No, not pulling your chain
Crazy right?  Kenny J. Byrne of CHFF details our improvement over the past year, and it's pretty awesome to see the numbers line up with how we feel.  Byrne is one of my favorite football writers, simply because he backs up what he's talking about with hard evidence.  He's not always right--according to him, for example, teams should always draft for need--but he always logically supports his arguments. Could it be that the Kool Ade is spiked with some reality this year?  I know I drink it every offseason, but it seems like this time there's a little extra sauce in there, right?

What was surprising to me was that our OLine was 8th on his Offensive Hog index (which could be due could be due to the low number of sacks we gave up on the OL), and that our Defensive Hog Index was middle-of-the-pack (which could be due to our middling run defense).  Read the article, brethren, and let's reflect on the cold, hard, numbers.

I've been kicking this idea around for a long time.  Spring is the time when football players look at the themselves in the mirror, and say "Damn.  Time to get back into shape."  On the same note, as posters, we should be using this time to get into shape for the season as well.  Do you want to be the best SBNation fansite on the web?  Do you want to be champions?  Well, we don't need to have a strength and conditioning program to do that.  We need to work together to be the most educated, knowledgeable, and dedicated site, and we can't do any of that without having a strong grasp of the fundamentals--Marinelli be damned, it's still true.

For those of you who could use a little work on your grammar, don't take it personally.  Nobody's perfect, myself included.  It's not about you.  If you want to make your posts more effective and organize your thoughts better, with a little practice you'll have it in no time.  I'm not being arrogant.  I'm not looking down my nose at anybody.  I know nobody likes the guy who corrects grammar, or having their grammar corrected.  But when I see grammatical mistakes being made in posts, they lose credibility to me.  Instantly I see the grammatical error instead of the post itself.  If you just haven't looked this stuff up in a while and got sloppy, or if you're drunk/stoned, that's one thing.  But for those of you who do it on purpose to seem cool and edgy?  It's neither cool nor edgy to be ignorant.  And it never will be.

So let's "hit the weights" and go over the most common mistakes!

There vs. Their vs. They're

I. There denotes a location, an area in space/time other than here.  When using there in a sentence, ask yourself this question: "Is this a place in space-time that is not here?"  Examples:

A.  The receiver was right here.  Stafford threw the ball over there.  It hit Rex Ryan in the balls.  Correct.

B.  Carolina?  There terrible.  Incorrect.

C.  Man, Lambeau Field in January...I wouldn't want to play there.  Correct.

D.  Man, Chicago's turf sucks.  There grounds-keeper must be a drunken Pollack.  Incorrect.

E.  If you correct my grammar one more time, there will be a problem.  Correct.

II. Their or theirs are possessive, in the same family as his, hers, yours, its, and ours.  You use it to show a group has ownership of something, but it's also acceptable to use when it isn't as desirable to use his or hers in a sentence, usually in the case of speaking generalities.  For example:

A.  A person must take responsibility for their actions.  Correct.  (You could use his or her, but I don't like it as much.  Personal preference.)

B.  The receiver was right here.  Stafford threw the ball over their.  Incorrect.

C.  "Is this football yours?"  "No," he said, pointing to a group of people.  "It's theirs." or "No, it's their football."  Correct.

D.  I hate the Vikings.  Their the most annoying team ever.  Incorrect.

III.  They're is a contraction.  It's equivalent to "they are," so only use it when "they are" doing something--with a verb, or "they are" being described as something--with an adjective.  Easy enough?

A.  I hate the Bears.  They're stupid.  Yes.  That's using it with an adjective.

B.  NFL Network hired Matt Millen as one of they're commentators?  DOUBLE NOOOOO!!!

C.  I've got faith in the Lions.  They're going to have a good season.  Correct.  That's using it with a verb.

D.  "Is this football yours?"  "No," he said, pointing to a group of people.  "It's they're football."  Incorrect. 

Our vs. Are

Are is a verb, as in "to be," "he is," "they are." 

Our is the possessive of we.  

A.  We love our team.  Correct.

B  We love are Lions.  Incorrect.

C.  We are going to have a top ten defense this year and win our division.  Correct (also wishful thinking).

Know vs. No

No is used when you don't mean Yes.  Know is when you're aware of something, have knowledge of it, or have it committed to memory.  Do you know what I mean?  No, I don't know what you mean.  Do you know where I could get some good weed?  No, I quit smoking, but plenty of people on this site could help you out with that.

It's vs. Its

It's is a contraction of "it is."  So when you use it's, only use it when "it is" makes sense.

Its is the possessive of it, no apostrophe required.  

A.  It's going to rain on game day.  Hope we get our running game on track.  Correct.

B.  This scoreboard is busted.  Its circuitry blew up after the Lions ran up the score.  Correct.

C.  The Lions have a Monday night game?  Its time to check the temperature in Hell.  Incorrect.

D.  The link for the online game-cast is down?  What's it's problem?  Incorrect.

Tell you what, that's enough for today.  I want to reiterate that I don't mean to ruffle any feathers.  If it doesn't apply, let it fly.  If it does, it just takes a couple of easy fixes.  Anyone who is a fellow grammar stickler, feel free to mention any pet peeves that I neglected.

