GMart's Lions Blog 12-28-08

It's official. The Lions are now the 1st team in NFL history to finish 0-16 after a 31-21 defeat at the hands of the Packers. The Lions battled hard today, but predictably came up short once again. The defense finished the season by allowing 517 points, just 16 shy of the record 533 points that the 1981 Colts gave up. I don't care what the stats say, though, this Lions defense is the worst ever. There were several games this season where the opposition got up big on them early and took it easy on them as the game went on. And even in close games like today, you knew the Lions wouldn't get a defensive stop when they needed it. The offense has its issues, too (and don't even get me started on the coaches), but if you can't stop anyone, you can't win. To me, that's the biggest issue among the many issues facing the Lions as the off-season is set to begin. Anyway, onto today's gameballs...

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

Games like today are why I brag this guy up every chance I get. He had 102 yards and 2 TDs and came up with some clutch catches in traffic.

Kevin Smith

Smith rushed for 92 yards and a TD on 28 carries.

John Standeford

He had 82 yards receiving and a lot of it came vs. Al Harris. He also did the first down signal in Al's face after one of the plays. I can't stand Al Harris, so that pretty much was enough to earn Mr. Standeford a gameball.

GROIN-KICKS

Lions defense

Another horse-bleep performance.

Rod Marinelli

Apparently, Rod thinks that unused timeouts carry over from the 1st half to the 2nd because he inexplicably didn't take any of them inside of 2 minutes when the defense shockingly stopped Green Bay.

Jeff Backus

1 holding penalty and 1 false start today. When Backus has that rare game when he doesn't commit a penalty, you can be sure that he'll make up for it at some point by committing 2 in one game.

Al Harris

Harris is over-rated. He's not very fast, so he just mugs WRs and the refs let him get away with it. It was so awesome to see Plaxico Burress expose him in the NFC title game last year. If he played for a team like Detroit, he'd probably get so many pass interference flags that we'd all forget about Bryant Westbrook. He's always been a big trash-talker, too, and today was no different. Wow, Al, I'm so impressed. You guys beat an 0-16 team, keep talkin'. Have fun watching the playoffs at home because you and your defensive teammates blow. Pardon this long rant, but I despise the Packers and Harris is probably my least favorite player on that stinkin' team.

WHAT ELSE?

According to Jay Glazer (link here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8996898/Sunday-Scoops:-Glazer%27s-latest-coaching-update) it looks like a long shot that Rod Marinelli will be back. Thank goodness. The real problem is that we're stuck with the most inept owner in the history of sports: William Clay Ford. However, I'm an optimist, so I'm going to continue to hope that bringing in a new coach and another personnel guy in the front office will help the Lions find a way to succeed in spite of Ford's bumbling idiocy.

Marinelli is a great guy and I like the attitude that he tried to bring to this team, but it just didn't work out. Whoever they bring in (assuming they do the sensible thing and fire Marinelli), I hope the new coach abandons the Tampa 2 defense. I absolutely hate that scheme. It's another "bend but don't break" scheme that the Lions have been playing for way too damn long. Let's get an attacking style in here. I wouldn't mind seeing a 3-4 scheme or something like what Jim Johnson runs in Philly, with all kinds of wacky blitzes. No scheme could make this current cast of characters succeed, I understand that. But it doesn't mean that the scheme shouldn't be changed. Please dump the Tampa 2!

Onto some good news now - with the Cowboys losing to the Eagles, that ensures that Dallas will not make the playoffs and that Detroit's 2nd 1st round pick will be somewhere in the late teens. In my opinion, the Lions should either take 2 defensive players in round one or take a LT and a defensive player, not necessarily in that order. We'll see what happens, though. There is so much to discuss as far as free agency and the draft go, but we won't have any idea which direction they'll go until the front office & coaching situations are settled. And even then, there's a good chance of Ford stepping in and screwing up the whole situation (a la drafting Joey Harrington).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Thank goodness this season is over. If we can't have a winning product on the field, at least we usually have interesting off-field drama. I suspect (and hope) that we'll be hearing about Marinelli getting fired tomorrow and then hear about prospective front office guys and coaches being interviewed over the next few weeks. Then we'll have free agency and the draft, so that'll all make for interesting discussion and speculation.

There is absolutely no reason to have any confidence in Ford making the right decisions. However, I know that I will just get my hopes up again next year anyway. I guess I think it's more fun to have false hope than no hope at all. Here's to hoping that we have an off-season like Atlanta and Miami did last year. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 12-21-08

The Lions are now one game away from 0-16 after suffering a 42-7 defeat today vs. New Orleans. Like we've seen from most opposing offenses all year, the Saints did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it. The Lions had absolutely no answer for them. I didn't think the Lions would win today, but I was actually expecting a close game. The Saints have a bad defense and the Lions played with a lot of intensity last week. I thought they'd at least score some points and make a game of it. Nope. The offense was pretty inept today to say the least. There's not much more to say about this debacle. Onto the gameballs...

GAMEBALLS

Kevin Smith

Smith had 111 yards on 24 carries today. He was one of the lone bright spots today for the Lions. In fact, I'm only going to give out one gameball this week because the Lions sucked so incredibly bad. Calvin Johnson should get one, too, but since Colletto & Orlovsky were too friggin' dumb to figure out how to get him the ball, I'm just going to stick with Smith as the lone gameball recipient.

GROIN-KICKS

Gosder Cherilus

Goz wiped out a nice TD grab by Calvin Johnson with a bone-headed illegal formation penalty. He was also doing his best Jeff Backus impression on a few pass plays today. I still think he has had a pretty good rookie season, but he was awful today.

The defense

There's just too many guys to mention here. Leigh Bodden recovered a fumble, which turned out to be the only big play the defense made all day. That's not an exaggeration, either. I really can't stress enough just how bad the defense was today. Did I mention the defense is terrible?

Dan Orlovsky

I heard that Dan was fighting through a battle with the flu today and over the last few days, so that may partially excuse his poor play today. He was pretty atrocious, though. He was inaccurate and often made Harrington-esque decisions (throwing dinky garbage passes on 3rd and long).

The Coaching Staff

I have to blame all coaches in addition to the players when the Lions get blown out this badly. Specifically, Jim Colletto deserves a groin-kick with a steel-toed boot. He was somewhat imaginitive last week when they played Indy and I was absolutely shocked. The reason I was so surprised is that what we saw from the Lions offense today is what we've seen most of the season: terrible play-calling and an inexplicable inability to get the ball to Calvin Johnson. I'm looking forward to the day when Jim Colletto is relieved of play calling duties. Heh heh heh...duty.

WHAT ELSE?

William Clay Ford, Sr. announced today that Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew will be back next year. In a related story, Mr. Ford recently took an IQ test and scored lower than Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants.

