Game 9 @ Minnesota Vikings

Not that good.

The Detroit Lions went to 4-5 on the season when the now 6-4 Minnesota Vikings beat them today 34-24 in Minnesota. Now that Chicago lost tonight the Lions had a perfect chance to level the division playing field and blew it. Blew it so bad in fact that I guess I'll just have to admit that they are not that good.

Matthew "Harrington" Stafford (my new nickname for him) went for 28 on 42 for 329 yards and 3 TDs with 1 INT. Most of the positive coming in the last third of the game once again. If he is going to continue to play that conservatively for the first 40 minutes of every game the Lions will never be sniffing the playoffs again with him at quarterback. Ponder was 24 of 32 for 221 yards, 2 TDs and no INTs and he's not that good (in my opinion).

Calvin Johnson, who is that good, got 12 receptions for 207 yards and a TD despite playing in quite a bit of pain. If every Lions player gave it their all like he does they'd be near enough unbeatable.

Special Teams played much better this time around though they still have room for improvement.

Defense started out great but it wasn't long and the run fits went AWOL. Too many players trying to make splash plays instead of just playing solid and allowing the splash plays to happen when they can. Or, perhaps, they just are not that good either.

What it boils down to is simple... the easier way to the playoffs just went out the window... now it's all dog fight every week. The team needs to play much better if they want to play into January. If they do not, then they are not that good after all and we'll be talking draft by December 1st (some started tonight).

Extra! Extra! A Vikings Pre-Game Extra.

The writer for Kick Ass Blog (Vikings) and I agreed to write an article for each others site. Mine can be located at his blog http://kab-vikings.blogspot.ca/ So without further ado, here is a Vikings Pre-Game Extra Edition:

The Minnesota Vikings are going in the wrong direction. A surprisingly strong 5-2 start is a fading memory. The club has lost three of its last four games and had their asses handed to them two weeks in a row by Tampa Bay and Seattle. Confidence is at a season low. This is great news, of course, if you’re a Detroit Lions fan. What better way to keep the recent good times rolling than to play a young team that is struggling badly.

The struggles start with quarterback Christian Ponder, who didn’t do much in the road win against your Lions in late September. But that performance (16-26, 111 yards, no TDs or interceptions) was All-Pro-like compared to how he played last week in the loss to Seattle (63 passing yards! 63!). Ponder’s shown poor pocket awareness during his 19 starts in the NFL, but poor has morphed into abysmal the past three weeks. It’s affecting his decision-making, his mechanics and his throwing accuracy. He might be the worst starting QB in the NFL right now.

While Ponder has been playing unwatchable football, the Vikings ineptness in the passing game has truly been a team effort. Their wide receivers can’t beat opposing DBs one-on-one, whether they are running short or long routes. The offensive line has really struggled to pass protect the pass two weeks, particularly against blitzes. And tight end Kyle Rudolph has gone from a dangerous weapon to Mr. Blank Stat Sheet during this slump. What should really make Lions fans smile is that Percy Harvin – the NFL’s Most Dangerous Man – has a sprained left ankle and said on Monday he was a “long shot” to play Sunday. Without Harvin around, the Vikings offense become even easier to defend. Harvin's absence also means the Lions don't have to deal with him on kickoff returns.

I understand the Lions aren’t a very good blitzing team (your defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham has said so). But it might be worth a try in this game because Ponder has been curling up in the fetal position at the first smell of pressure. If the Lions front seven can get any type of heat on Ponder Sunday, it should be a banner day for the Detroit defense.

Offensively for Detroit, in the first game against the Vikings, Minnesota made the Lions one-dimensional by smothering Mikel Leshoure and Company. That allowed the Vikings to play their safeties deep with an eye towards preventing the big plays to Megatron, and forcing Matt Stafford – who looked out of sorts most of the game – to beat them with short stuff. It worked. But the Lions run game seems to have improved of late and I don’t think the Vikings defense will be able to shut it down like it did at Ford Field. The Vikings last four opponents have run wild on them. Its front seven is getting pushed around and not playing its gaps very well. And the tackling – so solid in the win against Detroit – has been awful of late.

We all know Detroit is a passing team, but it should try to establish the run with Leshoure and Joique Bell running at what has been a very soft middle of the Vikings defense. Force the Vikings to respect the run, and it will allow Stafford to use play-action effectively and give him a clean pocket to pass from. The Lions offense doesn’t have to worry about turnovers, either, because the Minnesota defense doesn’t force any (just three in the last four games). The secondary is much improved over the sorry crew the Vikings ran out there in 2011, but if the Lions are able to run the ball effectively, and Stafford gets time to throw it, the Vikes Cover Two zones will only hold up for so long.

To win this game, the Lions really just need to stay out of their own way. Play a turnover-free game on offense and take advantage of the Vikings poor tackling and gap coverage to score 25-plus points. Then force Ponder and his wide receivers to beat you – it’s highly doubtful they are up to the task.