P.S.: There are books that put this much better than I can, and you really only need to buy one: The Elements of Style, by E.B. White and William Strunk.  It's the Bible of grammar.  However, the most digestible book on grammar I know is Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss.  You can find both of them in used condition for $.01.

I know it's late, but this aught to whet your Lions appetite for Saturday until kickoff, and give you a better idea of what your defense is playing like going into the Philly game.  By popular demand, we'll lead off with this:

4th quarter, 9:45, 3rd/4th and Goal from the Lions 1/2 yard line:  An unfortunately underpublicized Goal Line Stand

I couldn't find any film of 1st or 2nd down, but if I recall correctly, on 1st down we stuffed a run up the middle, and on 2nd down the Bears threw a play action pass that we covered like glue and the ball sailed out the back of the end zone.  Find 1:35 on the tracker and keep your mouse there.  This happens fast, so you're going to want to watch in over a few times, and to get the most out of this post, keep this window open with the video next to it so you'll be able to see what's going on while referencing the text.

Any time somebody gets stuffed 4 plays in a row from inside the one, it's because the Dline outmuscles the Oline in a strength contest. You'll notice that for the most part we push them backwards or force a stalemate on each play, and nobody is really getting pushed into the end-zone.  This was a total team defensive effort, but on that 3rd down, we can especially thank Landon Johnson, Andre Fluellen, and...yes...Zack Follett for living to fight another down (BTW, it took me forever to see Flu (96) and Lando's (55) numbers from the angle, but I'm pretty sure it's them.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Focus on Lando, watching him through the entire play: He's the linebacker off the line of scrimmage closest to the bottom of your screen, playing over D-gap.  At the snap, he shoots through the C-gap and lunges for Forte, forcing him to cut to A and B-gap.  Johnson doesn't make the tackle, but it was imperative that he took away the outside cut, forcing Forte to run right into Flu.  Now you're going to have to focus on Flu, who is the 3rd guy off the line of scrimmage from the bottom of your screen, lined up in C-gap.  At the snap, he rips inside the tackle and pushes him backwards, to the point where Flu ends up about where Cutler's feet were pre-snap.  Flu clogs the lane and Forte trips over his helmet, where he tries to fall forward into the end-zone, only to be stopped cold by Follett.  Watch Follett now, who is playing Mike linebacker above Lando on your screen.  He reads it all the way, and just when Forte thinks he can leap forward to score a TD, BAM!  See how Follett cleans him up?  Great team defense, we just stopped them three plays in a row on the half-yard line, and that D is fired up, how about you?  Bears say, "What??"  Gun says "Say 'What' again!  I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more goddman time!" (Sam Jackson quote for those of you who missed it).  Bears go for it, now it's...

4th down.  Same link, hover your mouse at 1:45.  You know what happened.  Again, this was great team defense, but we again have three that we can especially thank: Suh, KVB, and Ekejiuba (who I will call Eke for the rest of the paragraph because that's too difficult to type).  First of all, take a look at Suh, who's the 3rd guy off the line of scrimmage from the top of your screen, in B-gap.  At the snap, he just bullrushes the foolish, puny human who was trying to single-block him, and pancakes him right into Forte.  See how that tackle jolts when Forte hits the hole?  Suh didn't get the tackle, but he basically assist-tackled Forte with his own player.  He ends up on top of the guy in a mount position for christ sake.  That's dominance, ya'll.  Eke, who is the stand-up rusher on the edge (D-gap) at the top of your screen, played a big part in closing that hole as well.  At the snap, the TE tries to block him, and Eke simply doesn't let him.  That TE, Kellen Davis, is listed at 6'7" 262 lbs vs. Eke, listed at 6'4" 240.  He's giving up 20 lbs and three inches, but see how he pushes him back off the line of scrimmage, then meets Forte in the hole?  That's what Goal Line Stand are made of (I can't help but capitalize it).  It could also be that Kellen Davis is a former Spartan so he blocks like a fairy, Go Blue.  Lastly and probably the most impressive, is KVB, #93 as you know, who is lined up in D-gap towards the bottom of your screen, 2nd guy up on the line of scrimmage.  At the snap, he runs across half the field to catch Forte from behind, right as he was hitting the hole, Suh's bitchmade O-lineman, and Eke.  Unreal.  Where he was lined up, he didn't have any business being in on that tackle, and yet, there he is.  You can start to see what Gun was talking about a little bit more now, can't you?

