Why?
Because nobody wants to see the Lions on television. The NFL had a minimal TV crew on site, not like premiere games like Pittsburgh/Baltimore or Philadelphia/Washington where they could probably build 3D holograms of the whole damn stadium...This is just another product of a bad team getting zero respect from the league. This game, it probably cost them seven points.
2. The Kansas Kid almost pulled off a miracle. He threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns and also had a great 40 yard ramble up the middle of the field. But the most important six yards of the game, with open field in front of him, he declined to take and instead threw incomplete to Bryant Johnson.
3. For several years now, I have made the statement that "the Lions cannot afford to take their foot off the petal until at least 25 minutes after the game is done." In other words, when you are as bad as the Lions, you can never relax. You must be aggressive at all points in the game.
Which brings me to the Lions not trying a long field goal to take the lead with 6:50 left. It would have been a 54 yard attempt by Jason Hanson, who had previously missed from 55 yards, but hit from 52 and 49...When you're the Lions you have to take every chance at points you can. And you can NEVER trust your defense.
4. The Kong registered his third sack in four games against the Packers. I just wish he'd start hurting the opposing quarterback...
5. The Leos sucked me into believing they were actually going to end the streak on Sunday. Not because I believed in the defense, but because it felt like they had built up so much momentum in the fourth quarter. Of course, as usual, they proved me an imbecile again.
6. The Kansas Kid was smart enough to throw the ball to Megatron in the endzone at the end of the first half even though he was double covered. Result, TD. Let's keep up that kind of thinking. The reason the play worked despite double coverage was because Hill threw a jump ball to the 6'5 CJ when the two corners are barely 6 foot. Major advantage Megatron.
7. I am really tired of hearing about how Kevin Smith is a "bigger, bruising back" than Jahvid Best. Smith has maybe ten pounds on the smaller Best, he can't break tackles and he is most effective as an outlet receiver...just like Best, but without the speed.
8. I really like Brian Billick. I love that he won a Super Bowl with the Ravens. Billick, a career offensive coach, won the big one with the best defense of all time. Billick is a good coach who was able to recognize the strength of his team and capitalize on it.
But, as he announced the game on Sunday, he repeatedly talked about the strength of the Lions front "7." No, the front four is a strength, the linebackers are less than mediocre.
9. Thom Brenneman, Billick's broadcast partner for the game, stated during the game that "Jason Hanson was one of the best draft picks for the Lions in the last 20 years."
Billick's status in my mind jumped quite a bit when he retorted to Brennaman, "Yeah, that's one of the problems." Zing!
10. If Alphonso Smith, who had a spectacular interception against the Packers, isn't starting for Jonathon Wade next week, then the Schwartz should be institutionalized.
3rd and 3 or less.
In the NFL the average run goes for 4 yards, why teams think that it is imperative that they pass in this situation is a huge mystery to me. The Lions faced 3rd and 3 or less four times in Green Bay, running twice, converting both and passing twice, converting once. For the season the Lions are 5 of 8 running and 3 of 5 passing.
Wouldn't it be great if the Lions had cheerleaders?
The Packers don't officially have a team funded cheer squad, but I was surprised to see that they did actually have cheerleaders at the game. This came up last year too. Apparently, the Packers use a nearby college's pep squad to amp up their crowd. Yes, this is a cheap alternative, but at least they're doing something for their crowd.
The Lions used to have local high school teams perform, but I think they abandoned that when they moved to Ford Field.
Still no blocked punts...
The Lions haven't officially blocked a punt in over three years. Which is not surprising because I can't remember them ever actively actually going after a punt.
When you're offense is suspect and your defense is downright abysmal. You have to find ways to get positive plays for your team. Maybe the Lions don't have that great of a return game, but they can do their best to make some hay with a blocked punt or kick. Again, the Lions have to be more aggressive in every phase of the game.
Where's the fade stop?
The Lions did utilize Megatron's size for a touchdown at the end of the first half, but when they were desperate for points at the end of the game they rolled the Kansas Kid out and had them throw a lame pass to a bad receiver in Bryant Johnson instead of going to the unstoppable play.
Tales of the inept...
Sadly, the Lions are continuing to lead the inept in the race to the Lions Super Bowl...the draft. Whereas the number of undefeated teams has dwindled to a single franchize (the Kansas City Chiefs), the ranks of the utterly defeated lost only a single member.
1-3 Cleveland Browns. The Browns escaped the realms of the uttlerly hopeless with a 23-20 victory over the struggling Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Even though they tried their hardest to lose it late, the Browns were able to ride an underrated former fullback, Peyton Hillis, to a 100+ yards rushing and the victory.
0-4 San Francisco Forty-Niners. Mike Singletary's team led most of the way against the Atlanta Falcons before giving up and rolling over for a late field goal loss, 16-14. Alex Smith is not playing all that well and a defense that was supposed to be one of the leagues best is looking very Lions-like.
0-4 Carolina Panthers. The Panthers continue to put the nails in the coffin of head coach John Fox. They battled to a close fought loss against the Super Bowl champion Saints before giving out at the end, 16-14.
0-4 Buffalo Bills. The Bills rolled over for the Jets like a drunken prom date, 38-14--and it wasn't really even that close. This is a team that looked adversity in the face and decided to kick its starting quarterback out of the building. Not demote him...fire him. The Bills went through the entire offseason program and training camp with Trent Edwards as their starting signal caller and after only three weeks said "screw that, we don't need that guy..." This is a team that will give the Lions a run for their money for the #1 pick and maybe even a team that could threaten to go utterly winless.
0-4 Detroit Lions. There's no such thing as a moral victory and as long as the Schwartz keeps playing so conservatively the Lions will continue to be close to winning, but never actually doing it.
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