Bleacher Report - Articles by Dean Holden

Surgeon General Warning: Being a Detroit Lion May Be Hazardous to Health

Dean Holden — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:04:19 -0500

Next year, any players drafted by the Detroit Lions might do well to take out a hefty insurance policy.

The 14 players on the Lions’ injured reserve probably wish they had.

First-round pick Brandon Pettigrew is the latest to hit IR, and he represents only the latest in a sordid history of unfortunate injuries for the Lions.

Though the relationship between the two is arguable, an annual laundry list of injuries is as much a part of the Lions’ identity today as losing is, and this season has proven no different.

The injury list started early when veteran defensive end Jared DeVries went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon in training camp. From there, they started to compile injuries, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Daniel Bullocks was an early scratch, and he would later be joined by Marquand Manuel, Eric King, DeMarcus Faggins, Chris Roberson, Ko Simpson, and Jack Williams.

And that’s just the secondary.

Ultimately, many of the Lions’ most influential injuries have not been season-ending.

Matthew Stafford has missed time already this season, and may again if he continues to get his bell rung like he has.

Calvin Johnson has missed games, as has Sammie Hill, Cliff Avril, Ernie Sims, and Grady Jackson.

The defense is so depleted, the Lions are having to scour practice squads for talent everywhere and sign anybody who looks halfway capable. And more often than not, those players end up on IR as well.

And it’s not just this season, either. The Lions have a history of frustrating injuries to key players.

Last year, the reason the Lions had five quarterbacks on their roster is because none of them could stay healthy for more than about three games at a time.

The year before that, Calvin Johnson spent most of his rookie year hobbled with a back injury.

Though he turned out to be a bust, wideout Charles Rogers spent the majority of his first two professional seasons on IR after breaking his collarbone early in the season. In both seasons.

Roy Williams was limited in his rookie season with an ankle injury, before having a breakout season in 2006, then hitting IR late in the 2007 season.

A flurry of promising defensive draft picks from earlier this decade—Barrett Green, Boss Bailey, and Teddy Lehman among them—suffered injuries early in their careers. All showed great promise with their play before injury. None were able to regain that form upon their return.

Of course, in some circumstances, injuries to a rebuilding team are not the worst thing in the world. Injuries force a team to explore more of its roster and possibly find a starting-quality talent where there was once a third-stringer.

This is not so when it comes to young players. As Lions fans have seen far too many times, injuries to young players can derail an otherwise-promising career.

When they don’t derail a career, they certainly set them back. Rookies need as much developmental time as they can get, and time spent away from the field while rehabbing an injury is time they’re not getting any better.

So Brandon Pettigrew will join a slew of players spending the rest of the season in the doctor’s office, and his progression will have to wait until next season.

So 2010 draft picks and free agents beware. If the Detroit Lions come calling, then answer the call…but maybe wear some extra padding.

Matthew Stafford's Thanksgiving Shows the Folly of the "Statement Game"

Dean Holden — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:04:10 -0500

Matthew Stafford has arrived, and his legend has begun.

As of Monday, Nov. 23, that legend depicted Stafford as a child of the football gods, a immortal savior delivered unto the wretch of the Detroit Lions.

After setting an NFL rookie record with five touchdown passes, including a game-winner after a play in which he separated his non-throwing shoulder, the consensus was to declare him a wildly successful draft choice, destined for the Hall of Fame.

Then Thanksgiving came along, and the legend began a new chapter, as Stafford started the game injured after not practicing during the short week.

At the conclusion of that chapter, the legend reads quite differently.

Matthew Stafford is human.

More than that, he's a rookie, and any attempts to anoint him after one good game are fallacious at best.

Why? Because for rookies, the "statement game" doesn't exist.

Rookies don't need a statement game. It means nothing. What it means is that they have enough talent on a given day to perform well in the National Football League.

What that doesn't mean is that they have enough talent to perform consistently .

And consistency is ultimately the deciding factor when determining whether rookies are going to work out. A quick flash and fizzle of talent means far less in the NFL than a moderately good consistent player.

For example, Joey Harrington threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns in his fifth career NFL game. How did that one work out?

In the case of Stafford, a string of games with pedestrian-but-solid numbers would be far more exciting for his future than one great game followed by two mediocre games and an abysmal one.

Yes, Stafford had as many touchdown passes in four quarters as Andre Ware did in his four-season career, and that is certainly reason to get excited.

But a better reason to get excited is to find out Stafford is playing with consistency.

Consistency means he really has the stuff. If the great games and solid performances become the norm, rather than the exception, then we have ourselves an NFL quarterback, and likely a good one.

But don't be fooled, Stafford is still a rookie quarterback who has yet to determine whether he will reach his potential.

The Cleveland game shows only that the potential exists.

The Green Bay game shows us that he has not achieved it yet.

And future games will show us which direction he is heading, but not by themselves.

Because Stafford, as we have seen, has nothing to gain from a statement game.

When he puts up a statement season, we'll talk about building him a pedestal.

Detroit Lions Halftime Musings: How Will They Let Us Down This Week?

Dean Holden — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:25:19 -0500

Despite effectively being dominated, the Detroit Lions are hanging in there against the Minnesota Vikings.

But here comes the second half.

You know what's coming, but you don't know how.

It's never as easy as the Lions just getting blown away from start to finish. That would make it less disappointing.

The Lions' trademark has become losing games, but giving fans hope of a win first.

Even a game like this, where the Lions are double-digit underdogs, they've forced a couple of turnovers, gotten a fourth-down stop, and generally kept the game close.

The Lions could win this game.

They could, but they won't. They'll lose in heartbreaking fashion, and the only remaining question is how.

This is what it means to be a Lions fan. Every close game we think the Lions can win, we can only wonder what reason there will be for them to lose.

So now, as the Vikings and Lions have traded touchdowns, I will watch, helpless to my team's inevitable fate. They look like a decent team, one capable of winning this football game.

And that's why it hurts so much. The anticipation is killing me.

But not as much as the loss will.

Detroit Lions Running Out of Ways to Lose

Dean Holden — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:18:11 -0500

What else could possibly happen? Last Sunday, the Detroit Lions jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks, and still managed to lose by 12 points. And the beatings go on. The Lions have been shut out, lost late leads, fallen short in fourth-quarter comebacks, lost because of offense, defense, and special teams. And that’s just this season. The only good news this season is that the team hasn’t lost by two after an unforced safety. Yet. But the Lions are about to play Minnesota, so who knows? In all seriousness, though, the Lions losing seven out of eight games played this season is no big surprise. What is surprising is the ability of the Lions to find unique ways to lose those games. No two losses have been quite the same. Observe.

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Detroit Lions Flashback: The 10 Biggest Wins in Lions History

Dean Holden — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:42:07 -0500

Times are tough in Detroit sports right now. The Tigers choked out of a playoff berth, the Red Wings are starting slow, the Pistons have no defense, and the Lions are still the Lions after losing to the previously winless Rams. So it seems the only way we’re going to escape this vortex of mediocrity is to take a leisurely stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the biggest wins in Detroit Lions history. Since we’re talking about Lions wins, though… maybe it’ll be more of a scavenger hunt along memory lane. But still, pay attention. This might be the only time you see 10 Lions wins in a row.

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Detroit Lions-St. Louis Rams Matchup More About Losing Than One Win

Dean Holden — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:43:51 -0400

Well, this is awkward.

Barely a month after the Detroit Lions exorcised a 19-game losing streak, they now have the opportunity to give the St. Louis Rams their 18th.

What's more, that 18th straight loss would also send the Rams to 0-8 on the season, halfway to the mark the Lions put up in the Season Which Shall Not Be Named.

Now, by no means am I saying the Rams are going to go winless this season (they do play Tennessee in December), but the Lions can exorcise a little more of their recent history by keeping the Rams on that path.

Sure, what's done is done, and last season can never be erased.

But it can be printed over.

If the Rams exceed the Lions' losing streak and run it to 20, then at the very least, the Lions are not the most recent big-time losers.

And the Rams' next three games are against Detroit, New Orleans, and Arizona.

Which of those games do you think they have circled on their calendar?

Ultimately, this is a battle of futility. A win means very little to either team in the long run. It just means they're not losing.

But that's something. For these two teams, it's actually very significant.

It's not often that a team holding a record of futility plays against a team pushing for it. It isn't as if the Lions played the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs last year.

In effect, this game is like a round of hot potato. Neither team wants to own that losing streak, so for 60 minutes they're going to toss it back and forth.

At the final gun, either one team will retain its streak, or one will continue its streak.

Neither team wants it.

But this game will come down to one simple question.

Who wants it less?

Jason Hanson: A Hall of Fame Talent Stunted by a Career in Detroit

Dean Holden — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:49:44 -0400

Jason Hanson is a victim.

He was blessed with a golden leg and the raw talent and ability to break every professional kicking record on the books.

Then he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1992 and has been there ever since.

Now I love the Detroit Lions, and I always will, but I'm a football fan first, so even I recognize that Hanson's numbers are a shadow of what they would be with another team.

A placekicker isn't like any offensive position. He can't put the team on his back and put up numbers regardless of his team's performance. If the team can't get into field goal range, the kicker can't score, period. There's no such thing as an 80-yard field goal.

So Hanson sits at seventh all-time in scoring when he has the talent to be several spots up. Jason Elam, Matt Stover, and John Carney are all active kickers sitting above him on the all-time scoring list by at least 150 points.

Carney and Stover are both older than Hanson, and Elam is roughly the same age, but all have been with more prolific teams than the Lions.

Yet have they been better kickers than Hanson?

All have comparable career field goal percentages (within about one point of 82 percent, though Stover's is the third-highest of all time at 83.82), but Hanson has maintained and even refined his long-range ability, while the others have become primarily short-range specialists.

To illustrate, Hanson set an NFL record by going 8-for-8 from 50-plus yards in 2008. Elam, Carney, and Stover are a combined 8-for-15 from that range since 2005.

Now, it is difficult to say what goes into a Hall of Fame placekicker.

Only one, Jan Stenerud, has entered the Hall as a pure placekicker. Stenerud currently ranks 10th on the NFL's all-time scoring list and was admitted to the Hall with a career field goal percentage of just under 67 percent.

At the time of his induction, Stenerud was the second-leading scorer of all time behind George Blanda (who simultaneously played placekicker and quarterback).

If Hanson's production continues as it has recently to the end of his current contract, he will pass Blanda by over 100 points while having 15 percentage points of accuracy on Stenerud.

In addition, he is the highest-ranking player on the all-time scoring list to have only played for one team.

Which, of course, is part of the problem. Stenerud kicked three field goals in Super Bowl IV. Hanson has spent his entire career with a team that has only won one playoff game in the Super Bowl era.

Placekickers earn recognition by making clutch kicks in big games. But when the team is never in a position to win any game, much less a big one, a kicker cannot kick a game-winning field goal.

Regardless, Hanson's current contract with the Detroit Lions will end just before he turns 43, so it seems he intends to finish his career in Detroit.

If that is the case, it is unlikely he will see very many games to show what he can do with the game on the line, and though he may deserve the Hall, his credentials will likely suffer for it.

After all, nobody sees what a player should have achieved on paper. Either they didn't or they did.

Hanson, unfortunately, has as many game-winning kicks in playoff games as I do.

Sure, he holds two NFL records, is the only player still with the same team since the advent of free agency, is almost certainly the last No. 4 ever to play in a Lions uniform, and he could be as high as third on the all-time scoring list by the time he retires.

But will it be enough?

After all, he spent his entire career with the Lions.

Matthew Stafford's Knee: Drew Stanton's Last Chance at an NFL Career?

Dean Holden — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:20:31 -0400

Drew Stanton has caught the brunt of the Detroit Lions’ recent woes.

He was a second-round draft choice in 2007 to be to heir-apparent to Jon Kitna in a Mike Martz-led offensive system.

He was shut down his rookie year, both to nurse a minor knee injury (not unlike the one he suffered a few months ago in the preseason) and so Martz could tinker with his throwing motion.

Of course, Martz only lasted one season. Now, in three seasons, Stanton has seen three offensive coordinators, two head coaches, and four starting quarterbacks.

And none of those starting quarterbacks have been Stanton.

