Detroit Lions week 12/13 in review

I will be real honest, this is the worst job to have when your team plays as bad a game as the Detroit Lions did last Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I did not want to write about the Lions all week. Then they fumble the opening drive against the Packers and I was like 'great here we go again', another Thanksgiving day ruined. I even texted someone and was like I guess I need to find a new job because the Lions are killing my love for football. Most of you already know how the rest of the Green Bay game would play out, but I am the first one to sit here and say be warned now, the Lions are still not that good. The beat the crap out of an opponent they have not beaten in five tries, the won on Thanksgiving for the first time in a decade, and all of that is good, but the beat up on a team that was distracted by its own media madness and absent its biggest stars. Even that is good in a way because this is the kind of game the 'Same Ole Lions" would've have found a way to lose.

Taking advantage of an opponents weaknesses is a necessary trait in the NFL. The Lions exposed the Packers and their injuries, their inability to stop the run, and they adjusted nicely to what transpired in the game. However I still see a team that is very up and down. These two games personify what the Lions are in a nutshell...the new Cardiac kids. There are no easy wins, there are bad mistakes and the highs and too high and the lows are far to low. I want to see this team be more consistent across the board. To play at a high level every down, every play, and in every game. For me the opponent does not matter. With the weapons they have an offense they should score at will, and the defense has played far better than any of us want to give them credit for.

The ultimate goal is for this team to be a legit playoff contender, and they are just not there yet. However, they are improving and hopefully very soon they will ready themselves to take that next step.

For now a look at the good and the bad from two very different games for our Lions:

The Good:

• The running game- the racked up 345 rushing yards in these two games and for the first time all season lost a game where Reggie Bush had at least 75 rushing yards (and we know the reason they lost that game). The O line is starting to run block very well and the coaches came up with a game plan that exposed a weakness in  the Green Bay defense. Got to give credit where credit is due. 
• The D line- 9 sacks in two games, and we all said they do not get to the QB enough. Sure they played too inexperienced QB's but that is how you beat young QB's in this league, you get in their face. 
• The Linebackers- The linebackers actually played pretty well in both of these games. Sure they couldn't stop the Bucs when they needed too, but the LB corps has played far better than we thought they were going to before the season began. Stephen Tulloch and DeAndre Levy have come up huge for this team. 

The bad:

• Turnovers- In two games, 6 picks, 5 fumbles (three of which were lost) that is not how you win, and it is certainly not how you win in the post season. Most of that fault lies with the two leaders of this team, Matthew Stafford and Reggie Bush. Not to mention that phantom fumble by Kris Durham which was inexcusable. 
• Special Teams- Kick offs going out of bounds, missed field goals, and a blocked kick. The return game has gotten better but as a whole the special teams continue to struggle. I have zero faith in this coaching staff when it comes to this phase of the game. 
• Matthew Stafford- Along with the team as a whole taking the next step I think we are getting to the point where Stafford needs to take the next step in his development. He leads great with his play, most of the time, but I think for this team to become a legit contender he needs to become more of vocal leader. It disturbs me that he did not want to take the chance to lay down the law after a tough loss at home. Peyton Manning would have taken that team into the locker room and laid down the law and not that Stafford has to go that far with it, but I think he needs to be more of a force on the field first and off the field as well.

The Lions now get 10 days off to prepare for the Philadelphia Eagles. That is not the gimme game we thought it was and I want to see this team go on the road and win They will have to work hard to do just that and with four games left in the season they need every win, even if 9 wins will win them this division. 

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Detroit Lions week six in review

Who thought after six games of the 2013 season we would be sitting her talking about the 4-2, and in first place, Detroit Lions. Of course at one point in 2011 they were 5-0. However I believe in this 4-2 team more than I did that team. 5-0 and they barely won 10 games that year. 4-2 now and I do not think we have seen the best this team has to offer. That is very encouraging for this long time suffering Lions fan.

Beating a team one the road is a big step. Being 4-2 is a big step, and these are the kinds of game the 'Same ole Lions' use to lose. It wasn't always pretty, and it wasn't dominating, but the Lions played three solid quarters on both sides of the ball and earned this win. We still have yet to see the best this team has to offer and once they reach the next level they can start to polish their performance a little. For now winning games by an means necessary is the goal, and for the Lions right now maybe there are no style points.

With that being said let us take a look at the good and the bad from game six of 2013.

The Good:                      

• DeAndre Levy- 7 tackles and 2 picks. This guy continues to make an impact all over the field and he is putting together a heck of a season. he seems to be everywhere and further proof he is better on the outside then he was in the middle. 
• Kris Durham- 8 catches 83 yards and he is proving once more he can go get a ball or two. Would love to see this cat develop into a legit threat, for now he is a role player getting additional time due to the health of the Lions receivers. Stepping up big when he gets a chances is the reason he made the team. 
• Joseph Fauria- Three catches all for TD's. Sure he doesn't get many chances out side of the red zone but this is his role to put points on the board and he had proven himself capable of doing exactly that. 

The Bad:

• Penalties- 8 penalties....still feels like too many. However those 8 penalties were only for 65 yards and two of those calls were highly questionable. The Lions are not making the big 15 yards mistakes and that is why they are winning. 
• Punt returning- This is a continuing issue. five punt returns for 22 yards. I am no math wiz, but that means they averaged what 5 yards per punt return? Not good enough!

All in all there is not a lot to complain about this week. The Lions won, and did so in a convincing manner. All of that is good and we know look for this team to gain this a little swagger. They need to start believing they can win every game no matter who the opponent is and that will become more important in week 7 with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town. 

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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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Analyzing the 2013 Detroit Lions roster: Linebackers

For the first time over the last few seasons it is not the defensive secondary that concerns me most about the Detroit Lions defense. For 2013 it would seem that the Linebacking corps is thew weakest link in the D. There is jot not a lot of talent here past starting MLB Stephen Tulloch and OLB DeAndre Levy. Those two are good, maybe even very good linebackers. However, the other OLB starting spot goes to Ashlee Palmer and I am nowhere near as high on him as the Lions coaches seem to be. I really wonder if he won the job, or there is simply no one else on the roster capable. It is long past the time some draft picks got invested here.

Of course to be far, Gunther Cunningham is one hell of a football coach and he gets the most out of what he is given each and every time. Maybe under his tutelage and that of linebackers coach Matt Burke they will get the most out of this group. They have looked awful in the pre-season, and at some points looked ok. They seem to be more ball hawky this year, and the defense as a whole as worked hard to generate turnovers. That could be a very encouraging sign.

Behind the three starters the most intriguing guy to make the initial 53 man roster is Tahir Whitehead. Many Lions feel like he performed well enough to have earned a starting spot, but I am a lot more higher on Rocky McIntosh who of course is like the 53rd guy on the roster and was initially released to make room for a wavier wire addition to the secondary but was quickly resigned.

After four pre-season games it really seems like we do not know what this unit is yet. We have no idea what they are capable of, and we are all hoping they are better than what they look like on paper. Better than what we saw in Cleveland two weeks o so ago, and good enough to help the defense stop drives and generate turnovers. We shall see.

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