Detroit Lions Weblog

WEEK 13: Detroit VS. Minnesota

Only in the serendipitous world of the Detroit Lions do you: 1) Fire Your Head Coach 2) Name his good friend and Def Coordinator, Interim Head Coach (The Interim is a former Lions player who purportedly was a suitor to the owner’s daughter during his playing days) 3) Have your CEO state that a reason for your former Head Coach’s termination was an inability to develop younger players 4) In turn, allow your Interim to name a 35-year old, Hobbled, Glue-Factory Bound Qb as his starter while your 27-year old QB remains as the team’s token scapegoat and continues to erode away at large chunks of your team’s salary cap while ably clutching a clipboard. Tea with the Mad Hatter and Croquet with the Queen of Hearts can only be a few precipitous steps away, right?

This game should be close. If the Lions can’t find motivation to play well this Sunday, after the week it is coming off of, then the Lions should just go ahead and forfeit their remaining games for this season. Last Year, for several games, Greg Olson assumed the role as the team’s Offensive Coordinator and was able to call plays effectively enough that the team was able to have it’s most productive offensive outings of the season.

On Offense, the Lions will need for Kevin Jones, Shawn Bryson, and Artose Pinner to eat up chunks of yards and control the clock. If the Lions can finally establish a capable ground attack, they should be able to exploit a weakened Minnesota secondary. The team may need to exploit the edge of Minnesota’s defense, NT Pat Williams and MLB Sam Cowart are excellent run-stuffers. In their last 6 games, Minnesota has only allowed 72.8 YDS/G rushing and Darren Sharper is playing like the ballhawking, playmaker that he has been for his entire career. Jeff Garcia will be efficient, and should be capable in managing the Lion’s offense as long as he doesn’t give repeat performances like his pooch-punt pass of last week or his in-the-grasp, grenade-toss lateral from several weeks ago. I am not a fan of Garcia, I think he’s long been washed-up. I also believe that one way the Lions could have taken advantage of the Vikings is by attacking them downfield. This attacking passing game is not a viable option with the rag-armed Garcia at the helm. This week, TE Marcus Pollard, WR’s Charles Rogers, Scottie Vines, and Mike Williams will have to perform better than they have in recent weeks. I am positive that Minnesota will roll coverage towards Roy Williams to try and eliminate his big play ability and force Garcia to have to look elsewhere. Vines had an excellent game against Minnesota in Minneapolis, he may get a chance for a repeat performance. The Lions offensive line will need to block DE Lance Johnstone and replacement DT C.J. Mosley, so that Garcia can have the time to operate. Johnstone, in particular, has been a major thorn in the Lion’s side.

On Defense, the Lions are going to be glad to have a hobbled MLB Earl Holmes returning and a healthier DT Shaun Rogers. Of late, the Lions rushing defense has been awful after a solid start to the season. The Lions can’t allow RB’s Mewelde Moore, Michael Bennett, and Ciatrick Fason to be effective. If they can contain the Vikings Ground Game, they will put the Vikings in more 2nd-and-3rd-and Long situations, where they must pressure the lead-footed Brad Johnson. If Johnson is allowed to manage the game efficiently and slowly pick apart the Lion’s secondary, meanwhile, controlling the time of possession the Lions will be in for a long afternoon. In recent weeks, DE’s Kalimba Edwards, Jared DeVries, and James Hall have been somewhat invisible. This absolutely has to change. Dre Bly and Andre Goodman will face a stiff challenge from Viking WR’s Travis Taylor, Nate Burleson, and Marcus and Koren Robinson. I am most concerned about the ability of H-Back Jermaine Wiggins to carve up the middle of the field and keep the chains moving for the Vikings. A performance from Wiggins similar to that of Atlanta’s Alge Crumpler last week, will spell imminent doom for the Lions.

The Vikings have a major special teams edge. Eddie Drummond and Jason Hanson are having down years. Meanwhile, Viking returners Mewelde Moore and Koren Robinson have been very effective. This game will come down to which team controls the ball, makes the fewest mistakes and has the best field position. Unfortunately for Lion fans that means:

Sex Boat 27 Mowtanic 13

Week 13: Detroit vs. Minnesota

27. Detroit Offense vs./ 28. Minnesota Defense

Yardage
Yards 2,998/ 3,720
YPG 272.5(27)/ 338.2(28)

Scoring
PTS 174/ 257
PPG 15.8(26)/ 23.4(24)

Passing
YPG 181.5(25)/ 225.1(25)
TD 9(29)/ 19(26)
Sack 20(8)/23(20)
INT 13(22)/ 17(2)

Rushing
YPG 91.1(25)/ 113.1(15)*
TD 9(14)/ 11(22)

*72.8 YDS/G rushing in last 6 games! Damning Statistic #1
25. Minnesota Offense vs./ 14. Detroit Defense

Yardage
Yards 3,166/ 3,453
YPG 287.8(25)/ 313.9(14)

Scoring
PTS 198/ 220
PPG 18.0(22)/ 20.0 (16)

Passing
YPG 196.4(20)/ 190.7(11)
TD 12(21)/ 14(15)
Sack 47(31)/ 22(22)
INT 14(25)/ 14(7)

Rushing
YPG 91.5(24)/ 123.2(26)
TD 4(28)/ 7(11)

———————Turnovers————–
——TakeAways———GiveAways——
——-INT–FUM–TTL–INT–FUM–TTL–+/-
DET–14—10—-24—13—9——22– +2
MINN-17—8—–25—14—10—-24— +1

———Damning Statistic #2————–
———ATT–YDS–YDS/G–LNG–AVG–TD
Moore-135–557—50.6——28—-4.1–1
Jones–159-523—-47.5—–36—–3.3–5

——–Team Efficiency———————
—-Offense———————————-
——OFFPLAY–RSHAVG–PSSAVG–OFFAVG
DET-681——–3.53——-5.03——-4.40
MIN-674——–3.71——-5.36——-4.70

—-Defense———————————
——DEFPLAY–RSHAVG–PSSAVG–DEFAVG
DET-678——–4.23——-5.86——-5.09
MIN-710——–4.07——-6.13——–5.24

———–RedZone—————————-
—-Offense———————————–
——OPOSS–TD–FG–Scor%–TD%
DET-23——–12—7—.826—–.522
MIN-33——–13—12–.758—–.394

—–Defense———————————-
——DPOSS–TD–FG–Scor%–TD%
DET-33——–16—9—.758—–.485
MIN-38——–20—8—.737—–.526

1st Downs
Minn 198 Opp 215
DET 185 Opp 201

3rd Downs
Minn 48/142 (33.8) Opp 62/147(42.2)
DET 56/156 (35.9) Opp 53/143(37.1)

4th Downs
Minn 4/9 (44.4) Opp 1/5(20.0)
DET 6/15(40.0) Opp 4/9(44.4)

Penalties
Min 86/669 DET 87/616

Injuries:
OUT MINN OG T. Fonoti CB F. Smoot DET FS T. Holt
Doubt MINN DT Kevin Williams
QUEST DET LB D. Curry FB P. Smith
Prob MINN DT S. Johnson DET QB J Garcia RB K. Jones