Pure Michigan Sports

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

The Lions once again succumbed to themselves, as they had missed opportunities, a costly turnover, and way too many penalties that cost them another game, losing 19-35 to the Dallas Cowboys.  The Lions and Michigan State Spartans have frequently struggled over the years in similar capacities.  Both teams have often found ways to lose games, consistently have issues with discipline, make their opponent look better than they are, almost always have a poor secondary and in general have been surrounded by a losing culture.  Over the course of the last 4 years the Spartans football team has slowly transformed their identity into a gritty team team that has found new ways to win games.  This season have gotten it together and maintained it for the bulk of their season.  In games against the Northwestern and Purdue where they had no business winning a game, they were able to piece together just enough plays to win those games.  The Spartans have found the right coach and have targeted the correct players to make their systems work.

Unfortunately the Lions latest regime is seemingly falling into the same pattern of their predecessors.  The Lions still don’t have the personnel and have struggled with injuries, but few players are making attempts to create their own luck and even fewer players seem to believe they are on the right track to winning.  Good teams usually only require one good play to turn their fate around, but like most bad teams, the Lions have perfected one bad play or call ruining their chances of winning.  Obviously this could be cruel season filled with growing pains and horrible injuries, but it could also be the beginning of the end for the Schwartz era.  The Lions losing culture is still very much alive, and the team seems to have no answer in sight.

Last season much of this team got a free pass as the Lions licked their wounds and attempted to recover from the first winless season in NFL history.  However this season the team was supposed to show signs of improvement, yet despite being in games they are still a dismal 2-7.  There is no doubt that the injury woes of quarterback Matthew Stafford have stalled this team, but that doesn’t keep the rest of the team(players and coaches) from being held accountable.  If nothing else the Lions have proved they can hang with their opponents and even run a very efficient two minute drill offense, but playing conservatively until the fourth quarter isn’t working.

Whenever a new regime of coaches and players roll into town they preach how they are going to change the team’s mind set and demand 110% from the entire organization.  Unfortunately most of this energy gets lost as the losses add up.  For the rest of the season it’s time fans, players, coaches, and ownership to start demanding more.  Every team in the league, dysfunctional supporter, coach and player are aware of the Lions flaws, yet come Sunday they are let off the hook for another loss simply because they are the Lions.  I think it’s fair to say the honeymoon is officially over for coach Schwartz and his staff and no player is safe on this roster.

It all starts with coach Jim Schwartz, who must improve his clock management, overall control of the team and motivate his team to play with more desperation.  The co-ordinators also have work to do as defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham needs to find a way to teach his team how to tackle and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has to become more aggressive and creative with his play calling.  It is essential that  all the players focus on not committing such stupid penalties and play as though their NFL careers depend on it.  Finally the fans must lay off the team’s potent kool-aid, only sipping after every solid play or game they win instead of their usual gulps.

This team is once again at a crossroad and if they cannot finish this season strong their is no reason to keep any of the players or coaches around.  Cleaning house with the coaches gutting the roster, and trading away an asset such as Calvin Johnson must be considered to finally rebuild this pathetic excuse of a franchise.

The Detroit Lions are predictable and unbelievable at the same time, not sure how that’s possible but they make it work.  Scratch possibility #2,120 off the list of possible ways left to  lose a football game as the toothless Lions managed to pull within a two point conversion of tying the game in the closing seconds only to see Shaun Hill make a terrible pass attempt to end the game.  After today’s loss the Lions now stand alone in the record books for most consecutive road losses in a row with 25, breaking their own record of 24.

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

There were many reasons for the Lions to lose this game, there inability to take advantage of league’s worst run defense, numerous dropped passes, too many missed tackles to count,  compiling 11 penalties for 60 yards, or allowing Fred Jackson to run rampant for 133 yards and a touchdown.  Despite their shortcomings they were still in this game.  Quarterback Shaun Hill did an admirable job once again, but he also proved he is simply not a franchise quarterback as he struggled to make big plays until the very end of the game.  It’s no secret the Lions lack depth and overall talent to compete with contenders, but when facing off against a team with less talent than they have they still come away looking like the inferior team.

This team has done a fine job of fooling their supporters into thinking they were finally ready to restore the roar as they continue to find ways to lose and take steps backwards.  Once again this is another game where the Lions walk away with more questions than answers, can they even beat the hapless Cowboys next week?  The tough times continue for the Lions with the end in sight.

*Here is the box score of today’s game.

It has been reported by Mlive’s Tom Kowalski that preliminary test indicate that Matthew Stafford has a Grade 3 separation of his right shoulder, which will likely end his season.  The Lions have not released their findings from the MRI Stafford took on Friday, and he plans to consult with renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews(last guy you ever want to hear your star player talking to) before making any decisions.  However it’s bad enough to hear that Stafford may be lost for the season, but it is even worse to speculate that despite his immense talent he may be too fragile (he must be Italian) to ever be the Lions franchise quarterback.