Stanton has systematically gotten a vote of “no confidence” from every coaching staff he has seen.

The Lions with Martz running the offense put him on injured reserve early in 2007, effectively giving him a red-shirt rookie season.

Jim Colletto was offensive coordinator during the quarterback carousel that was the disastrous 2008 season. Jon Kitna was shut down after three games, then second-stringer Dan Orlovsky went down with an injury a few weeks later.

Then, in perhaps the biggest snub job in Stanton’s young career, Colletto said he wouldn’t play Stanton because he didn’t want him to “embarrass himself.”

This, mere weeks after Orlovsky ran out the back of the end zone .

The answer, of course, was not to give the only healthy, available quarterback familiar with your offensive system a shot at playing.

After all, Colletto was the offensive line coach during a season where the Lions gave up 54 sacks. So he knows all about embarrassment.

The answer was Daunte Culpepper. After four days with the team, a previously-retired, overweight Culpepper went out with the play book taped to his arm.

Stanton came in during a goal-line situation and in the fourth quarter of Culpepper’s debut and “embarrassed himself” to the tune of 6-for-8 for 96 yards and a touchdown.

He was effectively ignored the rest of the season, and the next game he saw action was last week at Lambeau Field.

Current head coach Jim Schwartz gave Stanton another confidence boost when they drafted new franchise face Matthew Stafford and paid him more money than any rookie in history.

In other words, nobody is going to give Stanton a shot unless they’re completely out of options.

The only good thing for Stanton is that Schwartz hasn’t gone out to sign Jeff Garcia to ensure there’s no chance of Stanton playing against the Rams after the bye.

That being said, nobody knows how long Stafford will be out with his current injury. But Stanton has exactly that long to show that he has worth to an NFL team, be it the Lions or anyone else.

This is assuming, of course, that Stanton would get the start over Culpepper if Stafford can’t go. Because if he doesn’t, it’s time to take Schwartz’s “best players will play” mantra and beat him over the head with it.

Stanton’s contract with the Lions runs through 2010, so he will theoretically be on the roster through next year.

By contrast, Culpepper is in the final year of his contract, which should bring Stanton up to a permanent No. 2 on the depth chart next year (if the last couple of weeks haven’t already done that).

But if Stanton can’t show himself capable of something by the end of this season, who’s to say the Lions don’t sign someone else in the offseason and bump Stanton down to No. 3 again?

Stanton’s career thus far certainly sets that precedent.

Another precedent is that young quarterbacks who never even make the backup job on bad teams tend to disappear when their contract ends.

Once Stafford comes back from his injury, he’s going to be the guy until the end of the season, and any talk about Stanton will cease.

Effectively, he will disappear.

If you ask Stanton about Stafford’s knee, he’ll say he hopes it heals up as soon as possible so he can get back on the field.

But Drew Stanton is a smart man. He knows that the amount of time remaining on Stafford’s injury is the amount of time he has to make a statement.

In the next few weeks, Stanton will hope to show someone he’s good enough to play football for a living.

If he can’t, his next job will be magician, as he vanishes from the NFL.

Jim Schwartz's Coy Attitude on Injuries Creating a Motown Monster

Dean Holden — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:07:37 -0400

Does anybody know how bad Matthew Stafford's knee injury is?

Does anybody know when anybody on the Detroit Lions' injury list will be available to play?

Yes. The players, the training staff, and head coach Jim Schwartz.

But nobody else.

What started as a smart tactic of withholding all but the most essential injury information to cloud opponents' game-planning has become a behemoth of misinformation.

It seems that Schwartz's philosophy with injury is that everybody is either out for the season or day-to-day and a game-time decision.

Of course, that's a lie.

He knew Stafford and Calvin Johnson wouldn't be ready to go against the Packers. He knows what each player's injury is, the severity of it, and how long it will keep them out.

But you'll never hear him say, "It looks like Stafford's injury will keep him out for two or three weeks." At best, he'll rule a guy out of Sunday's game on Thursday or Friday.

That was fine for a while. Lions fans would watch whoever showed up to play, anyway. Anything that might improve the Lions' chance for a win was okay.

But now it has gotten out of hand.

To compensate for Schwartz's lack of information, we are now seeing a flood of misinformation.

Now there are reports about Stafford possibly needing knee surgery.

And rebuttals to said report.

And speculation about the future of Stafford's season.

And even confusion as to whether or not Stafford is practicing because of fake Twitter accounts.

If Stafford doesn't play against the Rams after the bye, things only figure to get worse.

Next we might see a photoshopped picture of Stafford's severed leg on the turf.

The sad thing is, fans are so in the dark about Stafford's injury, they might believe his leg has actually fallen off.

Keeping opponents off-balance by playing the injury report close to the vest is one thing. It's a good idea.

But this has gotten out of hand. Nobody knows whether Stafford is going to back on the field in a day or a year.

And is it worth it? Is Schwartz getting enough of a leg up on opposing coaches to justify throwing the entirety of the Lions fan base into purgatory about the players they pay to see play football?

It's not just Stafford. I can buy that Schwartz isn't sure about Stafford's knee just yet.

He had complications, so they're having Dr. James Andrews look at his MRI. I have my doubts as to whether we'll hear anything concrete about the results, but I'll believe he doesn't know much right now.

But Schwartz is playing every single injury like this. Ernie Sims. Calvin Johnson. Sammie Lee Hill. Dewayne White. Grady Jackson. Gosder Cherlius.

All of them, the same thing. To paraphrase everything Schwartz has ever said about an injury, "We're going to see if they can practice, and if they're good to go, they'll play. It'll be a game-time decision."

Right. A game-time decision that he has made by Thursday.

At 1-5 and coming off an embarrassing shutout loss, the Lions should have shaken any straggling asylum-dwellers of the notion that the Lions are playing for the playoffs this year.

So at the very least, maybe they can show the fans a dim glimmer of information regarding the guys on the injured list to slow this downward spiral of misinformation?

The attachment of Matthew Stafford's leg might depend on it.

Detroit Lions' Loss at Lambeau an Optimism-Shatterer

Dean Holden — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:36:57 -0400

There's no good news this week.

As Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said, "You'll have a hard time finding the silver lining in this one."

Wait, check that. The only good news is that the Lions didn't play the New England Patriots this week. Apparently shutouts come in much more humiliating packages.

Still, that's little consolation in a game where the Lions were shut out for the first time since 2001, and against an average defense.

For every positive you can think of, there's an accompanying negative.

The Lions managed five sacks and an interception on Aaron Rodgers...but he still went 29/37 for 358 yards and two touchdowns.

The Lions avoiding allowing any special teams touchdowns...except for the opening kickoff that was taken to the house and called back by a holding penalty.

The Lions were able to hold Ryan Grant under 100 yards rushing...but he still had more than the combined rushing total of the entire Lions team.

The Lions forced four fumbles...but only recovered two, and capitalized on zero.

See, there's no good thing you can point to in this game that doesn't have an ugly shadow cast over it. But that's the nature of a shutout.

I've made it my mission over the first five games to point out the good things.

Even in the losses, there have been strides taken. The offensive line stepped up, or Matthew Stafford made strides forward, or a certain player (Louis Delmas or DeAndre Levy, for instance) performed well.

None of that happened here. This was a shellacking at the hands of an above-average (but not great) football team that played a sloppy game.

What happens in two weeks will be a testament to Jim Schwartz's coaching ability.

In his postgame press conference, he himself said that he wished the Lions could have entered the bye week "with a good feeling."

Not likely.

The Lions continued losing streaks of 19 and 15 games at Lambeau Field (including playoffs) and on the road, respectively.

They failed to score any points, something that didn't even happen during last year's nightmare of a season.

Worse yet, Daunte Culpepper started the game as inadequate, and ended it injured, as a hamstring injury took him out in the third quarter.

Now, though injury is always bad, this might not be so bad. Stanton showed greater awareness, more mobility in the backfield, and a greater ability to read the defense in his quarter-and-a-half of play.

He threw two interceptions, but one was a good throw that was tipped off the receiver's hands. The other was an end zone interception, where Stanton tried to force the ball on third down during garbage time.

Schwartz has lots of coaching to do during the bye. This is, arguably, the only game the Lions have played all season with nothing positive to build on, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.

Now the Lions have two weeks to stew over their worst loss of the season, with a stretch of vulnerable teams (vs. St. Louis, at Seattle, vs. Cleveland in three of their next four) coming up.

It will be up to Schwartz to insure that the Lions come out with the will and drive to win those games, rather than allow this loss to get them in a funk.

Hopefully, his optimism is more resilient than mine.

Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers: Five Big Questions

Dean Holden — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:22:02 -0400

The last time the Detroit Lions won a game at Lambeau Field, Brett Favre was an Atlanta Falcon, Wayne Fontes was coaching, and Erik Kramer was starting for the Lions in place of the injured Rodney Peete.

That was 1991.

Since then, the Green Bay Packers have protected their home field 17 consecutive times against the visiting Lions, and will be heavily favored to run it to 18 this Sunday.

Green Bay started the Lions’ recently snapped 19-game losing streak in 2007, then was the team to send Detroit from 0-15 to the infamous 0-16 mark in Week 17 of 2008.

This is the first time the teams have played since then, which brings us to one of the five biggest questions this week.

1. Will There be (Bad) Blood?

As I mentioned earlier this week, the Lions feel a great deal of animosity towards the Packers to begin with.

They have even more of a problem with Lambeau Field.

Most of the Lions organization, as it stands now, has no history with either the Lions or the Packers.

Over half of the roster and coaching staff are different from the group that made history 10 months ago at Green Bay.

The rest are guys who are sick and tired of losing to the Packers, and guys whose most recent (or perhaps only) memory of Lambeau Field is…less than pleasant.

For those guys, does the motor run a little higher? With a new team, a new attitude, and a winning percentage of .200 already, does vengeance factor in for the Lions this week?

More importantly, would it matter if it did?

2. Who Wins the Line Battles?

The Packers have allowed a league-worst 20 sacks on Aaron Rodgers this season.

Despite getting a bye last week, the Pack has still allowed more sacks in four games than anyone else has in five. We’re talking five sacks a game, here.

The Lions have given up the third-most sacks with 17.

Rather than a quarterback slug-fest, we’re probably looking at a quarterback slugging-fest, right? Well, maybe not.

The Packers have a mediocre defense in just about every area; the Lions have a squad trying to claw its way up to mediocre after being one of the worst in league history last year.

Both defenses have struggled to get pressure on the quarterback thus far this season. The Packers have managed only five sacks this season, the Lions 10.

The Packers are struggling to adjust to Dom Capers’ 3-4 scheme, while the Lions have a blitz-happy coordinator in Gunther Cunningham who has been handcuffed by poor secondary play.

And it’s not just about pass protection.

Both teams have exhibited disappointing and inconsistent running games thus far this season, with each averaging right around 100 total yards rushing per game.

This is a matchup of weakness vs. weakness on both sides, and somebody, mark my words, is going to come out of it looking good.

Come Monday, we’ll be talking about a “resurgence” of one of these units.

But which one?

3. Can Aaron Rodgers Continue His Detroit Dominance?

Aaron Rodgers has played two games against the Detroit Lions thus far in his career.

To date, they’re two of the best games of his career.

Rodgers’ 2008 stat line against the Lions: 45/69, 636 yards, six touchdowns.

The Lions’ secondary is much different than it was when it faced Rodgers last season, though. It was rebuilt in the off-season, in much the same way you repair a car with spare junkyard parts.

And then it breaks down.

And then you find whatever’s hanging around to duct tape everything back together long enough to get to work and back.

That’s the Lions’ secondary this year. The entire group is effectively new, outside of veteran Kalvin Pearson.

And aside from solid-thus-far Anthony Henry, and reigning Defensive Rookie of the Month Louis Delmas, the entire group is either broken, e.g. Eric King, or disappointing, e.g. Philip Buchanon.

The Lions’ solution? This week, it’s a practice squad addition: DeAndre Wright.

In other words, if the Lions are going to slow down Rodgers, they’ll likely have to do it with pressure. A tall order when Cunningham is too afraid of the big play to bring consistent heat.

The question this week might instead be, “How dominant will Rodgers be?”

