Ndamukong Suh was trending over the weekend on Yahoo! for his hit on Jake Delhomme that garnered him a 7,500 dollar fine. As the second overall selection in this year’s NFL draft, there is every indication that the Detroit Lions’ brass made the right move. The franchise is building up its stable of high draft picks that are sure to make a major impact during the upcoming season including Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Jahvid Best.
By Patrick Herbert
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The Detroit Lions are a symbol of futility around the National Football League. Jim Schwartz and company are looking to change that perception this upcoming season. The Pittsburgh Pirates are seen much the same way in Major League baseball and have been buried in their division for well over a decade. In a strange scenario, the Detroit Lions have been penalized with such high draft picks because they have taken so much guaranteed money to get them suited up and into training camp. That is all about to change with a new collective bargaining agreement imminent.
The first thing that the Lions need to do is harness and develop all of the young talent that they have accumulated. This not only includes Ndamukong Suh of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, but also high draft picks in Jahvid Best and obviously Matthew Stafford. They are eager to prove themselves worthy at the highest level and they have demonstrated the ability to do so at every previous stop of their football journey.
By Patrick Herbert
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On November 4, 2007 the Lions were 6-2. Up to that point in history 76 percent of NFL teams that began the year 6-2 made the post season.
“This is real,” said defensive tackle Cory Redding at the time. “This is a different team. It’s not the same-old Lions anymore.”
Then Detroit proceeded to go 3-37 from November 5, 2007 to January 5, 2010.
And the natural order of the world had been restored.
Seriously, how does someone even begin to wrap his or her mind around 3-37? Where do you even begin to explain it?
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By H. Jose Bosch
Now that the NFL Network has started to show Thursday Night games, the NFL has made an effort to make clever commercials to create buzz for each week’s game.
This is no surprise as both NBC and ESPN do the same thing for their night games on Sunday and Monday nights.
But why stop there? Sure, many of these games are key match ups but as the season progresses and some teams are long out of the playoff race, why not come up with clever promos for the bad teams? Even they need to fill the seats and want higher ratings, right?
So just a week past the season mid-point, I’ve taken it upon myself to write up some promos for the Lions’ remaining games. After all, the fans need just about any reason to actually watch a Lions game.
Cleveland at Detroit: “It’s your only chance to watch a team with a worse quarterback situation than ours!”
Green Bay at Detroit (Thanksgiving): “We give you a reason not to talk with your in-laws!”
Detroit at Cincinnati: “Ochocinco es muy bueno. Los Liones son horribles. Pero, no comprendes espanol. Si? Si.”
Detroit at Baltimore: “Watch us and you’ll get to see Ray Lewis do his cool little dance!”
Arizona at Detroit: “Stay long enough and YOU may be chosen to replace the secondary after it’s been repeatedly torched!”
Detroit at San Francisco: “You really don’t want to return those Christmas gifts, do you? Watch [More …]
By H. Jose Bosch
At least we know the Lions can score points when they’re spoon fed good field position. Unfortunately that’s about the only thing they could do right on Sunday afternoon.
So, to quickly recap: the Lions best offense is a … bad opposing offense. I’m not even giving the defense credit when you consider what happened the rest of the game.
But let’s zero in on more than just the fact that Detroit blew a 17-point first-quarter lead. The real story of the week is, “just how bad/good is matt Stafford?”
On paper alone he looks real bad. He’s thrown 12 interceptions to just five touchdowns. His completion percentage is just about 54 percent. (Compare that to Payton Manning, who has thrown 99 more passes and leads the league in percentage with 70 percent). And his passer rating is 55.9, fourth-worst in the league.
But in person … he looks even worse. Not one of his FIVE interceptions was the result of good defense, unless catching a ball with two hands counts. Stafford misfired badly on all those throws, sometimes throwing into triple coverage when I’m sure he could’ve checked down to an open receiver for a couple of yards.
And all I saw were the interceptions. The only time I’ve seen Stafford for a whole game, Detroit’s lone win over the Redskins, Stafford was overthrowing receivers badly. So I have to believe that the interceptions weren’t the only instance of Stafford missing the mark.
But [More …]
By H. Jose Bosch
After watching the Lions-Redskins game I remember telling my dad that the Lions looked like they finally might be turning things around and it wasn’t just because they broke their putrid losing streak.
What I saw was a quarterback that actually had potential and a coach you just might get more out of the players than his predecessors. If anything it just felt like the Lions were a better team. No, they weren’t going to make the playoffs or even win more than five games, but they were going to improve.
Now it has become clear that the Detroit Lions are still just a terrible football team. The only real improvement has been in the wins column because you can’t get worse than nothing.
Last season Detroit finished 27th in the league in points and 30th in the league in yards. This year they’re currently 25th in both categories. That isn’t improvement. All that shows is that the Lions hang in games for about a quarter or two longer than last season before they implode.
Last season the team finished last out of 32 teams in points and yards allowed. This season they’re now 31st in points allowed and 23rd in points allowed. Good god, why does the league even allow teams to play that vaunted defense? It’s almost unfair.
Following the end of last season, the Lions had no where to go but up only because negative wins aren’t allowed in the NFL. This [More …]
By H. Jose Bosch
It’s hard to believe but the Detroit Lions haven’t lost a football game since September 27, 2009, putting them in the upper half of teams in the NFL during that time period.
I just love writing that sentence because regardless of the past, Detroit is 1-0 for this week and that is much better than saying 1-2 for the season or 1-19 in the team’s last twenty games.
The game itself isn’t worth talking about. It’s pretty clear cut what happened. The Lions executed very well while the Redskins didn’t. In 99 percent of NFL games, when one team executes better than the other, that team wins. Of course, the Lions have fallen in that one percent exception, but not this week.
What I’d rather talk about was the past issue of Sports Illustrated featuring the Detroit Tigers on the cover (thanks for the jinx, by the way).
The article really doesn’t get into the Lions but it brings up a point I’ve wanted to get off my chest as a Detroit-area native and someone whose heart has never left the city.
First, Deadspin’s Tommy Craggs blasted SI, writing:
“… there’s something particularly obtuse in the suggestion that a pennant race — or a basketball game or a shiny hockey trophy — might actually help Detroiters feel better about themselves. It trivializes real suffering. It’s like saying a terminal-ward patient might feel better about himself if someone bought him a big red balloon.” [More …]
By David Boucher and H. Jose Bosch
There are three constants in live: death, taxes and the Lions sucking.
This week’s Lions exchange began in the preseason and finished just after Detroit’s 45-27 undressing to New Orleans. Notice some of the preseason optimism and how it nearly disappears after the game.
DB-Everyone that follows professional football knows about the position battle between incumbent Daunte Culpepper and the rich rookie Matt Stafford. Obviously the winner will have his work cut out for him, but is quarterback the team’s biggest problem? I think the defense, more specifically the secondary, poses a significantly more difficult situation for the Honolulu Blue. So, the re question for the Lions should be: What player, not including Culpepper or Stafford, will have the largest impact on the team? Or who needs to have that impact?
HJB-Larry Foote is the player Lions fans should keep an eye on this season. Especially after the loss of Jarrod Devries. The linebackers have become the defense’s strongest unit and will have to step up in a big way to give the Lions a chance to win and Foote needs to lead the charge. Not that Ernie Sims isn’t a good linebacker, but I think the presence of Foote will elevate Sims’ play and give the defense a leader that has a proven track record of winning. Who do you see making the biggest impact on the team?
DB-The person who needs to have the impact for the Lions is [More …]
