I'll try to be realistic here playing Monday afternoon quarterback.
I honestly didn't think the Lions had much of a chance winning against a near Super Bowl contended in New Orleans this week. Drew Brees is just that good of a QB. He carved up the Detroit secondary because we're just that thin back there and the defensive line just couldn't get to him to cause any sort of pressure. I'm also going to speculate that this will be a trend a good amount of this season as well. Until we run up against a battered or weak offensive line somewhere [[I'm going to assume St. Louis), the other team's QBs will have a field day. Defensively this team is just piss poor with the few bright spots being the linebackers.
Offensively we already know that Stafford's going to make his fair share of mistakes. He just doesn't have the talent around him yet. The other team is going to double and triple team Calvin Johnson and force Stafford to dump it off short. In regards to the New Orleans game, the biggest disappointment was that the offensive line couldn't break out many holes for Kevin Smith to bust through- although they did protect Stafford to the point of only one sack [[celebrate this now...wooo!). I was also disappointed in seeing very little of tight end Brandon Pettigrew- unless he produces something, it's going to turn into a wasted draft pick.
Bright spots for me were seeing Louis Delmas' football sense and his spirited play & fumble return, Aaron Brown's returns, and oddly Schwartz' calm demeanor after this game. I think the coach knows he's in over his head at the moment facing off against New Orleans. He didn't seem to come across as abrasive as a Rod Marinelli or as buffoonish as a Marty Morninweig; could he have done better? Sure, but I think he knows he's got less than stellar talent on this team. He knows he's in for at least a few more years of rebuilding- but it was nice to see that the team seemed to stay competitive and honestly seemed to try hard even into the third quarter [[something that a Marinelli coached team just failed to do).
Realistically, it's not going to be a great season for this team. I'm honest about my expectations. If we do good, it's a blessing. If we do poorly, I'll understand. But I'll still cheer for this team because they are our hometown team and that's not to say they won't frustrate me to tears either.
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