Anyway, Ford did say that he will hire another person to help with football operations, but that the person he hires may not have total control over personnel decisions. Personally, I don't think anyone he hires will have "final say" on personnel matters - not in that dysfunctional front office. I think this means that you can say goodbye to the dream of hiring Scott Pioli away from New England. I do think that the Lions can still find a guy who can help them in this role, but there are 2 big questions that remain: "Will Lewand continue to be part of the problem in the front office?" and most importantly "Will that bumbling fool William Clay Ford Sr. stay out of the way and let everyone do their jobs?" We'll see.

By the way, Ford also said that he hasn't made up his mind on bringing Rod Marinelli back next year. Seriously? I know the epic struggles of this team aren't 100% his fault, but Marinelli's record in his last 23 regular season games is 1-22. I could debate this issue further, but I think that 1-22 record pretty much speaks for itself.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We have a chance to witness NFL history next week. The Lions travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers next Sunday. Despite Green Bay's struggles this season, it will be a very tall order for the Lions to win this game since they haven't beaten the Packers on the road since 1991. Want another reason why the Lions probably won't win this game? Well, they suck really bad. With that in mind, an 0-16 season looks like it will be a reality at this point next week. I gave up expecting wins a long time ago in this disastrous season, so I'm just hoping that they can at least provide a little drama. A lot of people around the country want to see the first ever 0-16 season, so it would be pretty cool if this game was at least close and intense. It might be. I would think that the Lions will be highly motivated and leave it all on the field for this one. You know the drill by now, though: I don't think they will win, I hope I am wrong, and thanks for reading. Also, Merry Christmas!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 12-14-08

The Lions are now 0-14 after a 31-21 loss at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. The Lions were surprisingly competitive in this one and even had the game tied at 21 in the 4th quarter.

With Indy favored by 17 going into the game, playing at home, and on a 6 game winning streak, how the heck did the 0-13 (now 0-14) Lions almost shock the world and get their first win today? A few contributing factors:

1. Dan Orlovsky returned to action today and is clearly the QB who gives them the best chance to win.
2. The Lions coaches actually did a pretty good job today. Colletto actually called a good game on offense. A couple of other things that I liked were that they force fed Calvin Johnson and finally decided to play Landon Cohen at DT.
3. The Lions offensive line played like a real NFL offensive line.
4. Bob Sanders did not play for the Colts today. I want to give the Lions all of the credit for today's game, but the Colts defense is definitely less effective when Sanders is injured.

Now onto those coveted gameballs and loathsome groin-kicks...

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

110 yards and another TD today for Megatron.

Kevin Smith

119 total yards and a TD for Mr. Smith today. I'm becoming a bigger fan of his every week.

Lions Offensive Line

I hate to give them a gameball because that means that I'm giving Jeff Backus a gameball, but these guys earned it today. They ran for 90 yards but most importantly, did not allow a single sack today.

Dan Orlovsky

DanO completed almost 70% of his passes for 233 yards, 1 TD, and no turnovers.

GROIN-KICKS

Dewayne White

His late hit on Peyton Manning was costly.The Lions had the Colts stopped on a 3rd down, but White's penalty kept their drive alive.. You can't give Manning & the Colts 2nd chances.

Lions Linebackers

They did an average job of stopping the run and made some nice hits, but the LB corps is largely responsible for covering the TE. Dallas Clark is a very good player, but you can't allow him to catch 12 passes for 142 yards.

The Refs

I've seen much worse this year, but these guys weren't great today. They missed a blatant pass interference call vs. Megatron, and I also felt that they should've overturned a call when it appeared that Dewayne White recovered a fumble.

WHAT ELSE?

It seems like I talk QB in this part of the column every week. When I watch Stafford and Bradford play and when I think of how often the #1 overall pick is used on a QB, it's very tempting for me to say that the Lions should draft one. Unless they're convinced that one of those guys is the next Peyton Manning, though, I don't think the Lions should do it. The Lions have some possibilities with their current cast of QBs. Orlovsky isn't a great play maker, but doesn't make mistakes and I think you can win with a guy like that. Culpepper could be good if he loses about 25 pounds and learns the playbook. Stanton's injury history worries me, but I still really like his potential. Hopefully they use the pick on a franchise LT or improve the defense. The offense needs some other complimentary pieces (OG, WR), but not much. The defense, however, needs a lot of work, so I'd suspect that improving the "D" will be the primary off-season objective. Who will be doing this work, though? I have no idea. Rumors are going around that Lewand, Mayhew, and Marinelli may all be back next year. As dumb as Ford is, though, I don't think he can do that. He will face so much pressure that I would be shocked if at least one of those guys isn't fired. I'm betting that Marinelli will get the axe, while Lewand and Mayhew will get to stick around in the front office. Just a hunch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

14 down, 2 to go. I still think the Lions will go 0-16, but after watching today's game, I think they have a much better shot at winning a game than I thought before. The Lions are still playing hard and both New Orleans (next Sunday's opponent) and Green Bay are out of the playoff picture, so they may not be too highly motivated. Next Sunday's game will be the home finale when the Saints come to town. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The Lions are obviously winless both at home and on the road, but seem to have played better on the road this year. At any rate, I don't see them being able to stop Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas, so I look for them to be 0-15 at this time next week. As always, I hope I am wrong and thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 12-07-08

The Lions (urinated) the game away today, losing 20-16 to the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions actually had a lot going for them in this one. First off, they won the turnover battle with a +2. Secondly, they won the penalty battle as they only committed 4, while the Vikings repeatedly helped the Lions by committing penalties (6 of them total) on defense. Also, they limited Adrian Peterson to just 102 yards rushing (that may not sound like a great accomplishment, but it's pretty good since AP is considered by many to be the best RB in the league). They even knocked Gus Frerotte out of the game (although the backup, Tarvaris Jackson, ended up playing better than Frerotte anyway). In spite of all of this, the Lions still couldn't win. They had 2 failed 4th down conversions in Viking territory that ultimately killed them in the end. They also should have made a better effort to snap the ball quicker before Minnesota challenged a Calvin Johnson catch for a 1st down (the Vikings won the challenge and held the Lions to a field goal). Today was just another missed opportunity for a Lions team that deserves to go 0-16. It reminds me of what Robert DeNiro said to Sylvester Stallone in the movie Copland, "I gave you a chance and you BLEW IT!!!" Today, the Vikings gave the Lions a chance and they blew it. Unlike Stallone, the Lions won't be able to make up for this loss by finding Superboy and killing Harvey Keitel.

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

Megatron got back on the board this week with a 70 yard TD catch.

Kevin Smith

He had 90 yards from scrimmage today going against the vaunted "Williams Wall." He's a tough guy with a good attitude who runs hard.