4. Who is Detroit’s QB? And Who Does He Throw To?

On the other sideline, the quarterback question is a little more precarious.

Is Matthew Stafford practicing? Will he play?

And perhaps more importantly, will Calvin Johnson be available?

I won’t say it doesn’t matter who plays quarterback. Though their skill sets are different, Culpepper and Stafford are playing at approximately the same level.

But Culpepper is gone after this season, and Stafford is making lots of money as the future of the franchise. Culpepper is on the downswing of his career, and Stafford will only get better.

But both guys need Johnson.

Culpepper made a valiant comeback attempt last week with only a rookie (Derrick Williams) and a couple of career No. 3 receivers (Dennis Northcutt and Bryant Johnson) to throw to.

But it fell short, and things could have been much different with the big 81 on the field.

At this point, the question of whether or not Johnson plays is more significant to the health of the passing game than the question of who plays quarterback.

So who will it be? Stafford to Johnson? Culpepper to Johnson? Or Culpepper to John Standeford?

5. Rhythm or Rest?

It’s the question in the second round of every postseason.

One team is hot after playing itself into the playoffs and winning its wild-card round matchup.

The other is a dominant team, well-rested after getting a week off. If that team wins, it’s because it has rested. If it loses, it’s because the team is rusty and out of rhythm.

This is like that, only in Week Six of the season, and between teams with winning percentages of .500 and .200.

The word out of Green Bay is that the Packers have taken the time off to work on protection issues.

Part of that is Rodgers himself giving the line a vote of confidence. No big surprise, since a quarterback can almost always be expected to not throw his own offensive line under the bus.

But the question remains: Will the Packers come out rested and refined, given a bye week to regroup and practice out the kinks?

Or will they be out of sorts, given two full weeks to think about losing to Brett Favre the Viking on Monday Night?

It bodes well for the Packers that the Lions are in no kind of rhythm, having lost two straight after their first win in nearly two years.

In fact, the Lions are in severe need of an off week themselves (and will get one next week), with a good percentage of the roster on the injured list, and no shortage of issues to address in practice.

That being said, the Lions performed much better against the Steelers last week than the Bears in Week Four, and actually seemed to perform better in the second half—a first for this season.

So will the Lions build on their performance? Or will the Packers come out rested and fine-tuned and run away with it? Or some combination of both?

Detroit Lions Look For Redemption in Return to Lambeau Field

Dean Holden — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:19:54 -0400

This Sunday, the Detroit Lions will suit up to play the Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

Lambeau Field is not a friend to the Lions. They haven't won a game there since 1991, chalking up 17 straight losses while surrounded by cheeseheads.

This year, though, there's something extra going on.

The Detroit Lions' final game of 2008 was an away game against the Packers. Do you remember what happened to the Detroit Lions in their final game of 2008?

They do.

A little more than half the Lions' roster has been turned over from last year, so this doesn't apply to them. But as for the holdovers?

Don't think for a moment they've forgotten the feeling they had in the freezing cold air at Lambeau Field as the final seconds ticked away on their last chance to save face.

It was a cold day for the Lions in more ways than one. That was the day 0-16 went from a rumor, a murmur in the media, an abstract number, to an inescapable reality.

Kevin Smith remembers that. Cliff Avril and Ernie Sims, too. Dominic Raiola definitely does.

Now, it's true that they had to lose to 15 other teams to get to that point, but Lambeau Field is where it culminated.

That's where that sickening feeling struck them in the pits of their stomach. That's where they could only stand there, speechless, knowing it would be another eight months or so before they could even attempt to remember what winning felt like.

With a 14-game road losing streak, a 17-game Lambeau losing streak, and memories of 2008 looming, the Lions returning to the place where the clock struck 16 could be like a death call.

Or it could be a new beginning.

Head Coach Jim Schwartz has done a fine job distancing this Lions team from last year. For starters, he's new. Most of the rest of the coaching staff is new. The offensive and defensive schemes are new. The starting quarterback is new. Half the roster is new.

Most importantly, the Lions have a number other than "zero" in the win column.

Though Schwartz will deny it, and any players who lost 16 games last year will deny it, the Lions have a great deal at stake this week.

And those players know it. This is their chance to really, truly put December 28, 2008 behind them.

A win, however unlikely, snaps both of those nasty double-digit losing streaks, and gives the team a win in the very place where they showed they couldn't last season.

And maybe they'll show that the new Lions really aren't the same as the old Lions.

Lions-Steelers: The Good, The Bad, and The Unusual

Dean Holden — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:25:29 -0400

Don’t worry; it’s not all bad.

After shouting random profanities to an inanimate object (my TV screen) for about 15 minutes following the final tick of a Pittsburgh Steelers victory at Ford Field, my mind started functioning in a less primal way.

That’s what I started thinking about something other than a new person to curse (George Yarno).

I started analyzing the game, and what I came up with was basically bipolar: “It wasn’t that bad. Wait...yes, it was. And what was up with that?”

Know what? It’s just easier if I break it all down for you. So see if you can make sense of my musings on the game any better than I can.

Good: Eight Points

A loss is a loss, and the score, after Sunday, doesn’t matter.

But this Sunday, eight points separated the lowly Detroit Lions from the defending champion Steelers. I’m not one to celebrate moral victories, mind you, but one thing the Lions proved today is they can play with anybody.

Talent gap be damned, the Lions are playing to the level of their competition every week.

Which brings me to my next point.

Bad: Lions Still Can’t Close

Know what the scary-yet-frustrating thing is about the Lions?

Every game they’ve played has been winnable. With the exception of the Saints in week one, the Lions have matched the teams they’ve played nearly punch-for-punch.

The Bears and Vikings pulled away in the second half, the Steelers got a last-minute stop deep in their own territory, and the Saints volleyed with the Lions after going up early.

But every game they’ve lost could have turned had a third-down conversion, a defensive stop, a turnover, a special-teams play, something gone differently.

They put themselves in a position to win every week, but they don’t have those big players making big plays in big moments. They are perhaps the most anti-clutch team in football.

And once they blow one clutch moment, they snowball their mistakes like a college team with rattled confidence.

Overcoming that alone will put up an additional 3-4 wins a year. Until they can, they’ll continue to lose close ones, and make close ones look ugly.

Unusual: The Announcers

I don’t know where Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts rank on CBS’s totem pole of game-calling duos, but it can’t be very high.

In my opinion, announcers are at their best when they become like somewhat informative background noise. I don’t really want to notice them; I want to notice the game, and have them chime in with an occasionally useful opinion.

These guys? I noticed them.

Fouts was still going on in the fourth quarter, as he had all game long, about a decision the Lions made to take a field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-inches on their opening possession.

The ball wasn’t even in the red zone, and the score was tied at zero. The field goal gave the Lions the lead, and were the first points the Steelers had given up in the first quarter all season.

Yet Fouts, with the score 28-13, was still talking about, “if the Lions had taken the offsides penalty, gotten the first down on fourth and short, and scored a touchdown…”

Then what, Dan? If the Lions scored a touchdown (BIG if), the score is 28-17, and you’ve turned a two-possession game into a two-possession game. Leave the coaching to the coaches, please.

Enberg did a decent job, but he had an abnormally high rate of getting tripped up on names.

A couple of times he called out the wrong receiver making a reception, and once he made reference to injured Steelers star safety, “Troy Polamu.” An innocent mistake, I thought… except he also put the emphasis on the wrong syllable, i.e. PO-la-mu.

He corrected himself shortly afterwards, but it made me notice.

And that was a bad thing.

Good: Derrick Williams

As I pointed out last week, this game against the Steelers was going to be a good opportunity to try some guys out who hadn’t seen much time thus far in the season.

One such guy was the third-round rookie out of Penn State, Derrick Williams. He single-handedly made the Lions’ special teams look competent (credit where due: coverage teams were improved, as well), and made a pair of clutch catches during the Lions’ final comeback attempt.

Both catches were just under 20 yards for first downs. One was along the sideline, where Williams made an absolutely veteran move of catching the ball and tapping his feet inbounds.

The Lions were down to only three receivers available late, and of Williams, Dennis Northcutt, and Bryant Johnson, Williams is the one who came up big when it mattered.

Of course, Williams’ emergence as a possible receiving threat is ignoring the elephant in the room…

Bad: Calvin Johnson

Batten down the hatches, the worst has happened.

Calvin Johnson came up lame on a play in the first half with an apparent knee injury, and was gimpy on the sideline the rest of the day.

Suddenly, the Lions’ best offensive weapon has nullified.

The bright side is that the Lions were able to mount a significant comeback attempt without him… but anytime the Lions play without Johnson, it’s not so bright.

If the injury is half as bad as it seems, Johnson won’t be ready until after the bye.

Unusual: Daunte Culpepper’s Decisions

This is more of an undecided.

On one hand, Culpepper is clearly in his best shape in years. When he rolled off a 32-yard run on third-and-11, my jaw dropped. I was trying to remember if I’d seen him move that fast, even in his prime.

Culpepper made mostly good decisions, and again, was only 20 yards and a two-point conversion from tying the game late, without the benefit of Calvin Johnson.

But just as I’m ready to jump on the bandwagon, he throws the ball, falling away, across his body, across the field, directly into the numbers of Steelers safety Ryan Clark.

That’s when I remember he’s also fumbled three times, been called for 16 yards' worth of intentional grounding, and overthrown a number of open receivers. He took a couple of shots downfield, but never actually had a man open when he did.

Then, upon reaching the Steelers’ 21-yard line, he takes three consecutive sacks. All of them featured poor protection and Culpepper looking completely lost.

After 10 years in the league, isn’t he supposed to know what to do against a blitz? Once in a while?

When it matters, perhaps?

Honorable Mentions

Good: Will James' Pick-Six

When's the last time you saw a Lion corner jump a route like that?

Bad: Fan Turnout

Way too many Terrible Towels in Ford Field Sunday afternoon. I'm glad they helped sell out the stadium, because that means I get to watch the game. But still.

How much you want to bet Ford sees this as an opportunity and starts marketing Lions home games to fans of opposing teams?

Unusual: The Officiating

An Eric King interception negated on a roughing the passer call...that involved a Lion defender getting blocked into the quarterback.

Ed Hochuli initially calling delay of game on the wrong team for kicking the ball out of bounds.

Then forgetting to mention the Lions wanted to decline an offsides penalty on a successful field goal.

Think Hochuli still has jitters from blowing the call in that Chargers game last year?

Detroit-Pittsburgh: First Team to Overcome Second Half Stumbles Wins

Dean Holden — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:50:15 -0400

The Detroit Lions and the Pittsburgh Steelers had very different fortunes last season.

The Lions reached a historic low. The Steelers, a historic high.

The Lions finished out their season 0-16, the first team ever to do so. The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl, making them the team with the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history.

If you didn’t already know that the league makes schedules on a rotating basis, you would think it was somebody’s cruel joke pitting these teams against one another.

And yet, a quarter of the way into the season, these teams seem more alike than different.

Both teams are built around running and defense, although Pittsburgh has a storied history of it, and it’s sort of a new idea (or the return of an old one) in Detroit.

Both teams enter this game with major players on the injured list, and several questions about their respective returns.

And most importantly, both teams have shown an inability to close out games in the second half.

In the last three games, the Steelers have allowed 58 second-half points. The Lions have allowed 61.

Both teams gave away a pair of winnable games in which they played well in the first half, and forgot to show up for the second.

They also both nearly gave away a victory that seemed to be in hand, before allowing a major comeback attempt that fell just short.

In Week Four, the Steelers led the San Diego Chargers by 28 points heading into the fourth quarter. After holding the Chargers’ offense down all game long, they allowed 28 points late, and barely escaped with a 38-28 victory.

In Week Three, the Lions, leading by 12 with just over five minutes to play, were unable to stop the Washington Redskins from scoring, getting the ball back, and driving to within 30 yards of a miracle comeback. The clock was the Lions’ only salvation.

So the question, then, is which team will take charge in the second half? Somebody has to win it.

Chances are, the Steelers, being the superior team, will be comfortable enough by the end of the first half to play a sloppy second half and still come out with a victory. That’s roughly how they played against San Diego, so why would they not get away with it against Detroit?

Not so fast.