JULIAN H. GONZALEZ / Detroit Free Press

In just under two games Stafford had displayed noticeable improvement from his rookie season with improved accuracy and decision making skills.  The Lions also play with a swagger when Stafford is in the lineup, but if he can not stay healthy this progress is irrelevant.  Unfortunately  the main stat that will be use to describe his career thus far will be that he has played in 13games and has missed 11 games (and counting) due to injury.  Whether Stafford is lost for the season or not, it will be impossible for him to shake the title of being injury prone now.

In the past the Lions have struggled to accurately identify quality talent (simply not fair, Lions fans had to suffer through watching these terrible QBs for years) in the quarterback position, but that hasn’t/wasn’t the case with Stafford.  Although he has only 13 games on his resume he has displayed the talent and moxie to be a star QB in this league.  It would be nice to keep categorizing his injuries as freak accidents, but the end results are if he isn’t injury prone than he is very unlucky.  It will take an extra heavy dose of Lions kool-aid to get fans reinvested in this team now as Drew Stanton takes over at QB.  This was supposed to be a season the Lions would use to build their way out of the NFL’s cellar, but now they must try to simply survive the season.  The Lions have a long history with a tortured past, and instead of Stafford being the player to lead them out of their gloom, he currently appears to be another victim of their twisted fate.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is making quite the name for himself in Detroit, and is earning early attention for the NFL’s defensive Rookie of the Year.  Although the Lions only stand at 2-5 on the season the defensive line has put them in position to be in every game, and Suh has been a main contributor to this units success.   Suh has 27 tackles on the season, 6.5 sacks (7th in the league, 1st amongst rookies), has an interception, and returned this fumble for a touchdown on Sunday.  However despite his personal accolades when talking with the Detroit News’ Bob Wojnowski he quickly puts the focus on the collective job the defensive line has done:

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

“I think we’re an elite group (on the defensive line) that wants to continue to prove it,” Suh said. “I wouldn’t say it’s coming easy. I think I’m playing with a great group of guys, that’s what it is.”

As a unit Corey Williams, Cliff Avril, Sammie Hill, Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch have been great, but there is no denying how quickly Suh has caught up and even passed his teammates.  After drafting Suh with second overall pick most felt he was a can’t miss prospect, but it was unclear how he would measure up or if the Lions would ruin him.  Veteran Kyle Vanden Bosch strongly suggests to Wojnowski that Suh is on the fast track to greatness:

“I hate to use superlatives, but (Suh) is one of the best in the game,” Vanden Bosch said. “He continues to make big play after big play after big play. All the pre-draft talk was, top-five or top-10 defensive tackles are busts. He broke that label pretty quickly. There’s never been a moment that’s too big for him. When the game is on the line, it’s almost easy for him.”

High praise from his teammate, but well earned at the same time.  Suh still has 9 games left to continue to dominate offensive lineman and pile on impressive numbers, and hopefully a few more Lions victories onto his rookie campaign.  The early numbers have Suh as the current favorite for Rookie of the Year and the Lions young nucleus of Stafford, Johnson, and Suh appear to have the talent to finally lead the Lions amongst the league’s elite.

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford played for the first time since Week 1 and helped lead the Lions to their second victory of the season.  Despite being blacked out on TV in Metro Detroit, the Lions rewarded the fans who attended with quite a performance from their three stars.  Matthew Stafford threw four touchdowns, Calvin Johnson had a career high 3 touchdown receptions and rookie Ndamukong Suh contributed 2 more sacks and iced the game by taking a Rex Grossman fumbled 17 yards for the score.  Throughout the game the Lions and Redskins continuously exchanged scores, with neither team appearing interested in taking over the game.

Although Stafford was noticeably rusty in the first half, the defense stood tall keeping the Lions in the game.  In the second half Stafford and the offense responded in a big way, compiling 30 points.  However no play was bigger than when Stafford converted a fourth and one by finding Calvin Johnson in the end zone for the go ahead score with 3 minutes and 12 seconds to play.  On the following drive the Lions forced the Redskins to turn over the ball on downs, and would add a Jason Hanson field goal to make the score 31-25.  The Redskins put their comeback hopes in the hands of Rex Grossman with under two minutes to play, but Kyle Vanden Bosch sacked him on first down forcing a fumble that Suh took in for the score, ball game.

This was the second straight victory for the Lions against the Redskins and could be the spring board they need to finishing their season strong.  There is nothing impressive about a 2-5 record, but the Lions have a favorable schedule that will allow the opportunity prove they are on the right track to finally being a competitive football team.  With Stafford, Johnson, and Suh in the fold there is potential for the Lions to make very big strides, making for exciting games that should include a few more wins along the way.  Stay tunes Lions fans, it may have taken 7 games, but the Lions season has finally started.