2011 Detroit Lions

**Thruster315** · January-03-12, 10:03 AM

Enough gabbing about Tebow already.

I just took a look at the Vegas line on the upcomingSaturday game where our Detroit Football Lions take on the Saints and we are a 10 1/2- 11 point underdog.

I'm already tempering my expectations of the game.

I think we've been blessed beyond expectations already with this team. They made it to the playoff on their own merits. They didn't back in. The Lions grabbed the bull by the horns, kicked some ass and got themselves into the post season; that's still a helluva lot better than the majority of the league. No shame whatsoever in that.

I'm still gonna cheer on our Lions this Saturday, hope they can pull out a miracle and continue this season a little longer.

**firstandten** · January-03-12, 10:43 AM

I am pleased regardless of what happens against NO. We knew what our weaknesses are they will more likely get exposed by a good team and we will probably get blown out. But thats ok. If a team is better than you then you say ok and move on. However the loss to the Packers JV would bother me to no end, and some players jobs should be on the line.

At least we have a management that knows how to address the weak spots on the team instead of drafting wide receivers to cure all our ills

**Downriviera** · January-03-12, 11:07 AM

Thanks Smogboy. I'll celebrate with a cup of hot Vernors at my local coffeehouse. I actually like our chances against the Saints. I thought we played them pretty well except for the penalties. We need the defense that played against the Chargers and not the one from GB. In my sports days, whenever we took a drubbing we came back strong the next game. So hopefully the D is pissed and plays hard. I'd rather play the Saints indoors then NYG outdoors, too. I'm still seething about the call on the TD. The ref has to see him out of bounds and be 100% sure, cause if you're not sure just signal a TD knowing that it will be reviewed. Someone needs to lose their job over that one.

**Thruster315** · January-04-12, 04:13 AM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

I actually like our chances against the Saints. I thought we played them pretty well except for the penalties. We need the defense that played against the Chargers and not the one from GB.

BINGO! That's it in a teeny tiny convenient nutshell!

This Lions team of ours is still figuring out its identity. It's almost bi-polar in its play at times. We have no idea who's going to show up week-to-week. Are we getting the staunch defense, aerial attack, disciplined team that took the starch right out of a Chargers team? Or are we the undisciplined, feeble tackling team, poorly executing team that came out against Chicago a few weeks back?

The one persona that we seem to be settling into the last few weeks has been the emergence of Stafford becoming fully aware of his skills. His confidence has taken some serious strides forward for that young man [[when I hear he's only 23 still gives me a big ton of hope for the future). He's definitely become a gunslinger and has developed one helluva nice touch. The toss he dropped into Pettigrew's hands last week was unreal; he feathered that thing in between three defenders. A few of those side arm darts to Scheffler were things of beauty too. And words can't even begin to describe the chemistry he's developed this year with Calvin Johnson; be still my beating heart!

If we stand any chance against the Saints, we're going to need the defense to come out and be the aggressive staunch defense that locked down the Chargers, stopped the Raiders, bitch slapped Tebow, and kept Cam Newton on edge. Any other freaky persona or incarnation just isn't going to do it against the Saints.

The game's played between the chalk lines and not on Vegas betting futures nor are they won based upon end-of-season records. Everyone that's in the playoffs now has a chance to make it to the big soiree now. We just need to put on the right game face for it.

**kenp** · January-05-12, 09:21 AM

Our only chance is that our strength, the D-line, plays out of their mind. Last game we put no pressure on GB and when that happens the rest of our d is exposed. We are average at best in the defensive backfield and with all the injuries we look like a college team. Great line pressure makes stars of mediocre players. Brees will carve us up if we give him any time.
Hopefully we can put up some td's on the scoreboard and make it interesting.
And despite my negativity Im proud of our team and really excited to be still talking about the Lions as the playoffs approach.

**Thruster315** · January-05-12, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by kenp

Our only chance is that our strength, the D-line, plays out of their mind. Last game we put no pressure on GB and when that happens the rest of our d is exposed. We are average at best in the defensive backfield and with all the injuries we look like a college team. Great line pressure makes stars of mediocre players. Brees will carve us up if we give him any time.
Hopefully we can put up some td's on the scoreboard and make it interesting.
And despite my negativity Im proud of our team and really excited to be still talking about the Lions as the playoffs approach.

I'm going back to our first meeting against the Saints this year. Fairley was actually pretty impressive before he left with his foot issue. Suh didn't play due to his "head" issue. So there's some optimism there if your game plan holds true. I'm also wondering if Gunther Cunningham might even be gutsy enough to run a few more blitzes to keep Brees on edge.