The teams that have beat the Lions this year have a combined record of 11-1, and the Lions had moments in each game where they appeared to be on equal footing. They held a halftime lead on the Vikings, and a couple early leads on the Bears.

So is it really inconceivable that the Lions are able to hang around with the 2-2 Steelers for a half?

If they can, then we’re in for an entertaining show, as we find out which team steps up in the second half, when neither team has proven capable of doing so.

If it’s the Lions, then they’ll have one more thing in common with the World Champion Steelers: their record.

The Detroit Lions' Lengthy Injury Report Could Be a Good Thing

Dean Holden — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:05:20 -0400

The Detroit Lions' current injury report reads like a list of Lions impact starters.

Matthew Stafford, Gosder Cherlius, Kevin Smith, Calvin Johnson, Grady Jackson, Sammie Lee Hill, Ernie Sims, and a handful of others populate the team's injured list, with various levels of practice participation between them.

Some will play, some will not. We likely won't know which until Sunday.

This is the injured list heading into Sunday's game against the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

So why am I not concerned?

Simple.

The Lions are almost certainly going to lose this game anyway. Starters or no starters, it's going to be very difficult to overcome this Steelers team, even though they've struggled thus far in the season.

What this is, instead, is a sort of preseason game.

Yes, I know the game counts, and yes, I know the Lions would have a better chance of winning it with a fully healthy roster. But winning only really matters if you're trying to get into the playoffs.

And if you've watched the Lions for the first four weeks and you're still thinking playoffs, they make very special padded rooms for people like you.

I've said since before this season started that the 2009 season would be sort of an extended preseason for 2010, and it still rings true.

Sure, you want to win preseason games, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. All you really want is to evaluate your roster top to bottom, work on team chemistry, and identify areas of need for the future.

In other words, winning this game is not as important as getting a look at a few depth players.

Don't believe me?

Consider the case of one DeAndre Levy.

Buried on the depth chart for the first two games, Levy got the call to start after an injury to star linebacker Ernie Sims. Almost unanimously, Sims's injury was decried as a terrible blow to the Lions' defense.

But Levy responded to the call, notching 14 total tackles (including two straight on the goal line against Washington) and a forced fumble in the two games since Sims's injury.

Now, we know Levy is a pretty good football player, and we owe it all to Sims's injury.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about injuries to any of these players. And indeed, seeing rookies like Stafford and Hill go down is a blow, since those players need to develop (though if Stafford misses time, Drew Stanton getting some reps would make it easier to swallow).

But I can't be upset about getting to evaluate players with upside like Aaron Brown, Landon Cohen, and Zach Follett as a result of injuries to Smith, Jackson, and Sims.

We already know the starters are good, and we know more or less what they can do. They will help the Lions win when they return.

In the meantime, can Brown produce? Will Cohen's 50 reps translate to on-field impact? Can Follett unleash the hurt in the NFL like he did in college?

Answering these questions now, in regular season action, only serves to improve the Lions' outlook for the future.

If any one of these players proves capable of performing, even on a second-string level, then that's one less free agent signing needed. One less draft pick needed. One roster spot secured, at a time when the entire roster has been somewhat transient.

Personally, if I had to choose between the starters playing and coming out with a win against Pittsburgh, or losing and finding out one of the Lions' seventh-round picks can play at a starting level in the process, I'd rather fill the roster spot.

The Lions' management spent the entire offseason signing bargain players, hoping some might impress, given the chance. It's time to find out if they can.

Because the difference between the Lions and teams gunning for the playoffs is not wins and losses—it's players.

If the Lions beat the Steelers, would you think the Lions were a better all-around team?

Of course not. The Steelers have more guys who can play the game, whether they're do-it-all superstars or solid role players.

A good team has its fair share of both. The Lions lack both.

But maybe, after this Sunday, they'll be one or two steps closer.

Detroit Lions Beginning to Show Some Bad Habits in Loss to Bears

Dean Holden — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:42:39 -0400

If you’re a Detroit Lions fan, Sunday’s game sure looked familiar.

Just like the home opener against the Vikings, the Lions looked almost playoff-caliber in the first half. And then the second half rolled around, and they didn’t.

In the Vikings game, it was the defense that performed admirably in the first half, then let up and allowed 27 unanswered points.

This week, it was the offense, which put up 21 first-half points against the vaunted Bears’ defense, before notching negative total yardage in the third quarter, and three points in the fourth.

All the while, the Bears went on a scoring rampage, putting up 48 points.

Now, it’s tempting to say this isn’t a trend. After all, the Lions beat Washington, right? They must have held up in that game, right?

Not exactly. The Redskins charged back in the last five minutes of the game, before the clock ran out on their comeback attempt about 30 yards short. The only difference is that the Lions decided to wait until the middle of the fourth quarter to check out of the game.

But second-half collapses are not the only problem plaguing the Lions through the first quarter of the season.

Poor special teams play, an inconsistent rushing attack, spotty offensive line work, and suspect secondary are among the issues the Lions have had all season. After four games, we can safely call them trends.

Despite starting kick returner Johnny Knox’s injury, the Bears still managed a kick return average of over 47 yards.

The Lions’ defense has been strong at times, but no matter how good a defense is, it’s going to give up some points when half the field is gone before they can go to work.

Kick coverage has been an issue since last year, and while the Bears have an elite special teams unit, the level of domination they had over the Lions Sunday.

If things don’t improve drastically in the coming weeks, expect calls to fire special teams coordinator Stan Kwan to reach a fever pitch.

Anyone who took a chance on Kevin Smith and started him in their fantasy league was rewarded with two touchdowns (I should know… I made a game-day decision to bench him for Tashard Choice). But anybody who was expecting him to help set the tone against the Bears was very disappointed.

Smith was able to kick-start the Lions’ running game against the Vikings and Redskins, but stalled badly against the Saints and again this week against the Bears.

Much of the reason for that falls on the offensive line, which has been equally inconsistent this season. The interior line has allowed too much penetration on running plays, and Jeff Backus has looked dominated at times, and no better than average at others.

Head coach Jim Schwartz’s vision for the future of the Detroit Lions is a tough, physical team that can rely on its running game and defense. Both areas need to step up if the Lions are to win more football games.

Despite a couple of explosive plays on the ground, the Lions have done a reasonable job stopping the run overall. The secondary, however, has allowed an NFL-worst completion percentage of 72.5.

Every quarterback to face the Lions so far has had a career day. Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes. Brett Favre went 23-for-27. Jason Campbell threw for 340 yards. Jay Cutler had an average day, but still threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.

The Lions have the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in Louis Delmas, but the rest of the secondary’s starters are not even constant from week-to-week. Regardless of who starts the game in the defensive backfield, the Lions need to cut down opponents’ passing numbers.

Changing these bad habits and trends goes hand-in-hand with the less tangible task of “changing the culture” of losing in the Lions’ locker room.

Maybe it will happen this year, maybe not.

But this season has never been about this season, has it?

Detroit Lions Math Class: Four Steps for Turning One Win Into Two

Dean Holden — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:04:23 -0400

Alright, that’s enough.

If you’re still hungover from the Detroit Lions’ victory over the Washington Redskins, grab some coffee.

We’re getting back to business. There are 13 more weeks of football to be played, so pay attention.

The Lions played a good game last week, but it was full of holes. Even the most dominant win leaves room for improvement. While they were strong, the Lions were not quite dominant, no matter what I may say.

So, what lessons from their victory over the Redskins can the Lions use against Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears?

1. Keep Matt Forte Down

One of the most disappointing feature backs in football this year is Matt Forte.

Heralded as the Bears’ new star after a sensational rookie campaign, he has rushed for less than 200 yards total in three games this season and spearheads the league’s 28th-ranked rushing attack.

In their last two games, the Lions have been up against two very high-profile backs in Clinton Portis and Adrian Peterson. Peterson was held under 100 yards, Portis under 50.

If they can continue that kind of containment on the already-slumping Forte, it should force the Bears into some 3rd-and-long situations, where the Lions may be able to capitalize on some Cutler turnovers.

2. Keep Pressure Off Matt Stafford

Matt Stafford is flying high after his first NFL victory, which happens to also be the first for the Lions since he was a sophomore at Georgia.

So, what was the difference between the Washington game, as compared to New Orleans and Minnesota?

Reduced pressure.

I’m not just talking about pocket pressure, though it’s important that he stay upright against a strong Bears' defensive line.

I’m talking about game pressure. Stafford played well because he was comfortable.

He played much of the game with a lead, which allowed him to calm down and not force the ball as much as he did in his first two starts. He had less 3rd-and-long situations to contend with, his running game backed him up, and never did the team have to put the ball in his hands to win it.

These factors combined allowed Stafford his strongest—and only turnover-free—start of the season so far. Perhaps it is also a sign of him maturing.

That game was a necessary confidence-builder for him, and he should be able to carry that momentum over to Soldier Field…as long as he doesn’t feel forced to do too much with the ball.

3. Continue to Target Bryant Johnson

Calvin Johnson has had a fairly quiet season thus far, compared to expectations. Granted, expectations were pretty lofty, but in three games, Calvin has yet to notch a 100-yard game.

Much of that is because he’s drawing all the coverage. The perception, when a team gameplans for the Lions, is that Calvin is the only threat. Everyone else in single coverage is okay, as long as everyone else covers Calvin.

In response, Stafford started targeting the other Johnson.

Bryant Johnson had a comeuppance against the Redskins, leading the team in receptions and yardage, including two of the biggest offensive plays of the game: catching the first touchdown pass of the game on a 21-yard lob, then drawing a pass interference call in the end zone for 47 yards.

If Stafford can continue to make defenses pay for leaving other receivers in single coverage, then some double coverage should lift from Calvin Johnson, which will open him up to make more plays.

4. Don’t Let Up

As well as the Lions played against the Redskins, it still ended up a close game that came down to the final play.

How?

Well, after going up by 13 against the Redskins with five minutes to go, and shutting down the offense for most of the game, they let the Redskins sneak back in with a quick score to Santana Moss, then failed to hold onto the ball to run the rest of the clock out.

Consequently, what would have been the Redskins’ game-winning drive ended in Lions territory, a mere 30 yards from a 20th straight loss.

The Lions have been notorious this season for failing to play solid football for 60 minutes.

In week one, the Lions came out flat and allowed the New Orleans Saints an early double-digit lead, which they would keep for most of the game.

In week two, the Lions had a phenomenal game against the Vikings…in the first half. In the second, they looked like a different team, allowing 27 unanswered points.

Last Sunday, of course, the Redskins charged back with five minutes to go, and may have completed the comeback if they had an extra minute on the clock.

If the Lions are able to get ahead of the Bears, it will be imperative that they sustain their efforts.

The Lions’ secondary is average on their best day, and the Jay Cutler-Devin Hester connection has proven capable of putting up numbers in a hurry. They’ll want to make sure their lead is as comfortable as possible.

Of course, if they keep the pedal down, then there won’t be any concerns over a late comeback, will there?

Chuck Darby, Adam Jennings Signings Take Detroit Lions Back in Time

Dean Holden — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:39:27 -0400

Chuck Darby is once again a Detroit Lion.

Is it 2008 again? No, can’t be, the Lions have a tally in the win column, and Rod Marinelli will be coaching on the opposite sideline this Sunday.

So if Marinelli is over there, what is Chuck Darby doing over here?

And I distinctly recall Adam Jennings getting cut a few weeks ago. Why is he back in Detroit?

Furthermore, why is Aveion Cason getting a workout, after the team finally rid itself of him? I mean, Cason spent the entire preseason with the Lions. What exactly is the point of a workout?

What is this, the Lions Twilight Zone?

No. The short answer is that Sammie Lee Hill and Kevin Smith are banged up after last week’s victory over the Redskins, and familiar faces are coming in to fill some spots. And while they were shuffling the roster, Jennings snuck in to replace Yamon Figurs, who has been irrelevant on the bench.

Still, two of these faces I could have dealt with not seeing again. In fact, the news that they had been cut after training camp caused me to perform a euphoric dance.

Jennings is okay by me. He’s young and had a fairly solid preseason. He’s not being called in to play a major role, but he is an upgrade over Figurs, who is averaging one reception per season.

