Detroit Lions mid season grades: WR/TE

There are a lot of injuries in the receiving corps of the Detroit Lions. Ryan Broyles is gone for

the year, and may see his tenure with the team come to an end. Nate Burleson has been absent for awhile with a broken arm, and Tony Scheffler has been cut. If the Lions want to use the second half of the season to make a legit run at the playoffs not only do they need to get Burleson back, but one of the other receivers needs to step up.

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Detroit Lions week 8 in review

Let us go ahead and forget about the whole Same Ole Lions wrap. The same Ole Lions would not have won this game. The Same Ole Lions would have folded it in wit ha minute to go. The same Ole Lions would not have had Mathew Stafford will his team to a win. The Same Ole Lions are no more. There are new Lions and while we may not exactly what they are capable of they sure are freaking exciting. With on QB sneak Stafford helped this town believe not only in himself but in this team. It finally feels like we are done with the Same Ole Lions.

With all of that being said, there is a very large problem here. We are talking about an offense that gained 623 yards and they only one by one point. The win is the story this week, cause of how they won, but a team that can move the ball that easily has got to find a way to score more. Sure 4 turnovers and 8 penalties play into that, and those are things that can be fixed. I would even go so far as to say the one pick that bounce off of Calvin Johnson;s hands is one of those fluky things that happen, and we can say that Reggie Bush is never going to be the nonchalant with the ball ever again and boom the turnover problem should be fixed. However, this is a team that still need to learn to close out games, stand on an opponents neck and that is the next step I expect them to take. They have learned how to win, how to handle a lesser opponent and how to come back and win. Now they need to grow into dominant.

Now we have the trade deadline, a bye week, and hopefully the return of Nate Burleson. The Lions should be in the market for a WR, but the NFL trade deadline is hardly the MLB frenzy. This team need the bye week to regroup, set goals, and focus in on winning the next game at Chicago. That is looking to be a very winnable game. For now let us reflect on week 8:

The Good:

• They won- They found a way to win. Matthew Stafford willed this team to a win. that is a huge step forward from a team that a few years ago expected to lose. The fans believe and so do the players. This was Stafford moment where he lead the team to victory. Now the coaches have to build on that. 
• Three rushing TD's- The Lions scored three TD's in this game and three of them came on the ground. Now Scott Linehan can use his receivers to get the team into the red zone and opposing defenses will have to respect that ability of this offense to score on the round opening up other options. That is a huge positive to go along with the 143 yards gained on the ground. When the Lions rush for more than 100 yards they tend to win. Linehan needs to keep that in mind. 
• Jeremy Ross- Finally the Lions made a in season switch at kick returner and it paid off. Jeremy Ross didn't get a lot of chances but he came up big with a 44 yard return. Michael Spurlock was inactive for this game and that is probably for the best. 

The Bad:

• 4 turnovers- god teams, teams that go deep into the playoffs take care of the ball. Maybe this was a fluky game and maybe not either way the Lions cannot cough up the ball this much and expect to win. 
• Finishing Drives- Johnson had 323 yards and only found the end zone once. That is up and down the field without scoring. This team has got to have a better nose for the end zone. Not just Megatron but the whole offense. They need to put points on the board. 
• Too Calvin dependent- Granted if a guy can be open when tripled covered. If a guy is always open one can understand why they go to Megartron as often as they do. However that is not sustainable each and every week. Other weapons have to emerge and Kris Durham looked very good this week and made another spectacular catch down the sidelines. Other players have got to step up and we saw glimpse of that this week, and it needs to continue. 

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Calvin Johnson is the best wide receiver in football!

We already knew that Calvin Johnson was an amazing talent. We heard all the smack talk

from Dez Bryantabout how he was just as good as Megatron. However, while Bryant did have two TD's his contribution to his team's ultimate loss was made more on the sidelines than on the field play. Yesterday, October 27, 2013, all Calvin did was go out and put up the most receiving yards (in a regulation game) ever.

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What to watch for: Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions

One day after the Detroit Tigers season came to an end, far too soon for the third year in a

row, and coming off a 5-2 loss by the Detroit Red Wings to the Phoenix Coyotes, the Detroit sports nation turns its attention today to the 4-2 first place Detroit Lions. They get their biggest test of the 2013 season today with the Cincinnati Bengals are in town. Without a doubt the Lions will need to play a more flawless game then we have seen them play thus far to beat a team that looks destined to go to the playoffs.

