2014 Detroit Lions

[Thruster315]

Rumor has it Da Bears have benched Jay Cutler in favor of Jimmy Clausen. Nothing confirmed just yet but obviously they're shaking things up a bit to get some fire lit under their collective asses. I dunno if the Lions will scheme against Clausen a little more differently than Cutler but we shall see. In the famous words of Arte Johnson- "Very interesting!"

[Thruster315]

Ain't rumor no more.

Jimmy C is the starting QB in Chicago and Da Bear have a multi-millionaire clipboard holder on the sidelines. Ouch.

I still love what Jim Caldwell said though… "We got our own problems. We don't worry about anybody else and their issues, we got our own to worry about."

Damn. I love that man's steely focus.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Still need to handle their business, even if the circus that's "Johnny Football" was under center for "Da Bears" I know you guys remember what Matt Flynn did to the Lions.

[old guy]

Wow, that's interesting at this point in the season. Bold move.

[Thruster315]

Wow, that's interesting at this point in the season. Bold move.

Bold or desperate? I'm not so sure if Trestman's trying to save his own bacon at this point. Last year when Cutler went down, he had back-up QB Josh McCown in there playing his system and steadying the ship. Now if Trestman scuttles Cutler and wins [[God forbid) with Clausen, he could very well go to the Bears brass and claim it was his system and not necessarily the players. Cutler very well could walk away from Chicago with a boatload of guaranteed cash after all of this is said and done.

As messed up as our Millen Era was, this situation in Chicago could very well be their dark days as the results are going to linger for a long while.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Bold or desperate? I'm not so sure if Trestman's trying to save his own bacon at this point. Last year when Cutler went down, he had back-up QB Josh McCown in there playing his system and steadying the ship. Now if Trestman scuttles Cutler and wins [[God forbid) with Clausen, he could very well go to the Bears brass and claim it was his system and not necessarily the players. Cutler very well could walk away from Chicago with a boatload of guaranteed cash after all of this is said and done.

As messed up as our Millen Era was, this situation in Chicago could very well be their dark days as the results are going to linger for a long while.

Agreed.. The Bears have always been one of the most stable organizations in the NFL. Sure, they've had bad seasons, but nothing like this. I know most Bears fans and season ticket holders aren't too pleased.

[Thruster315]

I can see the Bears trying to dink-and-dunk us to sleep this Sunday. They've got to find a way to get Clausen into some sort of rhythm. Everyone in the league know you can't run against the Lions. The only way we've lost games is with stellar passing schemes against us; Clausen isn't in that mold and even with Cutler, it wasn't going to happen.

If they want to get cutesy with the short passes I can see DeAndre Levy and the linebacking corps having a field day with a handful of picks. And if those guys aren't going to have an amazing game we all know the front four are just going to eat up Clausen. He's not going to have the time to go through his receivers as he's going to have a Lion paw draped over his shoulder if he wants to get comfy in the backfield. They might roll him out of the pocket to buy him some more time but then that'll also cut down the field we need to defend as well- and to toss on the run isn't going to be easy either.

I also saw the oddsmakers have been slowly bumping the spread on this game up too. It started around 7- 7 1/2 points and has climbed to 8 1/2- 9 points since the Clausen announcement.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Cutler back in the game after half time if Clausen can't move the ball at all. Trestman's just about done in Chicago. I think he's doing this to either spite Cutler or he's grasping at straws to save his own ass. Cutler's no choir boy and can be an ass too so it's not undeserving. I can see Cutler being a Bear next season just because of the heavy ass contract and Trestman taking a lonely walk down Lakeshore Drive to his next gig.

[smogboy]

I can see the Bears trying to dink-and-dunk us to sleep this Sunday. They've got to find a way to get Clausen into some sort of rhythm. Everyone in the league know you can't run against the Lions. The only way we've lost games is with stellar passing schemes against us; Clausen isn't in that mold and even with Cutler, it wasn't going to happen.

If they want to get cutesy with the short passes I can see DeAndre Levy and the linebacking corps having a field day with a handful of picks. And if those guys aren't going to have an amazing game we all know the front four are just going to eat up Clausen. He's not going to have the time to go through his receivers as he's going to have a Lion paw draped over his shoulder if he wants to get comfy in the backfield. They might roll him out of the pocket to buy him some more time but then that'll also cut down the field we need to defend as well- and to toss on the run isn't going to be easy either.

