williams 7, Charles Rogers 4, Mike Williams 1).

Teddy Lehman is listed as probable for Sunday and will pressing James “Dirty” Davis for playing time immediately. Unfortunately for the Lions, Corey Schlesinger still is not available to play. The Lions could really use his lead blocking against the stout Bucs rushing defense (The Bucs have allowed 58 total rushing yards in 3 games and the Kevin Jones is averaging a miserable 3.3 yards/carry).

It also looks like Jason Hanson will be able to resume his kicking responsibilities this weekend, which after Remy Hamilton’s blocked PAT against the Bears, which should alleviate a small portion of the Lion’s overall concerns about the Bucs game.

QB Casting Call, Marc Spindler, Bitter Pills

Sunday’s game has been a very bitter pill to swallow for me. I have been reviewing the game via a burned DVD and still can’t get over the way this team curled up into the fetal position and allowed the Bears to beat on them. It really stinks, there will be 2 more weeks worth of having a bad taste in my mouth!

It looks as if it was a smart decision for Matt Millen to make upgrades in the depth of the defensive secondary during the most recent offseason. With the loss of Fernando Bryant, players like Andre Goodman, Keith Smith, R. W. McQuarters, and Stanley Wilson, Jr. will gain an opportunity to prove their worth to the team. It is no small irony, that the best hit doled out by a Lion Sunday was on a teammate(Kenoy Kennedy’s hit on Bryant in the end zone which seemingly has ended Bryant’s season). Bryant’s loss will still hurt the team (even his performance has been uneven at best), Goodman who appears to be improved this season has never been consistent. Wilson, Jr. is a rookie with a lot of physical ability but little experience. McQuarters is too valuable as a nickel back to have him playing on every down. Smith showed a lot of promise last season but has been nearly invisible this year.

The Lions began open auditions for their QB vacancy yesterday. The first two lucky contestants were Shaun King and Jeff George. This event can be interpreted many different ways. On one hand, their is no guarantee Jeff Garcia will return healthy and the Lions could smartly be thinking pro-actively and attempting to determine who may best fit their system in advance. It could also mean that if we see another Detmeresque (My new favorite adjective, literally I’m beaming!) performance from Joey Harrington that the need for a veteran back-up becomes more immediate than the Lions have anticipated and they will need a fall-back plan. It is hard to stomach that the Lions future castoff Quarterback may not even be as good as a lot of other team’s castoffs who are bubbling on the periphery of NFL rosters. (Rick Mirer is as yet un-signed, right?)

Marc Spindler was a guest on the Fred Heuman show today on WQTX 92.1/92.7. They began Spindler’s spot with a tape of Heuman attempting to interview Spindler after a loss to the Bears that was much like the one the Lions experienced Sunday. Heuman mentioned that the team “looked flat” and Spindler went absolutely ballistic. After a long expletive-filled rant, Heuman backed down and the interview ended. I am not sure what year this interview
occured in, but it was a great lead-in after the recent loss. Spindler was very candid about the Lions. Spindler said that the Lions were terrible and that they were absolutely man-handled by the Bears. Spindler stated that in the Detroit area many fans feel that the blame resides with Mariucci. He also commented that really the whole situation is about accountability amongst the players. Team leaders hold other members of the team accountable. He gave an example of a time where maybe he would have screwed up his assignment and Chris Spielman would have got into his face and said “You owe us, You’ve got to make this up to us.” He doesn’t believe that anyone on the team has been consistently holding their teammates accountable. Spindler and Heuman seemed to agree that the sideline blow-up Sunday after Roy Williams ran the wrong route in the end zone was generally a good thing for the Lions. Spindler did state that if a coach is going to hold his player’s accountable, it should be done in private. He said that when Bobby Ross had his infamous press conference in Philadelphia after a disappointing loss, that Ross loss the respect of the team. He said that former Lions special teams coach Frank Gansz, used to say in criticism you are “not attacking the man, you are attacking the problem”.