Gosder Cherilus

Goz was ripped on by a lot of analysts for his "cheap shot" on Jared Allen. Guess what? It was a legal hit. The Lions are always getting jacked up by other teams. It's about time they make the other team pay for a change. I like the mean streak and "play to the whistle" attitude that Goz displayed on this play. I'm glad that he didn't seriously hurt Allen, but either way I don't have too much sympathy for the guy (Allen) after his 2 DUI arrests last year.

GROIN-KICKS

Jim Colletto

From the "What the $#&S&*&?!?!" department, Lions OC Jim Colletto called a friggin' QB sneak on 4th and inches inside the Minnesota 10 at the end of the first half. Culpepper was easily (and predictably) stopped by the "Williams Wall." Run an off tackle, do a play-action pass, toss it up in the end zone to Calvin Johnson, I don't care. Just don't go straight up the middle. Unbelievable.

Rod Marinelli

When you pass up 2 sure field goals to go for it on 4th down, you better make it. The Lions didn't convert either one of them.

Jeff Backus

Jeff Backus totally sucks and played like crap again today.

WHAT ELSE?

I'd be shocked if the Lions don't go 0-16. Their defense played better today, but I attribute a lot of that to the inept coaching of Brad Childress and poor QB play of Gus Frerotte. I don't see any way they'll be able to stop the other team's offense in these last 3 games: @ IND, vs. NO, @ GB. That'll make the Lions an historic 0-16, and also losers of 23 of their last 24 games going back to last season. WOW.

I'm sure that Marinelli will stick with as many veterans as possible over these last 3 games because they "give them the best chance to win." That means that if Culpepper isn't healthy (he was injured on the 2nd last play of the game today), Dan Orlovsky will get the start if he is healthy enough to go. I still like Dan-O, but I really believe it would be in their best interest to start Drew Stanton (I know, this horse has been dead and getting continuously flogged for quite some time now). What if Drew would play great in the last 3 games? Then he could still be your QB of the future and you don't draft one 1st overall next April. However, we may never know what kind of NFL QB Stanton is because the Lions will (hopefully) clean house in the off-season. With a new coach and GM in place, I would suspect that they'd spend the 1st overall pick in next April's draft on a franchise QB (like I mentioned last week, this would be either Matthew Stafford from Georgia or Sam Bradford from Oklahoma). The QB position, GM/coach situation, and the draft are just a few big things to keep an eye on this off-season. Seeing as how the Lions season has been over for about 3 months now, I'm anxious for it to end and get the off-season going.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Lions travel to Indy next week to play the Colts. Holy crap - how many TDs will Peyton Manning throw for?!?! As Emmitt Smith would say, I'm sure the Lions will get "debacled" in this game. Um, yeah, that's pretty much all of the analysis I have for that game. As always, I hope I'm wrong and thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 11-28-08

First off, I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I certainly did, in spite of the Lions. This Lions debacle turned out to be the worst one ever on turkey day, as they fell 47-10 to the Titans. There really isn't a whole lot to say about this game. The Lions were dominated by a much better team. Onto the gameballs...

GAMEBALLS

Cliff Avril

I have to give out a gameball to a Lion. Other than Jason Hanson, Avril is the only one that I really think deserves one this week. His sack & forced fumble on Kerry Collins led to the only TD the Lions had.

Chris Johnson, Lendale White, and Rob Bironas

These Titans players all put up huge stats for my fantasy teams. Thanks guys.

GROIN-KICKS

Lions coaches, offense, defense, and special teams

I don't think I even need to explain this one

Jeff Fisher

The Titans coach displayed a total lack of class that was Belichick-esque. With about 3:30 left in the game and a 37 point lead in hand, Fisher threw the challenge flag to force instant replay on a Calvin Johnson catch (which proved to be a legit catch). At that point, I officially became anti-Titans. I will cheer against Tennessee in every remaining game this season.

WHAT ELSE?

0-16 is almost here. Whether they go 0-16 or 1-15, this is the worst NFL team I've ever seen. They will almost assuredly have the #1 overall pick in next April's draft. It may be too early to speculate, but it's never too early for Lions fans. So, onto the speculation: the last 2 weeks has brought regression in Culpepper and we've seen Drew Stanton get injured yet again. Dan Orlovsky is still injured and rumor has it that the front office doesn't like him (hopefully, those front office people will be fired!). Like most other positions, QB is looking questionable. That's why early speculation indicates that the Lions may be looking at a QB. The most likely candidates would be Georgia's Matt Stafford and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford (both are underclassmen, though, and have yet to declare for the draft). This is such a tough call, though. If these guys are as good as advertised, it would be hard not to pick them. The problem is, though, that the Lions have oh so many needs. I'm not sure any QB could succeed behind that horrible offensive line, and comparing the defense to swiss cheese would be an insult....to swiss cheese. That's why I'd be leaning towards drafting a LT 1st overall at this point, while focusing on defense for the remainder of the draft (maybe throw in an OG or WR with KR skills, too).

We'll have plenty of time to speculate about those things, though, when this season mercifully ends. There will also be a search for a new head coach after Marinelli gets fired and more than likely, a search for a GM after Martin Mayhew gets the ziggy. Nobody likes to see good people fired, but it's very necessary in this case. What really needs to happen (and probably never will) is for the Fords to sell the team. Our only hope in the meantime is for Bill Ford, Jr. to get more control of the franchise from his father. That still wouldn't inspire too much confidence in anyone, but I can't believe that he'd be any worse at running things than his father has been.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well, this is it. The next game has the Lions staying home for a battle with Minnesota, in what many believe will be their last shot at a victory this season. I happen to agree. The remaining schedule has the Lions going on the road to Indy (loss), back home to face New Orleans (double loss), and then closing at Green Bay (the Lions haven't won there since '91, so triple loss). What gives them any chance at beating the Vikings, though? Well, a few things: Brad Childress is not a very good coach, Gus Frerotte is a mistake-prone QB, Their 2 best defenders (Pat & Kevin Williams) are likely to get suspended next week, and finally, Daunte Culpepper will be motivated for revenge against his former team. These are good, legitimate reasons that the Lions can win this game. Unfortunately, I don't think they will. I actually thought they would win this one last week at this time. However, after watching them quickly blow a 17 point lead to Tampa and then not even show a pulse on turkey day, I think 0-16 is going to happen. Their defense is so atrocious, that I don't see how they will be able to stop Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. As always, I hope I am wrong. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 11-23-08

Another week, another loss. This time it was a 38-20 beat-down at the hands of the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Lions actually got off to a fast start again this week and had built up a 17-0 lead, only to get outscored 38-3 the rest of the way. Ugh. Daunte Culpepper got off to a great start, hitting Calvin Johnson on a 41 yard pass and then a 15 yard TD pass. Things quickly unraveled for him, though, as he finished a wretched 8-20 with 2 INTs. And after some early success, the defense also payed a visit to the land of suck. Huge, no, make that gargantuan breakdowns occurred in the secondary and the special teams also chipped in by allowing a 70 yard punt return TD by Clifton Smith. Now onto the gameballs....

