2014 Detroit Lions

[Pickford-Bentler]

And again, I'm not totally having a man crush on Matt Stafford but compared to others out there, I'd take him over that motley assortment any day. Seriously if he stinks it up in the field for a game, let's talk. Where did he not do well? Did he over throw his receivers? Did his footwork look clumsy? Was he throwing behind his targets? Too many interceptions? Fumbles?

I'm not at all against being critical of the guy but to just call him out as stinking up the joint or just sucking eggs is childish at best.

I would be more concerned about a quickly vanishing back 4 on defense and the inability to run to the right. Run blocking was Waddle's forte and it is showing. Where I can agree with Stafford's critics is that he is not a QB that can carry a team. But that is a rare breed in the NFL.

[Smirnoff]

I would be more concerned about a quickly vanishing back 4 on defense and the inability to run to the right. Run blocking was Waddle's forte and it is showing. Where I can agree with Stafford's critics is that he is not a QB that can carry a team. But that is a rare breed in the NFL.

The elephant in the room - which the local media never reports, inside critics leaked no respect from peers.

[Bham1982]

I don't think Stafford is bad, BTW. I just think he's average, at absolute best.

He almost certainly has the best offensive weapons in the NFL [[he has, without question, the best offensive player in the NFL, and about half-a-dozen legitimate threats on offense; most teams have two or three threats at most).

And the OL is no longer a weakness, at all. Stafford needs to produce, consistently. If a deep threat QB can't win with Megatron at his prime, then he can't win, period.

[Thruster315]

The elephant in the room - which the local media never reports, inside critics leaked no respect from peers.

The reason it probably isn't reported is that it's not really news. Stafford can be lights out and Stafford can also be so-so at worst. He plays as well as his team around him. We're putting far too much emphasis on ONE player here; let's not forget it's a team sport. And even to pair him up with all of those offensive tools, far too many of you are judging him on the Carolina game where they have one of the best defenses around. None of you spoke up when he was effective against a team like the Giants. One misstep and you pounced.

Want to spread some blame around? Let's talk about Calvin's drop in the end zone. Freese's missed kicks. Bell's fumble. Ross' fumble. The missed blocks on the right side of the line. Those were things we didn't execute as a team.

Now let's toss in a pretty stout Panthers' defense on top of our miscues. They were pretty damn good in their scheme too. They had some pretty quick guys on the front four and dropped plenty of nickel packages back there to contain our receivers. Let's give some credit to those guys who were trying to lay down some smack to our Lions too. They weren't one of the top defenses without earning it last season.

[ABetterDetroit]

Threats, weapons whatever you want to call them. I'm not trying to put anyone down but this town has a long history of over selling its offense. One guy is a pro bowler, not "half a dozen" or "lots", one and and only one. Another made it as an alternate once. One player that is among the best cannot do it alone, if it worked that way Barry would have been the ONE. Other players need to step up on offense and make plays and Calvin must continue to do it with them or the offense will struggle like they did last Sunday. Go Lions

[Bong-Man]

Big picture wise, the Lion's problem is still lousy drafting. Leshore and Best didn't work out so we had to over-pay Reggie Bush. Titus Young was nuts, so we had to pay for Golden Tate. Such things are the kiss of death in the modern NFL. It's lost cap money that affects your depth and the rest of the supporting cast that only needs an average skill set for a team to be successful. By the way, I saw Mr. Ebron get covered twice by a linebacker on long patterns....that ain't good !

[Pickford-Bentler]

The reason it probably isn't reported is that it's not really news. Stafford can be lights out and Stafford can also be so-so at worst. He plays as well as his team around him. We're putting far too much emphasis on ONE player here; let's not forget it's a team sport. And even to pair him up with all of those offensive tools, far too many of you are judging him on the Carolina game where they have one of the best defenses around. None of you spoke up when he was effective against a team like the Giants. One misstep and you pounced.

Want to spread some blame around? Let's talk about Calvin's drop in the end zone. Freese's missed kicks. Bell's fumble. Ross' fumble. The missed blocks on the right side of the line. Those were things we didn't execute as a team.

Now let's toss in a pretty stout Panthers' defense on top of our miscues. They were pretty damn good in their scheme too. They had some pretty quick guys on the front four and dropped plenty of nickel packages back there to contain our receivers. Let's give some credit to those guys who were trying to lay down some smack to our Lions too. They weren't one of the top defenses without earning it last season.

