Week 6 (Bye Week), Week 7 at Miami Dolphins and Week 8, 2018 vs Seattle Seahawks @ Home

Fully Prepared.

After beating the Green Bay Packers week 5 the Detroit Lions were fully prepared for a bye week, which they were scheduled to do. Then after taking a few days off to recoop from their 2-3 start they prepared for and won against the Miami Dolphins 32-21 in Florida. Now at 3-3 they play at home against the 3-3 Seattle Seahawks only to lose 14-28. Seattle was fully prepared to play, the Lions were not. Not on offense, not on defense, not even on special teams.

The bye week of course has no stats. The Miami game which I had no time to blog about was so much better then the next week when the Lions were home against Seattle. I mean, against Seattle, Matthew Stafford was 27 of 40 (67.5%) for 310 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, along with a fumble. Ameer Abdullah also fumbled, early in the game, immediately after the kickoff from the Seahawks first score, setting the tone for the entire game really.

The Lions had a grand total of 34 yards rushing by 4 players. Compared to a record number of yards the week before from KJ in Miami. Obviously the Lions are not dictating the offense, but are playing to the defense they are confronting. That has to change.

The Lions were not ready for a fake punt this week, preventing any miracle come back from Stafford, who prior to that sabotaged himself with a fumble and then at the goal line, an interception. Trying to do everything all by yourself usually ends up with these kinds of results. The entire team, sans Prater, needs to look in the mirror, and this includes the entire coaching staff. There is no one to blame for the Seahawks loss, nor the Dolphins win, it's all team. In Miami the team was fully prepared to win, in the Seahawks loss the Lions were not. Not even close.

The Lions play away the next two weeks. At the Vikings and then at the Bears. They are 3-4 with the Vikings now at 4-3-1 and the Bears at 4-3. If the Lions are to continue to be in the mix for the playoffs they must win both of these next two games! They have to be prepared. They can not be injured, poorly coached, or to be having an off day. This is the pivotal point in the season, so get fully prepared, and play to win. If that doesn't happen, neither will there be a post season. It's that important.

Week 5 2018, Green Bay Packers vs the Detroit Lions @ Home

Lions won.

The 2-3 Detroit Lions won this contest 31-23 against the Packers at home today. They were up as much as 3 scores on them before going into a prevent defense which nearly erased the lead. Still, it was great to see a win, even if you must go through the whole game wondering when Rodgers will take the lead away. The outcome may have been a lot different if their ace kicker hadn't missed 3 field goals and an extra point. But then, the Lions wouldn't have gone into prevent either so who knows for sure how the final score would have been. No matter how you slice it, the Lions won.

Matthew Stafford was 14 of 26 (53.85%) for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns with no turnovers. There was only 94 yards rushing and Blount had two rushing touchdowns. Prater was 1 for 2 on field goals and 4 for 4 on extra points. The defense had no interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries. No aspect of the team was great, but they were good enough, for the Lions won.

Lots of work remains to be done to get this team into top shape, the offensive line still needs to work better together (difficult with Lang out injured) and the defense still needs to learn the whole scheme but there is improvement... and hopefully that can continue... as the Lions now have a bye week before going to Miami who is currently 3-2. It won't be easy to win that game, but if the Lions want to keep close in the playoff race they will need to take the game anyway. Hopefully Kerryon Johnson's ankle he injured in the 3rd quarter is able to heal up by then, for his running ability is taking some of the pressure off of Stafford, making it a bit easier for the Lions to win their games.

Week 4 2018, Detroit Lions versus the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas

Ouch.

The 1-3 Detroit Lions lose to the Dallas Cowboys 24-26. The score makes it sound like a close game, but the refs had this one firmly in hand from the first quarter. (yes, I went there).

If I can find the time I will update this blog further later on, for now, I'm working far too many hours to have the time to complain, let alone explain, what I saw last Sunday.