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

66 yards and a TD today for Megatron. Though he only had 3 catches, the Lions at least made more of a conscious effort to throw some deep balls his way. Hopefully that trend will continue.

Kevin Smith

I don’t care if Smith “lacks speed” according to experts. The guy is a solid RB (much like the banks at Rose City Motors - SOLID). He had 86 yards on 16 carries today (5.4 avg) against a tough Tampa defense.

Daniel Bullocks

A defensive player getting a gameball? What!?!?! Bullocks was in the right place at the right time to recover a Jeff Garcia fumble and return it 44 yards for a TD.

Corey Smith

2 defensive players getting a gameball? That’s just wacky! Smith gets one because he had 2 sacks today.

GROIN-KICKS

Daunte Culpepper

Daunte, you’ve gotta take better care of the ball than that. I’m pullin’ for ya, buddy, but please cut down on the turnovers.

The Offensive Line

The whole line sucked today. They did a pretty good job of run blocking, but that was negated by their atrocious pass blocking and numerous penalties. And guess who committed another penalty today? Jeff Backus. Twice. Note to Lions: Please draft a LT to replace Backus!

The Defensive Backfield

Everyone in the secondary (besides Bullocks) blew chunks today. The Bucs could’ve thrown on them all day if they had wanted to, but they were content with pounding the rock and running time off of the clock.

Paris Lenon

The coaches like Lenon because he’s smart and has a lot of heart. The problem is that he’s slightly above average when he’s at his very best (which isn’t too often). He showed that today, specifically with his lousy pass coverage.

Cory Redding

Not only did he not make an impact with any positive plays, but he committed a costly roughing the passer penalty. The penalty happened on a 3rd down when the Lions had seemingly forced Tampa to punt. Instead, they kept the ball and received an automatic 1st down. Fellow “franchise player” Jeff Backus probably nodded in approval from the sidelines as this play occurred.

WHAT ELSE?

Lions QBs were beat up pretty badly today. Culpepper looked bad (aside from his first drive) and Stanton also had a rough day (he looked shaky before leaving the game with a concussion). Hopefully this was brought on by a Tampa defense that’s still pretty darn good and not a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.

Why Jordon Dizon isn’t starting at LB is beyond me. Paris Lenon and Ryan Nece are not good. Not only should the Lions be using the rest of this wasted 0-11 season to develop young players like Dizon, but I think he would actually be an immediate upgrade over Lenon or Nece. I know Dizon blew coverage on the TD to Stevens today, but that's a mental mistake that he wouldn't have made at this point in the season if he had gotten more playing time earlier in the season. He has a lot of talent and I think once he finally sees significant playing time, we’ll all be wondering why he wasn’t on the field sooner. Sort of like when Calvin Johnson finally started getting more opportunities on offense, and when Kevin Smith & Gosder Cherilus got to start, and when Cliff Avril got more playing time on defense. Hmm, I’m noticing a pattern here.

The Lions need to make significant upgrades on the defense in the offseason. Also, they need at least 2 more starting offensive linemen. After trying to fill those spots, they aren’t likely to have a whole lot of money/draft picks to spend on other areas. Sadly and ironically, another area that needs to be addressed is WR. After spending 4 1st round picks on WRs between 2002 and 2007, the Lions still need help there. Shaun McDonald will likely leave via free agency after this season, leaving them with Calvin Johnson, Mike Furrey, and not much else. Even if a guy like John Standeford steps up, the Lions will probably have to acquire 2 more WRs in the offseason through free agency and/or the draft. I think another speed threat on the outside to go with Calvin Johnson would really make their passing game difficult to defend. We’ll see if the Lions have the resources to make this happen. It’s one of the least of their problems at this point, but definitely something else they need to think about after this season.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Unfortunately, the Titans lost to the Jets today, so they will not be undefeated heading into the matchup with the winless Lions on Thanksgiving this Thursday. Instead, it will be a battle of 0-11 vs.10-1. I was really pulling for the clash of the winless and unbeaten. Regardless, this game has “disaster” written all over it; but then again, how many Lions games don’t have “disaster” written all over them these days? I just hope they can play a close, entertaining game. With all of the Thanksgiving day blowouts they’ve had in recent years, I worry that the NFL may one day take this tradition away from us. No matter how badly the Lions stink, they belong on Thanksgiving. This has been a tradition of theirs since 1934 (with a few years in the 40s missing due to WWII). Hopefully they will never lose this great tradition. No matter how bad of a season the Lions are having, I always look forward to the Thanksgiving day game.

I don’t see the Lions winning this game, but I think they might be able to keep it close. The Titans like to run the ball a lot. With the emotion of playing on Thanksgiving, I expect the Lions defense to tackle better than normal and defend the run reasonably well (for part of the game, at least). If Daunte can hit Calvin on a couple of deep ones and not turn the ball over, then they’ve got a shot to at least be in this game. I can’t envision them winning it, but a close game is all I ask and hopefully they can at least achieve that. Thanks for reading and happy Thanksgiving!!!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 11-16-08

The Lions are now 0-10 after a 31-22 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. The Lions played beyond expectations, though, and had a chance to win in the 4th quarter. However, in typical Lions fashion, they just couldn’t come through in the clutch. With around 6 minutes to go, the Lions scored a TD to cut the deficit to 24-22 and needed a 2 point conversion to tie. As Culpepper tried to run it in, he was blatantly face-masked. The refs missed the call and the Lions were still down by 2. Amazingly, though, the Lions actually got a defensive stop when they needed one and got the ball right back. There was plenty of time and all they needed was a field goal. However, they committed a ridiculous personal foul after the punt return and then Culpepper followed with a hideous interception. DeAngelo Williams ran it in for a Carolina TD on the next play and the Lions were finished just like that.

GAMEBALLS

Kevin Smith

Kevin had a great game with 112 yards rushing. It was the first time a Lions RB has had over 100 yards rushing in a game since Kevin Jones did it in week 8 of last season. Yes, it had been over a year. Whoa doctor!

Calvin Johnson

CJ had 65 yards receiving and a TD catch, which was a terrific play.

Jason Hanson

Jason hit a 56 yard field goal today, with plenty of yards to spare. He is a phenomenal kicker.

Leigh Bodden

Yes, I’m actually going to give a game ball to a defensive player. Bodden helped hold Steve Smith to just 59 yards receiving (although part of that was due to Jake Delhomme being terrible) and even forced him to fumble. Bodden has definitely been disappointing this season, but I think a man coverage defense would better utilize his skills. He showed today that he has a little playmaking ability.