Besides, he only sends the Lions back as far as training camp, which is better than where the other two send them.

Cason and Darby send them back a whole season.

Darby was the more likable of the two. A veteran tackle who specialized in shooting gaps in the line and getting penetration (or trying to), Darby is the type of player who would have been great to have about five years earlier, when his small stature would have been offset by youthful quickness.

Darby doesn’t fit into head coach Jim Schwartz’s “stronger, bigger, meaner” philosophy. He barely tips the scale over 300 pounds, but tends to play more like he weighs 260.

Still, after the roster was cut down to 53, the defensive tackle corps was paper-thin, with both Darby and Shaun Smith getting cut. An injury to Hill, who had bull-rushed his way into a starting role, meant Schwartz had to sign someone.

And when you’re talking about stop-gap players, who better than the familiar? Even if they’re bad players, at least they don’t need extra time to learn the playbook. Bad players are better than confused players.

That being said, I’ll make no such excuse for Cason. To his credit (and this is the ONLY thing I’ll credit him for), he hasn’t signed with the team, only been called in to work out. But presumably, that indicates that he’s first in line should Smith miss extended time.

That means more lackluster rushing and 15-yard kick returns.

That is one more reason to wish Smith a speedy recovery, in case there weren’t enough to begin with.

Because it seems that promising young players are giving way to remnants of 2008, and the only people who remember the Lions’ 2008 season fondly are the ones who had a job at the time.

Like Darby and Cason.

Detroit Lions' First Win Brings Back Sunday Intrigue

Dean Holden — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:34:26 -0400

Remember last week?

Remember life before Sept. 27, 2009?

It was a time fraught with anxiety, despair, hopelessness.

It was a time where columnists like myself were predicting that last Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins was going to be the Detroit Lions’ last chance at a victory until after their Week Seven bye.

Now, suddenly, that seems a bit hasty.

This team has finally won a game, and in somewhat convincing fashion. They didn’t sneak out a win, they—dare I say it—dominated most of the game, and almost let the Redskins sneak away in the final seconds.

That one win changes the complexion of the rest of the season. No longer is the question, “can the Lions win this week,” it’s “will they?” The Lions have proven they can win.

It sounds cliche, but it’s an important distinction. The Lions have long existed outside the “any given Sunday” cliche, and slipped into their own variant: “every given Sunday.”

It goes like this.

On any given Sunday, any NFL team can beat any other team. But on every given Sunday, one NFL team will beat the Lions.

No more.

Now, games that once looked hopeless have an element of mystery to them.

Does anybody believe the Chicago Bears are a lock to beat the Lions? The struggling Steelers? The schizophrenic Packers?

Will the Lions win all of those games? Of course not. One win does not make the difference between an 0-16 team and playoffs, no matter how much Sunday’s victory felt like a playoff game.

But they can win them. You don’t know. I don’t know, nobody knows. But this is a team capable of winning, and the only remaining question is who, when, and how often.

Don’t mistake me. This is one win. One win is something every team in the league has celebrated at least once a season every year except 2008, 1982 (Baltimore Colts, 0-8-1), 1976 (Tampa Bay Bucs, 0-14), and 1960 (Dallas Cowboys, 0-11-1).

The only thing the Lions have really accomplished on paper is not being historically bad. Again.

Theoretically, they could lose 13 more games this season, lose 36 of their last 38, and their progression over last season will be a single win.

Or they could surprise some people. They could win a few more games, maybe even against teams that should beat them handily.

The point is, Lion fans no longer need that anxious feeling leading up to Sunday. The feeling that occupied every game in recent memory, the deep dread of “how will they blow it this week,” (don’t lie, you know you felt it during Washington’s last drive) was turned aside for at least one day.

In the place of that fear and dread, which was so mercifully lifted for one week, Lion fans can make room for a little more optimism for the future.

That starts now. Think the Bears have an easy victory next Sunday with golden boy Jay Cutler at the helm?

Not so fast.

The Lions can win now.

Detroit's Jeff Backus is Lion to Fans with His Sad Displays of Hustle

Dean Holden — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:56:13 -0400

There are many reasons for Lions fans to dislike Jeff Backus.

He seems like a nice enough guy, and I’m sure he is. You never see him get into trouble, and he has quietly been a Detroit Lions starter for almost a decade now.

But he gives up a lot of sacks, and tends to personify the entire Matt Millen era by being his very first ever draft pick.

It’s not his fault, but it’s the truth. He has worked to overcome that by starting every game since his draft date.

But last week against the Vikings, he made no friends and impressed no fans with his now-infamous “phantom block” play.

In case you missed it, in the first play of the second half, Backus allowed Vikings pass rusher Jared Allen to go by untouched, making a beeline for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Seemingly, he was waiting for some other, invisible man to block.

After a cartoonish scene in which Allen crunched Stafford from his blind side, leaving the ball suspended in midair for a moment where Stafford was holding it, the ball fell as a fumble at Backus’ feet.

Despite the mantra given to all lineman in a fumble situation, “fall on the ball,” Backus decided staring at it was sufficient, while Brandon Pettigrew came across from the other side of the line to recover the fumble.

It was as if Backus was unaware the second half had started. Or that he didn’t care.

Regardless of the reason, it was decidedly the worst hustle play anybody watching the game has ever seen.

Yes, sometimes wide receivers take a play or two off, maybe they don’t run their routes very hard. Maybe a running back runs out of bounds to avoid a hit, rather than trying to cut it back upfield.

But when you make lots of money to play the left tackle position in the NFL, you cannot take plays off. Not like that. And even guys who do take plays off would still fall on a fumble that landed right in front of them. So he thought it was an incomplete pass? That’s fine, but if the whistle doesn’t blow, you fall on the ball, period.

According to Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com, the bizarre sack is not Backus' fault, but Jerome Felton's. Felton slipped up the middle on the play, hesitated, then ran toward the sideline in a pass pattern.

I can see how that would be if he missed his assignment, but if you're coaching a team, why would you put your young fullback on one of the league's top pass rushers, while your big-money left tackle stands and watches?

There was no blitz on the way, and no extra rusher for Backus to block. Even if Felton drew the assignment of blocking Allen, that still doesn't excuse Backus for not diving on the fumble.

Now, this one play is not really indicative of the way Backus’ career has gone, or even his game against the Vikings. But nobody in Detroit is a big Backus fan already, because he doesn’t play very well, but nobody seems willing to replace him.

There are lots of players who become fan favorites despite a low skill level, though. Know how they do it? Hustle and effort.

Baseball players who run hard on pop-ups and grounders; basketball players who hustle back to get on defense every play; quarterbacks who dive for a first down instead of sliding a yard short—these are the guys fans like to see.

Backus’ own fellow lineman Dominic Raiola is one of those guys. What Raiola lacks in size he makes up for in attitude, heart, and hustle, and even though he’s too small to be effective against stronger defensive tackles, he leaves everything on the field every game.

If Backus played like that, he would be a much better player, and fans would be a little more willing to keep him around.

But he’s not, and if he was trying to create the illusion that he was, he ruined his chance last Sunday.

Detroit Lions Roundtable Week Two: Encouragement and Disappointment

Dean Holden — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:47:00 -0400

Welcome to Week Two of the 2009 Detroit Lions Roundtable.

This week, in addition to Keith Shelton and myself, we have Lions featured columnist Michael Schottey adding his insight on the team's collapse against the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday.

So let's get started with our first question of the week.

Q. The Lions looked like a great team in the first half against the Vikings, and sub-par in the second as they let the game slip away. What changed in the game to cause such a drastic momentum shift between the first and second halves?

Dean Holden

Recent article: Jeff Backus Not Winning Anybody Over With Hustle Points

It may not be so much that the Lions stopped performing well, so much as the Vikings made adjustments to their game plan, and the Lions had little to counter with.

In the first half, the blitz was working to perfection. Brett Favre went down three times, and was hit a bunch more. So in the second half, the Vikes came out prepared for it.

In addition, the blitz was getting predictable. It was Foote, Peterson, and Sims coming on almost every play, and they telegraphed it every time. No fake blitzes, no safeties or corners coming, and no doubt when the blitz was and wasn't coming. Even the broadcasters knew before the snap.

It wasn't hard for the grizzled veteran under center to recognize this and audible to a blitz-killer screen to Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, or Bernard Berrian. Even a great blitz is easy to beat if you're prepared for it.

Offensively, there was little change. They struggled to move to ball in the first half, and that continued in the second half.

Kevin Smith had a nice day, and this team can be competent offensively, but Matthew Stafford desperately needs to learn how to finish drives in the end zone.

Keith Shelton

Recent article: Detroit Lions Have Record Losing Streak In Their Sights

The Lions took away the deep pass, but let Brett Farve dink and dunk them down the field, which wore down the defense and kept them on the field longer. Adrian Peterson also heated up.

Once the Lions fell behind, Stafford came under more pressure as the Lions took to the air to overcome, and that's when the turnovers came. Minnesota coasted from there.

The Lions just aren't going to be able to hold many opponents down with just a 10-point lead, unless they're offensively challenged.

They're going to have to win by creating turnovers and scoring lots of points.

So...basically they're in trouble.

Michael Schottey

Recent article: Detroit Lions Offensive Playbook: Five Plays to Beat the 'Skins

The Lions looked like supermen in the first half of the Vikings game, but I wouldn't blame kryptonite-laced water for their second-half collapse.

The Lions made perfectly fine second-half adjustments, but mistakes early in the third quarter changed the game plan.

Stafford was sacked twice on the Lions' opening drive, killing any momentum.

Then Marquand Manuel was flagged for a questionable illegal contact penalty on the ensuing drive—leading to a Vikings score.

When Kevin Smith fumbled on the next drive and Henry misplayed the run on Peterson's touchdown, the game was already over.

This is a young team with a young QB. Although they looked great when the game was close, mistakes will pile up on them and there just isn't enough talent to come back on a team like the Vikings.

Q. Considering the level of competition, do you think the Lions progressed or regressed against the Vikings? Though it's early, after two games, what player would you say is the most impressive/disappointing compared to his preseason expectations?

Dean Holden

The Lions made lots of progress against the Vikings.

The early success of the blitz package, which was not used at all in New Orleans, is progress. The Lions held their first lead of the season, which is progress. Stafford threw his first NFL touchdown pass, which has to be a bit of a relief (don't think Stafford doesn't know what Mark Sanchez is doing in New York).

The linebacking corps made themselves visible in this game, with Larry Foote disrupting plays in the backfield and Julian Peterson flying around the field after a lackluster game against the Saints.

All things considered, the Lions are progressing as individual units. The only thing holding them down now is the ability to pull them all together.

Once we can say, "the offense/defense had a strong game," instead of, "the linebackers/receivers/offensive line/secondary had a good game," we'll start seeing wins again.

I'll pull from the obscure and say I'm most impressed with Marquand Manuel so far this season.

He seemed to be in on a lot of good defensive plays against the Vikings, but was almost invisible in the preseason, aside from one game-saving tackle on Pierre Garcon in the Indianapolis Colts game.

Manuel wasn't a guy most people talked about winning the Lions' safety battle, but he did, and he has done an admirable job alongside rookie Louis Delmas.

Jeff Backus gets my vote for worst player so far this season.

His body of work as a whole has been acceptable so far, but the play I'm calling the "phantom block" against Jared Allen to open the third quarter put him at the bottom of my list, as my latest article explains.

Irrational? Perhaps. But that's okay.

Keith Shelton

It's hard to gauge. When you lose your 19th in a row, I don't know if you can call it progress, even if they do some things right.

Progress would be a win.

That said, I do think Kevin Smith is a solid running back. Not great, but not terrible. He ran hard against the Vikes, even though they loaded the box against him. He'd get my vote for most impressive.

I'd like to say Calvin Johnson, but as good as he's been, he hasn't been good enough. The Lions need him to be the Barry Sanders of receivers.

Part of that falls on the quarterback, which brings me to the most disappointing player: Matthew Stafford.

Yes, he's a rookie, and yes we didn't expect him to be Matt Ryan, but five interceptions and one passing touchdown? Even Harrington wasn't THAT bad as a rookie.

The Lions at this point have no choice but to carry on with Stafford. Hopefully he'll improve, but there's not much reason to believe he will with the talent that is currently on the roster.