Spindler also mentioned that in regards to the hard feelings towards Mariucci by the Lions fans that the players “Have to make plays and execute properly” and
that fans tend to focus too much on the coaches. He said that the Offensive Line has been so terrible that it has turned Joey Harrington into Joey “Scare”-rington. He also believes that Lions desperately miss Corey Schlesinger as a lead blocker and as help in blitz pick-up. Finally, Spindler said that if people believe that team’s problem is in it’s scheme or game plan and they believe that the coaches philosophy is too conservative, What do they want? If the Lions can’t execute a simple, vanilla game-plan, how can they execute a more intricate one.

Lastly, Monday’s press conferences really got me worked up. When Joey Harrington said that “Barry Sanders is not going to miraculously drop out of the sky” and that he believes that he and his current teammates can still win games and need to have faith in themselves to do so, I was left thinking, what are you exactly waiting for then Joey? When will this team make things happen? You do an awfully good job of putting a positive spin on situations like Sunday, but when do you get past meltdowns of that proportion? I also found Steve Mariucci’s defense of his game plan disturbing. He mentioned that the team blitzed more than it liked on defense and didn’t get additional pressure on Kyle Orton from it. He also said that the offense had utilized more 3 and 4 wide receiver sets and had thrown downfield more, which lead to the rash of interceptions. I guess my problem with his weak defense in both cases, is the
obvious predictability of his decisions. Of course when a team is down by 3 TD’s they will be blitzing more often. Of course when you are trying to come from behind you are going to put more wide receivers on the field and aggressively attempt to make up the deficit in the score. Every team would make these decisions, the problem people (I) have with Mariucci and his staff’s coaching philosphy is that it isn’t aggressive enough and the team has to have it’s back against the wall before we see the team take some chances. Lion’s fans just want to see the team put their opponents on their heels as opposed to the usual scenario where the Lions seem to be continuously on the retreat.

Accountability

When Steve Mariucci was hired, performances like we saw Sunday in Chicago were supposed to be eradicated. The Lions brought Mariucci/weg into the fold so that they could eliminate the stupid penalties, the outbreak of mind-numbing turnovers, and an overall lack of toughness and skill in the team’s personnel. With all honesty, Marty Mariucci/weg has done absolutely little to improve the team’s performance that we have long suffered through as Lions fans.

I remember during the Wayne Fontes era, how many Lion fans had regarded Fontes as the huge punchline to a not-so-funny joke. Their was a general consensus among Lions fans calling for Fontes dismissal as head coach. Hindsight being 20/20, in the past 25 years of this organization, this was comparatively a “golden era” for the team.

What is most troubling about performances like Sunday or the pre-season loss to the Rams, is how relatively ineffectual Steve Mariucci/weg appears in response to the team’s meltdowns. The second week of the season is not a time when a head coach starts addressing things that need to be fixed or attempts to “coach up” underperforming talent. The Lions are not the first team to get blown out in an important game, but they are among the relatively few in the NFL who carry around the organizational baggage that make games like Sunday’s loss so difficult to overcome.

Their is dissension bubbling in the ranks, outbursts like those that were witnessed by Mssr.’s Harrington, Jones, Johnson and Williams will become commonplace if things continue to unravel. Already, Charles Rogers has voiced his displeasure over not being more involved in the offense. With all honesty, a team who is supposed to be a playoff contender (or least a contender for a 8-8 record!) should not have games like what we have seen thus far in the season. The entire philosophy of the coaching staff and the front office will again need to be re-evaluated, in the very near future. Game 3 is not the time to scrap an offensive or defensive philosophy, but anything short of that type of upheaval before the next game will lead to major disappointments for Lion fans. As dismal as this offense has been, if the Lions defense is not more physical and aggressive the team will have difficulty finding it a possibility to win 5 or 6 games.