GROIN-KICKS

Lions Defense

I’d love to be able to list specific players instead of putting the entire defense here, but they’re just not leaving me much choice in the matter. The Lions allowed the Panthers to rush for a franchise record 264 yards today. The d-line can’t get a consistent pass rush of any kind and is poor at stopping the run. The linebackers are terrible. They are bad tacklers and are often caught out of position. The secondary is also awful. Rarely does anyone make a play and the other team’s QB frequently has a career day passing. But hey, other than that, they’re great.

The Officials

The blown facemask call on the 2 point conversion was terrible. They also missed what should have been a very easy call in the first quarter. Shaun McDonald called for a fair catch and a Carolina defender blatantly ran right into him and he couldn’t make the catch as a result. What?!?! To be fair, though, they also had a bad call in Detroit’s favor. The Lions benefited from a roughing the kicker call on Nick Harris that I thought was pretty weak. At any rate, these guys blew a lot of calls.

Michael Gaines

Gaines fumbled again this week. That is now 2 fumbles in his last 3 games. He’s gotta do better than that. The Lions can’t afford any turnovers, especially from the tight end position where you don’t expect any of them to occur.

WHAT ELSE?

I was so close to giving Culpepper a game ball, but his INTs were 2 very poor throws. Like last week, though, I think you have to say that he’s doing fairly well for a guy doing everything on the fly in the middle of the season (specifically, learning the playbook and getting timing down with the WRs). There are 2 things I really like about Daunte: playmaking and leadership. While he doesn’t have the mobility that he used to, he still has enough mobility and pocket-presence to evade the rush and make a play. It also appears to me that his offensive teammates respect him. He’s assertive and I think the fact that he is a veteran with a mostly-good track record allows him to be an effective leader. Hopefully he improves as the season goes on. While I’m a Stanton fan, I don’t care who plays QB for the Lions as long as they play well. I was a fan of Culpepper’s abilities when he was a Viking, too, so I’m all for him having a resurgence in Detroit.

One name noticeably absent from this week’s groin-kicks was Jeff Backus. Jeff finally went a full game without committing a penalty. However, he did manage to get torched particularly bad on one play, giving up a sack on a 3 step drop passing play. However, since he was going up against Julius Peppers, I’ll cut him a little slack this week. It’ll take a better game than that (and a lot more of them), though, for him to get back into my circle of trust (a la Gaylord Focker in Meet the Parents).

A couple of other things worth noting: I was glad to see John Standeford make a couple of plays today. He’s a sure-handed WR out of Purdue who had a great preseason. Hopefully John does well the rest of this season and earns a spot on next year’s roster. Also, Aveion Cason had a nice kickoff return today. For the first time all year, the Lions had a kickoff returner show a burst of speed. Cason should help them out and keep that job the rest of the year, as long as he doesn’t get careless with the ball.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Next Sunday, the Lions return home to take on Tampa Bay (More importantly, though, Jack Bauer returns to primetime TV!). I think the Lions might have a shot in this one. No, really, I seriously do. If Earnest Graham is out, they should be able to limit Warrick Dunn and the other Tampa RBs (“limit” for the Lions means giving up 100-125 yards rushing, rather than over 250+). Jeff Garcia will probably tear them up, but not as excessively as some other QBs Detroit has faced. The Lions offense will be the key next week. They have to do what they did vs. Carolina today, with one addendum. They have to cut the turnovers back to one, or preferably zero. They must also win the special teams battle. Basically, it’s going to take many “ifs” and “ands” for this to happen. I’m just sayin’ it’s possible. I’m not going to predict it, though. I’ll say that the Bucs will pull it off, but that it won’t be a blowout. That’ll set up an interesting Thanksgiving showdown. If the Titans beat the Jets next week, it’ll be the battle of the unbeaten and winless. Tennessee will be 11-0 and Detroit will be 0-11. Hopefully the Lions can avoid that, though, and somehow beat the Bucs. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 11-09-08

The Lions fell to 0-9 today as they were beaten 38-14 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s not too often that you get beat by 24 points and say, “The game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate,” but these are the Lions we’re talking about. This game could’ve been even worse if the Jags wouldn’t have taken their foot off the gas pedal in the 2nd half. Detroit’s defense was especially poor today. Jacksonville could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it all day long. The Lions offense had a couple of exciting plays, but couldn’t sustain anything consistently with off-the-street QB Culpepper or the inexperienced QB in Stanton. Now onto the gameballs and groin-kicks…

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

Calvin averaged 46 yards per catch today. Unfortunately, he only had 2 catches. The Lions need to get him the ball more next week.

Kevin Smith

Lost in this absolutely horrific season is this positive fact: The Lions have found a RB. Smith had 96 yards and a TD today. He’s really a solid looking player.

Drew Stanton

Drew looked inexperienced at times. He took a couple of sacks that he shouldn’t have and one-hopped a pass to Calvin. However, he threw his first NFL TD pass today, didn’t turn it over, and went 6-8 for 94 yards.

David Garrard

22 points for my fantasy team. Thanks David.

GROIN-KICKS

The entire Lions defense

Horrible. Just horrible. I don’t know what else to say. They’re just...so...horrible!

The entire Lions offensive line

These guys are pretty terrible in their own right. Oh, and Jeff Backus had another penalty today. Keep the streak going, Jeff!

Rod Marinelli and Joe Barry

Sorry guys, but I just hate your defense. I know the personnel lacks talent in some areas, but not this badly. There is no excuse for looking this bad week in and week out. I look forward to the day when we can dump the stupid “Tampa 2” scheme.

WHAT ELSE?

Daunte Culpepper looked like a guy who only had a few days to prepare for this game (that’s because he did). All things considered, though, I didn’t think he did too bad when you consider the circumstance that he was in. Drew Stanton did some nice things, but also showed his inexperience at times, too. I’d like to see Stanton keep playing so that they at least have a developed QB to show for their tribulations at the end of this terrible season. I’m not giving up on Culpepper either, though. He’s only 31 and his arm strength is clearly still there. This is a simple offensive scheme that he should be able to pick up and Calvin Johnson is the best WR he has had to throw to since Randy Moss in Minnesota. Actually, I wouldn’t have a problem with the Lions bringing back Daunte and/or Orlovsky to go with Stanton at QB next season. I don’t know if they have any stars in this group of QBs, but what I’m getting at here is that I don’t think QB is a problem right now. They’ve got some guys that they can work with and I don’t think it’s necessary to blow a top pick on a QB next April. We’ve got plenty of time to speculate on that between now and then, but I would prefer either a franchise left tackle (to take the place of Jeff Back-us-up) or an impact defensive player (James Lauranitis?). Ah yes, at least we have NFL draft speculation. We’ll always have that!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Next week the Lions go on the road to face the Panthers. I don’t know who they’ll start at QB, but I don’t think it matters. Carolina has 2 good RBs in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart and they also have a very good defense. Not to mention that Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammed will probably run wild in the Detroit defensive backfield. Speaking of that, pick up Muhammed in your fantasy league if he’s available. He almost always tears up the Lions. At any rate, the Lions have now lost 16 of their last 17 regular season games and I think it’s going to be 17 out of 18 after next week’s game. As usual, I hope I am wrong. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 11-02-08