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Detroit Lions week 5 in review

Well that was certainly disappointing. After throttling the Chicago bears and defeating the Minnesota Vikings, and given the current state of the Green Bay Packers it really looked like the Detroit Lions were going to end another one of their sad streaks and finally shed away the baggage of being the same old Lions. Instead they go up to Green Bay lay a turd, and I am not gonna count that garbage time touchdown, and prove once again that Scott Linehan needs to be fired.

I do not care that they did not have Calvin Johnson. Sure he takes a lot of the attention of the defense, and sure he is averaging 78 yards a game and a TD. Are you telling em that Linehan cannot scheme around that? With Reggie Bush? With Joique Bell? With anyone of the other WR's or TE's. Matthew Stafford cannot put this team on his back and go get a much need road win? All of that is a huge problem for me, and once again I think it comes down to coaching. The coaches on this team just are not good enough, I give them credit for getting the team this far, but I have zero faith they are the staff to take this team to the next level. That goes across the board from Jim Schwartz on down.

NFL teams face adversary every week. Guys get injured, stuff happens, a good coaching staff has a pal in place for every eventuality. Linehan should have had a better game plan for a game with no Calvin, of course he has a hard enough time coming up with a good game plan with Calvin so maybe I expect to much from him. For me the answer comes down to running the ball. all of the coaches I know, played for, or look up too know that good football teams run the ball effectively and hen times get tough grind it out. This team cannot do that and that is a failure of the front office as much as the coaching staff. A football coach I greatly respect once told me only bad things can happened when you throw the ball, gotta run. This is  roster with Bush, Bell, and let us not forget Mikel Leshoure who certainly has to have some kind of ability, I mean the Lions traded up to draft him in the second round......Oh...Right!

64 yards on the ground, well below the 90 or so yards the team averages. 222 yards through the air, well below the 304 the Lions average in 2013. All because they were missing one guy? All because of Calvin? If that is true this team needs to rebuild the roster again. Way to top heavy, way to reliant on the big plays, and not built to extend drives or get tough yards, or win how other NFL team go about winning.

The Good:

• DeAndre Levy- This guy has been a beast all season. His haul in week five was 14 tackles (11 solo) he is a force and showing once again why this team has invested so much in him. Much better on the outside than he ever was in the middle. 
• Innovation- Love what the Lions chose to do late on a on side kick play. Running out both kickers and faking one way to kick the otehr. Granted more effective if Calvin Johnson is out on the fake side, but it proves the Lions can be innovative and try things. 
• David Akers- He hit from 53 yards. Outside and that is big for him because his outside game has suffered in recent years. 

The Bad:

• The Offensive line- their worst performance by far so far in 2013. They gave up three sacks doubling their total for the year and Jason Fox got hurt once again. Not to mention that they cannot run block to save their lives. This team needs to invest high round draft picks in this unit starting at Center in the 2014 draft.
• Kick returning- this continues to be an issue and bad decisions made in the the return game lead to a long field for the offense. I do not understand why this is a continuing issue no matter who is back there returning kicks but it seems an obvious place the Lions could get better in a hurry and help their team out tremendously. Yet another failure of this coaching staff. 

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Detroit Lions questions heading into week 2

The Detroit Lions beat a divisional opponent, one their home opener, and snapped an eight game regular season losing streak in week one. Now comes the challenge of week 2 and the first road game of 2013 versus the Arizona Cardinals. The Lions have not faired well out in the dessert. There are a number of challenges and some big questions that week two will go a long way towards answering.

First of all the Lions record against the Arizona Cardinals is not very good. They have won just three of their last 11 meetings. They have lost the last six regular season games played in Arizona going all the way back to 1999. They have not defeated the Red Birds since 2005 at home and if this team wants to silence some of its critics it needs to go out and play a disciplined game and win on the road.

The Cardinals had an identical 3-1 pre-season record, but lost in week one to the St. Louis Rams. The offensive names to watch are QB Carson Palmer and WR Larry Fitzgerald. The Lions defense will have to work hard this week, and it will surely be a big test for them.

