The fact that the Lions had the ball, late in the fourth quarter, with a chance to tie means nothing to me. I'm tired of it. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen the Lions have a chance to score or tie in the fourth quarter...usually needing a touchdown, not a field goal...I'd have...a lot of money. Well, maybe not a lot, a nickel isn't worth what it used to be, but still, you get the point.
1. My biggest gripe about this game may be nothing anybody else saw. Why didn't Schwartz challenge the fourth quarter fumble by Nate Burelson? In my opinion, this is what happened. Burleson catches the ball and gets tackled. While he is going to the ground he fumbles the ball. It rolls down his legs and he tries to capture it...but doesn't. The ball then moves up his back as he continues to roll over. At that point he reaches back and grabs the ball with his hand. This is clearly visible. Then, the defender, who is already on top of Burleson snatches the ball away.
Once, Burelson had the ball in his hand, was on the ground, and touched by an opposing player. The play should have been whistled dead. This was not a case like when a ball is fumbled and goes into a pile and who knows what indecent things are going on in there...things that can never be reviewed and most of the time can't even be discussed in pleasant conversation...No, this was all in plain sight of the camera.
If nothing else, force the referees to have to look at it again.
2. From that point on, I was kicking and screaming mad. I could handle the penalties, because this is the Lions afterall and they really suck. They can't play on the same level as talented teams and they have to find ways to get an advantage. Hold the better player, try to time the snap because you need that extra second to beat the offensive line...etc., etc.
But penalties after the play, like Stephen Petersen running into a defender, after the play is completely dead, just to try and hit somebody...stupid. That's not forgivable.
3. I also know that there will be mysterious, "what the hell was that?" calls that will go against the Lions. Like the play that Burleson caught going over the middle and dashed inside the five yard line...only to have it all called back because of an "illegal formation."
According to the NFL, you have to have seven men on the line of scrimmage and both tackles have to be "covered" or in other words, there must be some offensive player outside of each tackle lined up on the line of scrimmage. Which is exactly what they had. But the Lions had a big play so...
4. Jeff Backus had an awful day. Osi Umenyiora had two strip sacks, blowing right by Backus. And I'm pretty sure the play that the Kansas Kid snapped his forearm like a dry twig, he was nailed by Osi again.
5. Jahvid Best managed a pitiful 16 yards on twelve carries. Either he is waiting too long for plays to develop, not waiting long enough, or the offensive line really, really sucks.
6. Drew Stanton is a nice guy from MSU...he was a great college quarterback...he is not an NFL quarterback, not a starter anyway and second string is iffy too.
7. Eli Manning had a 104 QB rating against the Lions yesterday. It's good to know the Lions are turning every quarterback they play into hall of famers again.
8. I covered this a little bit, but I just wanted the numbers to be out there. NY Giants 2 penalties for 15 yards, Lions 11 for 91. Four of those Lions penalties directly resulted in four Giant first downs.
9. One of my biggest pet peeves in football, especially the Lions, is "moral victories." Moral victories are for losers. I'm sick and tired of fans hanging their hats on the fact that the Lions are losing close--not being blown out--but the fact is the easiest thing to do in the NFL is to lose close. 80-90% of all games are decided by eight points or less. The Lions aren't good, they're just not as god-awful bad. I'm not sure how much progress that really is.
10. The Franchize will be back in two weeks to face the Washington Redskins at home on Halloween afternoon. Let's see if he can make a difference in helping this team "learn how to win."
3rd and 3 or less
Offenses are designed to get to "manageable" third downs. Ideally, your offense is working if you are routinely in 3rd and 3 or less. But how does the team do when they get to that point. I propose that 90% of the time every team should run in this situation as the average NFL run goes for 4 yards. The other 10% I'd do play action. The Lions on Sunday were 2 for 2 rushing and 1 for three passing. On the season, rushing 8 of 11 and passing 7 of 14.
Still haven't blocked a punt
I saw a stat somewhere that some NFL team blocked TWO punts last week. I didn't hear everything, but I'm pretty sure that team won. Yes, the Lions recovered a fumble because the Giants punter dropped a snap...but they didn't block a punt and actually, they didn't really even try.
Wouldn't it be great if the Lions had cheerleaders?
The New York Giants are one of the six NFL franchises that do not employ a glorious cheer squad. They've won Super Bowls so I can't say that this has held them back...but how many more could they have won, if they'd just had a scantily clad pep squad on the sideline to rev up the crowd and the players?
Where's the fade stop?
The most potent play in the Lions arsenal from the Lions hey-day (the 90's) was the fade stop--usually to Herman Moore. The Lions now have a bigger, arguably more talented wide receiver in Megatron, yet the fade stop has not been used nearly enough. If a play is unstoppable, you run it until somebody figures out how to stop it.
Tales of the inept
1-5 Cleveland Browns. The Browns lost again in the debut game of Colt McCoy. He looked like a rookie and they lost as if they had a rookie playing quarterback.
1-5 San Francisco 49'ers. The Niners got their first win of the season yesterday against the Oakland Raiders.
1-5 Detroit Lions. Some day they'll "learn how to win."
0-5 Carolina Panthers. The Panthers were granted a bye for good behavior.
0-5 Buffalo Bills. The Bills had a bye and nobody even noticed they were gone.
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