The Panthers were #2 defense in the NFL, last year.


Bleacher Report is a good source of information. They broke down the "break down" at right tackle.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...t-right-tackle


I agree with this about Waddle:

"One of Waddle's best attributes is his ranginess. Pro Football Focus graded his run blocking highly, and the team rushed for over 100 yards in seven of his eight starts. They managed that feat just three times in the other eight..."

There were times, last year, when Warford and Waddle graded a freeway.

Good offensive lines have at least one side they can create an edge to run "at will" over a defensive, thus forcing safeties to cheat up in support. And that "support" tires them to the point that they can be exploited by a QB with a strong arm. It is basic football.

I agree with the critics of Mayhew because, IMO, not enough draft picks have been applied to the offensive line. They chase the next skill guy who will give Stafford more tools. The next guy flames out and they end up buying one as a FA. Waddle is a UDFA who they lucked out on, but who may be injury prone.

An "at will" running game is essential to augment a QB with a strong arm, but poor escape ability - Stafford.

Millen was a 0/10 GM. Right now, I rate Mayhew 3/10. Too bad the Lions don't have owners who demand 9/10 at the top of the chain.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Threats, weapons whatever you want to call them. I'm not trying to put anyone down but this town has a long history of over selling its offense. One guy is a pro bowler, not "half a dozen" or "lots", one and and only one. Another made it as an alternate once. One player that is among the best cannot do it alone, if it worked that way Barry would have been the ONE. Other players need to step up on offense and make plays and Calvin must continue to do it with them or the offense will struggle like they did last Sunday. Go Lions

The last Pro Bowl caliber offensive lineman on the Lions was Jeff Hartings. One of Matt Millen's first moves was to "save money" by letting Hartings go as a free agent. Hartings went to the Steelers where he made the Pro Bowl twice. Football is won in the trenches. Will Suh leave due to money and go on to get a ring?

It is sad to see HOF skill players like Barry and Calvin languish on the Lions and not get a ring.

[EL Jimbo]

I would certainly take Flacco, Rothlisberger, Manning and Rivers, and I might take Dalton, Ryan and Cutler. The rest, no.

Can you imagine Phillip Rivers on the Lions? That would be a Super Bowl caliber team.

Not unless this team magically learned how to play some defense. The Lions need secondary help DESPERATELY. I'm still stunned they took Ebron in the first round when they could have got a corner like Darqueze Dennard.

[EL Jimbo]

Big picture wise, the Lion's problem is still lousy drafting. Leshore and Best didn't work out so we had to over-pay Reggie Bush. Titus Young was nuts, so we had to pay for Golden Tate. Such things are the kiss of death in the modern NFL. It's lost cap money that affects your depth and the rest of the supporting cast that only needs an average skill set for a team to be successful. By the way, I saw Mr. Ebron get covered twice by a linebacker on long patterns....that ain't good !

Well it also doesn't help that the Lions were a terrible team at the absolute worst time to be a terrible team salary cap-wise. Suh, Stafford, and Calvin were all top 5 picks at a time in the NFL's history when a top 5 pick guaranteed you a massive salary equivalent to the very best at your position before you even played a down of pro ball. Those three eat up an incredibly large amount of the Lions cap space.

If the Lions had gone through their run of truly dreadful seasons just a few years later, after the new CBA was in place, the Lions could have benefited from those same top 5 caliber picks but with a significant amount of additional cap space to upgrade the rest of the roster.

I'm not arguing against your point that poor drafting forced some higher price FA signings in Bush and Tate, but those only exacerbated a problem that already existed. They weren't the cause.

[Smirnoff]

Not unless this team magically learned how to play some defense. The Lions need secondary help DESPERATELY. I'm still stunned they took Ebron in the first round when they could have got a corner like Darqueze Dennard.

Anyone who knows anything about football totally agrees.....just more significant mistakes by Lions Brass.....[[yawn). Lions have enough offensive weapons, secondary is pitiful, just.....

[EastsideAl]

The lack of secondary depth, and the inability to go to nickel, etc. packages with any degree of confidence, is really going to hurt this team. I really couldn't believe it when they took until the 4th round to draft a DB.

