No Swag
Seven weeks into the 2011 NFL season the Lions find themselves at 5-2 after losing to the Atlanta Falcons 16-23. Once again (for the second home game in a row) the Lions offense appeared lost, bewildered, lacking swag of any kind. The bad news is that it is spreading. The defense appeared to be losing it as well. Oh, and the fans... the Falcons with the exception of a couple plays had it very easy today... no help, no swag.
Stafford was a meager 15 of 32 for 183 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT. Pedestrian. CJ had 115 yards and a touchdown, but the #2 WR Burleson had 1 catch for 1 yard and nothing for Titus Young but missed opportunities. Maurice Morris was the only RB to have any completions with a mere 2 catches for 13 yards. TEs Pettigrew, Heller, and Scheffler combined for 7 completions and 54 yards to complete the anemic passing attack. The run game totaled 104 yards which is actually an improvement but it didn't help in the slightest. Stafford had no swag and I've all but lost hope that the OLine can be anything more then mediocre this season.
The defense seems to be losing ground as well. The DLine didn't pressure as often, the new found ways of allowing big plays to happen is getting old, and probably most importantly, nothing happens when the defense does get a turnover. The momentum just dies.
I could go into how disappointing the special teams play is but that was obvious. Making a joke about hearing a pin drop during at least 2 quarters of play at Ford Field also doesn't seem right.
I guess when things aren't going right everyone loses their swag.
Maybe this upcoming away game against the Denver Bronco's is just what is needed... then again, if the Lions lose to Tim Tebow the chances of finding any swag during the rest of 2011 is very much in doubt. The coaching staff and the players simply can not allow that to happen. Someone needs to figure out what is wrong and right it, and I think now would be a very good time for that to happen.
2 comments:
Fans worked hard to maintain support--difficult to do when defense allows the biggest gains when noise is the the loudest (actually 4 false starts yesterday, 3 in the second half!)
Stafford is lost and adrift--secluded from his teammates on the field, weirdly disconnected as demonstrated by his body language (no excitement, no hustle...)
Defense plays undisciplined and special teams are sloppy but, not to harp on this too much, the biggest culprit is Stafford. He's got to get his head on straight--I was even hoping Hill would come in--he's just not inspiring to anyone! My 2 1/2 hour drive was rewarded when Barry was introduced as one of the Lions alums at the beginning of the game--the game itself, and especially the "play" of Stafford--was a real disappointment...
On TV the noise level at Ford Field was disappointing. When things are going bad is when the team needs whatever help they can get the most. I think the fans there could've helped with even more false starts when the team needed it more.
Agree with you on Stafford. Not sure why he appears to have taken a trip and never left the farm, but it needs to be addressed whatever "it" is.
These two losses could've been wins with better D play... but they would've been even easier to win with better Stafford play.
Plenty of blame to go around, plenty of work for the coaches to do.
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