We've really got nothing to lose and I think that might be our edge. Who's really expecting anything from the Lions? We're 11 point underdogs and the Vegas over/under for this game is a season high 59 combined points.

And I wouldn't call it "negativity" at all- it's a realistic approach with a bit of Lions home team optimism.

**firstandten** · January-06-12, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

Enough gabbing about Tebow already.

How about this then. How many of you are glad we drafted Stafford and not Mark Sanchez.

For a while Sanchez was the golden boy and Stafford was the guy that always got hurt.
It looks like Sanchez may have already hit his ceiling and we still don't know how much better Stafford will get, I do believe he is not yet close to his ceiling.

**gnome** · January-06-12, 07:25 PM

I'm feeling that we match up in just about every category except one: penalties.

To be continued...

**Thruster315** · January-07-12, 01:22 AM

Originally Posted by firstandten

How about this then. How many of you are glad we drafted Stafford and not Mark Sanchez.

For a while Sanchez was the golden boy and Stafford was the guy that always got hurt.
It looks like Sanchez may have already hit his ceiling and we still don't know how much better Stafford will get, I do believe he is not yet close to his ceiling.

No doubt. Sanchez has been lauded this season for being the cause of the New York Jets' demise. I'm sure Santonio Holmes being on the team hasn't helped his case but just on sheer talent alone in college, Stafford was that much better than Sanchez. I'm not saying that Sanchez isn't talented but playing at a bigger marquee team in USC and having Reggie Bush in the backfield didn't hurt his draft status.

I've never felt that Mark Sanchez was a better quarterback than Stafford. He went to a much more talented team in New York whereas Stafford had to come to a depleted Lions team. Sanchez was of course going to have bigger initial success but in the long run [[and for our sake) Stafford's going to have the better career.

I'm also sure that having Jim Schwartz as a coach is going to be a helluva lot better than playing for freaky Rex Ryan. And sometimes I really wonder if the media circus in New York City where everything is scrutinized is good for a young guy coming out of college.

**Thruster315** · January-07-12, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

To be continued...

Yes. What a wonderful thing to hear about our Lions team in January no less.

**Thruster315** · January-07-12, 01:36 AM

-Head says New Orleans will win.
-Heart says Detroit will win.

I, for one will hope my head is wrong and my heart is going to be ecstatic by late Saturday night with our football team. GO LIONS!

**Roq** · January-07-12, 05:37 AM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

-Head says New Orleans will win.
-Heart says Detroit will win.

I, for one will hope my head is wrong and my heart is going to be ecstatic by late Saturday night with our football team. GO LIONS!

I'm with ya Thruster. God, this is so exciting -- as Lions fans, we don't get the thrill of a playoff game very often -- I hope the "any given Sunday" theory is proved true and the Lions kick ass.

I have a feeling Megatron is gonna shine...

RAWR!

**smogboy** · January-07-12, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

-Head says New Orleans will win.
-Heart says Detroit will win.

I, for one will hope my head is wrong and my heart is going to be ecstatic by late Saturday night with our football team. GO LIONS!

Being a devout fan is never about being logical. It's about cheering your own team on against all sorts of odds and still being there for them win or lose. The one thing that's great about this sport is that there's hardly ever a guarantee as to who's going to win. By the time the playoffs roll around it's a brand new season- anything can happen.

I'm sure to be hugging my TV set later on today, not taking on any phone calls, not checking emails, bidding on eBay widgets, and most importantly- I'll be cheering on this Lions team of ours. It truly is exciting!

**gnome** · January-07-12, 07:23 AM

Brees is pretty and so is Stafford. Their pass catchers are All-Pro and so are ours. They don't have much of a running game and neither do we. Their defense is ok and ours is fine as well.

While there are style-points which separate Graham/Sproals from Calvin/Nate the larger point is we match-up pretty well against NO.

Except in penalties .

We seemingly can't play without committing mind-numbing penalties. In fact we as a fan base have become almost blinded to them. This is what I mean: final drive of the game, the down box reads 4, the yards needed are at 3, clock ticking, no time outs, and the D Tackel jumps giving a 1st and stopping the clock.

That happened last week and I did hear the callers at 97.1 mention it except in passing.

That jump killed us last week and people aren't outraged because the Lions have made so many penalties we don't consider them unusual. 11 for 100+ yards last week. Well over a1000 yards for the season.

The difference tonight will be measured in hankies. If we can finally mature enough to keep our heads, we have an even opportunity to win, if not we'll be swinging clubs and talking draft picks .

**Roq** · January-07-12, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Except in penalties.

That's the crux of the matter right there. If the team that played SD shows up, Lions have an excellent chance. If the same team that showed up in NO the first time is back, Lions are in big trouble.