We move on to the biggest questions of week two for the Lions:

• Reggie Bush- Reggie wants to prove to everyone he can be an every down back, and he can carry the load for a team. The Lions are more than willing to give him that chance. However after a pre-season where not much film was shot of Mr. Bush how will his week one performance affect what the Cardinals do on defense? 
• Calvin Johnson- The plan was to get a piece for the offense that would open up Calvin in the receiving game. Last week was the Reggie show with Calvin only caught 4 balls for 37 yards. If the Arizona defense keys on Reggie more will Scott Linehan and QB Matthew Stafford have a game plan in place to get the ball to Calvin? Can the Lions offense stretch the Cardinals defense. 
• The Lions defense- the Lions shut down Adrian Peterson in week one on all but one big play. The challenge in week two is far greater, and something they are no as suited for. Can the secondary step up and lock down Fitzgerald and the Cardinals passing game. Palmer is a veteran QB who can pick apart a defense if he is given the time too. 
• Jim Schwartz- a week one win cools his seat a little, but this is a guy who needs his team to win 8 game minimum to keep his job. Putting together a playoff run would be the best way to prove he is the right man for this job. If he fails not only his his job in jeopardy but the job of GM Martin Mayhew not to mention the rest of the coaching staff and personnel shot callers. 
• Ndamukong Suh- The Lions need him to be more effective, need him to get more pressure on the QB especially this week, and they need him to keep his head about him and not take silly penalties. He need to be a leader and disrupt the Cardinals offense this week. 

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Detroit Lions winners and losers from pre-season game #3

It may only be the pre-season but thumping the New England Patriots and QB Tom Brady 40-9 will make Detroit Lions fans smile as much as the drumming in Cleveland last week made us frown. A win is a win, and while winning in the pre-season means nothing there were some positive signs last night, and a few negative ones too. With that being said here is a look at the Lions winners and losers from the impressive win over the Patriots:

Winners:

• The Defense- an opportunistic defense help create four turnovers and gave the offense great field position at least twice. they also kept the Pats out of the end zone, and limited Brady to 185 yards. Granted they still let the Pats pass for nearly 300 yards but we wanted to see something out of this unit and we did. The defense could be very good and if they can play like this they can keep games close and hopefully the offense can take advantage and we see a great swing from the 4-12 record of a year ago. 
• Jim Schwartz- After Willie Young took a stupid penalty he was benched. This team needs more of this and I really wish Jim had come to town with this kind of attitude. the team would be far better if he had. The team still took too many dumb penalties but hopefully they will learn this lesson. 
• Sam Martin- He is exactly what a struggling special teams unit needed. He books kick offs through the end zone or gets enough hang time with them that the coverage team can get down the field to make plays. Although he has struggled with the punt game he was outstanding there last night. 
• Louis Delmas- Limited action, but he is a leader on defense and the secondary always plays better with him out there. It was good just to see him on the field. 

Losers:

• first team offense- They did score a TD but they still cannot run the ball and they seem to be struggling. Some of that may be a play calling aberration this pre-season but the defense but this team in position to score a lot more points and far too often the offense leaves points on the field as drives stall out. Reggie Bush is a huge addition to the passing game but has done nothing to improve the ground attack. Add to that the issues along the offensive line and we may see Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson break more record out of necessity, 
• The ground game- this is some kind of combination of the Lions being a pass first team and the problems along the right side of the O line. 124 yards on 29 rushes for a 4.3 average is an improvement but doesn't seem good enough. 
• Wide Receivers- They are having a hard time creating separation. That doesn't matter so much for guys named Calvin Johnson but I am fairly certain the Lions only have one of them on the roster. Beyond him and maybe Ryan Broyles there is no one in this unit stepping up. If the Lions cannot figure out a way to run the ball to at least keep opposing defences honest they will be very easy to stop. 

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The Mount Rushmore of Detroit Lions

Profootballtalk.com has been asking for nominations for each team's Mount Rushmore of players. Those four players that mean the most to every organization. OF course when it came to the Detroit Lions there was a lot of jokes made at the Honolulu blue and silver expense. However, real Detroit fans will be able to come up with a list of four Detroit Lions' players worthy of inclusion on the team's fictional monument.

With that let us start this debate. 

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