You know what's awesome about that Goal Line Stand?  Just about everything, except for the fact that had the right call been made at the end of the game, this would be getting a lot more attention.  Think about it.  All the ink has been given to bullshit "process" clauses, when it should've been used to highlight a 4-down stand inside the 1-yard line.  Doesn't happen too often, so let's enjoy it for a moment, even if we did lose* the game, asterisk intended.

Well, the party had to end some time, so now we're getting to the plays where they blew it.  Use the same clip, and go to 00:20...

2nd quarter, 1:18, Bears 1st & 20 at their 11-yard line, and OH YEA!  Lions up 14-3going into the half!... Forte 89-yard score.  Shit starts raining.  Oh fuck, not again.

If Forte doesn't score here, do we win the game?  Does Stafford get hurt?  Does the "Megatron gets Megafucked" catch ever happen?  Are hypothetical situations only exercises in torture?  If a frog had wings, would they bump him in the ass when he hopped around?

Pre-snap, we're in a Nickle (4 DL, 2 LB, 5 DB) Prevent defense, where everyone backpedals into a deep zone coverage, and the Bears are in Quads (4 WR, 1 RB), though they probably call it something different.  All four WRs run lazy routes up the field, which usually tells you something: they're not trying to get the ball.  They were just clearing the area for the screen.  Focus on Olin Kreutz, the center for the Bears.  This is a screen with one O-lineman going out to block the LB we had on his side, in this case Julian Peterson.  Peterson seemed to turn to take on Kreutz with his inside shoulder in an attempt to force Forte inside, but he was too far out for it to matter, and Forte is running straight up the field.  Who do we blame for this lane?  Well, look at Chris Houston, playing corner at the top of your screen.  He backpedals off camera with the WR running the route...now keep your eyes open and look for him around where the chains are marking the line of scrimmage before the penalty.  You're going to see Houston come from what looks close to out of bounds, with that WR coming on to your screen a moment later.  He didn't just get blocked, he got taken out of the play, which, along with the Kreutz block, left the sideline totally open.  I can't accurately comment on anybody else because of the camera, but it appears as if everyone in the secondary took shit angles or allowed themselves to be blocked, including our safeties.  Oh, Suh was the first one on the D-line to recognize it was a screen, but by the time he did it didn't matter; he couldn't catch up with the play.  So, for those of you who thought Houston did a good job "almost" catching Forte to save the TD, it was only because he went from Pre-snap: 20 yards up the field from Forte, to Post-being-blocked: 10 yards behind Forte trying to catch up.  Wade and Lando were the others closest to stopping him, but they came all the way from the other side of the field and never really had a chance.  Fast forward to...

4th quarter, 1:40, Bears 2nd &18 at the Lions 28-yard line.  Cutler to Forte, 28 yard TD.  Guess a one-point lead wasn't enough, after all.

Same clip, keep your cursor over 2:18.  We're again in a Nickel, they're again in a 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB set.  Lions are playing a man coverage and pressing them at the line of scrimmage, with one safety deep.  In short, Man Cover 1.  This is the first time we've seen man coverage in the film room so far, and it happened to burn us.  First of all, look at the linebacker, JP, lined up across from Forte.  I think he was expecting a flare route, because he takes an angle almost flat to the line of scrimmage.  It was a wheel route though, and that's a bitch of a cover (my least favorite route to cover man-up as a linebacker back in the day).  Now he's matched up going down the field with a RB who's faster than him, and also a step or two behind from the damn wheel route.  Those couple steps were all that Forte needed to make an acrobatic catch that a RB had no business making.  Let's look at Cutler now.  Bears sent out 5 receivers, including Forte, so that left their 5 O-linemen matched up with our 4 D-linemen.  We got this, right?  Cutler doesn't take a 5, or a 7 step drop....He takes a 12 step drop!  That bought him the distance from our line, which = time, that he needed to throw it off his back foot as KVB was about to crush him.  I don't know if it a lucky throw or a great one.  My bitterness says it was lucky, my respect for the skill of NFL players says great... but it was probably a combination of both.  I do know for a fact that I wanted to fill a tube-sock full of nickels and slap him across the face with it when I saw that smug look on his face after the TD was scored, and I always will.

So, POD, my questions to you are this:  What did we learn about our defense this week, and did my film studies help clarify anything?  What can we apply here to the Philly game?  Thanks for your attention.

It's Tuesday, and although I'm still pretty pissed off about The Loss That Shouldn't Be, I'm going to stop crying and do something to take my mind off the last 30 seconds of the game by focusing on the big plays our defense made-or didn't make-through the course of the other 59:30.  Without an end-zone camera view, it's difficult to get exactly who is doing what, but I'll still try to get the nuts and bolts of the coverages and plays by identifying players by their position most of the time and name when possible.  That being said, let's fire up the projector.  

1st Quarter, 5:48, Bears 3rd & 20 from the Bears' 44 yard-line.  Lions get their first interception of the season on an ill-advised Cutler ball.  