Big tester this week, of course, against the best QB in the division coming off a big comeback win last week. Cam Newton was good but wasn't exactly stellar against them, until he, and the Lions inability to hang onto the ball, wore them down late in the game.

[EastsideAl]

First really big game of the season today.

[Thruster315]

Rodgers doesn't seem to scare me on first and second downs as of late. But damn, get him on third down and see him scramble scares the beejesus outta me. We seem to be doing just okay. Stafford isn't as accurate as I'd like right now; offensively I'm not sensing a rhythm just yet. I do like seeing Reggie Bush coming out of the backfield as a receiver though. He adds just a smidge more of a dimension to the offense when he does that. Defensively is Levy a stud or what? I hope he can make up the slack that a Tulloch is on the sidelines in civvies. And Nate Freese… 41 yarder miss?? I'm seeing one of those early week tryouts bumping him out of a job soon. I think he's going to have a second half to redeem himself or he's done. Nothing personal kid, we liked your Boston College performance but choking at this level isn't making us forget Jason Hanson anytime soon. Miss one more and I'll be pining for Eddie Murray.

Let's keep the pressure on Green Bay and beat them for once. I'm tired of seeing cheesehead nation beat us on a regular basis.

[Thruster315]

First really big game of the season today.

If this is a decent indication of the toughness of this team, we did alright then. Against the oh-so-mighty vaunted Aaron Rodgers, we kept them to one touchdown and the defense did a helluva job. Like i said earlier Levy is playing like a total stud. He was dropping back in coverage and being the eraser in the middle when it came time to stopping the Packer run.

What really impressed me at the end of the game was seeing the combo of Riddick, Bell & Bush run the ball to chew up the clock. They just pounded the ball constantly and got the necessary yardage to keep the seconds ticking off. For all those Debbie Downer types who claim "same old Lions"- where the hell are you now? This sort of fourth quarter run game hasn't been evident in forever and a day- so give that sh!t up.

[Thruster315]

And whoda thunk it that the score would be a puny ass 19-7? Wasn't this supposed to be a shoot-out between two potent offenses against feeble defenses? This wasn't the sort of game I was expecting, but the victory was definitely sweet.

[animatedmartian]

I really enjoyed the 2nd half of this game. The first half I was having doubts and thought we might just win on luck, but 2nd half made the Lions look like an actual team.

[Pickford-Bentler]

If this is a decent indication of the toughness of this team, we did alright then. Against the oh-so-mighty vaunted Aaron Rodgers, we kept them to one touchdown and the defense did a helluva job. Like i said earlier Levy is playing like a total stud. He was dropping back in coverage and being the eraser in the middle when it came time to stopping the Packer run.

What really impressed me at the end of the game was seeing the combo of Riddick, Bell & Bush run the ball to chew up the clock. They just pounded the ball constantly and got the necessary yardage to keep the seconds ticking off. For all those Debbie Downer types who claim "same old Lions"- where the hell are you now? This sort of fourth quarter run game hasn't been evident in forever and a day- so give that sh!t up.

Time of possession Lions 38 Packers 22. May Waddle get well soon. The Lions are getting a beating at right tackle.

Packers 7 points in a game where they had three turnovers?

The D line is playing up to its potential, Slay did learn something in the off season, and I believe the Bearded one is actually the worlds most interesting man in disguise

[Hypestyles]

Good that the team won, 19-7. Didn't like the turnovers. At least the momentum was maintained for a win.

[smogboy]

Good that the team won, 19-7. Didn't like the turnovers. At least the momentum was maintained for a win.

Who would've thought that with three turnovers against an Aaron Rodgers led team that we'd win this one in such a low scoring affair?

Now out of those three turnovers, Corey Fuller should've spared Matthew Stafford a pick as it went right through his hands and into Clinton-Dix's first interception. The Julius Peppers mauling of Garrett Reynolds on his way to Matthew Stafford was scary. He turned Reynolds into a turnstile, climbed onto Stafford's back and picked up the fumble. And the other overthrow to Calvin that was picked off turned out well for us as it turned into the Levy touchback play. The announcers were dead-on accurate when they said that interception was as good as any deep punt as it backed the Packers back to their 1 yard line.