Michael Schottey

The Lions have played some of the toughest competition of any team in the first two games. Things don't get any easier from here with Chicago, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh after the Redskins.

I think the Lions have certainly improved from last season to this season and I think we saw the same team in both games, but a much better game plan against a Vikings team which doesn't have as many weapons as the offensively-stacked Saints.

The Lions were scared to blitz Drew Brees, but did a great job against a better offensive line and Brett Favre.

This Sunday will tell us more about the Lions facing a O-line in shambles and a QB who struggles to go deep. If the Lions can get to Jason Campbell or adequately cover the dump off routes, it should be a great game.

If not, Campbell will dink and dunk down the field and Jim Zorn will have job security for another week.

Jason Hunter seems to be the key to this defense. Although he is not anything more than an average pass rusher, he has surprised me with impressive moves against single blockers.

If the Lions don't blitz, he is easily washed away in a double team. Stephon Heyer is close to losing the starting job in Washington and Hunter could be the final nail in that coffin.

Offensively, the play of Daniel Loper needs to step up. He has been decent at times, but hasn't been the dependable player everyone expected him to be.

Interior linemen are at their best when fans forget they exist. This weekend will be a tough test for Loper as he goes against Cornelius Griffin, who is having an outstanding season.

Detroit Lions Notch First Winnable Game, First Disappointing Loss

Dean Holden — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:17:04 -0400

Now you can be disappointed.

At the end of the first half against the Vikings, the Detroit Lions were in complete control of the football game. They were up 10-7, and the seven didn’t come until after the two-minute warning.

Final score: Vikings 27, Lions 13. That’s something to be angry about.

Last week, at New Orleans? Not so much. That was a game the Lions were supposed to lose, and while they hung around, they never gave the impression they were a better team than the Saints.

That has since been confirmed, as the Saints went on to torch the Philadelphia Eagles, a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick, by a greater margin than they beat the Lions.

Against the Vikings, though, the team was different. The Lions were getting pressure on Brett Favre, stopping Adrian Peterson, and moving the ball with consistency on the ground. They were forcing turnovers. Matthew Stafford had his first career touchdown pass.

More importantly, they led for roughly half of the game. As in, they had more points on the board.

Lions fans have become accustomed to twisting stats to make themselves feel better about all the losses, but not often can they speak favorably about the one that counts.

And because of that, I’m not going to go on about all the things that went well. Don’t get me wrong, there were a bunch of them. But that’s not what I’m focused on.

I’m focused on the two Lions teams that showed up on Sunday. The first half team, which resembles the one Lions fans have been hoping to see for years; and the second half team, which Lions fans have seen for too long.

I’m used to seeing the team we saw in the second half. If that’s the team that had shown up for four quarters, I would focus on the bright spots and say we were just outgunned.

That’s what happened against the Saints. The Saints had too much raw talent in too many areas, and the Lions couldn’t match up.

That’s not what happened against the Vikings. If the Vikings were so superior that no game plan, no adjustments, no amount of execution could overcome the talent gap, the Lions wouldn’t have dominated the first 25 minutes of the game.

Instead, they showed the team they could be, then regressed to a 19th consecutive loss.

I’d rather they get blown out, wire-to-wire. Because losing by 40, at least there’s no rollercoaster. After a quarter or two, it’s easy to see which way the game is going, and hey, it’s not like we’re not used to it.

But the way the Lions played Sunday? All it shows is that the team is capable of winning games, it just isn’t doing it.

That, Lions fans, is something to be disappointed about.

Detroit Lions Sell Out Home Opener, Remain Luckiest Franchise in Sports

Dean Holden — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:03:48 -0400

Like many of you reading this, I have been a Detroit Lions fan for my entire life.

Unlike many of you, I have never bought a ticket to a Lions game. So the Lions avoiding having their home opener blacked-out is not something I had a hand in.

But that doesn't mean I'm not impressed. In fact, I'm not sure the Lions deserve such loyal fans. They've certainly done little to deserve them.

I'm not just talking about the losing streak. Nothing chases away fans like losing, but that's not the only thing going on here.

I'm talking about 45 years of bad ownership by one William Clay Ford, who has treated winning like a secondary goal, or even a by-product, ever since he bought the team. He has been grinding dirt into Lions fans' wounds for a long time, and yet they keep coming back. Why—you may ask?

Because it's not about the ownership. It's not about Ford, either the car company or the person. It's not about the economy. When it comes down to it, it's not even about winning.

It's about going out, having some fun, and loving and supporting the Lions—plain and simply.

We fans don't have to turn out to these games. It costs a lot of money to see a Lions game, and lately going to see a Lions game means paying money to see your team lose.

Yet the tickets continue to sell, while Michigan's unemployment rate continues to hover around 15 percent, and Detroit continues to spiral into urban oblivion.

Really, though they're on the rebuilding trail, things could not be any worse for the Detroit Lions. Every possible circumstance seems to be against them.

And yet tickets are selling. Jerseys are selling. Despite all historical evidence to the contrary, Lions fans believe something is going to happen with this team.

This would not happen in another city. Jacksonville is looking at potentially blacking out every game this season, and they actually won games last year.

So I salute you, Lions fans, especially those with a ticket.

Though your loyalty is lemming-like, it is to be admired.

Detroit Lions Notch a Good Loss in New Orleans

Dean Holden — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:47:16 -0400

Everyone just calm down.

I’ve heard a whole lot of comparisons to the 2008 Detroit Lions after Sunday’s 45-27 trampling at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.

It’s understandable; they did lose by 18 points, and they are the 2009 Lions. It’s natural to compare them to last year’s version.

As I remember, though, the 2008 Lions lost to roughly the same Saints 42-7, and that was without an injury to their top cornerback against the league’s most prolific passer.

So let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Yes, the Lions lost. Yes, it was an 18-point loss, and their 18th-straight loss. Yes, they became the first modern-era team to have a losing streak spanning three seasons. No, they didn’t even cover a double-digit spread (13).

Yes, Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes and a second-string running back had a career day. Yes, Matthew Stafford had a bad day, showing his inability to finish drives and a propensity to throw interceptions at the worst possible time (two of his picks were caught inside the 20-yard line).

Kevin Smith was shut down and Calvin Johnson had only three catches, though one was for what should have been a long touchdown.

Heard enough? Good. I know the Lions lost big, and in many ways it looked very bad. Now let me follow that up with two very important words:

So what?

That’s right, I don’t care. Anybody who expected to open the season in New Orleans with a big, statement-making win needs to start up a support group with Joey “Blue Skies” Harrington, Jon “10 Wins” Kitna, and Kevin “20 Touchdowns” Smith.

Temper your expectations, people. If you didn’t believe it before, believe it now. We are not looking at a playoff team. Deal with that. The Lions are going to lose a lot of games this season, and the Saints are one of the toughest games on the schedule, so what’s the problem?

Now, having said that, with as bad as it looked, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

See, despite the final score, the game wasn’t a blowout. At no point did the Saints pull their starters and start beating down the Lions with second-string players. In fact, it was still a reasonably winnable game (though a long shot) until Stafford’s third interception.

Though they never led, the Lions never trailed by more than the 18 points they lost by. In fact, after falling behind by 14 points early on, they battled back to within four points early in the second quarter.

At any given point, the Lions were one missed opportunity away from making it a much closer game.

Much of that has to do with Stafford. The interceptions he threw were momentum-killers, and he was unable to get touchdowns instead of turnovers or field goals.

But he’s a rookie quarterback, and he’s making rookie quarterback mistakes. This is his first real game against NFL competition, and therefore the first in which he must realize that his gifted right arm is not enough to carry him to success without good decision-making.

His problems and mistakes are coachable, and he will learn, but expecting him to know it before he steps foot on the field is unrealistic. These are games Stafford has to have before he learns what throws he can make at this level and how.

For that matter, these are games the entire Lions team has to have.

They fought hard, but at the end of the day, they were outgunned. The Saints are a team thinking playoffs, and the Lions are looking to snap an 18-game skid.

I’m not going to say this is a moral victory, because I don’t believe in moral victories. For a team that hasn’t won a game in almost two years, the only moral victory this season will be the numeral “one” on the left side of a hyphen.

That being said, as losses go, this one could have been worse. The Lions were supposed to lose this game, and they did, but they didn’t perform below any reasonable set of expectations.

They will get better, visibly, as the season goes on. More than half of this year’s 53-man roster was not on last year’s 53-man roster, so chemistry is a major issue.

And hey, the Lions have all kinds of issues, all over the field. We know this, but don’t throw them under the bus yet.

The only question right now is whether the Lions are playing better than last year, and if they’re headed in the right direction.

After one game, the answers to both questions are yes. It’s unusual to say that after a 18-point loss, but this is a team under unusual circumstances, who lost to the same team by 35 points last season.

So everyone calm down and enjoy the show. Start a pool at the office for the Lions’ first win. Smile politely at the guy who picks “2010.” But don’t be that guy, don’t throw your hands up in September.

This ride is only beginning, and it will get better soon.

Detroit Lions' Cut List: Hits, Misses, and Surprises

Dean Holden — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:50:42 -0400

Detroit now knows who will be taking the field against the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.

After the Lions’ cuts, waiver wire acquisitions, and more cuts, the field of 53 is set… for now.

As is the case with every cut list, there are some (mostly) good cuts, some question marks, and a few scrappy players who just drew the short straw.

In case you don’t know which is which, here’s the entire cut list (via NFL.com), broken down into those three categories.

The Good

Brooks Bollinger - Nothing more than a placeholder while Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper were on the shelf for the final preseason game…unless Culpepper becomes trade bait later on this season, then he’s a phone call from being No. 3.

Billy Cundiff - Capable, but no Jason Hanson. Hanson is expected back for the New Orleans game, which leaves no room for Cundiff.

Ramzee Robinson - Had a good run for a 255th “Mr. Irrelevant” pick, and his play had actually picked up some since he was drafted. But he had really only gone from atrocious to below average, without much more upside.

Ikaika Alama-Francis - Too weak and small as a tackle. Too big and slow as an end. Never developed into a better player or improved his technique. Another second-round bust for Matt Millen.

Milford Brown - Veteran guard wasn’t expected to make a lot of noise, and didn’t. Nobody will even notice.

Sean Conover - Came into camp as a third-year converted tight end after spending the first two with the Tennessee Titans as a defensive end. Conversion unsuccessful.

Keary Colbert - Single-handedly made every Lions quarterback look worse than they were.

Dropped passes, tipped passes (turned into interceptions), and falling down on routes (allowing interceptions) were all themes of Colbert’s preseason. Had he avoided the cut list, rabid fans with pitchforks and torches would have gathered outside Ford Field.

Zach Follett - I like the kid, you like the kid, and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham likes the kid. His attitude is right. The physical skills? Not so much.

That being said, he may have some future potential, and the Lions retained him on the practice squad. If they hadn’t, this would have been a “bad” cut.

Calvin Lowry - Quiet signing, quiet performance, quiet release.

Rufus Alexander - Would have gotten a second or third look on last year’s Lions team. This year, couldn’t find his niche with a very good Detroit linebacker corps.

Cletis Gordon - Was cut by the Chargers and Texans before finding his way to Detroit. Didn’t show anything worth keeping around.

Tristan Davis - I went on the record as saying he might have earned himself a look with his long touchdown run in Buffalo. I was right… but that look landed him on the practice squad.

Speed is always a good thing, but Davis isn’t ready yet. The Lions did well to leave him off the 53-man roster, and equally well to retain his rights.

Adam Jennings - Showed a flash or two, but not nearly enough. Three unimpressive catches in preseason is not good enough for a 5′9″ wide receiver.

Lydon Murtha - Seventh-round tackle selection didn’t show well enough to warrant a roster spot above the veteran group of Jeff Backus, Ephraim Salaam, and Jon Jansen.

Will stick around on the practice squad for now, perhaps to work his way up long-term.

The (Potentially) Bad

Dane Looker - Seemed versatile enough to earn a roster spot somewhere.

Was a decent receiver, where the Lions are thin. Was a decent kick/punt returner, where the Lions are undecided. Was an acceptable auxiliary kicker, with Hanson coming off surgery. Didn’t excel in any one area, but was adequate in several.

