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