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
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