Pre-snap, Bears come out in a 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB formation, with the TE off the line of scrimmage, 2 WRs split left, and Forte lined up behind the Cutler.  Lions are in their nickel defense,  with Arron Berry playing the nickel.  At the snap, it's apparent the Lions are in a deep zone coverage, with all back seven backpedaling and keeping their eyes on Cutler.  We rushed the 4 DL, and the Bears kept in both the TE and the RB for protection.  This is due both to respect for the Lions pass rush and that the last thing you want to do on a 3rd and 20 in your own territory is give up a sack-fumble (a fumble-sack?  A sumble?  A fack?  Take your pick).  It works, as you'll notice with their 7 blocking our 4, we don't get much pressure.  

With three eligible receivers left, two WRs run Go/9/Fade routes the other runs an out.  The underneath route is open; this coverage says "Throw the slant.  Throw the curl.  Throw the out.  You can have it.  But you're not going to beat us deep."  Julian Peterson does a great job of getting depth, keeping his eyes on the ball, and using his freakishly long reach to swat the ball out of the air.  Cutler does the second-to-last thing you want to do in this situation, throwing right into the teeth of the zone and evoking memories of Rex Grossman for Chicagoans everywhere (http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2006/11/f-k-it-im-throwing-it-downfield.html).  After that it's briefly a turf-basketball game, with CC Brown making a great, heads-up play to bat the ball to Berry coming up from his nickel position.  Watch the play again, this time focusing only on Berry (of the five Lions across the 50 yard line, he's second from the top).  He gets his depth, follows the ball to mid-field, even slows down to a trot as he watches his teammates get their hand on the ball, and at this point JP and CC give him a gift-wrapped 1st career interception.  In other words, shitty play by Cutler, good play by JP and CC, and Berry wasn't so much playing well as he was in the right place at the right time-but Hell, in the past, a Lionly DB thing to do would be to drop it.  Give him credit for that, and our first pick of the season.  Moving on...

2nd quarter, 13:53, Bears 1st and 10 from the Lions' 12 yard line.  Chris Houston nuts up and forces an Olsen red-zone fumble.

Bears are in their 3 WR, 1 TE (Olsen), 1 RB set (notice a trend?), Lions again in their nickel.  It was hard to tell what coverage the Lions were running because of the angle, but it looks like a Cover-2 Zone.  Bears run a TE screen, with Olsen staying in to block, then peeling off for the reception in the flats.  This play works well against man coverage when the WRs clear out the corners and hopefully any LB assigned to man up on the TE is blitzing or getting faked out on the block.  

Being in a zone, nobody was fooled, with Houston coming up and employing some interesting technique to force the ball out.  I say interesting because when coaches teach players how to tackle, they say to keep your eyes up, put a face-mask on the ball, wrap up, and drive the legs.  Watch the whole play through again, this time focusing solely on Houston at the top of your screen.  You want to know why DBs get hurt so often?    Houston comes up from his zone at the goal-line for the tackle and simply squats, lowers his noggin like a ram, and falls to the ground while throwing his back shoulder into Olsen, leading with the side/back of his head.  Although he couldn't see what he was aiming for, that noggin happened to land square on the ball.  After that, JP was in position to recover it, and it's Lions' ball now.  Houston is going to break his neck someday, but in the meantime, hats off to him for his reckless abandon and willingness to sacrifice his body for a stop in the red zone.  When I say he nutted up, I meant it. 

Wow, this is time consuming.  If you'd like me to, I'll go through the rest of the game tomorrow, but that's all for tonight, folks.

Well, first of all, the Moustache brought up that Hunter became expendable due to Willie Young playing so well, and that cutting Hunter gave him a better chance of being picked up by another team before the start of the regular season. If that's the case--though I take it with a grain of salt--it was a courteous move, and I give our management credit for it.  But I was thinking about this situation earlier today, and I was reminded of someone else:

Kalimba Edwards.  

Yes, him.  He who never lived up to his potential, and was only kept around because Millen refused to admit his mistake.  It was clear Edwards wasn't going to get it, but that tantalizing idea of "potential" kept floating around, and he stuck around playing wonderfully average for some time.  This is how I relate it to Hunter: Jason is a veteran, a "street fighter" type player who scraps and claws every play.  He isn't and will never be a feature guy on any team, and he's all right for depth, but I'd eat a bowl of mayonnaise if he hadn't reached his ceiling at this point.  Instead of keeping him around hoping he turns into the above average starter he'll never be, they cut him for the kid who looks like he could be a very good player in the near future.  In other words, I think Millen would've kept Hunter.  Mayhew didn't, possibly from watching Millen's Kalimba Edwards mistake and learning from it.

With Willie Young, the coaches seem almost certain that he'd be snatched up if he was placed on the practice squad, but he's not ready for regular action yet either.  Once he takes some time to develop though, guys of his size that are that athletic are hard to find, and he could be a beast.  Trading future high ceiling for established mediocre ceiling?  Hell, I'll take that any day.  Also, although I haven't watched the game more than once, isn't it that Young simply played better than Hunter anyway?  Small sample size, I know, but it's something.