John Standeford - Came in last season due to injuries and trades as the No.2 receiver, and made some plays. Performed adequately in preseason as a possession guy, but lack of versatility and physical gifts likely spelled his end.

Stuart Schweigert - Was the team’s primary playmaker in the secondary throughout the preseason. Struggled in pass protection, but was an above-average run-blitzer.

With the weak state of the Lions’ safety corps, he deserved a shot. The acquisition of Ko Simpson from Buffalo likely slashed what would have been his roster spot.

Dan Gronkowski - At one point, Gronkowski and Will Heller were the team’s only healthy tight ends. Gronkowski made the most of his time, with four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown, and lots of good blocking.

Gronkowski got caught up in a tight end logjam, with 20th overall pick Brandon Pettigrew, new acquisition Heller, and oft-injured veteran utility man Casey Fitzsimmons ahead of him.

He landed on the practice squad this season, and should replace Fitzsimmons on the roster next season.

The Unexpected

Chuck Darby - Not at all an expected cut, but absolutely a good one. Darby was a Marinelli guy, a smaller Tampa-Two tackle, and increasingly not a very good one as his age sapped his quickness.

Was cut in favor of young 300+ pound space eaters like Sammie Lee Hill, Andre Fluellen, and Orien Harris.

Aveion Cason - A long overdue cut, and one that nobody will mourn except Cason himself.

Surprising because he has seemed unusually adept at avoiding Lions cuts when he should be one of the first. News of Cason being cut set off many a celebration in Detroit.

Keith Smith - There’s no question Smith was a below-average player, but it’s surprising to see him cut for the same reason as Cason: we’re used to seeing him stick around, regardless of bad play.

Fun fact: after this season’s cuts, the number of Millen-era draft picks still with the Lions (not including 2008) is six out of 51. Three of those (Drew Stanton, Manny Ramirez, Calvin Johnson) are from 2007, two (Backus, Dominic Raiola) are from 2001, and the other is Ernie Sims, the only draft pick from 2002-2006 to survive.

Shaun Smith - Perhaps the biggest surprise, as Smith was acquired with a starting role in mind. But head coach Jim Schwartz is from the Bill Belichick school of team management, and Smith’s attitude and unrestrained mouth didn’t mesh well with the coach.

The release of Smith, Darby, and Alama-Francis is a testament to the fast progression of Sammie Lee Hill.

Daunte Culpepper Could Spice Things Up For a Team Looking for a Quality QB

Dean Holden — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:33:21 -0400

Daunte Culpepper had better not get too comfortable in his Honolulu blue jersey this season.

After head coach Jim Schwartz made the call to start Matthew Stafford at quarterback from day one, Culpepper’s presence is suddenly much less valuable to the Lions...except maybe on the trade market.

Of course, what if the Lions are just testing Stafford out? They could pull him and send in the veteran, Matt Leinart-style.

If you follow the cues, Stafford is in for good.

According to Schwartz, starting Stafford “isn’t an experiment. He’s our starting quarterback.”

But are the Lions interested in shopping Culpepper instead of keeping him on as a reliable, steady backup to Stafford?

It’s possible that the Lions are interested in keeping him on, but Schwartz seems to think “He’s back” and that “he did everything to win the job.”

So, Stafford is “our starting quarterback” and Culpepper “is back?”

Who is Schwartz trying to convince? It sounds an awful lot like he’s sending out a press release to the other 31 teams: “If you need a starting quarterback, we have one sitting on the bench here, available cheap!”

Under normal circumstances, Culpepper would be a tough sell. After years of injuries, decline, a retirement, and then half of a subpar season playing about 50 pounds overweight, he came back strong, in great shape, and reportedly playing some of his best football in years. Then he lost the starting job to a rookie quarterback anyway.

But then, Culpepper looked more than adequate in the preseason, which is more than some teams can say about their projected starter (I’m looking at you, Denver Broncos).

The X-factor in all this is Drew Stanton. After Stanton suffered another knee injury, Schwartz avoided putting him on injured reserve. Schwartz has said that Stanton’s injury is minor and that he should be back within the first half of the season.

If Culpepper is traded, Stanton becomes the backup, which may be well warranted, since he was arguably the most impressive and most successful quarterback in the preseason.

But whether Culpepper is traded or not may depend on whether Schwartz and Co. are confident with increasing Stanton’s role, which they will be unable to do until he’s healthy again.

The problem with that is money.

If the Lions were to trade Culpepper, they would want to do it before the start of the regular season, when Culpepper is due a large roster bonus.

But beyond the difficulty of convincing another team to effectively pick up his bonus in the next two days, Stanton will not be ready in that time, which will force the Lions to possibly pick up two quarterbacks to back up Stafford while Stanton heals (if he heals).

Still, the question of trading Culpepper is almost certainly when, not if. The Lions have taken care of their quarterback issues with Stafford, for better or worse, but there are still holes to be filled all over the team.

Culpepper now represents a vehicle with which to fill those holes, either with players or picks.

Detroit Lions Look to Buffalo To End Safety Battle

Dean Holden — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:35:33 -0400

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz must have seen something he liked Thursday night.

One day after playing against him in a Bills uniform, the Lions engineered a trade to bring safety Ko Simpson to Detroit for an undisclosed 2010 draft pick.

When not watching the quarterback battle, the Lions have been trying to figure out all preseason who they could start at safety. Louis Delmas was one starter, but who was the other?

Gerald Alexander? Traded.

Daniel Bullocks? Injured.

Kalvin Pearson? A decent player, but had a miserable preseason.

Stuart Schweigert? Showing well, but inconsistent and coming off an offseason calf injury.

Marquand Manuel? Had an okay preseason, but nobody cares (apparently).

Simpson just leap-frogged the field by showing up in Detroit. He is entering his fourth season, and has been a solid contributor in Buffalo since his rookie season in 2006.

Better yet, if Simpson performs well, he could, at age 25, be a long-term answer for the Lions at the safety position.

The darker side of this trade is that it means the Lions’ coaching staff didn’t see enough from any of the prospective safeties on the squad to start them comfortably. So any strong preseason performances you thought you saw are irrelevant.

As it stands, the Lions just added a player the day before final cuts, which means an extra safety will be packing his bags. Manuel and Schweigert are the obvious choices (though probably not both), but even former projected starter Kalvin Pearson should be looking over his shoulder.

In fact, everyone should. Even the guys who survive Saturday’s cuts.

For days now, the Lions have been saying they were going to scour the waiver wire for every last shred of talent, using that No. 1 waiver priority to full advantage. Apparently that applies to trades, as well.

It is increasingly obvious that the coaching staff is not really happy with the roster they have in place, even after turning over half of it. They still want to—and quite frankly, need to—improve.

It’s safe to assume we’ll see a lot of front office activity in the week leading up to the regular season. That may or may not be smart, since at some point they should be able to tell their players to stop worrying about getting sent away and go play football.

The way things look now, that point might be the trade deadline.

Detroit Lions' Winners and Losers in Buffalo

Dean Holden — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:03:00 -0400

There was a whole lot to like about the Detroit Lions' 17-6 handling of the Buffalo Bills Thursday night, if you're a Lions fan.

Almost 250 yards rushing, mostly improved blocking out of the non-Backus section of the offensive line, no offensive touchdowns given up, and the only preseason win that wasn't a come-from-behind shocker via Drew Stanton are all things to get excited about.

Of course, a winning effort in the preseason is more about what players heard their names called the most over the course of the night, and less about the final score.

So what players get a gold star for the final game before cuts, and who wishes they could do it all over again?

Let's observe, by position.

Quarterback

Winners: Brooks Bollinger, Daunte Culpepper

Brooks Bollinger actually looked capable out there.

Given only two days to learn the Lions playbook and personnel (what is it with the Lions and throwing former Vikings QBs into a game after a sudden midweek acquisition?), Bollinger actually had a statistically better night than Stafford, without the benefit of Calvin Johnson to throw to.

Don't read anything into that.

Culpepper comes out a winner because Matthew Stafford failed to deliver a knockout punch, which means Culpepper is still a viable candidate to start the season for the Lions.

Losers: Matthew Stafford, Kevin O'Connell

Stafford could have tied up and gift-wrapped the starting job for himself with a strong performance against the Bills. Instead, he went 5-9 with an interception (possibly not his fault, but "receiver's fault" doesn't show up in the stat sheet), and a lost fumble. The job is still open.

Do you think there's any way in the world Kevin O'Connell knew, in his first snap as a Lion, after handing the ball off to Tristan Davis, that he wasn't going to see that ball again?

O'Connell would have actually gotten some time, but instead, he took three snaps. The handoff to Davis, 79-yard touchdown. Later, two kneel-downs.

If Bollinger and O'Connell were fighting for a roster spot with the Lions, O'Connell just lost it in a shutout.

Running Back

Winner: Tristan Davis

If you're like me, you just said, "who?"

Davis, an unheralded, undrafted, unknown rookie out of Auburn who joined the team after they cut Kenneth Harris (again, who?), made lots of people learn his name Thursday night, when he ran right by 11 guys untouched for a 79-yard score midway through the fourth quarter. His yards-per-carry average was 30.7.

Two days ago, Davis would have been an easy cut. Now he's going to get a second or third look.

Three carries in the fourth quarter of a preseason game is not enough to call him a gamebreaker, of course. But 92 yards in those three carries just might be worth a roster spot.

Loser: Aveion Cason

Before I say anything about Aveion Cason, let me first say this.

I've never seen the man run harder or better than he did Thursday night. Six carries for 40 yards is a solid performance. He earned my respect.

Unfortunately, he is also 30 years old, has absolutely no upside, is playing for a team looking several years into the future, is no better than the fourth-best back on the team right now (Kevin Smith, Maurice Morris, Aaron Brown, to answer your question), and now has another rookie back with breakaway speed pushing him for that spot.

To make matters worse, the team has finally wised up and taken him out of the return game.

Cason is the loser here, because the Lions likely have no place for him, even though he might finally be playing some solid football.

Wide Receiver

Winner: Calvin Johnson

I'm sure you remember, but Johnson is still an awe-inspiring player.

Against first-string defenses, he looks like a superstar.

Against the Bills' second-string, he looked like a Hall-of-Famer picking on high schoolers.

In the time that Johnson was on the field, he caught two (three, if you include the touchdown called back for holding) passes, and was responsible for 56 of Stafford's 81 yards passing.

Loser: Keary Colbert

Colbert may have been responsible for both quarterbacks' interceptions Thursday night.

On Stafford's, he fell down on what looked to be a timing-based comeback route.

On Bollinger's, he couldn't get a handle on a pass thrown a bit behind him, and tipped it up in the air for an end zone pick.

Colbert needed a strong performance against the Bills to erase a preseason full of dropped passes and weak performances.

He finished with one reception for nine yards. He'll be looking for a practice squad soon enough.

Offensive Line

Winner: George Yarno

Lions' offensive line coach George Yarno gets the nod here, for one simple reason.

The offensive line looks vastly improved, but aside from a few depth signings, they're exactly the same players as last year. The only thing that's different is Yarno and the new, aggressive blocking philosophy.

Why the change? The "downhill" blocking philosophy does a better job of covering up a lack of talent (which the Lions have) than the zone blocking scheme utilized last year, which requires good footwork and talent across the line.

But regardless of whether or not it's smoke and mirrors from a scheme, it's good to see the line winning the battle at the point of attack for once, isn't it?

Loser: Jeff Backus

He is who we thought he was.

He plays well, as long as he's up against mediocre competition. Put anybody with decent pass rushing abilities on him, and there are instant problems.

Rookie Aaron Maybin made Backus look foolish at least once, shooting right around him to notch a fumble-sack on Stafford.

Even in the preseason, adequate left tackles don't get overwhelmed by rookie defensive ends. Not the way Backus did. That was ugly.

Defensive Line

Winner: Orien Harris

Orien Harris hasn't made much noise since the Lions acquired him in trade with the St. Louis Rams for WR Ronald Curry.

Thursday, however, he led all lineman with four tackles and a sack.

Not a world-beating performance, but the Lions don't see a lot of sacks out of their interior linemen, and the performance should help his stock at a time when neither defensive tackle position is certain.