That what brings me to final point, accountability. The Lions ownership rewarded a team president with a contract extension before the season whose teams have recorded an awful 15 and 40-something record during his tenure. In turn, how can anybody hold Steve Mariucci/weg and his coaching staff to any comparable standards of performance, if the team president’s lackluster performance has been rewarded, encouraged, and must be by proxy considered up to acceptable standards by receiving the aforementioned contract extension. In all likelihood, this WILL be Steve Mariucci’s last season as a Lions head coach. Honestly, games like Sunday will continue to linger and spill over into future performances. Their will be alot of hard feelings and disappointment to go around within an organization who claims that they expect so much more. Where EXACTLY do Steve Mariucci and his staff begin attempting to fix things? What problems that the team encountered Sunday will be the easiest to fix?

The biggest losers in the entire pathetic equation remains to be all of the die- hard Lions fans who are sooooo hungry for a respectable team and have weathered the organization’s pitfalls through thick and thin. When has enough become enough?

Lions Brutalized by the Bears, Leinart Sweepstakes Begins?

Leave it to the Lions. Whenever this team takes a step forward, it takes two gi-normous steps backward. Whenever this teams faces adversity, it whithers under the pressure. The Lions coaching staff didn’t have the team ready to play in any facet of the game on Sunday against the Bears. Ultimately, even with the Lions overall poor execution in every aspect of the game, I still believe the blame resides with a coaching staff that has become too conservative and has nurtured a team that is too soft, too passive and lacking in aggression to overcome it’s place as an NFL bottom dweller. The Steve Mariucci jobwatch is in full gear. Recently, Matt Millen has stated that he has major disagreements with the Lions offensive philosophy. He believes that it needs to be more aggressive. This difference of philosophy may be the beginning of the unraveling of the Millen/Mariucci alliance.

Thus far, we have seen no deviation from the prolonged impotence of the Lions offensive system. If the team strings together a few more of these type of performances, they will be more than a bit player in the Matt Leinart QB sweepstakes next spring.

In my most recent post I mentioned that a few things had to happen in order for the Lions to win against the Bears:
1) The Lions would have to shut down the Bears ground game and place the burden upon Kyle Orton to win the game. They would also need to pressure Orton into making rookie QB mistakes.
2)The Lions would need to be effective in the ground game. They would also need for the offensive line to dominate the Bears defensive line so that Joey Harrington could operate efficiently. The Lions would need to pound the ball and wear out the Bears defense.
3)The Lions could not afford to turn the ball over to the Bears defense, the Bears have done an excellent job in recent years of turning turnovers into points.

The Lions did none of these things. It is a struggle to isolate one area where the Lions did anything with effectiveness yesterday. The Lions allowed a rookie QB, with one of the worst offenses in professional football to soundly beat them. It was no secret to anybody that if the Bears stood any chance to win, they would have to control the game by running the ball effectively with RB’s Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Why were the Lions unable to prevent this from happening? Why didn’t the Lions do everything within their power to make Kyle Orton have to throw the ball to win the game? The Bears scored 28 points off of Lion turnovers, where were the turnovers that would help Lions on their side of the ledger? Where was the incessant blitzing of lead-footed Kyle Orton?

The Lions offense was equally pathetic. Joey Harrington was continually pressured. He performed like a rookie quarterback, running scared. While Orton had all of the time in the world in which to operate, the Lions never gave Harrington the time to burn the Bears as they blitzed continuously and forced him into making mistakes. The Lions had to abandon the run early since the team suffered a meltdown so early in the game. They were unable to utilize their best offensive asset, Kevin Jones. Is there one NFL team out there who will casually allow Kevin Jones to beat them? I don’t expect for him to even get a chance at gaining 100 yards at this point. Every team will load up the box and allow Harrington to meekly complete 3 and 4 yard pass plays and pressure him into mistakes. The Lions have a ridiculously timid offensive scheme, and when you factor in the inability of the offensive line to protect Harrington, the team can ill afford to open up it’s offensive game plan. The Lions will have to use their TE’s and FB’s to help against the edge rush and blitzes just to buy a little more time for Harrington. There is no opportunity for the Lions to spread out defenses and utilize their receiving talent if Joey Harrington has no time in which to operate. Joey Harrington completed 8 passes of 5 yards or less for a total of 26 passing yards. Name one team in all of football who is not salivating at the thought of facing the Lions offense. Jeff Backus, in his contract year, needs to be benched. His inability to make blocks on Harrington’s blindside is destroying this team. I don’t care if they have to try out practice squad linemen for the job, until they shore their offensive line their inability to score will continue.

