Just a collection of videos that sum up the Lions season so far.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Detroit Changes Losing Culture, Needs To Change Gameplans
I’ve learned a lot about the Detroit Lions over the past few weeks and it began during the game against the Tampa Bay. During the game against Tampa Bay the Lions' offense looked pretty good, they were up tempo and running a lot of no huddle which was working. Against Minnesota the Lions' offense looked absolutely horrible, nothing they were doing seemed to work, they looked sluggish and weren’t running any no huddle plays. Later in the game against Minnesota they started to pick up the pace and that’s when they came back and won. The exact same thing happened with the Lions’ offense when they played the Dallas Cowboys so whatever Scott Linehan is trying to do in the first half of these games he needs to throw out the window and roll with what’s working.
On the defensive side of the ball I’m not sure if this was the case during the Minnesota game but during the first half of the Lions' game against Dallas I’ll admit I noticed something on defense that had me yelling at my television. Teams know that the Detroit Lions have an amazing defensive line so to negate the pass rush they’re going to try to run short passes. Well can anybody explain why more often than not the Detroit Lion corner-backs playing seven to ten yards off the Dallas Cowboy receivers? That coupled with the way the offense was playing had me practically losing my mind but their was something strange about it.
During the Minnesota game I thought it was over at half time and I thought that there was absolutely no way the Lions were going to come back and beat the Vikings. However because of the way the Detroit battled back against Minnesota and were able to win I had faith that they would do the same against Dallas. Sitting in a room watching the game with a Dallas fan and catching so much crap via text message that I needed a biohazard suit I told them that it wasn’t over until the end of the fourth quarter. Most of the Dallas fans I know responded with something along the lines of “We Aren’t Minnesota”.
It turns out the Cowboys were worse than Minnesota on that day because they allowed the Lions to come back from a twenty four point deficit and win the game without overtime. As the Lions made their comeback I noticed that the offense was once again up tempo running a lot of no huddle. On defense the Detroit corner-backs were no longer playing so far off of the Cowboy receivers as much. They started to mix it up and alternate playing close and playing off the wide receivers. Chris Houston's interception for a touchdown happened because he was able to play the receiver close and make a play on the ball. One of the only hits I remember us getting on Romo before the sack on the last play was the one Suh put on him that drew the penalty flag. The corner-backs were playing close and had Suh not hit Romo in the head (barely) then the Cowboys would have been forced to punt.
I’m happy that the Lions are currently undefeated and I’m writing this to show that in my mind at least the culture in Detroit has really changed. The fact that the Lions can be down by twenty four and I still believed they had a chance to win the game is absolutely amazing and the fact that they actually did win the game is unreal.
However as much as I love basically 80% of what the Detroit coaching staff has done, the way the Lions have started the games against Minnesota and Dallas is the direct effect of a horrible game plan to start the game. I give them all the credit in the world for the way they adjusted in the second half and won the game but they wouldn’t have been so far down if they would’ve had a better game plan going into the game.
Next week against Chicago the Lions are going up against Mike Martz whose passing attack mostly relies on timing. Hopefully we'll come out in the first quarter and jam their receivers at the line disrupting their timing and allowing our defensive line to feast on Veal Cutler all game long. However even if we do that there is one other thing that worries me, Devin Hester.
Besides the first half game planing the only other thing about the Lions that worries me is the special teams. From what I've seen it doesn't seem like Jason Hanson has the leg to kick the ball out of the back of the endzone on kickoffs. I've thought since the beginning of the season that we should have a second kicker on the roster for the sole purpose of ensuring that the opposing team doesn't get a chance to make a kickoff return. Hanson has enough leg to get the ball a few yards into the endzone but most good kick returners are willing to risk taking the ball out from where Hanson kicks it. Against Minnesota the Lions kick coverage units looked absolutely horrible on special teams, they looked better against Dallas but they're going to need to be flawless if Hanson isn't able to kick the ball deep enough to force Devin Hester to take a knee.
This Monday I'll be looking for the Lion's to come out of the gate firing and put Chicago down early, if they can do that and force mad man Martz to abandon the run there is no doubt in my mind that the Detroit Lions can absolutely dominate against the Bears. However if the Lions come out of the gate flat like they have for the past two weeks and give Chicago the option of pounding the run, it could be a long Monday night for the Detroit Lions.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Not The Same Old Lions
In my last post to this blog I refereed to how losing the first game of the 2011 season to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may give some Lion's fans the right to use their favorite phrase "same old Lions". Well what the Detroit Lions did in Tampa Bay proved that these aren't the same old Lions, the Detroit Lions proved that they were downright better than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in every aspect of the game and Tampa Bay isn't a bad team. Now I will admit that there were some "same old Lions" moments like the two boneheaded plays by Sthephen Peterman and Gosder Cherilus among others but in the end where the "same old Lions" would have let Tampa Bay send the game to overtime and eventually lose, these Lions held on for a win. Also these Lion's weren't satisfied with their play even in their winning effort.
"I am not going to discount the value of a win, particularly a win on the road," Schwartz said. "But we definitely have to play a lot better than we played today. We made too many mistakes that kept Tampa in the game.
"I guess it's the sign of a good football team that we made those mistakes and still came out with the win. But there are things that happened in this game that are inexcusable and they will not continue."
Not one quote about pounding the rock or keeping the pad level low, plus actually holding players accountable for stupid plays, are these the Lions we're talking about? It's music to my ears and even though we're only one week into the 2011 season overall I'm loving what I'm seeing. However let's see if they continue looking good next week against a Kansas City team who looked horrible in week one.
In closing I'd just like to say.....
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Detroit Lions Must Win Against Tampa Bay
During week 15 of the 2010 NFL season a 3-10 Detroit Lions team took on a 8-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was still fighting to make the playoffs. Tampa Bay was without Gerald McCoy and Quincy Black however the Detroit Lions were without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, backup quarterback Shaun Hill, linebacker Landon Johnson, and running-back Jahvid Best was hobbled by turf toe injuries on both feet.
With Tampa Bay still in the playoff hunt and the Detroit Lions playing for nothing other than pride the Lions and third string quarterback Drew Stanton were able to deal a serious blow to the Buccaneers playoff opportunities by pulling off an upset win in overtime.
This season the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off on week one of the 2011 NFL season on equal footing, both are still fighting to make the playoffs. However the loser of this game may be dead in the water and not even know it. According to stats released by both espn.com and nfl.com, since 1990 only 24% of teams that lost their first game made the playoffs. When it comes to teams losing their week one game and winning their division, only 14% of teams have been able to accomplish this feat.
So for all of the Detroit Lions fans who have been drinking the Honolulu blue kool aid all off season may be justified in yelling "same old Lions" as they jump off the bandwagon if the Lions lose. This game is as important as any other game the Lions will play this season and if Matthew Stafford fails to lead them to victory against a team Drew Stanton was able to beat then maybe, just maybe they haven't improved as much as we all think.
I'll agree that on paper this team is leaps and bounds ahead of any Detroit Lions team in recent memory however it HAS TO translate into great on the field performances or it doesn't matter.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Calvin Johnson Acura Commercial
I'm glad Calvin is getting some recognition nationally but I wonder how Mr.Ford feels about the ad.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Ndamukong Screwed
The NFL refs have no idea what to do when they see Ndamukong Suh going beast mode and wreaking havoc on offenses. Their solution, throw a flag.
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