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Today's Performance
John, I will be the first to admit to wanting the Lions to draft Aaron Curry, and no, I wasn't one of the gang that gave Matthew Stafford such a rude welcome to Detroit on draft day.
But I will also be the first one to ask if there is any doubt in the Detroit Lions organization, or within Metro Detroit who the undisputed leader of the Detroit Lions is now. Matthew Stafford cemented that title with a tough, gritty performance ala the Detroit Lions of old, taking this old timer back to the days of Bobby Layne, Wayne Walker, Alex Karras and so many more. It must have done the living Lions alumni present good to see the kind of team that is being built in Detroit.
The performance that all of the Lions put on today is definitely something that as Coach Scwartz might say, trending up.
The Lions showed mental toughness, too, coming back from a 24-3 deficit, but the question remains: do the Lions go searching for corner help in the 2010 draft, or do they look to improve their offensive or defensive lines first? Also, on the sugject of the Lions veterans honored today, is it suprising that Dick LeBeau, Alex Karras and Wayne Walkeer didn't make the cut? And do you think any or all might make the 2010 group?
When You're Not Real Good
Hello John. I just noticed that the league has fined Julian Peterson for striking Tavaris Jackson "in the head area", yet the league has not fined Ray Edwards for as the referee put it, "launching and striking the quarterback in the head."
What gives? I have heard that if you are not very good in the NFL, the referees will "help" you to remain not very good.
Seems as if, in the case of the Minnesota game, the league is helping the referees to "help" the Lions, in that regard.
Comments?
The Stafford Factor
Hi John. Hope everyone is doing better in their fight with the flu.
Just a couple of quick questions. I heard someone on the Lions defense )Julian Peterson??) say something to the effect that the Lions need to learn how, and I am generalizing here, to keep an opponent down and shove their face in the dirt when Detroit has a lead. A good comment if true. My high school coach used to tell us to "put your foot across their throat and make them squirm." In the Seattle game were Staffod's interceptions caused in part by his attempts to do just that....keep the Seahawks down by pouring on more points? The aggressiveness seemed that way to me, and if that is in fact what occurred, then I really can't blame the kid for anything but inaccuracy.
Also, noted the comparison to Peyton Manning in Pride of Detroit blog. Stafford's completion percentages are low at the start, but build as he plays more games, then drop off on his return from injury, and are now building again? Is it likely that some very good team is going to get suprised somewhere down the line this year by these Lions, especially if Stafford, Johnson and Smith can stay healthy?
Even though half of them weren't here last year, there's still this problem: They've never won together before. So, yeah, there's a definite mental hurdle there. And I think you saw it vs. St. Louis as well. As for Stafford's mistakes, I think they're equal parts impatience and inexperience, and I'm gonna wager the knee injury still is limiting him slightly in terms of his throws, too, though he denies that.
Upsetting a good team? Sure, I could see it. Green Bay, maybe? Even Minnesota this weekend? They generally play the Vikings close. But you're right, it'll take their offensive skill players being healthy and making some big plays, which they really haven't done yet for more than a quarter or so in a game this season.
Re: the Manning comparisons, Mike O'Hara broke it down on our site on Monday. A lot of similarities statistically.
Lions-Rams
Hello, John. Is it me, or is there a different part of the Lions' game that fails the team each week? This week, it was the receivers, who dropped a significant number of balls that should have been caught, and in fact if only half of the drops had been catches, the complexion of the game would have changed dramatically. To be sure, Mathew Stafford was not as sharp as he could have been, but I will cut the kid some slack, coming off several weeks with liitle or no practice and an injury to boot.
Tell me if I am seeing this right:
1. The recievers dropped the ball (literally) and played the major role in losing this game.
2. The defense actually showed up, and all phases were much better, even pass coverage (rmember it's relative).
3. The running game actually showed up as well, and that bodes well for both offensive line and running backs.
4. Special teams, as usual, had a hand in the loss, by allowing the fake field goal to be completed and also go for a TD. This in spite of the "hit heard round the world" by Zach Follet, who by the way was as good as his word.
The Lions do appear to be getting better; it is just a matter of getting all the parts playing smoothly and efficiently all at once. It's still in the shop, but I can see how good this GTO will be once its restoration is complete.
Yep. You're seeing it quite clearly. That's what bad teams do. Makes for a fun guessing game, I suppose: What will it be this week?
Lions at the bye
Good morning, John.
Going into the bye week after yesterday's stinker, would these be fair observations:
1. As good as Ernie Sims might be, DeAndre Levy is just that much better.
2. On further review, the Lions as a team are not the same without Stafford, and are in a different universe without Calvin Johnson.
3. The Lions didn't get a worse beating than a lot of other teams at the hands of the Saints.
4. As odd as it might be, the defense, especially the secondary, misses Sammie Hill and Jason Hunter more than expected.
5. Expect changes to the Special Teams play after the bye, either by changing perssonnel or staff.
Well, John, what do you think?