The play that will be most remembered as indicative of the Lions performance, was the blundered pass in Bears territory intended for Roy Williams and interecepted by Bears CB Nathan Vasher. According to reports, Joey Harrington audibled the play at the line of scrimmage, calling for a fade route into the corner of the end zone. Williams, either missed the audible or broke off the route trying to find an opening for Harrington to complete a pass to him. At any rate, not only was the play loused up, but it caused a 14-point swing in the game because the Bears marched down the field and scored. The most disappointing aspect of the play, was Roy Williams’s complete lack of effort on the play. It is elemental when a pass is obviously going to be intercepted that the receiver becomes a defensive back and tries to deflect the ball or disrupt the intereceptor’s focus so that the ball is not turned over. Williams just quit on the play. His lack of effort is a reflection of the lack of intensity and focus from the top down within the entire organization. Good teams find a way to prevent that interception. Bad Teams rollover and allow their asses to get kicked! The team has a long two weeks to prepare for another road game against 2-0 Tampa Bay. Have fun,losers!

Week 2:Bears vs. Lions

The Lions are riding high off of last Sunday’s victory against Green Bay. Week 2 will be a big game for the Lions because, at least on paper, they should have a distinct personnel advantage over the Bears. That being said, the Lions are missing a major component to their success, FB Corey Schlesinger, and may also be without another primary component in kicker Jason Hanson. It appears that a decision will be made on Friday whether or not Hanson will be able to kick against the Bears or if the team will sign a replacement kicker for one week.

On offense, the Lions will be facing a very difficult task against the aggressive Bears defense. The Lions will want to establish Kevin Jones early in the ground game. The Bears, with their capable cornerbacks, Charles Tillman and Jerry Azumah, will load up the box with their strong safety Mike Green and try to neutralize Kevin Jones. If Jones is slowed by the Bears front seven, the Lions will be forced to rely upon Joey Harrington beating the aforementioned corners on the outside in the passing game. The Lions did attempt to throw the ball downfield more often against Green Bay but still have not attempted to spread out opposing defenses with three and four wide receiver sets. However, with the Bears quick playmaking defensive ends, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye, the Lions may have little opportunity to spread the defense because they will have to utilize a lot of max-protect formations with the backs and tight ends (limiting their ability to utilize three and four wide receivers) helping the offensive linemen to protect Joey Harrington. The max-protect offensive sets will also help the Lions to neutralize the Bears blitzing, which I expect will be more frequent that what the Lions saw against the Packers last week. Kevin Jones and Shawn Bryson will have to do very good in blitz pick-up, the Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith, if you remember, was the architect of the Rams pressure defense that soundly embarassed the Lions offense in the preseason. In the past, the Lions have had success running straight at Brian Urlacher and I am sure that the Lions will attempt to beat the Bears again by overpowering them, even if DT Tommie Harris and NT Ian Scott are quite good at clogging up the middle. The most important factor when playing the Bears defense is to not turn the ball over(The Bears lead the NFL in points scored by their defense last season). If the Lions can win the field position battle and not give the Bears offense opportunities to capitalize on turnovers, they will win because the Bears offense is so limited.