The Lions were fortunate that none of our turnovers resulted in immediate Green Bay points. Green Bay's one lone turnover resulted early in Carey's return for six and it set a tone for the defense.

Neither team's quarterbacks were spectacular as their ratings showed [[Rodgers- 88.8 and Stafford- 61.6) but given the dynamics of the game, we kept their most potent weapon off the field with good clock management. We controlled the ball and our front four dominated the Packer offensive line pretty easily. George Johnson was a monster in their backfield- and I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the pressure on Green Bay to cover Suh & Fairley.

Let's also give it up to Darius Slay and Rahsean Mathis today too. Those two guys have held up pretty well. I think we all had some doubts of Slay but he seems to be getting better reads on the ball this year and the other teams aren't picking on him as much. I did notice a few targets on Mohammed Seisay but it's understandable as he just got off the practice squad.

One other glaring thing that I seem to have noticed this year is the defensive line's discipline. How many offsides has this team had so far? Wasn't this a huge bone of contention with the Schwartz led teams where we'd shoot ourselves in the foot and extend the other team's drives? Jim Caldwell, for all of his calm demeanor seems to have cleaned this aspect of our game up, as well as some of our other penalty issues that we had over the years.

[Thruster315]

Time of possession Lions 38 Packers 22. May Waddle get well soon. The Lions are getting a beating at right tackle.

Neither Reynolds or Lucas is exactly providing Matty with much protection. He took some lumps back there today. Yeah yeah yeah- they were taking on an ancient Julius Peppers but that old dog still has a few teeth left in his bite.

We really miss Waddle right about now, but I will say this about whoever finished off the fourth quarter- they were stout. They hung in there and got some lanes for the RBs to munch minutes. Pass protection wasn't that good today. I guess for the rookie Lucas to get some time in the trenches isn't a bad thing but let's not get his QB killed in the meantime.

And where was the tight end help for that side? For that matter- where the hell were the tight ends? Pettigrew? Fauria? And the current 2014 luxury pick, Ebron? Could they have helped out with a chuck, pick or some sort of extra beef on that side of the ball for protection? They were pretty invisible today.

I'm also wondering when Travis Swanson, the heir apparent to Dominic Raiola is going to get a few snaps for experience sake- not that Dom's stinking the joint up at his age.

Some might say that the Pack isn't what it once was but Rodgers is still something else. And really Fox, do we need to be reminded of his 9-1 record against the Lions multiple times during the broadcast? Really??

[That Great Guy]

The logic is: pay more to come watch them loose more, look at Stafford's record against winning teams, fans will actually pay more to watch premium teams win......LOL!

Government vouchers for the low income would work, if approved by the voters.

I make enough to pay for some poor Detroit school boy to see his favorite football player, so why should I not pay for this?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Funny how games differ from week to week in the NFL. Carolina dominated Detroit defensively last week, holding them to 7 pts. Pittsburgh goes to Carolina and ran roughshod over the number 2 ranked defense last year, 37-19, with both Bell and Blount rushing for over 100 yds. Goes to show that Detroit needs to stick with the running game, even when it seems it's not working.

[Thruster315]

Funny how games differ from week to week in the NFL. Carolina dominated Detroit defensively last week, holding them to 7 pts. Pittsburgh goes to Carolina and ran roughshod over the number 2 ranked defense last year, 37-19, with both Bell and Blount rushing for over 100 yds. Goes to show that Detroit needs to stick with the running game, even when it seems it's not working.

In so many ways I thought the Lions defense this week looked like the Carolina defense we went up against last week. They were swarming, smothering and kept the opponent's run game bottled up.

Turnabout's fair play.

It was pretty neat seeing how a dominant defensive line can actually make up for a paper thin group of moderately talented cornerbacks.

[Downriviera]

Funny how games differ from week to week in the NFL. Carolina dominated Detroit defensively last week, holding them to 7 pts. Pittsburgh goes to Carolina and ran roughshod over the number 2 ranked defense last year, 37-19, with both Bell and Blount rushing for over 100 yds. Goes to show that Detroit needs to stick with the running game, even when it seems it's not working.

I was thinking the same thing. I watched the Panthers/Steelers game and Carolina looked nothing like the team we played just a week ago.

Who's your Lion? Mines Darius Slay.