1. I agree.
2. We all agree.
3. Maybe so, but doesn't matter.
4. Gunther Cunningham has told me that in no uncertain teams the last two weeks -- and he's right. Hill surprised me with his play before he got hurt. Hunter plays with really good energy and physicality. Add White in there, too. He's solid vs. run and was playing pretty well heading into the season. Not saying those guys are Pro Bowlers or even starters for other teams, but it's a big blow to lose them for this team.
5. Personnel shuffling will continue. But the injuries also have hampered this team there. Staff changes won't happen until the offseason, if they happen.
Will James
Good Afternoon John,
That was a nice pick-6 for the Will James, but the balance of his game seemed not to justify any kudos from Coach Scwartz. It seemed as if he was getting beat like an old rug on close to every passing play, although the poor coverage on the long Steeler TD didn't seem to be totally his fault, since the safety looked way out of place. where does he go from here? We all have bad days, but for a 9 year veteran to have one like that...is it a consistency issue or was he just overmatched by the Steelers talent? The revolving door already got Henry, so is james next, or does the interception and prior performance keep him playing?
Also, any word on Sammie Hill? His presence along side Grady Jackson seemed to slow up opposing teams' running games a little bit. What the "Sam Hill" is going on and when do you think he might be back?
This and That
Good morning John.
I have to give a couple of opinions and get your response.
First, I noted when Jim Schwartz was hired that there was a significant amount of hype about how he was a precise person, almost describing him as a man not given to too much emotion in his ability to analyze and fix problems, and it worried me that there would not be enough fire and emotion to get the team revved up for a game. It seems my worries may be manifesting themselves at halftime. In three games, this team has come out flat and uninspired. It was nice to see Coach angered by the play of his team, and hopefully that translates into an on-field anger and increased level of performance by the Lions as a whole. WSeems from my limited experience and observations, I would want to be led into battle by Patton, not Marvin the Bean Counter. I am just wondering if Marvin, not Patton, showing up in the Lions' locker room at half time.
Also, the elevation of Zach Follett off the practice squad to me is a good move. This kid wants to play so bad it hurts, and he has demonstrated a knack for being around the ball on special teams. And what about John Standeford? Where is he? It seemed like he caught anything that was in his zip code during preseason.
And last, is Stan Kwan gone after the end of the season? I can't see the ST coaching getting any better this season unless Schwartz does it himself or Priefer agrees to come out of retirement.
Marvin, he's not, I can assure you. The reality is the last guy was far more passive than Schwartz is, and it's also worth noting that they're backing up their tough talk with benchings and roster cuts (Buchanon, Pearson, D. Williams, A. Brown, etc.) We asked Schwartz again today about the post-halftime problems. His answer: “There’s good news and bad news with that. The good news is that if you look at our first halves ... we’re a competitive football team, taking leads and having good game plans and doing those kind of things. The bad news when you look at it, is we haven’t been able to finish what we started. We haven’t been consistent over time. Eventually, things get us. The only thing is we’re not where we need to be as a football team yet. What we need is we need to push through those. It’s not good enough to play nine out of 10 good snaps, or six out of seven good snaps. We need to be more consistent. That’s just been my message, but there’s no extra vitamins at halftime or theme music at halftime or inspirational speeches that you can do at halftime. That stuff doesn’t exist.”
On whether he has noticed a drop off in intensity or focus after halftime: “I definitely don’t see a drop off in intensity. I don’t want to pin it on focus. It’s just been errors. Errors happen for a lot of different reasons. Nobody makes an error on purpose and if you know the reason for it you wouldn’t make it. There’s good teams that make adjustments. We make adjustments. It’s what it is.”
As for your other questions, I posted a story online about Follett's promotion today. Standeford had trouble with injuries and is limited since he doesn't have any special-teams value -- insert Derrick Williams punchline here, I suppose -- but I actually thought he was a disappointment as the preseason went on, dropping some balls as well. (You can go look up the stats, but I'm thinking of the Indy and Buffalo games in particular.)
On Kwan? We'll see. Schwartz has a history with Scott O'Brien with the Patriots, but not sure if he could be pried away from Belichick in the offseason. I don't think Kwan's the problem right now, though. I think it has more to do with some of the personnel they're missing -- Pearson, Spencer (on IR, but they were counting on him being a special-teams ace), Avril, et al.
Foote and Dizon
On the final timeout of the game, what was all the yapping between Dizon and Foote. Foote headed to the sideline with Dizon almost in his face about something. Finally, it looked like Foote had enough and got into Dizon's face.
Has anyone in the organization said what this was about? It looked like it could've come to blows at any minute.
Surely Dizon wasn't trying to tell Foote how to do his job?
I actually didn't ask what that was all about, but it appeared to be just a simple miscommunication. It looked like Foote was trying to get Dizon to drop off the line and they argued about it as they came to the sideline, then LB coach Matt Burke set them both straight and they went back out there, no harm done. And for what it's worth, I think Dizon was doing what he was supposed to be doing. I'll try to remember to ask about it tomorrow or Friday, though. Foote's a pretty animated guy, so sometimes it looks a little more intense than it is.
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