Oh, yes, one other thing – your defense must stop Adrian Peterson. Roughly 10 months removed from blowing out his left knee, Peterson is on fire right now. He’s rushed for 458 yards in his last three games on just 55 carries (8.3 yards per carry), and he’s shown the agility, burst and “make-you-miss” ability that guy’s coming off reconstructive knee surgery just aren’t supposed to possess this soon. Peterson’s generally run very well against the Lions, and if Detroit’s defense can’t stop him, that gives the Vikings a chance to win this game. Bottle him up somehow – especially if Harvin can't play – and it's hard for this Vikings fans to envision how Minnesota wins this game without the Lions totally self-destructing.

Game 8 @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Not bad.

The Detroit Lions beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-14 today bringing their record to 4-4 on the season. All 4 touchdowns were run plays, 3 by Leshoure and 1 by Bell. The Lions were up 21-0 at half time for a relatively stress free game. However, instead of my proclaiming the team fully cured of all woes I think I'll grade them out at "not bad".

Matthew Stafford was 22 of 33 for 285 yards, no TDs and no INTs. He started out with some throws that were much too high (accomplished by his refusal to step into his throws, or in other words, bad mechanics) but eventually settled down and began to make more throws then not. It wasn't one of his higher yardage games considering the opponent nor was there a single passing TD, still, his game wasn't bad.

Mikel Leshoure had 3 touchdowns which is great, but his total yardage was a mere 70 yards. When he did get into the open field with one guy to beat he'd usually lower his shoulder and punish the tackler... but he'd still get tackled. I'm not convinced he couldn't juke his way past the sole defender and actually put up a run bigger then 14 yards if he wouldn't lower his shoulder but apparently he'd rather seek contact. I did notice his patience has improved greatly when it comes to waiting for his blockers, in fact, I was most impressed with that in this game. So for having patience and 3 TDs despite the lack of yardage I'll give him a "not bad" as well.

I should note that the Lions rotated in Bell a lot (and even Kevin Smith a couple times) so while Leshoure had 3 TDs on 16 carries Bell had more yards (73) on only 13 carries to lead the team (and 1 TD to go with it).

The passing game was also in the "not bad" category with Calvin Johnson going for 129 yards on 7 catches and Broyles 52 yards on 6 catches. Titus Young didn't catch a sure touchdown (it was perfectly thrown too) and had some other bad attempts to net only 2 catches for 20 yards in a week he should've established himself as a big time threat. Since that didn't happen there won't be much game planning around him any time soon.

The Lions special teams did nothing great nor anything stupid for a nice solid "not bad" grade and the Lions defense held the *ahem* "mighty" Jaguars to 64 yards rushing and 215 yards receiving further cushioning their single digit rank in the NFL (the Lions went into the game with the 9th ranked D in the league). Not bad.

Overall while the game wasn't spectacular, while it wasn't a huge blowout, it was a win over a team they were supposed to beat on the road, and it was relatively stress free watching it for there was never any feeling that the Jaguars were going to force a 4th quarter come back or overtime or other odd finish.

The coaches will be happy there were only 5 penalties for 42 yards, the coaching was good, the play calling sufficiently mixed to make predicting what play was being called difficult, and I don't recall any serious injuries.

I'd love to get all confident that the next game will be equally as easy to win but I think I saw a team simply coast to a win... perhaps it was all the prevent defense that got me in that mood. (My readers know how much I love the prevent defense).

There is one more stat of interest though, Matthew Stafford is AHEAD of last year in passing yardage. That's right, through 8 games this year he is ahead of last year to this point. Not bad.

Game 7 @ home against the Seattle Seahawks

Four.

The Detroit Lions managed a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit today taking them to a record of 3-4. Matthew Stafford threw 3 touchdowns and ran another in himself accounting for all the Lions points. No field goals. That red zone efficiency is why they won the game, 7 points versus 3, or 4 more points per score.

Stafford was 34 of 49 passing for 352 yards 3 TDs and 1 INT (plus 12 yards rushing and a TD). The primary recipient of those yards was Titus Young who caught 9 passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs.

The defense helped in the team effort by getting an interception (Silva) and pressuring Wilson for much of the game. Special teams made no critical errors. The play calling was in my opinion better then recent weeks. Stafford was even more willing to go down field earlier in the game then usual. Overall, it amounted to just enough to win a game against a tough opponent.

There is plenty of room for improvement but if the team can continue to play at least this well or better then they can make it to .500 next week and hopefully stay there. I fully expect their record to be 4-4 after they play in Florida against the Jaguars next week.

Game 6 @ Chicago Bears

Frustrating.

The Detroit Lions lose this game 7-13 making them 4th in the division and the only team below .500 (they're 2-4) in the NFC North. What a frustrating season this has been so far.

It's also extremely frustrating that Matthew Stafford just will not step into his throws. It's like, yeah okay, you got a great arm, but mechanics are still critical to succeeding in the NFL. In fact, I'd say if he continues to struggle and continues to fail to use proper mechanics then it's time to sit him in favor of Hill to drive the point home.