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Another week, another loss. The Lions are now 0-8 after suffering a 27-23 defeat to the Chicago Bears. For the second week in a row, they teased us with a halftime lead. Things were really looking good: they were up 10, clearly out-playing the Bears, and had knocked out Kyle Orton for the rest of the game. As usual, though, mistakes doomed the Lions in the end. Specifically, three offensive drives were derailed by various mistakes in the 2nd half: Orlovsky had a pass picked off in the end zone, Backus had a false start on a 3rd down that took them out of field goal range, and Gaines fumbled just past mid-field late in the game. Some credit has to be given to Chicago’s opportunistic defense (I will give no credit to Rex Grossman, though, because he still sucks), but that’s no excuse for the Lions. They really should have won this game today. Now onto this week’s gameballs & groin-kicks…

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

Calvin set a career high with 8 catches today and caught a TD pass for the 4th straight game.

Shaun McDonald

Mac had 6 catches, 1 TD, and provided a spark in the punt return game.

Jared DeVries

Jared was very active today, blocking 3 passes at the line of scrimmage.

GROIN-KICKS

Jeff Backus

Back-us-up had a false start once again today. And in typical Jeff Backus fashion, he saved it for a crucial moment in the game. With the Lions driving in the 4th quarter and the ball on Chicago’s 35, he decided that it would be a great time to move the team back 5 yards. Thanks Jeff.

Michael Gaines

Gaines had a decent game overall, but his fumble on the 2nd last drive of the game was pretty much the nail in Detroit’s coffin. Hang onto the ball, man!

Greg Olsen

The Chicago TE had just 10 yards receiving. Against the Lions defense, that’s pretty terrible. Thanks for getting my fantasy team a robust 1 point, Greg.

WHAT ELSE?

If you haven’t heard by now, the Lions will officially sign Daunte Culpepper tomorrow. Rumor has it that he may start as soon as next Sunday vs. Jacksonville. I’ve got mixed feelings about this.

First off, here’s what I don’t like about the move: I want to see Drew Stanton play. I don’t think this will happen now that Daunte is on board. I’m also concerned that the Lions may bungle this and make the wrong call at the end of the year. Daunte’s deal for this year is guaranteed, but it’s reportedly a team option for next season. If Daunte doesn’t do anything great, I think it could be a tough call as to whether or not they pick up his option, which is rumored to be $7 million. That’s a pretty big cap number for next season, so they better make dang sure that he’s worth it. I also think they better make dang sure that they’re ready to let Dan Orlovsky go. If Daunte isn’t clearly better than Dan, I think they should just go with the cheaper option and bring Dan back next year. Wouldn’t it be just like the Lions to bungle such a decision, though?

Here’s what I do like about the move: What do they have to lose? They’re 0-8, so they might as well roll the dice and give Daunte a shot. It’s also a low-risk move. If it doesn’t work out, just don’t pick his option up after the season. I think he has something to prove, too. He was frustrated that nobody would offer him a starting job this off season, so I think he’s motivated to prove other teams wrong. And who knows? Maybe another year removed from knee surgery will have done him some good. And while Calvin Johnson isn’t Randy Moss, he’s better than anyone Daunte had to throw to when he was in Miami or Oakland. Much better, in fact. He’s also familiar with this division and would love to stick it to the Vikings. Lastly, he has been at his best playing indoors. With Ford Field being home, that should be a comfortable environment for him.

We’ll see what happens. I’m not expecting anything great, but this is the NFL and stranger things have happened. Everyone thought Kurt Warner was done when he left St. Louis and struggled with the Giants. Now look at him in Arizona. He’s just as good as ever. I’m not expecting this to happen with Daunte Culpepper, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if it did, either. I also wouldn’t be totally shocked if he was a turnover machine and played like absolute crap. Let’s see what happens and hopefully the results will be closer to the former than the latter.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With Cincinnati beating Jacksonville today, the Lions are now the last winless team remaining in the NFL. Ironically, Jacksonville is next on their schedule. Hopefully the Jags play just as poorly next week when they stroll into Ford Field. I’ll give the Lions a good chance in this one if the Jags are without Matt Jones. Jones is rumored to be facing an NFL suspension very soon and is by far their best WR. This would mean that the Lions would be able to key on Maurice Jones-Drew. The defense may just have a fighting chance in such a situation, with Jacksonville’s o-line under performing this season. Also in Detroit’s favor is the fact that Jacksonville’s defense is having a down season. Factor in all of these things, and it looks like the Lions can win this one. I’d love to see it happen, but I’m not quite ready to predict a Lion victory just yet. I do think they’ll win a game at some point, though (right now, I’m leaning towards picking the upset vs. either Tampa Bay or Minnesota). As usual, though, I hope I’m wrong and that we’ll be talking about a Lions victory next week vs. the Jags. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 10-26-08

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Another week, another loss. The Lions are now 0-8 after suffering a 27-23 defeat to the Chicago Bears. For the second week in a row, they teased us with a halftime lead. Things were really looking good: they were up 10, clearly out-playing the Bears, and had knocked out Kyle Orton for the rest of the game. As usual, though, mistakes doomed the Lions in the end. Specifically, three offensive drives were derailed by various mistakes in the 2nd half: Orlovsky had a pass picked off in the end zone, Backus had a false start on a 3rd down that took them out of field goal range, and Gaines fumbled just past mid-field late in the game. Some credit has to be given to Chicago’s opportunistic defense (I will give no credit to Rex Grossman, though, because he still sucks), but that’s no excuse for the Lions. They really should have won this game today. Now onto this week’s gameballs & groin-kicks…

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

Calvin set a career high with 8 catches today and caught a TD pass for the 4th straight game.

Shaun McDonald

Mac had 6 catches, 1 TD, and provided a spark in the punt return game.

Jared DeVries

Jared was very active today, blocking 3 passes at the line of scrimmage.

GROIN-KICKS

Jeff Backus

Back-us-up had a false start once again today. And in typical Jeff Backus fashion, he saved it for a crucial moment in the game. With the Lions driving in the 4th quarter and the ball on Chicago’s 35, he decided that it would be a great time to move the team back 5 yards. Thanks Jeff.

Michael Gaines

Gaines had a decent game overall, but his fumble on the 2nd last drive of the game was pretty much the nail in Detroit’s coffin. Hang onto the ball, man!

Greg Olsen

The Chicago TE had just 10 yards receiving. Against the Lions defense, that’s pretty terrible. Thanks for getting my fantasy team a robust 1 point, Greg.

