2014 Detroit Lions

[Hypestyles]

Well, let's hope for a win. Don't take anything for granted. Practice hard. Study the tapes. Kicking still needs to improve.

[Thruster315]

Well, let's hope for a win. Don't take anything for granted. Practice hard. Study the tapes. Kicking still needs to improve.

Agreed. It doesn't look as though Green Bay is going to back away from the chase either. I just looked up and saw that Aaron Rodgers is shredding the Bears like he was taking on a pop warner squad.

I'd say I feel for my friends in Chicago but not when it comes to football. I'm hoping for complete obliteration and maybe the Pack gets stupid soon too. As a Lions fan I'll hope and pray for any advantage we can get. Lord knows after a lifetime of sh!tty luck, we could have some good fortune fall our way.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Nope, today was their fourth consecutive win.

I meant 3 come from behind wins in a row, not consecutive.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

VEEEERRRY interesting turn of affairs here for next week's game. Carson Palmer is out with a knee injury and [[get this) Drew Stanton is now the Arizona Cardinals' signal caller.

A glint of hope perhaps? Maybe an equalizer? I suspect that the odds for the Cardinals to easily romp over our Lions has suddenly taken a slight turn.

Can't over look Stanton though, he's won every game except vs Denver when he subbed for Palmer. Maybe it's me, but I just think Arizona isn't as good as their record indicates. They have a good defense, but I think a team with a multitude of offensive talent, like the Lions can beat them, then combine that with the Lion's D this year. They've lost to only Denver, another offensively talented team for obvious reasons. I think the Lions get it done next week, even though they've lost 7 straight road games vs the Cardinals.

[Pickford-Bentler]

I thought Swanson did pretty well substituting for Warford.

I think the Lions have a chance against the Cardinals because their defense, due to middle pressure and coverage schemes, offsets an offense that goes for the long pass. The ability of the Lions to stop the run seems to cut across all schemes they face.

A problem will be the Cardinal defense and their ability to generate turnovers combined with the Arizona heat that tends to drain teams not acclimated.

So this could come down to Stafford not making turnovers and Stanton yielding them.

NE, IMO, is much tougher.

Austin's defensive schemes mandate that a QB quickly take what is given with accurate passes. So an offense with a good OL and a quick reading precise QB matches well - which defines Brady and the NE offense to a T.

I am going to be a bit of a Debby Downer and give the Lions a 40% chance of winning one of the games and less than 10% of winning both.

And I sure hope I eat crow on that.

[Thruster315]

Can't over look Stanton though, he's won every game except vs Denver when he subbed for Palmer. Maybe it's me, but I just think Arizona isn't as good as their record indicates. They have a good defense, but I think a team with a multitude of offensive talent, like the Lions can beat them, then combine that with the Lion's D this year. They've lost to only Denver, another offensively talented team for obvious reasons. I think the Lions get it done next week, even though they've lost 7 straight road games vs the Cardinals.

I'm never one to cry that sorry ass "Same Old Lions" mantra here because this team in the past has made mediocre QBs look amazing. Hell, it earned Matt Flynn a boatload of cash that one year. But I'm not gonna look past Arizona at all. Drew Stanton's an NFL QB; he's earned that right and he's going to have to perform.

But I'm also hoping that our brain trust can also come up with ways to beat the Cardinals too. We saw Caldwell dip into the bag o' tricks yesterday and call two fake punts because of something they saw in Miami film footage. I'm not expecting a fake punt against the Cardinals but I'm sure if there was something that they see that can be exploited, do it! Find a way to beat the Cardinals is the only mantra I want to hear. Games aren't played on paper, stats or reputations.

Forgive me for sipping the Caldwell Kool Aid but he's made some nice adjustments with his game planning so far. He seems to adjust to what the other team tosses our way and finds ways to linger around just long enough to beat them. Seriously- with yesterday's game I knew we were at the very least tie it up with seconds to spare. We were not going to lose just because this team [[not just Stafford) wasn't going to let it happen.

I'm hoping that this team can head out west, punch it out with the Cardinals and find a way to win it ugly. And let's not forget that the Dolphins weren't exactly patsies either. They were ranked pretty highly with regards to offense AND defense. And yet somehow we found a way to overcome them. Arizona's just another mountain to climb.

And that New England team? I'm gonna be like Caldwell and not even think about them until we're done dancing with the Cardinals.

[Pickford-Bentler]

I think this Lions team has more individuals who can make big play to counter a deflation of momentum.

For example, after the defense held Miami to a FG to make the score 16-13, the offense did a momentum sapping 3 and out.