I appreciate you looking at it from Chicago's POV as to how to beat our Lions. I looked at the roster and the only major offensive weapon I see the Bears still possessing is Matt Forte. And Forte only carried the ball 5 times for 6 yards and received the ball for 52 yards last time we played them. He hasn't had a 100+ yard game since the Bears played New England and his only other 100+ yard game was against Minnesota.

Alshon Jeffery can still be a threat as receiver but he's less of a threat as Brandon Marshall is out hobbled with a bad ribs. Our backs might key a touch more on him if they're truly concerned about him getting open. Martellus Bennett, their tight end barely has more than a handful of touches in each game.

I'd think that the Lions might have more to be concerned with the likes of Willie Young and Jared Allen coming over and being disruptive in our backfield. But as long as Detroit can be smart with ball possession, we should be fine there. Stafford hasn't been a turnover machine like he has been in previous seasons.

And from all that we've heard about the Bears locker room, things are a complete wreck starting from the top down.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Redskins 27 - Eagles 24.

I was wondering why in the hell were they not blitzing Sanchez. Well, they finally did, and he came through for the Lions by throwing an interception.

Anyhow, the Lions still need to take care of their own business.

[rb336]

Redskins 27 - Eagles 24.

I was wondering why in the hell were they not blitzing Sanchez. Well, they finally did, and he came through for the Lions by throwing an interception.

Anyhow, the Lions still need to take care of their own business.

yep, win tomorrow, get a higher seed. the difference between playing NO or Dallas. beat GB at lambaugh and...heh, yeah, like that will happen

[Thruster315]

yep, win tomorrow, get a higher seed. the difference between playing NO or Dallas. beat GB at lambaugh and...heh, yeah, like that will happen

I wouldn't count this bunch out just yet. They've been doing all sorts of things that have surprised the hell outta me. They might pull another one out of their collective asses and banish this streak to the wood pile.

You noticed all of those SOL bandwagon chumps are mighty silent as of late? These Lions are shutting them up and I kinda like it. I like it because I cheer for this team. Those naysayers that claim SOL really aren't true blue fans in my book; they only come out to bash the team when the Lions lose. True fans cheer this team on through thick and thin. I have no problem with being critical with the team but we also want them to improve. SOL people just look at what's right in front of them and compare to things in the past. How freakin' lazy and easy is it to do that?

Real fans can look at this team now and have an opinion or two to make this team better- and it's not for our own personal egos. We celebrate this team when we do well. We don't just descend out of the rafters and bitch when this team is down. We're here day in and day out.

And Lambeau Field? A victory? I can't predict a victory there either based upon what Green Bay does there. Rodgers has been on a roll at home, but then who knows? I'm hoping our offense finds a stride tomorrow in Chicago and carries it through in Green Bay.

[Pickford-Bentler]

At least three of Green Bay's offensive lineman are playing through injuries. So there may be some hope that the Lions can get heat on Rodger's

That said, I feel Rodger's is the best QB in the league.

The problem for the Lions, on the road, is that they have not shown they have what it takes to exploit Green Bay's weakness - getting pounded by a hard running game.

"they only come out to bash the team when the Lions lose..."


Ever notice that this type of person also likes to come out and bash Detroit?

I can never understand that collectivist mind set. I live in X or am a fan of X, therefore I am better than you.

It reminds me of the dweeb in a wife beater who brags about being a member of Gold's Gym, but who does curls in the squat rack.

[Danny]

Lions are in the playoffs, whoop de doo!

[Pickford-Bentler]

I was very disappointed by the number of mental mistakes vs. the Bears. And Ravioli needs to be gone. That stupid act could gain a two game suspension.

[Thruster315]

I was very disappointed by the number of mental mistakes vs. the Bears. And Ravioli needs to be gone. That stupid act could gain a two game suspension.

I know in the past I've kinda let things slide with our team winning ugly because it still counts as a W, but I couldn't agree more that this should've been the game where we button some things down to prep for the real season- namely the playoffs. Mental mistakes are gonna be what separate us from the elite.

Ravioli/ Riaola's mental melt down doesn't set a good example of something younger players can learn from nor does it do anyone any good. Even as a fan, we can't condone that. We appreciate hard nosed football. We like them having a bit of a fiery edge but that sh!t crosses the line.

The Ziggy Ansah helmet hit I could almost excuse because he had already launched into his tackle and Clausen was coming down. It was inadvertent but still a fineable offense.

