Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Pre-Season Game Will Highlight Organizational Strengths/Weaknesses

The Lions will face the world champion New York Giants tomorrow evening, in what will be each teams first exhibition game of the 2008 season. The Lions starters will be in the game for about 10 snaps on each side of the ball, which is a relatively brief appearance.

Even with all of the absent injured players accounted for and the brevity of the starter’s appearance in the game, this game will be our first tangible sign of whether the draft picks and all of the off-season free acquisitions, er–I mean ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers, can contribute to a higher quality of play for the Lions than the inauspicious downhill slope that ground the ‘07 season to a discouraging halt.

Some things to keep an eye out for:

1) Have the Lions found a remotely supplementary pass rush to DeWayne White among players like Cliff Avril, Ikaika “Hawaii 2.0″ Alama-Francis, and Jared DeVries?

2) Has a simpler offense, with more “bread-n-butter” plays aided the weak Lions offensive line enough to show that they have potentially gelled into a cohesive, nominally acceptable unit? Can they limit costly errors (George Foster?)

3) The running backs need to establish a pecking order, which ideally, shows signs of an emerging Kevin Smith along with credible role-playing by players like Tatum Bell, Aveion Cason, and Artose Pinner which will lead to a spirited battle for carries/roster spots.

4) The Lions back-up QB competition. We have heard A LOT about how the Lions would hold an open competition for playing time and that Jon Kitna was no shoo-in as a starter. Are there signs that Dan Orlovsky or Drew Stanton could respond if their number is called. Should Byron Leftwich and Daunte Culppepper wait anxiously next to their phones?

5) The Lions rookies. Matt Millen has an incredible knack of having his draft picks spontaneously combust. The Lions need for Gosder Cherilus, Jordan Dizon, Kevin Smith and company to provide some indication that this organization has chosen a sounder, more dependable direction with it’s personnel evaluation.

“China Doll” to the IR, When Will the Favre Nonsense Cease, Thursday

In one of the briefest tenures of any Lions player that I can recall, Teddy “China Doll” Lehman was placed under a special injured reserve designation that might allow to him to return to football yet this season, if I fully understand the reports that I have read. Buster Davis will likely have to shift to the outside/ strong side in the interim to help bolster the team’s weakness there. The Lions signed former USC safety and converted LB Darnell Bing to fill Lehman’s roster spot in the meantime.

Unless Brett Favre is the Lions QB entering the ‘08 season, I would like to announce that I will no longer continue to follow this sad, interminable drama as it carries on in Green Bay. Has any player in league history ever been so selfish, but remained so blindly adored by both fans and media?

I am very excited about Thursday’s pre-season game. The Lions have a lot more questions interspersed throughout their roster than they are likely to have answers, but the early reports on Calvin Johnson and Ernie Sims, among others are encouraging. This will be the first public notice if the new and improved running scheme and Rod’s “Tampa North” defense are an improvement upon other recent, ill-fated schemes that the Lions have attempted to impose.