Detroit Lions Weblog

Week 5 Preview: Steelers Vs. Lions

After last Sunday’s disappointing blow out loss, where the Lions played poorly on special teams and failed again to play well during the second half of their loss, their performance caused some of the optimism that was accrued two weeks ago to recede a bit. This week’s game, at home facing the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, will serve as a litmus test of just how resilient this organization will be, now that their is a new coaching and front office regime, given it’s poor performance last week.

The Steelers provide a daunting challenge for the Lions, even if they don’t appear to be anywhere near on level where they were last season as they rose to the top of the NFL mountain. The Steelers still are a rough, tough, physical bunch who should be mentioned among the league elites. They will offer an instructive lesson in how to play “Big Boy” football, and it is up to the Lions whether they will rise or back down from the Steelers smashmouthed challenge.

By all accounts, and likely the shrewdest decision for the organization, it appears that the Lions will not feature Matthew Stafford, given the knee injury he suffered in last Sunday’s game. So the Lions offense will likely be a little less dynamic, with Daunte Culpepper at the helm. Even with Culpepper’s purported inability to read coverages well, he should be better suited to confront the relentless pressure and zone blitz coverages that the Steelers routinely devastate teams with.

Some of the dynamism of the Steelers defense has been buffed off, too. They will not likely have all-everything, defensive playmaker extraordinaire, Troy Polamalu, in their defensive backfield, which does help the Lions chances. The Steelers are getting fewer sacks than usual three games into the season, and their secondary can be vulnerable to effective passing schemes.

That being said, I fully expect the Steelers to do what they do best, limit the run, and force the Lions into second and third down and long distance situations, which will thrust the less-than-fleetfooted Culpepper in harms way, namely pressure from LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison, and likely put the Lions offense off-balance. if Calvin Johnson is unable to play, the Lions and Culpepper will likely be in for a long, long day.

This could be a strong game for the Lions tight ends, and if they are effective, they could go along way towards bailing out the Lions offense. It would seem that the Lions “hot” reads might include the tight ends, especially if they are lined up across from a blitzing linebacker or defensive back.

Defensively, the Steelers are not the rushing juggernaut one would be inclined to think that they are. They actually throw a lot more often than they would probably like, especially considering how poor their offensive line has played at times. “Big” Ben Roethlisberger is very adept at ducking pressure, with his deceptively quick and nimble feet, but the Lions, considering their weak secondary which has been exploited routinely, should believe pressuring Roethlisberger consistently stands as their best, and only option to remain competitive.

After week’s outstanding performance by 2nd year RB Rashard Mendenhall, the Lions will likely see the Steelers run the ball more often than they have earlier in the season. The Steelers will likely be without “Fast” Willie Parker, but Mewelde Moore has proven capable and has been successful against the Lions in the past, too.

Given the poor special teams performance last Sunday, I expect that the Lions have expended a lot of energy preparing this week in that facet of their game, in hopes of improving their performance there. Still, ex-CFLer Stefan Logan provides yet another returns coverage challenge for the Lions, where if the problems persist, radical changes beyond replacing Aaron Brown with Derrick Williams, may be in store.

In the end, the Steelers will likely show Lions fans just how far the team is from being a realistic challenger in what likely will represent another depressing, non-competitive beatdown which will leave the Ford Field faithful exiting early for Greektown, in order to free themselves from the stilted, mausoleum-like atmosphere that the Lions home field can become in a bad loss.

Steelers 31 Lions 14

2nd Half Woes and Special Teams Have Been the Lions Undoing

The Lions have come strong out of the gates during the first half in their three losses against three pretty good teams. They have appeared surprisingly competitive, even tantalizingly so, only to eventually have crumbled badly in the second half of each of those losses.

Their second half performance indicates several things. 1) Opposing teams are able to make the adjustments necessary to exploit the team’s offensive and defensive weaknesses in the second half. 2) The talent gap, which it is necessary for them to bridge so that they can move up a rung competitively, is still vast. In particular, on the defensive side of the ball. The Lions opponents have outscored them in the second half (64-23) and have out-gained them (529-357) and also have a longer time of possession (46:35-41:09).

These are problems which have plagued the Lions for years, so it is not a new concept. The mere fact that they have played well during the first half in two out of their three losses is actually a positive sign, in my eyes.

