Detroit Lions Weblog

Ugly Thanksgiving Loss To Packers Mars Lions Recent Victory Over the Browns

If there is one thing you can say about today’s game with the Packers, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson each gutted it out heroically, in a game where neither was anywhere near full capability. Unfortunately, neither was much help to the Lions cause, either.

The Lions continued their string of disappointing Thanksgiving Day game performances, where they have lost by an average of 23 points (they have been outscored 213-74, in those games) in their last six games. Even with Johnson and Stafford surprisingly joining the lineup, the Lions performance exhibited that little of the momentum had carried over from their improbably lucky win against the Browns, four short days ago. Matthew Stafford’s 4 interceptions were of no assistance, either.

One thing that was abundantly clear in today’s game, if opponents are unable to pressure QB Aaron Rodgers, the Packers will make them pay dearly. In their 26-0 early season loss to the Packers, the Lions had multiple sacks, and still lost badly. In today’s game, they sacked Rodgers once, and pressured him little, and their already undermanned secondary was decimated both by Rodgers’ deep balls and an array of slants and screens.

If the Lions front seven, especially on blitzes, are unable to pressure opposing Qb’s, they will not win another game this year. The quality of their secondary is so poor that when it gets exposed by the lack of a pass rush, they have no chance whatsoever to keep the game even remotely close.

In the offense’s case, once the Lions fell behind, combined with their inability to establish a decent running game, the Lions became far too one-dimensional. The Lions were unable to run against the Packers cover-2, and were forced to throw mostly underneath passes since Stafford had nowhere near the time to operate in the pocket that his counterpart, Rodgers did. The hobbled Calvin Johnson was unable to stretch the field effectively, which forced Stafford often target Johnson’s much weaker counterparts, who instill fear in no one.

Johnson made a nice TD catch early, after a fortuitous special teams takeaway, and remained invisible, and visibly uncomfortable, for the remainder of the game.

Even worse, the Lions likely lost TE Brandon Pettigrew, who had just begun to blossom as a player, for the remainder of the season. Results from tests on his knee will be announced tomorrow.

All in all, the Lions were game competitors, and were on the edge of fighting towards making the game interesting all day. In the end, though, it was abundantly clear, a wide and bottomless gulf still exists between legitimate NFL teams and the already undermanned Lions team who, injury by injury, become even more challenged in their ability to remain competitive during each game.

Remain patient, Lions fans, remain patient. On the bright side, the Lions are now off for 10 days, before they receive back-to-back road beatdowns to the Bengals and Ravens.