Game 13 @ Green Bay Packers

Time

For the 22nd year in a row the Green Bay Packers won their home game against the Detroit Lions with a final score of 20-27 giving the Packers 1st place in the division and the Lions a 4-9 record.

The Lions defense held Aaron Rodgers to 14 completions on 24 pass attempts for 173 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. That alone was quite an accomplishment. Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford was 27 of 45 for 264 yards and one touchdown to go with his one interception and a funble.

Some will say the refs were the reason for the loss, others will blame the secondary, I shall go with a combination of Stafford, the weather, and injuries. Playing Durham who was on the practice squad just last week as the number 2 WR because of injuries to Burleson, Young, Broyles, and finally Pettigrew was more then the offense could overcome. The weather appeared to cause Stafford to fumble the ball on a key play early in the game and then later in the game Stafford became very very inaccurate. In the end though a loss is a loss and the only fix for the team is more talent. What is about to happen is a mini-rebuild due to the fact the Lions are talent deficient at various positions, low on cap space for next year, and have a lot of players who are in their final year of their contracts. The current rebuild from the Millen years has run out of time.

I have created a spreadsheet of the current players on the Lions roster, whether they are under contract for 2013, what their cap hit will be if kept, cap hit if cut or traded, and cap hit if cut after June 1st 2013. You will find this at http://www.thenetrat.com/Lions2013Roster.xls

If want have the time, you can look over this sheet and find out the state of the roster. You should conclude that the Lions have (as it stands right now) less then $12 million in cap space for next year and will need about 17 players. More if they cut or trade some current players... of course, strategic cuts would free up some cap space. Some contracts could be reworked as well to free up more cap space but at a cost of future cap space. It may be the right time to eat some cap in one year in order to be more competitive in future years. That is, if the coaching staff and front office haven't run out of time as well.