In Sunday’s loss, the worst special teams performance of the Chuck Priefer/Stan Kwan-era was on display, which aside from Johnny Knox(-ville?)’s deflating 102-yd kickoff return, plagued them in all facets during the entire game. Besides being out-gained in the returns game by a large margin(277-149), both Jason Hanson and Nick Harris, had improbably poor games, since they are normally so dependable.

The Lions will need to fine tune this aspect of their game, if they don’t want their season to continue to slide downhill. Head Coach Jim Schwartz has attempted to address their special teams problem, at least nominally, by replacing rookie RB Aaron Brown on kickoff returns with disappointing rookie WR Derrick Williams, who was initially drafted to fill that role. Where is Aveion Cason when you need him, right?

It is high time for Williams to become a factor. With Martin Mayhew’s personnel aggressiveness, Williams may be skating on thin ice. Hopefully, the Lions will prove that Sunday’s special teams performance was an aberration, rather than becoming a trend.

Tightening up the special teams seems like a reasonable issue to address, but I am not entirely certain what Jim Schwartz must do to fix their second half failures. Whatever he does, their defense will have a number of inadequacies for the remainder of this season, which they will have to overcome to a certain degree, if they want to remain competitive during an entire game, not just a half.

After Basking In an Elusive First Victory in 19 games, Lions Face Biggest Game of Schwartz’s Early Tenure

It is hard not to be excited about the Lions victory last Sunday, even if it rings a little hollow given the fact it was against a struggling Redskins team who is much more flawed than was originally expected entering this season. That being said, the Lions fatalist in me expects an embarrassing road letdown, leading to a confidence-dismantling loss at Soldier Field. A bad loss would neutralize any baby steps taken forward after Sunday’s victory, in my eyes.

That is exactly why it is imperative for Jim Schwartz and his coaching staff to coax a competitive, hard fought battle out of their charges, no matter the game’s final outcome. The temptation for the team to fall flat, after celebrating their elusive first victory in 19 games, is endemic to why the Lions have failed so mightily during recent seasons.

The Lions continue to tinker with their roster, jettisoning CB Marcus McCauley and WR Yamon Figurs, and adding DT Chuck “Heart-Eater” Darby and WR Adam Jennings, both former Lions, who can be inserted into productive roles immediately with the team. Darby, provides depth, in the absence of rookie Sammie Lee Hill. Jennings, a special teams coverage ace, replaces Figurs, and compensates for the complete lack of production the team is currently gaining from the disappointing Derrick Williams, whom the Lions selected in the third round this season.

Against the Bears, who are hobbled on defense with the loss of Brian Urlacher for the remainder of the season, and “banged-up” players like Hunter Hillenmeyer, Urlacher’s replacement, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Tommie Harris and Alex Brown, the Lions are likely to attempt to play power football, given the improved performance of their offensive line at this season’s early juncture. With RB Kevin Smith also playing with an injury, expect the Lions to utilize Maurice Morris more frequently, while mixing in rookie Aaron Brown as well.

In Urlacher’s absence, I fully expect the Lions attack the soft middle of the Bears “Tampa-2″ zone coverage with their TE’s Brandon Pettigrew, Will Heller, and Casey FitzSimmons, even though Stafford has made some poor decisions while throwing into zone coverage early in his NFL career. The Bears, like all opponents, are going to attempt to force the game onto Matthew Stafford’s broad shoulders, and set up their defense so that the Lions have to beat them with every player not supernaturally-gifted, or named Calvin Johnson.

Defensively, the Lions have got to pressure Jay Cutler and limit Matt Forte, who has not lived up to early expectations at all. If Cutler is allowed to pick apart their suspect secondary, the Lions could fall behind early and play their way into an embarrassing blow-out.

Even if Cutler is no Drew Brees, he is fearless and has the kind of strong arm that could make it a long day for the Lions. He also could be coaxed into making some poor decisions, which might keep the Lions in contention deep into the game.

In my eyes, the most important aspect of this game, given the Bears offensive flaws, is the Lions special teams coverage. If the Bears continually operate inside of a short field, with Danieal Manning and Devin Hester completely eviscerating the Lions kick coverage for big gains, then the Lions will not stand a remote chance. The Bears are very effective in all aspects of their special teams, so this game is very big for the Stan Kwan-coached coverage units.

In the end, I believe that this game will be much closer than one woudl expect on paper, since I am becoming a firm believer in the current direction of the Lions organization. It is up to Jim Schwartz, and the team to render me wrong. Bears 24 Lions 17