On Defense, the Lions will follow a similar game plan to the Bears. They will attempt to eliminate Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson from the Bears offensive game plan by loading up around the line of scrimmage and daring rookie QB Kyle Orton to beat them. If the Lions gain any sort of sizable lead the Bears will be in real trouble because then the Lions will be able to blitz Orton and disguise coverages in order to try and confuse him. Hopefully, the week one performance of the Lions defensive line will be replicated. If they consistently stuff the run and pressure Orton the Bears will be in a lot of trouble. WR Muhsin Muhammad will be a handful for the Lions secondary, in all likelihood, he will often be double-teamed or bracketed with safety help over the top so that he is not able to beat the Lions secondary deep. The real challenge for the Lions will be limiting young WR’s Justin Gage and Bernard Berrian from hurting them when the secondary focuses it’s energies on stopping Muhammad. Of special concern is Bernard Berrian, who is very quick and may be able to take advantage of the relative lack of speed in the Lions secondary.

I feel that the Lions will win this game, but it will be far from easy. With Jason Hanson out of the game(if he is unable to play), the Lions will be very pressured to score early and gain a sizable lead. The last thing they will want is for the game to be close and have to depend on a kicker like Remy Hamilton or Wade Richey to have to win the game for them. I think that in the end, the Bears offense will not be effective enough against the improved Lions defense and the Bears defense will be overexposed having to spend too much time on the field and will be worn down from consistently being pounded by Kevin Jones and the Lions rushing attack. Joey Harrington will not lose this game and the Lions receivers will make enough big plays for the Lions to win 24-13.

Lions Win and Earn Every Bit of It

Yesterday’s season opener wasn’t a work of art as far team performances go. Neither team appeared to be close to mid-season form, but the Lions were definitely much better than the Packers (at least on that day). As much of a struggle as it was for the Lions, the players and fans should all be very proud. It was imperative that they start the season with a victory, especially against a divisional foe, against one of the biggest luminaries in the league and against the 3-time repeating division champions.

As the game progressed there was a perceivable changing of the guard. The Packers salted away numerous opportunities with penalties, turnovers and general ineptitude(like teams of Lions past!). Meanwhile, against all expectations, the Lions were stout to all Packer challenges and showed a determination and grit that had yet to be exhibited prior to this game. Throughout the second half, I suffered from anxiety as I kept waiting for the “real” Brett Favre to emerge and make the Lions pay by throwing a Touchdown strike off of his back foot while under chase or for Ahman Green to find daylight for one brief moment and deadlock the score with a long TD jaunt. I am sure that anyone reading this blog can attest to some similar nightmare scenarios continually flashing through their mind’s eyes while they sipped their favorite pilsner and looked on.

Offensively, the Lions were a far cry from the “Greatest Show on Turf”. Still, they managed to find a way to play efficient, credible football. The offensive line remains one of the team’s primary concerns, but it was clear that the Lions offensive personnel also commands respect from opponents as evidenced by the interminable string of pass interference penalites on the Green Bay secondary. I was very excited to see the Lions stretch the field vertically, even if Harrington and his receivers weren’t quite in sync in their downfield attempts. Harrington did complete a 31 yard pass to Charles Rogers that lead to the Lions final TD which sealed the game. I also enjoyed greatly watching offseason additions Marcus Pollard, Kevin Johnson and Mike Williams make an imediate impact towards the Lions success. Most of all, you have to credit Kevin Jones for all of his tough 3 and 4 yard gains against a stouter than expected Green Bay front seven. When you factor in the Lions poor offensive line play, Jones may have gained some of the most tenacious yards any Lions has ever earned. On each successive carry, Jones continues to establish that he is the most important player on the roster and that without him, well let’s just say it is quite hard to imagine their being much success for this team without him.

