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
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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
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
Sunday, December 14, 2008
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
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
Sunday, December 7, 2008
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
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
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