Special Teams this week stunk to high heaven on all counts. Those guys need to be buying the rest of the team some steak dinners. Name it- Ross semi-muffing a catch and handing the ball back to them, Prater kicking the dirt before the ball and getting 3 points yanked, and Stanford roughing their punter even thought they were kicking from the 40's. It was a train wreck of epic proportions on that squad this week.

[Downriviera]

The receivers were well covered, and unfortunately, so was Erin Andrews.

[smogboy]

Our Detroit Lions offensively were horribly sloppy.

Matthew Stafford's two picks in the red zone were minimally 6 points that should've come our way. His eventual 53.7 QB rating reflected this. For having gone three games without a pick, this was not a good game by our QB. He didn't manage the ball well. In other games where we don't see him throwing up gaudy numbers like he did in his first few years, he managed to hang onto the ball and keep it moving down field. What possessed him to get careless with this game is worrisome. I'd much rather see him pitch it out of bounds, lose a down than turn it over to the other team. Turnovers just kill any sort of momentum we have and especially in the red zone now that we supposedly had our kicking game in order now.

Dominic Raiola's performance was not something I ever want to see at any level of football much less at this professional level. I can see a massive fine coming from New York and it wouldn't surprise me if he got suspended for the biggest game of the year- the one coming up against Green Bay next week. We can only hope and pray it won't be for two games and he's not playing in the first playoff game. And even when is allowed to play I can see Caldwell dropping the hammer on him too. This is not how veterans on a team should behave.

On the good side of the offense, it was nice to see Reggie Bush have a few touches out there. He showed some speed and was a little more effective than Theo Riddick this game. And Joique bell ran with some authority as well; his touchdown scamper showed some agility and a burst of speed.

I'll have to digest it a little more because there was still the defense to talk about and the special teams as well.

[rb336]

Joique Bell's vision on the field has improved steadily all year

[smogboy]

Defensively this game was a bit of a conundrum. And we were also mighty lucky too. While it was nice we only gave up a meager 234 yards to the Bears, it was almost shocking to see that we only got two sack on Clausen. Even with Kyle Long out, we didn't muster a strong push to the opposing team's QB. I'm sure he was a bundle of nerves prior to the game and instead of playing that up, the Lions seem to let him step into a rhythm. If it wasn't for the multitude of drops by the Bears receivers we might've been cooked. The one interception we did get was pretty much for naught as if it was knocked down, we still would've gotten the ball back on down. The only benefit from it is that Glover Quin tallies up another pick.

The safeties play this year has been strong and between Quin and Ihedigbo, they've been pretty solid covering so far. I still haven't seem where Van Noy is a solid contributor like they hyped him up to be but it's also nice to see Levy still playing at a high level and filling the gaps. Keeping Matt Forte bottled up in a relatively one weapon Chicago offense was a must.

This team has to be a lot more stout in the line and we have to be able to generate a rush in order to help out the corners. I haven't seen a lot of teams successfully run against us but that means we need to keep the opponents' QBs on edge as well.

[smogboy]

Special Teams this week stunk to high heaven on all counts. Those guys need to be buying the rest of the team some steak dinners. Name it- Ross semi-muffing a catch and handing the ball back to them, Prater kicking the dirt before the ball and getting 3 points yanked, and Stanford roughing their punter even thought they were kicking from the 40's. It was a train wreck of epic proportions on that squad this week.

Thruster315 pretty much nailed it on the head with the incidents that happened during special teams play. These guys aren't on the field much but they can make such a huge impact on the game.

Every time this Lions team stalls at midfield, one has a feeling that Sam Martin can confidently pin the other team back to their goal line- and who knows what can happen with this pressure defense at that point. So punting hasn't been a problem for this team as of late. Martin had one punt from the Detroit 48 in the first quarter and was never called upon to punt again.

Prater seemed to have steadied this team's woeful kicking dilemmas but missed one today- and it wasn't to be pinned on Muhlbach or Martin and his hold. This blocked kick's responsibility fell solely on Prater's shoulders.

The coverage aspect of this team had something to be desired today though. Jeremy Ross calling for the fair catch gave Chicago amazing field position and they scored off of it. Once he waved fair catch and was surrounded by bears jerseys, he should've made the catch or get far away from it as possible. His ill informed proximity to the ball was not a smart move. Also Julian Stanford's roughing the punter didn't do us any favors either. He needed to take a better angle to the punter and at that moment of the game really wasn't warranting such a hard rush with an intent to block.

[Thruster315]

Damn, commish smogboy… you took it to task didn't ya? Way to break it down.

