If a Lions Team Plays In Ford Field During Week 17, And No One is There, Does a Game Still Happen?
December 30, 2009 on 11:50 am | In Uncategorized |Upon the news that Lions Qb Matthew Stafford was going onto the injured reserve list, in order for Stafford to have knee surgery, the Lions season went from poor and disappointing to a completely unremarkable, shrugging, “who cares?”-stab at dull moribund-ity(is this a real word?), at least for this Lions fan.
A Lions Season Without Matthew Stafford?
The Lions did pick up veteran journeymen QB Patrick Ramsey to take Stafford’s roster spot, and hopefully, provide the team with an unforeseen capable backup moving forward, at a low cost, given that the future’s of Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton are dubious, at best, in Detroit.
Lions Fans New Favorite Player, Patrick Ramsey?
Lions fans traditionally become fixated upon the team’s backup, hoping for a ready-made, “cure all”-panacea for the team’s interminable organizational woes, with quarterback being the most obvious place to begin making improvements, as the team’s fortunes perennially flag towards futility.
Ramsey is no franchise savior, but he does have some much-needed experience as a clipboard holder, and if he becomes familiar with Scott Linehan’s offense, could prove valuable to the Lions organization as a cheap, reliable option, who already believe that they have a “starting quarterback”, he is just unavailable for the remainder of the 2009 season.
Hopefully, Matthew Stafford will find the time during his “busy” off-season, to begin to become the player that the Lions believe that he will become, moving forward.
“Hey Ladies, Didju Know That I am a NFL Qb?”
At any rate, besides a likely 50% personnel overhaul this off-season, the Lions desperately need for Matthew Stafford to have a quick rehabilitation period, and for Stafford to make exponential leaps and bounds in his poise, understanding, and approach to being the Lions franchise Qb, as the team continues to fight towards respectability.
In regards to Sunday’s game, with a short week, after the improbable and unexpected victory that they enjoyed over the Vikings Monday, who knows which Bears team will show up to play at Ford Field this weekend?
One thing that is readily apparent is that Bears coach Lovie Smith is on the proverbial “hot seat”, and has even been unable to receive the dreaded “vote of approval” from his boss, and also heavily embattled, Bears GM Jerry Angelo. The discontent of Bears fans appears to be significantly on the rise, as they continue to fret over the sad state of the Bears organization.
One thing that I am sure of, regardless if the Lions starter at Qb is Drew Stanton, Daunte Culpepper, Patrick Ramsey, or Bob Gagliano, from this point onward, the Lions are going to have to work much harder to generate some needed fan interest, and even harder not to have lovely Ford Field become the most poorly attended site for NFL games in the entire league.
Welcome To Ford Field, Please Forgive Our Tumbleweeds...We are Attempting to Build a Respectable Football Team.
So as one season comes to close, the Lions have a ton of work ahead of them. After what appears to have been a successful 2009 draft, the upcoming April 2010 draft will be a good place to start, regardless if the Lions pick 1st, 2nd or 3rd overall…
Martin Mayhew Uses Rod Marinelli’s “Shovel” to
“Upgrade” the Fecal Detritus Known as the Team’s Personnel
Update:The fact that the Lions appear on the verge of a “sellout” for this Sunday’s game does not mean that there won’t be plenty of empty seats at Ford Field Sunday, especially when news breaks that Daunte Culpepper is likely to be the team’s starting Qb in that game.
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Can we even afford to pay another #1 draft pick? Even though that at this early stage Suh looks like a winner, I think I’d rather take my chances with the third pick and save however much money we can and spend it wisely on our newest (probably crappy)free agents.
P.S. I dig the new heavier use of pictures in your blog.
Comment by mike — December 30, 2009 #
With the salary cap going away, yes. That doesn’t mean that with continued lower ticket sales and the Ford’s flagging auto business considered, that another top five pick won’t exact a heavy toll upon their checkbooks. It clearly will.
The pool of free agents the Lions will have available to them will already be limited by their poor performance, a pool which now becomes even more limited now that 212 prospective unrestricted free agents will be restricted, since there is no longer a salary cap.
Mayhew’s free agent acquisitions have not turned out well, but his draft was a masterpiece, following the Millen years.
Thanks for the support, Mike. I am having fun with adding pics and captions. Hope you have had a nice holiday season.
Comment by Steve — December 31, 2009 #
so….if we got the first pick, and we chose Suh, does he make 5% more than stafford got last year?
Comment by mike — January 1, 2010 #
I am not sure that the Lions will have to pay a top overall pick more than Stafford received, but if they pick first the player will cost a lot, for sure.
Stafford got paid for being a Qb, I expect that maybe Suh would get a similar or higher level of base pay, but fewer incentives, escalators and a smaller signing bonus, which is a guess,
Comment by Steve — January 2, 2010 #