Loser: Cliff Avril

Cliff Avril has had a very quiet offseason after being one of the team's only bright spots on defense last season.

With only one tackle against the Bills, and very little success getting to the quarterback, Avril is not developing into the all-around player we thought he might after setting the rookie pace for sacks last year.

With a stronger preseason, Avril would have locked up a starting job, especially with Jared DeVries going down with injury.

Now, he may be relegated to a pass-rush specialist or backup position.

Linebacker

Winner: Jordon Dizon

In case you didn't get the memo, Jordon Dizon's "bust" label was a bit premature.

Dizon started on the weak side in place of the resting Ernie Sims. He led the team in tackles with six, five of which came in Buffalo's second drive.

Dizon flew all over the field in the drive, making stops on running and passing plays alike, before capping the drive off by forcing a fumble on a short completion to Derek Schouman.

His performance, coupled with a strong preseason and strong praise from his coaches, should lay to rest any doubt that he can come in and contribute, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Loser: Larry Foote

By no means has Larry Foote had a bad preseason, just a quiet one.

More importantly, the young guys behind him on the depth chart, Dizon and rookie DeAndre Levy, have had fantastic preseasons, and either one can play the middle (both were drafted for it).

The longer Foote plays the vanilla brand of football he has been playing, and the longer Dizon and Levy continue to impress, the less time Foote will spend on the field.

Maybe that one-year contract was a good idea, after all.

Cornerback

Winner: Chris Roberson

Mark my words, Chris Roberson locked down a roster spot.

One tackle on defense, one on special teams, a fumble recovery, and a phenomenal diving interception were the highlights of Roberson's day in Buffalo.

The transitional nature of the Lions' secondary coupled with his strong play should be enough to keep him around, at least for depth.

Loser: Eric King

Another example of a player not making any noise while those around him do.

Eric King's contribution against Buffalo was one defended pass and one illegal contact penalty. Meanwhile, Roberson and Ramzee Robinson are making plays and showing that they belong.

By not making his presence felt, King may have lost himself a job Thursday night.

Safety

Winner: Stuart Schweigert

Stuart Schweigert hasn't seen much action in the first half of games this preseason, but what time he has gotten, he's made count.

Schweigert played seek-and-destroy with the Bills' running backs Thursday night, making five tackles total, three of them at or near the line of scrimmage on running plays.

With performances like that throughout the preseason, Schweigert could be looking at not only a roster spot, but considerable playing time in the regular season.

Loser: Louis Delmas

Calm down and listen.

Delmas will still be a great player, and probably sooner rather than later. But he's not going to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer when he takes the field in New Orleans, so just deal with that.

Delmas is jumpy out there. He's a rookie making rookie mistakes, just as he should be. He is overpursuing and getting caught out of position on most plays he spends in the game.

That can—and will—be coached away. He will adjust his play, settle down, and start playing smarter football. His football IQ is one of his best qualities, so expect him to snap out of it sooner than later.

Still, Delmas was a lock to start the moment Gerald Alexander was shipped out. After two shaky preseason games, they might instead rotate him in.

Special Teams

Winner: Nick Harris

One of the best in the game, though his net average is lacking, primarily because of god-awful coverage teams.

Still, when an average of 43 yards per punt on four punts, with one downed inside the 20 is a sub-par day at the office, you're in pretty good shape.

Loser: Derrick Williams

Williams returned two punts on Thursday.

One was muffed, and fallen on for a zero-yard return.

The other was returned nine yards, on a play where Williams was a half step from being unable to walk off the field.

Somebody needs to teach Williams the "fair catch" signal, because if he pulls another stunt like he did Thursday, trying to return the ball with a gunner bearing down full speed, he's going to get himself killed out there.

On top of that, for a third-round pick drafted primarily for receiving skills, he's... well, he's not that good. Minus all the mistakes, his actual return skills have been average at best.

Just bad, bad, and worse for Williams in Buffalo.

Brooks Bollinger and Kevin O'Connell Jumble Detroit Lions' QB Picture

Dean Holden — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:34:10 -0400

Brooks Bollinger and Kevin O'Connell are Detroit Lions, and I’m not quite sure why.

When I first heard the news about Bollinger, I immediately went to my computer to talk about how it was only to get through the final pre-season game while Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton sit out with injuries.

Then the O’Connell signing came to light. Now I’m beginning to wonder about Culpepper and Stanton.

Stanton has been a distant third and little more than an afterthought on the minds of the Lions’ coaches. Rumors began to float after the New England Patriots released O’Connell, that Stanton might be trade bait in the “Tom Brady’s backup” sweepstakes.

However, Stanton’s knee injury will take weeks to heal, and this is his third season (of three) with an injury severe enough for him to miss considerable time. That drops his stock considerably.

Culpepper has been steady and consistent, and perhaps even a favorite to win the Lions’ starting job.

But he is due a roster bonus before the start of the season, and if the coaching staff has decided to go with Matthew Stafford, then Culpepper may also be trade bait.

Either way, the Lions now have five quarterbacks on the roster—again—and it’s unlikely to stay that way when the regular season rolls around.

That means either O’Connell or Bollinger is the odd man out…unless the Lions are going to blow everybody’s minds by dealing off/cutting Stanton and Culpepper.

Let’s just assume that won’t happen.

What has happened here, then, is that Bollinger and O’Connell have created their own quarterback battle. But instead of fighting for the starting job, they’re fighting for a roster spot.

O’Connell I can see hanging around for a while. Bollinger is still a question mark.

Think of Bollinger like an arm cast.

An arm cast is irritating, not terribly useful, limits your abilities, and shouldn’t be around for more than a few weeks. But unfortunately, due to injury, it is a necessary evil.

Chances are, Bollinger won’t see the start of the regular season, and he can go back to his budding UFL gig with the Florida Tuskers. On the other hand, he may find himself the Lions’ 2009 edition of Drew Henson.

Henson last year was a placeholder. His job was to take up space. To call him a stopgap is an insult to stopgaps, and the gaps they’re used for.

Henson actually got a couple of reps in the regular season, when the worst happened and every other quarterback was injured.

Bollinger needed those kinds of odds just to get a call from a team that hasn’t won a regular season football game in 21 months, and he probably won’t be around for week one, but like Henson, if more injuries occur during the season, the Lions just might get him on speed dial.

For the long term, though, Bollinger has had a few years on him in the league, so the idea that he is a “project” the Lions can develop is much less appealing when the guy is turning 30 this year.

O’Connell, however, can be a project. He was drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots last year, but was inexplicably released after being the favorite for the Patriots’ No. 2 spot.

It’s a little concerning picking up players the Patriots have given up on (they’re usually right…what’s Corey Dillon doing these days?), but it’s not like O’Connell is a 33-year-old journeyman looking for one last payoff or a title shot. He’s 24, and still learning the game.

Ultimately, neither of these signings is likely to affect the top battle between Culpepper and Stafford.

Culpepper’s injury is minor enough for him to still be questionable for Thursday’s preseason game at Buffalo, which means he could still win the starting job.

Stafford, of course, is perfectly healthy, and is the Lions’ future regardless of what other quarterbacks are on the roster.

Stanton, though I like the kid, is developing a reputation for china doll fragility, and is looking at a team that has no real loyalty to him.

So If O’Connell (or Bollinger) shows upside, and Stanton can’t stay healthy, his days may be numbered.

One thing is clear, though. With the Lions signing two quarterbacks as the regular season approaches, they are not just looking to fill injury gaps.

They’re auditioning for a roster spot.

The Detroit Lions' Other Stories From the Indianapolis Colts Game

Dean Holden — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:26:07 -0400

In case you hadn't heard, Matthew Stafford plays for the Detroit Lions. And there's a quarterback battle going on involving him and Daunte Culpepper.

There, now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about the less visible stories of the game: everything else.

No, really. Believe it or not, there are other positions on the field aside from "quarterback" and "Calvin Johnson," and some of them are even important.

I know I'm taking a chance here, because according to the major sports outlets, Stafford, Culpepper and Johnson are the only players anybody cares about. But hopefully someone will find one of the other poor pieces of fungi on the team worth reading about, as they wither in the brilliance of the quarterback battle.

Or maybe not. But at least this way somebody will be talking about them.

In Case You Forgot, Kevin Smith is a Beast

The 2009 season is the first in a long time that Lions fans have entered without a deep, unyielding dread about the running game.

Kevin Smith was good last year, even on a team that consistently played from behind and with a sub-par line, so he could only improve, right?

If the Colts game is any indication, that is absolutely right. Smith is hitting holes harder, showing a greater burst off the line, running with improved vision, and getting in touch with his inner Marshall Faulk by becoming a legitimate receiving threat.

Smith was the game's leading rusher with 50 yards, and the third leading receiver with 33 yards despite only playing two series in the first quarter.

As an added bonus, recall that one of Smith's greatest physical attributes is his endurance and superior conditioning. He runs best late in the game, when the defense is worn down and he still has his legs under him, but against the Colts, he was playing a fresh, first-string NFL defense.

For one quarter.

Okay, the Offensive Line Really Does Look Better

This is a bittersweet admission for me, and Seattle Lion Fan gets as much credit as I can possibly give him in this space for pointing it out.

On one hand, I have been criticizing the Lions' offensive line and asking for more changes along said line since... I guess about 2006. Gosder Cherlius was only a start.

On the other hand, the offensive line looks much improved in its new, more aggressive scheme. Against the Colts, the line consistently pushed the defense back a yard or two at the point of attack, paving the way for over 150 rushing yards and only one sack (partially due to a very badly missed blocking assignment by Aaron Brown).

Cherlius looks much more comfortable at right tackle after starting 13 games there last year.

Dominic Raiola is still a solid center, who can be dominant against smaller defensive lines.

Jeff Backus is still Jeff Backus: average on his best game, and destined to struggle against top pass-rushers... but he shouldn't be the sole cause of any lost football games. In a perfect world, he's a guard opposite Steven Peterman in 2010, but he just might be serviceable in 2009.

Guard has been a revolving door with the Lions for years, but it looks like Daniel Loper and Steven Peterman have the inside track to start, and the team could do a lot worse.

Bottom line, the line still needs work, but until the Lions can fix it through the draft, it might not be as bad as we all feared.

Or it might be a preseason fluke. We'll see.

Defensive Draft Picks Have Been Quiet

After the Lions neglected defense in the first round, there then came a great deal of enthusiasm about Louis Delmas, DeAndre Levy and Sammie Lee Hill, the Lions' top three defensive draft picks.

Well, the preseason has done little to whet fans' appetites. Delmas missed some time with a minor injury, and has made little impact with his playing time, other than blowing up a couple of his own team members in practice .

Levy has made the most impact in the preseason games, but with the signing of Larry Foote and the resurgence of Jordon Dizon, his impact is also the least important in the immediate future.

Hill shows good strength and a great push when he bull-rushes, but otherwise, his technique is lacking. He won't be ready anytime soon.

Now, three preseason games does not, by any means, spell doom for these picks. They're rookies, and immediate Pro Bowl-caliber impact is an unrealistic expectation. Hopefully the preseason takes some of the pressure off the players, and they can develop normally.

Unknown Player of the Week: Marquand Manuel

Let's be clear here: Yes, I used Marquand Manuel's name in a sub-headline.

No, that does not mean I'm relegating him to "next big thing" or "dark horse to start" status.

That being said, I was largely impressed with him against the Colts. He was the only Lion to force a turnover with an interception off Curtis Painter (yes, Peyton Manning would have been more impressive, but take what you can get).

Furthermore, Manuel made a touchdown(and game, as it turned out)-saving open field tackle on Pierre Garcon at the 11-yard line, which ultimately forced the Colts to kick a field goal after a solid red-zone stop to make it a 17-10 game.

That play means nothing in the preseason. It left the door open for the Lions to pull off an 18-17 win, which will be irrelevant in two weeks.

But what if that was a real game? Manuel was the only man between Garcon and six points. He cut off Garcon's momentum, stayed in front of him, and brought him down when he tried to cut inside.

A beautiful, underrated play, especially considering the difficulties Detroit had with tackling against Cleveland.

In the regular season, Manuel is a hero. In the preseason, he still deserves some credit.