WHAT ELSE?

If you haven’t heard by now, the Lions will officially sign Daunte Culpepper tomorrow. Rumor has it that he may start as soon as next Sunday vs. Jacksonville. I’ve got mixed feelings about this.

First off, here’s what I don’t like about the move: I want to see Drew Stanton play. I don’t think this will happen now that Daunte is on board. I’m also concerned that the Lions may bungle this and make the wrong call at the end of the year. Daunte’s deal for this year is guaranteed, but it’s reportedly a team option for next season. If Daunte doesn’t do anything great, I think it could be a tough call as to whether or not they pick up his option, which is rumored to be $7 million. That’s a pretty big cap number for next season, so they better make dang sure that he’s worth it. I also think they better make dang sure that they’re ready to let Dan Orlovsky go. If Daunte isn’t clearly better than Dan, I think they should just go with the cheaper option and bring Dan back next year. Wouldn’t it be just like the Lions to bungle such a decision, though?

Here’s what I do like about the move: What do they have to lose? They’re 0-8, so they might as well roll the dice and give Daunte a shot. It’s also a low-risk move. If it doesn’t work out, just don’t pick his option up after the season. I think he has something to prove, too. He was frustrated that nobody would offer him a starting job this off season, so I think he’s motivated to prove other teams wrong. And who knows? Maybe another year removed from knee surgery will have done him some good. And while Calvin Johnson isn’t Randy Moss, he’s better than anyone Daunte had to throw to when he was in Miami or Oakland. Much better, in fact. He’s also familiar with this division and would love to stick it to the Vikings. Lastly, he has been at his best playing indoors. With Ford Field being home, that should be a comfortable environment for him.

We’ll see what happens. I’m not expecting anything great, but this is the NFL and stranger things have happened. Everyone thought Kurt Warner was done when he left St. Louis and struggled with the Giants. Now look at him in Arizona. He’s just as good as ever. I’m not expecting this to happen with Daunte Culpepper, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if it did, either. I also wouldn’t be totally shocked if he was a turnover machine and played like absolute crap. Let’s see what happens and hopefully the results will be closer to the former than the latter.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With Cincinnati beating Jacksonville today, the Lions are now the last winless team remaining in the NFL. Ironically, Jacksonville is next on their schedule. Hopefully the Jags play just as poorly next week when they stroll into Ford Field. I’ll give the Lions a good chance in this one if the Jags are without Matt Jones. Jones is rumored to be facing an NFL suspension very soon and is by far their best WR. This would mean that the Lions would be able to key on Maurice Jones-Drew. The defense may just have a fighting chance in such a situation, with Jacksonville’s o-line under performing this season. Also in Detroit’s favor is the fact that Jacksonville’s defense is having a down season. Factor in all of these things, and it looks like the Lions can win this one. I’d love to see it happen, but I’m not quite ready to predict a Lion victory just yet. I do think they’ll win a game at some point, though (right now, I’m leaning towards picking the upset vs. either Tampa Bay or Minnesota). As usual, though, I hope I’m wrong and that we’ll be talking about a Lions victory next week vs. the Jags. Thanks for reading!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 10-19-08

The Lions had a valiant comeback effort today, but they fell short, losing 28-21 to the Houston Texans. If they can somehow get the NFL to let them skip the 1st quarter, they may actually win a game. They have now been outscored 54-0 in the 1st quarter this year. Ack. They are making progress, though - they at least managed to get a 1st down in the 1st quarter today for the first time since week 3. Double ack.

Today’s loss drops the Lions to 0-6. This means that since last season’s 6-2 start, they are a robust 1-13. As Frank Barone would say, “Holy crap!” Having said all of this, though, I’m pretty happy with the Lions right now. They’ve lowered my expectations so much that I’m now pleased when they can play a competitive game, which they’ve now done an unprecedented 2 weeks in a row. Seriously, though, they’ve actually been fun to watch the last couple of weeks, which I guess is all we can ask for at this point. Kevin Smith and Calvin Johnson have both provided some exciting plays and the defense is playing better and more physical. Let’s hope this trend continues.

GAMEBALLS

Calvin Johnson

What a freak this guy is. The 96 yard TD and 2 pt conversion got the Lions back in the game today. He is a terrific player and I can’t say enough good things about him.

Kevin Smith

He should be starting over Rudi Johnson. For the 2nd week in a row, he made a big play in the running game.

Jason Hanson

He drilled 2 field goals over 50 yards today. What a steady, consistent player he has been.

Matt Schaub, Owen Daniels, Andre Johnson

I’m giving out a gameball to some Texans this week for helping my fantasy teams. “Forget you” for hurting the Lions, but “thank you” for helping my fantasy teams.

GROIN KICKS

The Coaches

I continue to find some of Marinelli’s personnel moves very perplexing. George Foster over Gosder Cherilus? Really? Kevin Smith, Dizon, and some of the young defensive linemen should also be playing more. I also thought that they should have blitzed more today, too. When you let Matt Schaub have a completion percentage of 84, your vaunted cover 2 defense isn’t getting it done. And please get Calvin Johnson more than 2 catches! Make adjustments!

George Foster

More false start penalties. Gee, what a friggin’ surprise.

Shaun McDonald

He’s a good role player, but doesn’t come through in the clutch, as evidenced by his 4th quarter drop today. It would’ve been a tough catch, but they needed a play and he couldn’t make it. He also let a punt bounce toward the end of the game instead of fair catching it. This cost them time and field position. The play wouldn’t have made a difference, but it was still a bonehead decision.

Ahman Green

Ahman played a good game for Houston today (and I don’t have him on any of my fantasy teams). Honestly, he really kind of bugs me because I got sick of seeing him rip up the Lions when he was with Green Bay. Just retire already, Ahman, and spare yourself a kick to the groin.

WHAT ELSE?

Dan Orlovsky made a few mistakes today. He missed McDonald on a long bomb, had a completion percentage just under 50, and took a sack that almost took them out of field goal range. However, I actually thought he had a pretty solid game overall, once again. He had 1 TD and no turnovers for the 2nd straight week and it’s no coincidence that the Lions have been competitive in both games that he has done this.

Having said this, though, I still think Stanton needs to start at QB in the near future. At this point, I think the Lions know what they have in Orlovsky. He’s not great, but I think you can win with a guy like him if you’ve got a good defense and a strong running game. He’s good at managing the game, protecting the ball, and throws a pretty good deep ball (better than Kitna, anyway).

Stanton, however, has more upside than Orlovsky and appears to have everything a successful QB needs. He’s got the intangibles along with an accurate arm and great mobility (and with that mobility comes an ability to make plays that cannot be taught). The question is, can he put these skills to use in a game? There’s only one way to find out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Next week, the Lions welcome the 5-2 Redskins to Ford Field. Winning this game would be a difficult task, but not an impossible one. The Lions have to continue to protect the ball on offense and must also manage to make a few more plays, especially early in the game. On defense, they have to limit Clinton Portis to around 100 yards ( hopefully less) and not give up any huge plays to Santana Moss (both of these tasks will be much easier said than done). Go Lions!

