Week 3 2018, Detroit Lions vs New England Patriots @ home.

Stunned!

The 1-2 Detroit Lions beat the 1-2 New England Patriots by a score of 26-10. I think it is safe to say that mostly NO ONE saw this coming. I know that Patricia knows the Patriots very well, and that his desire to win was probably very strong (and that's an inadequate thought) but mostly no one saw this coming. Most were, in fact, stunned!

Matthew Stafford was 27 of 36 (75%) for 262 yards and 2 TDs. Most importantly according to the press, is that the Lions had 101 yards on the ground by Kerryon Johnson, the first one hundred yard rusher for the Lions in over 5 years. In total, the Lions had 159 yards rushing to go with thei 262 yards passing. Meanwhile the Patriots managed 89 yards rushing and only 133 yards passing all by Tom Brady. 14 of 26 (53.85%) for 133 yards 1 TD and 1 INT is astounding, for any defense, let alone the Lions much malingered defense. I am stunned! There was no way I foresaw this kind of proficiency from the Lions defense. The offense I was thinking would get tons of garbage time stats, but that too was a nothing.

I was impressed that when there were seconds to go in the first half the Lions did not just run for a few yards and let the time run out like they would have done under Caldwell... which is a thing. Even though they did not score they did keep playing and ran the clock off while still trying to go down the field. That was a much needed change of attitude in my opinion.

Further more, the defense, though in my opinion, undermanned, was able to hold Tom Brady to 133 yards and then beat his team by 16 points. Once again, I and everyone I know, am STUNNED!

So here we are, week three of preseason (yes, I know it's week three of the regular season but Patricia sat the starters so much it might as well be week three of preseason) and they are finally appearing to understand their roles, in both offense and defense. Whether this education has stuck into their craws is yet to be seen, but it's a very good start. Again, I never thought the Lions could win this game, let alone by two full scores, so I am stunned, and I am also very happy! Can we do this again next week please? Thank you.

Game 2, 2018, Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers

Slightly better.

The now 0-2 Detroit Lions lost to the 1-1 San Francisco 49ers 27-30 proving that they were slightly better prepared to play a football game but still are not completely ready. Winning in the NFL takes a true team effort. One that the Lions are not yet ready to yield as of yet.

Matthew Stafford was 34 of 53 (64.15%) for 347 yards 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. A marked improvement from last week. Yet the Lions defense gave up 18 completions on 26 attempts (69.23%) for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. The defense also gave up 190 yards rushing to the Lions offense of 98 yards rushing (8 yards from Stafford).

Every aspect of the offense, and the defense, suggests they were slightly better. Even special teams, slightly better.

There is nothing that I can type or report that can denote a marked improvement, nor is there anything that I can point to that can mark a material difference... yet at the same time... there is no one factor that shows a regression or a worse factor then what happened last week.

No, the Lions improved, but at the same time, they were only slightly better.

At this rate, they might win against head coaches previous team (the Patriots) next week, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. In fact, until week 5 I wouldn't place any bets on the Lions as they are only now into week 3 of preseason, despite it being week 2 of the regular season.

So no, in my opinion, the Lions have improved, yet they are only slightly better then last week, and no where's near as good as they should be at this point in the year.

Week 1, 2018 - Detroit Lions vs New York Jets @ Home

Not ready at all.

The (now 0-1) Detroit Lions played Monday Night Football at home against the visiting (now 1-0) New York Jets and were soundly beaten 17-48. They were beaten in all aspects of the game and it was readily apparent they were not in the least bit ready at all.

I normally post blog entries after every pre-season game, but this year all the games were used for player evaluation and not for implementing game specific plays, so I didn't bother. I did go to Detroit from the 28th of July to the 1st of August to watch three open practices, and I did update my estimated depth chart as usual, but I didn't have the time or inclination to blog about the preseason games. Now I find it's week 1 of the 2018 season and I wish I didn't have to blog about this game either.

Matthew Stafford was 27 of 46 (58.696%) for 286 yards and one touchdown but also with 4 interceptions. This is horrible. Considering the core of his offense is back from last year along with the coordinator; but with new OL, RB, and QB coaches... who knows what went wrong here... but it is completely safe to say that Stafford was not ready at all to play week 1. (Not to mention the pain he was in due to the OL also not being ready at all to play).

Meanwhile the opposing QB, one Mr Darnold - the youngest QB to start ever in week 1 - was 16 of 21 (76.19%) for 198 yards 2 TDs and only 1 INT (the very first play of his career). Only 4 missed passes in a game as a rookie in his first ever game... inexcusable. The Jet were ready to play... the Lions... were not even close to ready to play.

The Lions had only 15 attempted runs for 39 yards, while the defense allowed 36 attempts for 169 yards and 2 TDs. Stop me if any of this sounds familiar.

Special Teams was also not ready... allowing 239 return yards to the Lions 37 yards. Then there were the 2 missed field goals for the Lions (none for the Jets)... and I didn't even go into the missed tackles, the drops (some in the endzone), or Cassels interception.

The Lions came out of pre-season pretty healthy and completely unprepared for the season. There were no aspects of their game that appeared to be ready to play. Golladay and Diggs did a few good things, and the rest of the team was in week one of preseason (readiness wise).

Blame whoever you want for the loss, me... I blame the coaching staff for not having the team ready to play, at all.