The Lions defensive performance was a welcome surprise. The pressure they placed on Favre(3 sacks), the turnovers they generated(1 fumble, 2 interceptions), along with holding Ahman Green to 58 harmless rushing yards prevented the Packers offense from scoring a TD for the first time in 77 games. Prior to the game, I figured that if the Packers were to be succesful, that Ahman Green would be the primary component to their offense. Anytime this season that Brett Favre throws more that 40 passes, it is quite likely that the Packers will lose more often than they will win because their defense will be spending way too much time on the field. The entire Lions front seven deserves special mention, their performance won the game for the Lions and never allowed Favre to get into any kind of rhythm.

The Lions did suffer a costly loss. They will probably lose veteran standby K Jason Hanson for at least one game to a strained hamstring. This would be a huge loss, especially with the Lions red zone difficulties. That being said, if the Lions sign a backup placekicker for one week and the bye, I have much more confidence in the team’s ability to overcome Hanson’s loss than I would have had prior to Sunday’s game. The bubbling giddiness of Joey Harrington in his post-game interviews shows just how important it was for this team to emerge victorious over the Packers in this early stage of the season and could prove to be a building block to other victories this year.

Let the Windmill Jousting Begin!

Is there a more star-crossed franchise in all of professional football? Which NFL team’s history is most likely to have been scripted by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes? 16 wins and 40-something losses in the last four years? The Lions certainly give all of the indicators as posessors of all of the trappings (bread and circuses?) to have a successful team. Imposing new Black jerseys, loud rock music blaring, dry ice and bright lights flashing, rabid, loyal fans screaming at the top of their lungs, as the home team emerges from the tunnel like a thundering horde from Valhalla. On the surface, this team is very exciting. The first game of the 2005 season will go along ways towards establishing whether the team will generate the on-field performance necessary to match this Wagnerian spectacle.

In order for the Lions to have a remote chance Sunday Night, they will have to score early and often on offense. The Packers plan on offense should be two-fold:1) Grind it out with Ahman Green, Najeh Davenport and Tony Fisher running the ball to keep their weak defense off of the field. 2) Brett Favre will sit in the pocket and pick apart the Lions secondary at will, especially if he is not pressured. If the Lions score early and get a lead, the Packers will be unable to stick to their ball-control ground attack.

The Lions should utilize as many multi-receiver and multi-tight end sets as possible. The soft, white underbelly of the Packers will be exposed when playing their dime and nickle defensive backs in matchups against the Lions multi-receiver sets. The Packers are unable to generate much of a pass rush outside of Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, so the Lions will have to improve 110% in their blitz pick-up. Routinely, Lions offensive tackles Jeff Backus and Kelley Butler have looked overmatched against the blitz and edge rushers in the pre-season. I have a frozen image(nightmares) in my mind of Kevin Jones getting slobberknockered by Chris Claiborne in the Rams pre-season game on a blitz pick-up. It will tip the Lions hand completely to the Packers defense if Jones is incapable of doing a better job picking up blitzers, because they will be forced to remove him and put in Shawn Bryson in passing situations. The Packers don’t often choose to blitz heavily, but viewing pre-season tapes it would seem likely they will amp up their blitzing significantly. If the Lions can spread the Packers defense out with multi-receiver sets, they will also open up plenty of running room for Kevin Jones who should have a field day against the Packers. If the Packers are able to generate pressure on Harrington and the Lions are unable to take advantage of the Packers secondary, it will be a very long day for the Lions.

The Lions defense can’t allow the Packers to do what the Rams did the first play of their game in the pre-season by allowing the offense to crash down and opening up a big runing lane to the outside. Shaun Rogers, Marcus Bell, Big Daddy Wilkinson and Shaun Cody are very important in this game. If they are stout against the run, the Packers will be forced to throw more often. The Lion’s Defensive Tackles should dominate journeymen OG Adrian Klemm and former Michigan State rookie Will Whitticker. I think the Lions will hopefully be able to generate the additional pressure it is unable to receive from ends Kalimba Edwards and Corey Redding by bullrushing the interior of the Packers line and collapsing the pocket onto Favre and forcing him to rollout. If the Lions follow their previous track record against the Packers, Favre will reside comfortably in the pocket and pick them apart all day. This has often proved suicidal, even with a much improved secondary, the Packers will make big play after big play if there is no pressure on Favre.