One last thing:  Are you wondering why we didn't trade Hunter to at least get something for him instead of just releasing him?  I did too.  But think of how other teams might look at it:  A decent backup gets passed on the depth chart by a 7th round pick, and he might not even make the team.  Why would you trade for something that'll be freely available in a couple weeks?

Anyway, to all ya'll who were scratching their heads about the whole ordeal (as I was), I hope my perspective helped.  Cheers!

A Lions fan, a Chiefs fan, and a Bears fan are walking down the street when they come upon a woman laying on the sidewalk.  She's stark naked and on her back with her eyes closed, completely passed out.  The guys quickly call the cops, and stand by the woman to guard her while they wait for them to arrive.  Well, while they're waiting, the Lions fan decides to take initiative.  He takes his Lions hat off, and places it over one of her breasts to cover her up.  The Chiefs fan follows his lead, taking his Chiefs hat off and placing it on her other breast.  Reluctantly, after one last gander, the Bears fan places his Bears hat between her legs.  A short time later a policeman arrives, and he thanks the men for their gentlemanly and moral behavior.  He calls for an ambulance, and takes a glance towards the woman.  He stares at her with a long gaze of disbelief, even leaning over her to look at her crotch, then shakes his head.  He still can't shake his disbelief though, and leans over her again, this time lifting the hat between her legs to examine the woman's vagina, then replacing the hat and shaking his head once more.  "Hey, what the hell?!" the Lions fan says.  "What do you think you're doing?!"  The cop throws his hands up,  "hey, I'm sorry, it's not what it looks like," he says.  "It's just that I've never seen anything but an asshole under a Bears hat."

Ah, June.  The black hole of the NFL year.  When the only "breaking news" available are the pointless, asinine things that you can't help but feel somewhat ashamed to be reading.  Almost all the stories can be summed up in the following categories:

"Players Practice"

"Rookie is Adjusting to NFL"

"Player Studies/is Learning Playbook"

"Boy, It Sure is Hot/Rainy/Temperate Today at Practice"

"Free Agent is Fitting In Nicely"

"Big Things Expected This Year"

Enough.  I've decided to stop reading about nothing so much and try to get my NFL fix a different way (until training camp and the preseason).

Enter Hulu, with hours of NFL related entertainment available, and only Rogaine commercials to break it up.  Here is the main NFL page, --- NFL Network on Hulu ---where you'll find "America's Game," "Sounds of the Game," "In Their Own Words," game highlights, and all sorts of other cool things.  Hell, there's even a Detroit Lions page   --- Lions on Hulu --- to relive some of our history, even if it is somewhat painful at times (Millen/Harrington era, etc.). 

So enjoy, I'll check back with ya'll in a month or so.  Enjoy the dog days of summer, and Go Lions.

First of all, read this:

Another reminder of how bad our pass defense is.

Oh good, you're back. 

Sorry, I know that was depressing. 

I think it's fair to say we've made enough moves on defense that we won't be dead last anymore.  Hell, we might even move closer to north of a 25th ranking than a 30th.  But if you want to talk about contending, we need to strive to be ...average.  in fact, that should be our rallying cry on defense, which could make for some great pre-game peptalks: 

"All right everyone, on three!  One, two, three: Average!"

"Fire up, D!  Let's be mediocre today!"

My point is that Otogwe fills a much greater need than that of our "hole" at weak-side linebacker.  The deep bomb kills us, and we won't be competitive until we can compete in our pass-happy division, AEB the Madden-on-Rookie-difficulty stats the Vikings and Pack have dropped on us. 

If you're about to post, "he's asking for too much money," keep in mind this is an uncapped year and Mr. Ford isn't in danger of going to the poor house.  Let's say he is brought in on a 4 year deal for 20 million, loaded up front for 7 million this year.  I'd be much more confident in how we'd fare this year with this dude on the team, and I think you would be too. 

Have I made my case?

This is a great summary of how every Lions fan feels:

http://www.thelionsinwinter.com/2010/04/rob-davies-winning-tliw-writing-contest.html

If you're a true Lions fans, that will pull on your heartstrings a bit.  Although the Lions' production on the field hasn't been something to be proud about for some time, we're still proud to be fans;  Ii takes a unique sense of loyalty, hope, and dedication to be a Lions fan, something that not very many fans across the world could do, and that is something to be proud of.  Go Lions, T-minus 16 days until another great draft!

Dante Wesley, a career backup and special teamer.  Here's the article:

Carolina CB Dante Wesley

So, I read the article and shrugged my shoulders.  "meh, another special teamer couldn't hurt."  But the name sounded familiar... where did I hear it before?  Saw him on SportsCenter or something...