So what happens?

Martin delivers a 57 yard non-returnable bomb that put Miami in field position that mandated more conservative play calling, thus helping the defense make three play stop to give the offense one more chance.

And Prater did not let the blocked kick effect his mind. He put that 50 yard FG right down the middle.

[smogboy]

I'm still ecstatic with the Lions stretch of victories. They've done well in coming back and it doesn't just rest on the broad shoulders of Matthew Stafford either. It's literally a team effort that has led to this team coming back in the fourth quarter. It takes the defense to make a stop. It takes efforts like Golden Tate stretching out that extra iota to get the first down on 3rd and 10. It takes the offensive line giving Stafford the time to find Riddick in the end zone. It's truly been a team effort.

While I'm happy with these victories, a few of the areas I think we need to improve upon is:

•the running game. We're averaging 77.8 per game. And with games coming up in non-dome arenas, we might need to count on the ground game that much more. For all of the people that worried about Stafford's accuracy, the swirling winds in New England, Chicago and Green Bay aren't going to help.

•the right side of the offensive line. While Cornelius Lucas, Travis Swanson and Garrett Reynolds have done a yeoman's job at filling in- I sure do miss last year where we had a dominant offensive line. I'm not sure why this unit hasn't come together yet but I'm hoping that Lombardi can come up with faster developing plays, chips by the tight ends or some sort of scheme where the line play doesn't have to be as critical.

•the tight end play. With all of the injuries to this group, it sure would be nice to see them being an underneath weapon again.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Not a good start. Interception called back for a penalty, hands to the face, holding. Too many penalties in the first half. And the Lions need to throw the ball downfield, Stanton isn't scared to.

[Thruster315]

Not a good start followed by the Cardinal defense not giving us much room to do much. They're more constricting than 1980's Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. I have to give it up to the Cardinals defense on this one. We all kinda knew that our offense is sputtering at best but against a coverage team like this, we were in for a scrap.

The second half was much closer but by that time we played to a draw. We self destructed early on and while I can't say we were out of it, I'll readily admit we never had any rhythm with the ball. We had a chance to make a statement and didn't. I can't say I'm disappointed because I didn't think we were going to win this one though.

[401don]

Yes the Cardinal defence is stifling, but it didn't seem like the Lions pass attack did much to adjust. Their defence is too quick to be throwing outside. You need to take a two step drop and hit the receivers for short yards after they've met a quick cut or button hook. On every replay where Stafford couldn't find anyone it appeared the Lions receivers were just running straight down the field and were covered easily. Also we were robbed on that punt at the goal line. You always see the guy who is receiving the ball flip it forward if he can`t maintain his balance. Never do they rule it dead because he had possession.

[Lowell]

Wow. This looked liked last year's undisciplined Jim Schwartz team. Penalties, penalties and then more stupid penalties. Still they were in a position to win.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Yes the Cardinal defence is stifling, but it didn't seem like the Lions pass attack did much to adjust. Their defence is too quick to be throwing outside. You need to take a two step drop and hit the receivers for short yards after they've met a quick cut or button hook. On every replay where Stafford couldn't find anyone it appeared the Lions receivers were just running straight down the field and were covered easily. Also we were robbed on that punt at the goal line. You always see the guy who is receiving the ball flip it forward if he can`t maintain his balance. Never do they rule it dead because he had possession.

That punt was a killer and also that generous spot the refs gave Fitzgerald on that 3rd down. He clearly didn't make it, and earlier in the game, Ebron had a similar play when he had enough for the 1st, and the refs overturned it. Just a bad game overall. The silly penalties showed back up, and was the Cards defense that good that they limited Golden Tate to 0 catches in the 2nd half? Lions defense did they're job in the 2nd half, this one's on the offense. No shots downfield, like I said earlier, Stanton took his.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Listen to Belichick's presser discussing the Lions, if you can, without falling asleep, or until you've had enough.. This guy is something. Kinda long, about 20 mins.

http://www.patriots.com/media-center...6-85424a3c776c

[Thruster315]

Damn. That was a kick to the clock weights.

New England's a machine. It just shows us how far we need to go in order to become elite. I knew we had to pump the brakes on this steam train when we were winning, but this game was an abrupt jolt. We regressed everywhere on the field today. The best throw was from Caldwell's handling of the red flag. We need to re-group by Thursday and quick.