I heard on the radio after the game doing errands how the Stafford and the Lions have engineered the most come from behind victories of any NFL team this year. Is that something to be proud of? On one hand they got the victories [[ain't nothing to be laughed at considering it is the NFL) but I really wouldn't have minded this team having some swagger or the biggest set of balls out there on the turf and dominating a team for once. Against a supposedly inferior foe like the Bears yesterday we should've gone out there and mopped up Soldier Field with them. Instead we leave there making Jimmy Clausen the next coming of Jim McMahon. We actually trailed these chumps going into the fourth quarter! And it wasn't until the middle of the fourth quarter that we actually took the lead.

All this week prior we had heard about how Cutler was demoted and Clausen was sheep being led to slaughter against us, and we're the ones that walked away from the game looking like lambs.

The thing that I still see missing from this team is a complete kick ass effort for all four quarters. I'm not saying we need to have the other team go three and out on every one of their possessions nor am I saying Stafford marches down the field & gets us a touchdown with every touch. That's not realistic. The defense seems to have the most complete games out of the two units. Offensively we do just enough to win a game. Defensively we always seem to start slow; almost a bend but don't break mindset. We keep it close. Our offense somehow generates one really impressive march down the field, chews up the clock, and ends up winning it.

Again, we still get the wins and I should stop bitching but it's a maddening way to win a game. I also know there's about 26 other teams out there that wishes they could do what we've done. I hope i don't come across like I'm bitching but rather wanting to implore the Lions to get it all together, clean up all of those penalties, eliminate the mental errors, get some swagger, and go out there, and really make a signature statement next week- and beyond with a few definitive victories. Go out there and really kick some ass from the first whistle to the last.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Collectively, the offensive line is 2/5. That will not take a team far in the post season. Stafford does not have much of an escape-ability to buy time. Going forward to next season, keeping Suh and upgrading the offensive line are paramount.

Caldwell knows how to win ugly. I contrast that with Schwartz, who, when things got bad, got ugly.

Anyhow, the Lions beat my expectations. It would be nice to win one play off game.

The team to beat is the Seahawks.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Yes, the Seahawks are the team to beat. After a few struggles early, they have hit their stride now. Their defense has been lights out the last month, as they have took over the number one team defense rank from the Lions, who are second. I don't see anyone winning in that mad house if they get home field throughout the playoffs. It could happen, but I doubt it. The Lions will have to play much better if they want to advance past the first playoff game, and it starts next week at GB.

[Thruster315]

Collectively, the offensive line is 2/5. That will not take a team far in the post season. Stafford does not have much of an escape-ability to buy time. Going forward to next season, keeping Suh and upgrading the offensive line are paramount.

Caldwell knows how to win ugly. I contrast that with Schwartz, who, when things got bad, got ugly.

Anyhow, the Lions beat my expectations. It would be nice to win one play off game.

The team to beat is the Seahawks.

Spot on!

Stafford's lack of escapability could be helped with a quicker release. I just never understood why Lombardi doesn't utilize Stafford's snappier release. Why not mix it up with quick short tosses the way New England did with us? It's always been the formula for slowing down quick rushes. I guess this is also where a serviceable tight end would come in handy.

Upgrading on the O line? Is it time for Raiola to finally hang it up? And is there someone to replace Rob Sims in the wings? I know we were hit with a handful of injuries on the right side of the line but wasn't this the group that was semi-brilliant the year before? Wasn't this group the pleasant surprise of last year?

And keeping Suh? I couldn't agree more but not sure how that's going to shake down. I like the guy and his game. Beyond those few incidents he's always played hard for us and has been one of the best players around. For all of his baggage, I say he's worth it. Unless we can come up with a way to balance his loss [[three new D-linemen? money for better DBs?) I say we do our best to keep him. His team mates seem to like and respect him so why not keep him?

Caldwell I've been a fan of early on. Just his calm demeanor keeps these guys on focus. He seems to teach his players and respect these guys like men. Schwartz, once he went ape-sh!t lost the respect and control of this team. Hell, just look at Caldwell's discipline regimen- sending CJ Mosley's ass back to Detroit from London, benching Pettigrew, and even benching a bigger cog like Bell for a quarter speaks volumes as to what he demands of these men. He's not all bark and no bite. He holds these guys accountable and isn't afraid to bench players.

[rb336]

Keeping Suh is important - but not for the 26 million or so the franchise tag will cost. 16-17 million, yeah.