This game is incredibly improtant for the success of this season. If we see another exhibition of the “Same Old Lions” the fans will cannibalize Joey Harrington and Steve Mariucci. The amount of patience alloted will be very short this year and a good start against the Packers will give the young Lions something to build upon as they hope to approach playoff contention. Being a lifelong fan, I can’t help but believe that Favre will light up the Lions for 350 yards passing and three TD’s, meanwhile, the Lions will be unable to take advantage of the Packer secondary as Joey Harrington is routinely pressured heavily and forced to meekly and continually check the ball down to secondary receivers, which will lead to innumberable three-and-outs and a roaring cascade of boos from the home crowd. The game will remain close, because the Lions are at home and the Packers defense is terrible. Packers 31 Lions 27.

Concerns, Predictions

The Lions have finally obtained the necessary personnel to contend for the NFC North division title. There are several things that have to happen in order for them to be able to do so:

1)Kevin Jones must remain healthy (He is infinitely more important than any other player for the team to be a success)
2) Joey Harrington must continue his gradual improvement (around 60% completion pctg, INT’s<15,TD's>20, better decision-making)
3) The defense must find a way to pressure opposing QB’s. Dick Jauron doesn’t like to blitz a lot. If they are unable to get a consistent additional pass rush from Shaun Cody or Kalimba Edwards, they will need to blitz more. If they blitz more that means more man-to-man coverage in the secondary increasing the likelihood of giving up big offensive plays.
4) Red Zone Offense The Lions have to find a way to put the ball in the end zone. At this point, most opponents will blitz freely in the red zone forcing Harrington to make a quick decision to check down in order to avoid a sack. Jeff Backus and Kelley Butler will have to perform better against opposing edge rushers so that Harrington has the time to find open receivers.
5) The defense must tackle better. During the pre-season, it was apparent that the Lions tackling was not as consistent as it will need to be in order for them to be succesful.

I am very concerned about the offensive system in general, at this point. With all of the receivers that the Lions posess, the recent rules changes in regards to the “5-yard contact” rule, and the general impotence of the Lions offense last season, it is very important that their philosophy become more agressive. Their passing game has to be more vertical and the team should utilize the match-up problems that it’s skill players can generate. With the effectiveness of Kevin Jones and the dink-n-dunk West Coast Offense, opposing defenses can go a long ways towards neutralizing the Lions offense by walking the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage and loading up the “tackle box”. If the Lions stubbornly refuse to stretch the field (at least on occasion) it will be a long disappointing season.

I ran through the Lions season and have them ending up at a lukewarm 8-8.
WK 1 Loss Green Bay 31-27
WK 2 Win at Chicago 21-13
WK 3 BYE
WK 4 Loss at Tampa Bay 21-17
WK 5 Win Baltimore 17-16
WK 6 Loss at Carolina 27-12
WK 7 Win at Cleveland 28-17
WK 8 Win Chicago 31-21
WK 9 Loss at Minnesota 34-17
WK 10 Win Arizona 21-17
WK 11 Loss at Dallas 24-17
WK 12 Loss Atlanta 23-14
WK 13 Win Minnesota 27-24
WK 14 Loss at Green Bay 34-14
WK 15 Win Cincy 27-20
WK 16 at New Orleans(?) Win 28-17
WK 17 Loss at Pittsburgh 37-20

The most crucial games in my opinion are week 1 at home against Green Bay and weeks 10-13(Arizona, Dallas, Atlanta, and Minnesota). I still don’t believe the Lions will be much better on the road this year. If they can win against Green Bay and steal one against Atlanta at home or against Dallas on the road they may find themselves in the position to contend for the division.