After a google search, I remembered why he sounded familiar.  Watch the link below:

Dante Wesley ejected from game

This is the guy who almost killed a guy (he hit him in the throat) who was fair-catching a punt before the ball even got there, almost causing a riot between Carolina and Tampa.  He wouldn't even own up to it, then sucker-punched Aqib Talib in the post-hit donnybrook.  I remember watching that game and thinking that was just such a stupid, gutless, dangerous hit.  I understand Crossman is familiar with him from his Carolina days, but it appears as if we'd be better off without this kind of guy on the team.

I know we're all fixated on the Combine/Draft/Mock Draft phase of the season, but I just looked over a couple posts I made before the 09/10 season about comparing our predictions in the pre-season and the post-season for our offensive and defensive scoring rankings.  I'd like to rewind a little bit and play a little "hindsight is 20/20" game.  And frankly, I feel like if I see one more mock draft I'm going to puke'n'shit in a potted fern.  If you'll take a brief break with me, let's take a look at what we thought our last season was going to look like, and what happened once the dust settled.  Where did we think our scoring offense would end up?

Poll Where will the 09-10 Lions rank in scoring offense by the end of the season?

2% 1-5 3 votes

9% 6-10 10 votes

41% 11-15 43 votes

33% 16-20 35 votes

7% 21-25 8 votes

4% 25-32 5 votes

104 votes |

In actuality, when it was all said and done we were ranked 27th in the league, at 16.4 points a game.  Stafford got hurt, Calvin got hurt, Grew got hurt, KSmith got hurt, we had no starting left gaurd, and the running game was absent yet again.  Out of the people who posted, DrewsLions wins by default, if only for the reason he backed up his 11-15 vote with "barring significant injuries" (*gives the trophy*).  The good news is we were better than 5 other teams in the league, and...barring significant injury...we should reasonably expect a similar jump this coming year.  Granted, this is coming from the guy who said we'd have the 13th ranked scoring offense this past year....but before further comment, let's move on to scoring defense:

Poll What ranking do you predict our scoring defense to be by the end of the 09-10 season?

1% 1-5 1 votes

4% 6-10 3 votes

4% 11-15 3 votes

17% 16-20 11 votes

44% 21-25 28 votes

26% 26-32 17 votes

63 votes 

For the most part (aside from the smartass who said we'd be 1-5), we seemed to believe that a more blitz heavy defense and some FA additions would take us out of the cellar and into at least middle-to-bottom status.  We ended the season ranked an ugly dead last, by a wiiiiide margin, at 30.9 points a game given up.  To put that into perspective, we gave up 494 points on the year, and the runner-up, St. Louis, gave up 436.  Of the people who posted, the award goes to simscity, who aptly predicted we'd finish last yet again (*gives the trophy, albeit a trophy made with a depression and misery alloy*).  I thought we'd end up 21st (23.4 ppg as of 2009/10).

So where am I going with this?  We all make these prognostications, these gut hunches, that are often wrong (yes, I'm talking to all of you who thought, or still think, Gerald "Brady Quinn Can Bench More Than Me" McCoy is a better prospect than Suh).  To tie this into the draft/combine discussion, I think we all need to take a good hard look at that defensive ranking, and then decide if we should still pick offense with our 2nd round pick.  That's all for now.  If you're interested, check out the links to see what people said back in September (such as me saying I was "positive" that Calvin would catch 16+ TDs last year...sheeesh.)

http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2009/9/10/1024617/pre-season-poll-scoring-defense

http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2009/9/10/1024639/pre-season-poll-offensive-rankings

Same premise as the last post concerning scoring defense.  Where do you think the 09-10 Lions will finish in scoring offense rankings?  With both offense and defensive rankings, I think scoring is the only thing that really matters.  Yes, I know that defense and special teams can score too, but overall it's on the offense to put the points up, and who really cares if you can move the ball up and down the field but not put it in the end zone?  Personally, I think we'll be around middle-of-the-pack, let's say 13th in the NFL, which is reasonable considering the talent we have.  What do you think?

I'd like to get your thoughts.  Let's take a poll, and compare our predictions to where they actually end up at the end of the season, it'll be interesting to see who got right, wrong, or lucky answers.  I personally think we'll end up about 21st, which doesn't seem very strong, but would be a huge improvement.  Defense strikes me as something that's harder to establish than offense, as it's more of a team-wide personality than a scheme.  A Pro Bowl QB can put you in the top 10 in offense, but you can have a Pro Bowl MLB and still be a cellar dweller in defense.  We've changed around enough to almost be out of the bottom third, I think, but there's still a long way to go.

I can't believe it's only Tuesday.  I'm so sick of preseason games, offseason acquisitions, training camp reports, prognosticating pundits, and fantasy draft talk, I could puke FieldTurf onto my keyboard.  Kowalski reporting on who took a dump on the practice field may be fine to satisfy the football fix in June, but this is September, with six days left until the Lions kick off.  I couldn't care less about anything but watching game 1, and the fact I have to wait six days to do that has me wondering how i'm going to make it to Sunday without scratching myself apart like a crack addict.