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 10-12-08

I’m not usually one to complain about the officiating after a game. Normally, when someone does this after their team loses, they are called a “whiner” (and typically, rightfully so). Well, call me a whiner then because I’m tellin’ ya that the Lions got absolutely screwed over by the officials today.

The first bad call was the Calvin Johnson “fumble” that occurred early in the 4th quarter. Both Calvin’s knee and elbow appeared to be down before the ball was stripped out. The refs, however, saw it differently and blew the call twice: once on the field initially and again later on after viewing the replay and failing to overturn the call. So instead of the Lions having the ball in field goal range, the ball was stolen and awarded to the Vi-queens.

The second bad call was even worse. In fact, it was downright wretched. Leigh Bodden was flagged for a phantom pass interference penalty with just under 3 minutes to go. This gift-wrapped the Vi-queens a game-winning field goal by giving them 43 yards and a first down in field goal range. They should have actually been faced with a 3rd and 20 in their own territory, which they likely would not have converted (considering how well the Lions defense was playing today).

GAMEBALLS

The Lions Coaches

The Lions coaching staff has been deserving of the harsh criticism that they’ve received this season. However, they do still deserve praise when they get something right. Their gameplan on defense today was brilliant. They finally got aggressive and did some blitzing, which was very effective. On offense, they actually got the ball downfield to Calvin Johnson (It’s about damn time!). For the first time all season, I thought the Lions were well-coached today.

The Lions Defense

The defense was outstanding today. Specifically, Leigh Bodden, Daniel Bullocks, Kalvin Pearson, Ernie Sims, Dewayne White, Cory Redding, and Jared DeVries all did a fantastic job. The blitzing certainly helped, but there were also times when the front four was effectively generating a rush on their own (for the first time since the preseason).

Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith

Both of them made huge plays for the offense today.

GROIN-KICKS

The Refs

I don’t even need to explain this one. The entire officiating crew should get a swift kick to their nadular region.

The Lions Guards

I hate to put these guys here because the Lions actually ran pretty effectively against the toughest run defense in the league. However, the pass blocking from the guards was atrocious today. ManRam was benched in favor of Andy McCollum, who didn’t fare any better. Edwin Mulitalo also struggled and even got flagged for a costly holding penalty that killed a drive.

WHAT ELSE?

I though Dan Orlovsky was pretty solid today. I couldn’t give him a gameball, though, because of two mistakes that he made. He took a costly safety (although part of the problem on that play was using the shotgun formation from their own 1) and threw an inaccurate pass on 3rd down just prior to their final punt. However, he kept them in the game while making his first career start under very difficult circumstances (at the Metrodome vs. a very tough defense). I thought the most important thing that he did was help the Lions win the turnover battle. He had more TDs (1) than turnovers (0). This is something that Jon Kitna very rarely ever does.

I’d like to see Drew Stanton take over at QB soon. Until he’s ready, though, I’ll gladly take Orlovsky over Kitna. The Lions don’t have a ton of talent and therefore need to win ugly. To do this, they have to win the turnover battle. They are simply not good enough to overcome turnovers. For that reason alone (and quite frankly, many others that I won’t go into) Jon Kitna shouldn’t start another game for the Lions.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The pressure is on now for the Lions. With the Rams & Texans winning today, the Lions and Bengals are now the lone winless teams left in the NFL. For the first time since the preseason, though, I can actually be proud to be a Lions fan again (at least for a few days, anyway). Their effort and performance was outstanding today. If they play like that next week, they might be celebrating their 1st victory of the season. Here’s to hoping.

Greg

GMart's Lions Blog 10-05-08

Wow, this team absolutely stinks out loud. Today’s game was pretty much unwatchable. The offense was so horrific that I didn’t really notice just how bad the defense was. (The defense, by the way, allowed 334 yards to Kyle Orton. Yes, that Kyle Orton) The negatives are too plentiful to point out. The only positives were that the run defense performed pretty well, Kevin Smith had a nice TD run, and Jon Kitna got benched. That’s pretty much it.

I’ve been watching the Lions a little over 20 years now, and I think this may be the worst team I’ve ever seen. Not only are they 0-4, but they have been blown out in all 4 games. The 2001 Marty Mornhinweg team that went 2-14 looked better than this. They were at least competitive and looked sharp on offense. This entire organization from the front office to the coaches to the players is an unmitigated disaster. Do they lack talent? Sure. There is no way they should be this bad, though. Not even close. However, they’re 4 games into the season and it’s already over. What can they do? I’m glad you asked. There are a lot of things they can do to not only improve right now, but to build for the future. Here’s a list of 5 things that I would do if I was running the team:

1. Get Calvin Johnson the friggin’ ball!

He is by far the most talented player on the team. To have him get only 2 catches today is the most insanely idiotic gameplan in the history of the NFL (only a slight exaggeration).

2. Demote Jon Kitna to 3rd string.

I’ll concede that Kitna hasn’t had much help this year, but he has been atrocious. His accuracy has disappeared, he’s a turnover machine, and his temper tantrums are getting old. Stanton needs to start ASAP. And if he’s not ready yet, start Orlovsky.

3. Play the draft picks!

This team is going nowhere. Why are the young guys not playing? Are they afraid they’ll actually be worse?!? If nothing else, the Lions should be developing their young players for the future. They’re simply doing a very poor job of this. Out of last year’s 3 2nd rounders (Stanton, Alexander, Alama-Francis), only Alexander was active today, and he hardly played. This year’s 2nd rounder, Jordon Dizon, along with 3rd rounder Andre Fluellen, were also inactive for today’s game. That’s just dumb. The following depth chart adjustments should be made:

Stanton for Kitna
Dizon for Lenon (then move Lenon to the outside to replace Lewis)
Cohen for Cody
Fluellen for Darby
Avril for DeVries
K. Smith for B. Kelly
Swap Cherilus and Backus (That way, Jeff Backus can suck on the right side instead of the left)

4. Don’t be so stubborn about the offensive & defensive schemes
' This means more 3 & 4 wide formations on offense and much more blitzing on defense. Try being aggressive for crying out loud!

5. Trade Roy Williams

If you can’t do it now, do it after the season. Get a 1st or 2nd round pick and happily move on. He might be the most overrated WR in the NFL outside of Chad Ocho Cinco.

Thanks for reading my long-winded rant. Next week, the Lions will travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings. If you play fantasy football, get all of your Vikings in your lineup. I would even consider starting Gus Frerotte, if you’re really thin at QB.

Greg