**rjk** · January-07-12, 06:24 PM

Last weeks game with GB probably had the most riding on it of all the games they played this year and they committed 11 penalities. With all the pressure of tonights game I have a hard time believing they won't be around double digits in penalties.

NO is tough at home and has too much experience for the Lions.
NO 38 Detroit 24

Here's hoping I'm as wrong as can be.

**Roq** · January-07-12, 11:38 PM

Well, obviously disappointed though I did think they played great up until the end of the 3rd quarter. Lions cant seem to overcome the shitty calls [[i.e. I saw the Saints holding almost every play at one point -- um, hello blind refs??) and it gets in their heads. Regardless, I'm proud of 'em, it wasn't too long ago they were 0-16 so I'll take this gladly. Btw, I think Stafford is gonna be the next Brady -- I'm calling it now.

**gnome** · January-08-12, 06:52 AM

Gotta agree there were a number of muggings that were not called. It was like those zebras had superglued the flags in their pockets. The super effective NO run game was dramatically aided by the huggings, muggings and sluggings; yet, it was our poor tackling that really allowed those guys to run inoverandaround us.

I'm not in the situation to call this year a success or failure. I'll have to look back and see where my head was last summer and then evaluate our Leos' season. While I agree our Lions look much different than the lowly 0-16 team, there are only a couple of guys around who were even on that squad so it seems unfair to compare the two.

I think we/they are good, just not ready for the main stage.

Funny though ... not ready to put away the gear this year. The hat, the car decal, the inflatable Lion on the balcony, the flag, the face paint, the foam finger, light switch covers, lava lamp, the bbq tongs, the turbin ... all that stuff won't be packed up yet ... gotta let the dust settle.

Although the bride's lucky thong will certainly stick around.

**smogboy** · January-08-12, 11:19 AM

Phew.

Definitely a barn burner of a game there last night. Huge thanks to the Lions for even being big, bold and daring to march it down the field on their opening drive and score like that. And going into the halftime with a slim lead was even encouraging. Seeing the offense move like that well… reminded me of what New Orleans does so well. We just moved crisply down the field. It wasn’t always in big chunks but just effectively. I don’t really recall us going backwards much, with the exception of a Kevin Smith tackle for a one yard loss. The offense was a nice combination of passes all over the field to Pettigrew, Young, Heller, Scheffler, Burleson and Calvin Johnson- who absolutely cemented in my mind that he’s a keeper. Calvin was breathing the rarified air last night and was in my mind, more than worthy of highlight reel footage. I’m so glad to see that Matthew Stafford has gained the confidence to pass to him even in double and triple coverage; Calvin Johnson will just find a way to get that ball. The chemistry is just there now.

First half over and I was feeling pretty good about our Lions’ performance!

Second half rolls around and it still felt as though we were in the match and then the wheels came off the defensive wagon. Maybe it was some fire & brimstone speech that Sean Payton gave at halftime or some deep soul searching on the Saints sidelines, but they came out with determination and just steam rolled us. I know statistically it showed that our linebackers had a combined total of sixteen tackles and ten assists but they probably had more than their fair share of missed tackles too. It wasn’t just the linebackers’ fault either. The Saints just seemed to be able to get that additional bit of yardage after first contact; they slipped tackles, bounce it out for that little bit more. What looked like a loss in the backfield or a minimal gain turned into an eight yard lunge or a completion for a first down.

Our team in the second half was just the irresistible force and we were not the immovable object. We were definitely playing against a determined Saints team.

Going into this game we knew we had to put some pressure on Brees with the front four. We did somewhat but there were so many times I saw him just nimbly take a few steps this way, that way or just gingerly step away from the pressure. Kudos goes to Brees for his footwork and to the Saints offensive line for making his job that much easier. He had time back there to survey the field and pick apart our secondary. Offensively I thought was hung with them. For the most part our offensive line kept Stafford pretty clean but it was defense where we were clowned. We just couldn’t match the Saints punch for punch in the second half. Their punter was the happiest guy at the Superdome last night because he never had to even break a sweat; on every possession that the Saints had we were scorched for a touchdown. The Saints were truly a juggernaut last night.

So now we’re the team reaching for the golf clubs. They gave us fans a heckuva nice run; they exceeded most of our vaunted predictions and gave us some hope for the future. Stafford played an entire season and proved to us he could very well be an elite quarterback in this league. Seeing what he could do and seeing the chemistry between he and Johnson grow gives us hope. Titus Young validated for us his early draft status. Seeing a resurgent Kevin Smith was a nice story. ‘Twas a nice season and like so many people here on Dyes have mentioned- seeing the get into the playoffs [[and not backing in) was a significant accomplishment, playing a meaningful game this late in the season was fun, and just seeing some of the pieces from the last few years come together gives us hope for the future.