[Thruster315]

One has to give it up to the worst dressed coach in the NFL. Belichick knew how to draw up a game plan against us. I was totally expecting him to go vertical and long- and the slug came up with this quick release thing for Brady to use. Our front four never got to him because he never hung onto the ball for more than a split second. He's HOF bound and with reason. I even dig the way he dished the discipline too. Jonas Gray [[for all of those Fantasy Football players that took him after a killer week) got nothing other than dressed for the sidelines. You know damn well he's going to invest in several alarm clocks from here on out. To pick up a disgruntled Blount who runs like a freight train was a thing of beauty too. He was familiar with the system and never lost a step.

I even felt bad for DeAndre Levy. He's a stud in my book but he had the unenviable duty of looking down that pipe? And then occasionally he had to shadow Monster Gronk?

We got our asses handed to us this game one piece at a time.

Not that I was expecting to win this game but we still should've gotten a touchdown. Can we suddenly bring back Stickum for the receivers? Even the ever reliable Calvin Johnson had a few that he would've pulled down.

Now I'm not going to get too down on this offense just yet because I seriously think all it takes is one bombastic play to spark them again. We didn't see one against the Cardinals and we sure as hell didn't see any this week [[with the exception of the one acrobatic CJ catch).

The Packers are driving this train now but even they were pushed to the brink by lowly Minnesota. We need to get our swagger back and our collective heads out of our asses. I still think Caldwell can re-group the troops to take on the Bears and bury them on Turkey Day.

[ABetterDetroit]

Catch the damn ball! Is Pettigrew giving tips on how to complete the process to all the recievers?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Hopefully, the Patriots can go to Lambeau next week, and beat the Pack.

[Thruster315]

Hopefully, the Patriots can go to Lambeau next week, and beat the Pack.

We can only hope. If the Pats play the way they did against us, they'll demolish the Pack. The Packer defense is still pretty spotty and kinda porous. The Pack nearly lost a game today to the Vikings & Teddy Bridgewater. The Patriots have smoked every divisional leader so far and will be some mean road dogs.

We could definitely use the help there but we still need to take care of business against the Bears.

[gnome]

The horror of last Sunday could be repeated tomorrow if Megatron and Co continues to line their gloves with Flubber.


every year we can point in the rear view mirror to a game on which the season turned. Last year it was the Pittsburgh game in the snow. After that second half we sucked donkey nuggets for the rest of the year.


we have the first five minutes against the Bears to set the tone for the remainder of the season. Winning isn't enough, we have to play well.

[innercitydoc]

every year we can point in the rear view mirror to a game on which the season turned. Last year it was the Pittsburgh game in the snow. After that second half we sucked donkey nuggets for the rest of the year.


we have the first five minutes against the Bears to set the tone for the remainder of the season. Winning isn't enough, we have to play well.

It was the Philly game that was played in the snow but one could argue the slide began in Pittsburgh last year.

I agree that we need to have a decicive win against Chicago tomorrow but the Lions tend to play down to their opponents particularly during the second half of the season

[Cincinnati_Kid]

And again I ask, where is Ryan Broyles??

[smogboy]

A Lions victory over the hapless Chicago Bears today. Much to be thankful for that our lads came through, but it also goes to show you two things- 1) Matthew Stafford can be pretty darn good [[he still needs consistency to step up his game) and 2) how poorly the Bears have gotten just within a few years.

Stafford seemed to have his swagger and arm strength back again. He was zipping the ball into incredibly tight spots and this week his receivers were sure handed. His 116.0 rating was impressive. I couldn't believe the Bears had Calvin Johnson covered with single cover; even the rest of the NFL knows they need to double team him. Kyle Fuller was left on an island with a monster out there. Granted that opens up Golden Tate and his league leading YAC, but that's the devil you play when you tangle with the Lions.

Stafford distributed the ball well and once we took the lead, we never looked back. They also escaped this game injury free which is a bonus as we start down the home stretch of this season.

It was good to see the offensive play calling a little more aggressive. The criticism that was levied towards Lombardi was deserved the last few weeks- and to see them attacking a bad Chicago defense was nice to see.

[gnome]

The horror of last Sunday could be repeated tomorrow if Megatron and Co continues to line their gloves with Flubber.


every year we can point in the rear view mirror to a game on which the season turned. Last year it was the Pittsburgh game in the snow. After that second half we sucked donkey nuggets for the rest of the year.


we have the first five minutes against the Bears to set the tone for the remainder of the season. Winning isn't enough, we have to play well.

When I am wrong, I am really really reeeeaaalllly wrong.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The Lions can write their own ticket to the playoffs, with a favorable schedule down the stretch. All they need to do is not under estimate the competition these next 3 games, TB, Minn, @Chi and take care of business heading into the showdown game @ GB.