What I'm thankful for, as I'm sure a lot of you are, is that we don't have to talk about who the starter is going to be anymore, because I was more sick of that than anything else mentioned above.  With no more pro vs. con debates on starting rookies, or Culpepper resurgence talks, we're only left with the starting QB of the 2009--and hopefully beyond--Lions:  Matt Stafford.  I'm on record as saying I didn't believe he was ready yet, that playing him after the bye week was the safe bet.  But whether you supported him as a starter before or not, when you heard he was, didn't you feel a lot more excitement at that announcement than if you heard Culpepper was?  And that he legitimately won the job instead of being handed the reins by default?  I know I felt something that can be described as the excitement of possibitlity, and fresh potential in what could be the start of our slow climb to respectability.  For the first time in a while I feel like the my typical Lions offseason hope isn't blind, and I'm not crossing my fingers that we won't F things up so much as encouraged that this season just might be different, and that even when we're losing, we'll still be on the right track to winning. 

Sure, we can't reasonably expect a lot of wins this year.  But at the moment, hoping for the best is trumping expecting the worst, and I hope ya'll are looking forward to the season as much as I am. 

Cheers fellas, now let's kick the damn ball off already.   

Especially after Stafford's performance in the Cleveland preseason game, the debate has intensified between the two camps arguing whether or not he should sit out the year or start from day one.

Some people say that sitting a year and playing sparingly is the best thing a rookie QB can do, as it acclimates them to life in the pros and allows them to witness what it takes to be a starter in the league.  That way there are no surprises in their sophomore year, and they're ready to step in and play.  Critics of this idea say it's stupid to have them waste time carrying a clipboard that could be better spent carrying a team, and that the only experience worth having at the end of the day is in-game experience.  Which side is correct?  The answer is neither, and both.

Peyton Manning started his first year, and though he took his lumps, he's quoted as saying the experience he gained was invaluable to developing into a good QB.  From that, you could conclude it's best to throw your star rookie QB into a starting role from the outset, and have him learn through trial by fire.

The other first ballot Hall of Famer from this decade, Tom Brady (Go Blue), famously rode the pine his first year behind former Pro-Bowler Drew Bledsoe, completing one pass out of three attempts for the entire season.  While he was inactive for most of the year, he gained about 25 lbs in muscle and got NFL ready.  It would be redundant to go into what he did from his second year on, but from that you could reach the equally logical conclusion that you should sit your rookie QB a year, and have him learn through observation.

Carson Palmer and Drew Brees both sat their first year.  Jay Cutler and Donovan McNabb started in five and six games respectively their rookie years.  Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco both played well starting from the get-go as rookies, and Ben Roethlisberger won a Super Bowl.

You can get historical here too.  Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, and John Elway all started their rookie years, and they all looked like hell.  Jim Kelly and Dan Marino started their rookie years and tore it up.  Len Dawson sat for FIVE years before his storied carreer in Kansas City.

Brett Favre and Dan Fouts sat, then hit the ground running their second year, as did Randall Cunningham, Kurt Warner, and NOT Steve Young. 

Steve Young is always used as the quintessential example of how good sitting on the bench can be for a rookie quarterback, but after doing some research, I need to take a moment to set the record straight.  Steve Young played his first two years in the league as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, throwing 3 TDs to 8 INTs for 935 yds as a rookie, with 1 TD and 233 yds rushing, and 8 TDs to 13 INTs for 2,282 yds in his sophomore year, with 5 TDs and 425 yds rushing.  After spending his time on the bench for four years with the 49ers, though he was ready to play long before that, he then started and played at a Pro-Bowl level.  Steve Young is really an example of why playing a rookie QB is better, while ironically enough, it was Joe Montana who rode the pine his rookie year.

So, which option is better?  There isn't a right or wrong answer, and it really depends on who your QB is.  It appears that if you're going to be a great QB, you're going to be great regardless of when you're put into the game.  What seems to stand out is rookie QBs tend to not play very well at all, and the guys that are able to are the exception to the rule.  I don't know whether the great QBs who sat their first year only to explode in their second would've had good or bad years had they played as rookies, because there's no way of knowing.  There's also no way of knowing if there've been QBs who would've/could've been great if only they were allowed to sit their first year instead of being thrown to the wolves on a bad team **cough-Joey-cough,** because there's no way of knowing that either.  You could say having the patience to sit your rookie QB doesn't seem to hurt, while hypothetically playing someone too early can hurt their career. 