It's frustrating that the Lions keeps using a power runner all the time who has no speed and threatens no defense and sets up nothing in the passing game. You can't play action off of a non-threat. I would think Linehan would know this but perhaps not.

It's frustrating that many of the players have forgotten you actually have to play hard to win in this league. You also have to hang onto the ball. Especially if you're the return man who returns almost nothing.

It's frustrating that every receiver (and tight end) has issues completing the catch. One of which we won't have to worry about now is Nate Burleson, apparently he broke his leg in this game and will end up on IR.

Even the defense frustrated me despite playing fairly well and holding the Bears to just 13 points. More often then not a play to keep a drive alive was allowed and yet I know they were very tired from the offense not putting any drives together that amounted to much of anything. Maybe I was just too frustrated to appreciate their effort this game.

In the end, everyone should be frustrated as the 2012 season is slipping away little by little... it won't be long and we'll be talking draft.

Game 5 @ Philadelphia Eagles

Much Better.

Following the bye week the Lions were much better prepared for this week's foe, the Eagles. Even though it took 3 quarters to get "warmed up" and overtime to secure the win, the Lions finally managed to gain control of the game and win it 26-23. While they didn't dominate they did keep playing, and play hard.

Both Stafford and Vick threw for 311 yards (yes, an exact tie). Vick had 2 TDs but 2 INTs while Stafford had the 1 TD and only 1 INT. The Lions had a much better run game which is surprising, and while the Lions also had more penalties the Eagles had more turnovers lost. The winner of the game was the Detroit Lions' defensive line (and the Lions team themselves). The Dline played much better then in any game so far this year.

Yes, Special Teams were improved. No, the Lions offense still isn't all that unless they are 2 scores behind in the 4th quarter... but Vick will be sore for a very long time after this game and it's all because the Lions DLine played much better then in the past.

There is one more factor that must be brought to light though, the best player on the Lions D hadn't played until today... one Louis Delmas.

Just like last year, the Lions defense plays much better when he is in the game.

Game 4 @ home against the Minnesota Vikings

That wasn't it.

The Detroit Lions lose to the Minnesota Vikings 13-20 in a game that never seemed that close. Their record is now 1-3, good enough for last place in the division. Matthew Stafford completed 30 of 51 pass attempts for 319 yards with NO touchdowns and NO interceptions, though he did go over the top on a 1 yard "run" for the team's only touchdown. Were all his passes perfect? No, they weren't, not all of them, was it why they lost the game? No, that wasn't it.

The Vikings (namely Ponder) went 16 for 26 and 111 yards with NO touchdowns and NO interceptions. Did the Vikings passing game win the game for them? No, that wasn't it.

The Vikings biggest weapon is Adrian Peterson but the Lions managed to allow him only 102 yards on 21 carries. He also had only 20 yards on 4 catches. Meanwhile the Lions utilized the services of Mikel Leshoure for most of the game, he managed a whopping 26 yards on 13 carries but 14 of those were on one play so other then that one play he had 12 yards on 12 carries. Yet Kevin Smith rarely saw the field if he did at all. Leshoure also had 37 yards on 4 catches. While the game was being played I was able to correctly call 4 plays in a row before they lined up just based on what Linehan has been doing, very VERY predictable. While these things made winning a whole lot harder then it had to be, was this the reason the Lions lost? No, that wasn't it.

The Lions had 5 penalties for 72 yards and the Vikings 87 yards on 5 penalties as well. The "regular" refs called the game instead of the temps, were the refs the reason (either now or in the previous games) the Lions lost? No, that wasn't it.

For the first time in the NFL history a team had both a kick return and a punt return go for a touchdown in back to back games. This was done against the Lions' special teams this and last week when guys didn't stay in their lanes. In both games the score would've been such that without those 14 points given up by special teams the outcome of the game may have easily been completely different (meaning the Lions might have been able to win). Is this why the Lions lost? Perhaps. It certainly made things much much worse then they needed to be.

There is not a single stat that will point the way to why the Lions lost (again). There is not one single individual that can be blamed for the losses, except for one. It's not a player, or a ref, or a position coach... it's the head coach. He and he alone is in charge of the coordinators, and he and he alone is responsible for making sure the players are both ready to play and are playing as hard as they can (which allows their talent to rise to the top). The coordinators are NOT doing a very good job and individual players are NOT playing like they are capable of. They are much too talented to be playing like they are.

Next week is the bye week. Let's hope that coach Schwartz is able to review everything and come to the correct conclusions and furthermore is able to get first the coordinators and then the players to do WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF DOING. I'm looking for changes starting from the top and going all the way to the bottom before the Eagles game in week 6.

Changes don't mean firings and cuts, changes mean fixing the play calling, fixing the execution by the players, and getting the team to play like the team can. Anything other then this will not do. Fixing something other then this will only leave us all once again saying... that wasn't it.