Now that the season is done, the real work has got to fall onto the front office. Martin Mayhew needs to tweak the roster and get us over the next hump now. We have to determine what free agents we keep. Guys like Avril and Tulloch are going to want some pretty decent money now. Do we keep Shaun Hill- a guy who we think is more than serviceable [[and no offense to him) but a guy we hope we hardly ever see play with the exception of mop up duty? Defensively we need an upgrade and the last two games definitely showed out lack of depth there. A few injuries in the secondary and we were sitting ducks. Our offensive line needs a some depth; I’m happy for the way they hung in there and fought but some of them aren’t getting any younger. How do we treat Jeff Backus’ future now that his contract is up? How confident do we feel about Best & LeShure? Maurice Morris’ contract is up at the end of this year- do we set him adrift? And even as we look at the immediate bunch- we still have to look at the bigger paydays down the road- mainly Calvin Johnson who looks as though he’s going to cash out big in light of the Larry Fitzgerald monster contract signer earlier this year.

We’ve had a great year. We’ve made some lofty gains. It was entertaining to say the least with only one major stinker of a game that I can recall now- the outdoor Chicago game. We actually had something to cheer about and our team was suddenly fashionable and media darlings for a bit. We’ve emerged from underneath the Millen shadows and have some promise for nest season. For the most part our faith in this team and its management has been renewed. I think we’re no longer the “same ol’ Lions” just based upon the fact that this team was competitive. We no longer walked away from our TV sets by the third quarter in grim disgust. This team has some legitimate fight, some stars and something to be proud about. We’re not done yet but we’ve got some pieces to build upon.

Dare I say it was a fun time to be a true Lions fan again?

**Downriviera** · January-08-12, 11:45 AM

I'm a bit numb today. This was a winnable game, too many missed opportunites compunded by troubles with the zebras once again. Needed to get some points off the turnovers and needed to make those interceptions. The quick whistle on the fumble and the ridiculous spot when we stopped them on 3rd down are inexcusable. Even my friends in New Orleans were shocked by those calls. I watch most of the other NFL games all season and I've not seen another team get reamed on calls like we do. Oh, I forgot to mention the lack of holding calls on the Saints as well. I hope the team addresses this with the league. But clearly, we need to improve in a few areas, but lots to be excited about for sure. I'm with gnome, not putting away the gear just yet. Thanks to all who post here, I've enjoyed reading your comments way more than what I read in the News and Freep. See you at the draft.

**smogboy** · January-08-12, 12:43 PM

Now that this season is done with, I'm left wondering what Tom "Killer" Kowalski would've said to have wrapped up this season. The longtime and sometimes longwinded Lions sportswriter had suffered through so many horrible seasons and always found some insightful to say at this time of the year.

I miss hearing him on the radio, seeing him on some local TV sports re-cap, or at the local watering hole doing a live remote- and I sure as heck miss his insights to the game on his MLive.com articles. I'd like to think he would've enjoyed this season as much as we fans did.

**Thruster315** · January-08-12, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

I'm a bit numb today.

That's about how I feel today. It was a helluva game- one we came out guns 'ablazing which was really cool to see. It was a coulda shoulda but it wasn't to be our game. New Orleans just dropped the boom on us in the second half.

What we didn't walk away with regards to a victory, we walked away with experience and hunger. This group of guys knows what it takes to get to the next level now. They've got just a taste of it to be in the chase. This Lions team is still mighty young and will be itching to get further in the post season. Things are looking up and I couldn't be any more prouder of the Honolulu Blue & Silver.

**Thruster315** · January-08-12, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by smogboy

Martin Mayhew needs to tweak the roster and get us over the next hump now.

Damn darn tootin'! This guy has been pretty savvy with some of this signings and drafts. Let's see if he can work some more magic after March 13th- the day the league can start locking up free agents. And now that this team's played well enough not to be drafting so high, let's see if he can find some diamonds in the rough with the 21st pick. And I'd be willing to say that Detroit's also going to be a destination now for other free agents to look at; we're no longer going to have to pay through the nose to entice aging over-the-hill players looking to finish out their careers with a huge paycheck.

**firstandten** · January-08-12, 06:49 PM

Actually they exceeded my expectations. NO was just a better team and in the second half exposed the weaknesses this team had all year. We are just a few players away from becoming a team that will go deep into the playoffs.It looked like a winable game in the first half but the Saints woke up and they proved they were the better team.

The reality is that the lions did not beat a team with a winning record this year so that tells me they are getting better but aren't quite there yet. I am encouraged with the improvement this year and look forward to next season.