Detroit Lions Weblog

Week 6 Preview; Or 1 More Week Until Lions Have a BYE!

With the treacherous amount of injuries the Lions suffered last week, their difficulties executing on defense, and the inability to establish any sort of consistent ground attack, the odds are long that the Lions will have any chance in winning this week’s home game. That being said, this should/could be a winnable game. If football was played for three quarters instead of four, we may be talking about a 3-4 win team right now.

At this point, my most horrifying future scenario that I can conjure consists of Joey Harrington throwing for over 300 yards and multiple TD’s on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit. Wait, it gets worse. I can also see several hundred people scaling Ford Field’s roof and leaping to their deaths immediately after the game. If this is any indication of my thoughts of the direction of this current season, and it is, it should be loud and clear that I believe that the Lions are going to struggle to find more than 2-3 victories for the rest of the season.

On Offense, the Lions are so beat up on their offensive line that I believe that they will have to simplify their blocking schemes and play-packages in order to establish some rhythm and consistency. With the strong possibility that Jon Kitna will be running for his life all day in passing situations, the Lions need to have a strong ground game from Kevin Jones and they can ill afford any costly turnovers or penalties. The Bills are going to blitz and blitz often, so don’t be surprised to see more reps for Shawn Bryson trying to stem the onslaught. I also think the Lions are going to have to utilize more max-protect formations to give Kitna a modicum of time in which to operate.

On Defense, the Lions can’t let QB J.P. Losman pick apart their secondary. They HAVE to pressure him into poor decisions and turnovers. The Bills receivers, Josh Reed, Lee Evans, and Peerless Price, are not big playmakers and the Lions can’t afford to let any of them have a season-making type of game. The Lions will have their hands full attempting to contain RB Willis McGahee. McGahee has gained a lot of yardage but has not scored often in the red zone. Hopefully, the Lions can limit his effectiveness and not allow him to break off any big plays. Who am I kidding? It will take divine intervention for the Lions defense to stop even a poor offense like the Bills.

Matt Millen how does 21-65 in 86 games sound to ya?

Bills 27 Lions 17