I think the logical conclusion is this:  If you're absolutely going to be a great NFL quarterback, you can handle having a shitty rookie year, because you're a tough and rare sort of human being who's destined for greatness, whose confidence never wavers.  But some QBs really do need a year to sit, and some seem to do well sitting the first half of their rookie year, then playing in the second half when they're truly ready.  It all depends on the individual, and there's no gaurantee as to what category Stafford fits into.  All you can say with some degree of certainty is if Stafford starts the season, expect him to struggle.  If being a successful rookie QB was easy it would happen every year, not every 10 years, and usually only to Hall of Famers.  And if he plays like crap when he starts this year and is "ruined" as a QB, then he probably wasn't going to be a great one anyway.  In my opinion, I think he should sit until the bye week and start the rest of the games.  From what we've seen, he's physically ready and talented enough to make all the throws, but doesn't have the decision-making ability of a starter yet.  Let him sit, learn a little more, and come in and start when he's more prepared.  It's very likely the season will be a wash anyway by the time the bye week rolls around, so it would be a perfect opportunity to go through the growing pains of being an NFL QB.

Unless, of course, we're in the race for a playoff spot...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-eavMSBnk

Aside from a really good game on defense, the play where Turner ran free has stood out, especially with who the blame should go to.  It all depends on the scheme, but between Sims and Foote it was probably Foote that messed up.  A lot of things went wrong for the Lions on that play though, not just at the LB level.  The way we were lined up, there were five of them (including Turner) vs. four of us, and if the Falcons all handled their assignments, they were really going to break one.
Starting with the DL:  Sammie Lee Hill just took himself out of the play.  When the gaurd pulled on his inside shoulder, Hill filled the gap, which was where the T blocking down on him wanted him to be anyway.  Easy block, 1 down.  The DE, Jason Hunter, was lined up so far outside the TE that he was an easy block too, leaving C gap completely vacated. 2 down, on to the next level.
The LBs:  There was both a gaurd and a FB coming hard to iso the linebackers, and both Sims and Foote played force on that play in B gap, instead of one of them playing scrape over to C gap.  With the gaurd coming to block Sims, Sims went to meet him in the hole, but he did it with the wrong shoulder.  If he had used his inside shoulder, he might've had a chance to close the hole in C and force the play inside the rest of the defense.  Well, he probably got it at least half right.  Either way, 3 down.  The gaurd had his FB coming right behind him, so with Sims plugging up B gap with the gaurd, instead of playing scrape over to the C gap, Foote just runs into the hole to meet the FB and took himself out of the play.  4 down, and C gap is wideeeeeee the F open, leaving Turner to run free to the next level: 
Secondary:  There were no problems with the scheme here.  No line up problems, no blocks, nothing.  The only problems were Hicks and Pearson (well, the other problem is Turner being fast as fuck and already up to full speed, but no excuses).  Both safeties were running free and should've made the play, but they took horrible angles and looked like they were scared to put their heads down and tackle the dude.  Even with the failure of the front 7, they should've been able to clean the play up for a modest gain, let's say 15 or 20 yards.  They just looked like 3rd stringers, which is what they should be.  Say what you will about Schweigert's pass defense, but at least he'll take a hit.  Buchanon was flying to even get close to Turner, but with all that had gone wrong it was too late. 
That's the anatomy of a 40 yard TD run, but that would've gone for a 99 yard TD if it had enough field.


Watch the play from the end-zone view to see what I mean, because the TV view is useless:

http://www.atlantafalcons.com/media_library/Videos/NFL_Network/2009/08/NFL_Network_-_Michael_Turner_Touchdown_-_8-15-09.aspx

I've been hearing some talk of signing Chris McAllister to play safety, and even more so since Bullocks' knee flared up again.  He's an unsigned former Pro Bowler with name recognition, and has started in and won a Super Bowl, so he's definitely worth consideration. 
Keeping with "what have you done for me lately," let's look at his last two seasons
            GP GS Int
2008   6    5    3
2007   8    8    1
On the down side, we'd pick up a 32-yr-old corner, likely with his best football behind him, that hasn't played a full season in two years, coming off arthroscopic knee surgery and unable to work out yet.  And last I checked he was successful as a corner, not a safety.  Usually this is where people start the "what ifs...." 

"What if he rehabs his knee to full strength?  What if he's still got years ahead of him?  After all, Rod Woodson led the league in interceptions when he was 37."  Instead of going through the hypothetical, I'm going to stick to reality.

He's has great ball skills and instincts, with 3 picks in 6 games last year before getting shut down, good size to play safety (6'1'' 210 lbs.), and he'd be the second veteran on the defense that's won a Super Bowl as a starter, along with Larry Foote.  He's lost some speed, but safeties don't need to be lights-out fast to be adequate, and his ball-hawking skills would probably result in a few interceptions this year.  Also, he is a proven professional, something the Lions have had in short supply. 

As with any free agent signing, you have to ask yourself "is this a significant upgrade that doesn't cost too much?"
I'm sure Mayhew and Lewand have already taken McAllister into consideration, but with Bullocks' knee at it again, they're probably looking a little harder.  All things considered, it hinges both on McAllister's health and his asking price.  I'm not sure that replacing a young injury-prone safety with an old injury-prone corner is the best option, but with the depth at safety next to Delmas, it very well might be.