Detroit Lions Weblog

Week 9:1-6 Lions Will Struggle to Avoid Evisceration By the Falcons Ground Game

The Lions are coming off of what one would hope can be considered an effective bye week.   The Lions should be revitalized by the additional rest and preparation a week off provides, along with the impending return of these starters: RT Rex Tucker, RG Ross Verba, SS Kenoy Kennedy, and SLB Alex Lewis.  That being said, other than the Bears, the Falcons may be the most difficult opponent the Lions have faced all year. 

Offensively, the Lions are going to need to attack the Falcons weak secondary.   The Lions should benefit in their passing game from the absence of excellent pass rushing DE John Abraham.   De Angelo Hall is an excellent playmaking cornerback who will likely snare any errant throws by Kitna.  Still the Lions should be able to exploit the Falcons secondary, if they limit their turnovers.  The Falcons have been difficult to run against, but they may be without run-stuffing DT Grady Jackson.  If the Lions can be moderately effective running the ball, it will likely open up options in their passing attack.  In an ideal situation, the Lions will feature long enough offensive drives to keep the Falcons offense off of the field, especially with so many Lions players likely absent from their defensive line.

Defensively, the Lions need to gain enough pressure on Falcons QB Michael Vick that he is unable to develop a rhythm offensively.   They will also need to be more aware of containing Vick, so that he can’t exploit overzealous pursuit by the Lions front seven.  

With the absence of DT’s Shaun Rogers and Shaun Cody and the possible absence of DE James Hall, the Lions will have to play incredibly well to limit the Falcons rushing triumvirate of RB’s Warrick Dunn, Jerious Norwood and QB Michael Vick who have accounted for an astonishing 1454 rushing yards at this season’s midpoint.   if the Falcons are able to gain an early lead, they will wear down the Lions defense with prolonged drives and effectively take the game out of the hands of Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz and the Lions offense.

Another matchup I fear for the Lions is Vick’s favorite receiver, TE Alge Crumpler.  Crumpler is capable of exploiting poor coverage in the middle of the Lions cover-2 zone defense as well as punishing them inside of the “red zone”.  

As much as I want to be optimistic about the Lions chances, I suffer from the faint feeling that the Lions could be facing an eerily similar blowout to last season’s Thanksgiving Day debacle, which represented the career nadir of former Lions Head Coach (and hopefully not future MSU Head Coach!) Steve Mariucci.

Ronnie Mexico’s Falcons 37 Defense-Less Lions 17

Puzzling Personal Moves, Replenished Defensive Personnel Mark Lions Bye Week

The Lions have done a lot of roster juggling at the wide receiver position of late.   Entering the Jets game, the Lions released valued rookie free agent Shaun Bodiford, to make room for FB/TE Sean McHugh on the game day roster.  Then this week veteran WR Az Hakim was inexplicably released.   Reports indicated that Hakim wasn’t as quick as he once had been.   Hakim also had fulfilled his purpose as a tutor and mentor of the Mike Martz offense to the team’s younger wide receivers and in addition, WR DeVale Ellis is virtually the same player as Hakim, with more upside.  

News came yesterday that the Lions have added veteran journeymen WR Kevin Kasper, who can also provide additional depth on special teams.   Underlying all of this roster juggling is the complete and utter silence surrounding any future value Mike Williams may have to the organization.   Frankly, they might as well eat his contract now if they are going to render his future trade value obsolete by not allowing him to gain playing time.

The impending returns of SS Kenoy Kennedy, and LB’s Alex Lewis and Teddy Lehman hopefully will bolster the Lions lackluster defense.  The team has struggled mightily all season and the absence of their starting defensive tackles has not helped the situation at all.   If the Lions harbor any hopes of turning their season around, their defensive performance will have to improve drastically.   Hopefully, the added roster depth and inter-squad competition for playing time will enable the Lions defense to improve it’s quality of play.   I strongly believe that Defensive Coordinator Donnie Henderson’s future position within the Lions organization depends greatly upon the improved play of his unit.  The task is not easy, I will not be surprised if the combo of Jerious Norwood, Warrick Dunn and Michael Vick are able to gain in excess of 300 yards rushing this Sunday against the Lions.