Detroit Lions Roundtable Week 1: Improvement?

Welcome to the first edition of the 2009 Detroit Lions Roundtable. Each week we will ask two questions concerning the Detroit Lions to four B/R Lions columnists.

Our questions this week:

1) Give a brief breakdown of Matthew Stafford's first professional game.

2) Last year, the Lions lost to the Saints 42-7. Was there an improvement against them this year? If so, where were the improvements?

Here are the columnists for this week, along with a link to their most recent article.

Keith Shelton

Recent Article - Matthew Stafford Will Get Worse Before He Gets Better

1) Stafford looked every bit a rookie. He overthrew and under-threw receivers, and finished with three interceptions; one of which appeared to be thrown directly to Darren Sharper.

He should have had one passing touchdown when he hit Calvin Johnson for a 60+ yard gain. But Johnson was ruled out at the three yard line. Stafford ended up running that one in himself.

Were there bright spots? Yes, but not many of them.

Stafford needs to work on finding his third and fourth receivers out there, and not concentrate solely on Calvin Johnson, who more often than not, will be double covered. That will come with time, but as of right now, the kid's brain hasn't caught up with his arm.

2) There was improvement to be found and it was all on the offensive end, because the defense stunk it up. 

The Saints nearly racked up nearly the same amount of yards on Sunday as they did last year, which was over 500 yards. Brees threw for a near NFL record six touchdowns.

The Lions didn't just lie-down though; they fought the entire game. There were quite a few three-and-outs, but in-between those, Stafford led a few scoring drives, one of which was set up by Aaron Brown's long punt return.

All in all, the Lions scored 27 points which is more than they've scored in quite a while. They were still blown out, but I suppose there's reason to believe they are improving.

Dean Holden

Recent Article - Detroit Lions Notch A Good Loss In New Orleans

1) Matthew Stafford is a rookie quarterback who had a typical first game. Anybody who's ready to throw him under the bus now is out of their minds.

He made just as many good plays and good decisions as bad ones.

What he needs to do now is go to work, watch some film, and figure out how to keep doing the good stuff and prevent the bad. Part of that is not trusting his arm so much.

He is gifted with a huge arm, but nobody- especially quarterbacks- can get by in the NFL on physical skill alone; because the defenses are also physically skilled, and will make you pay for bad decision-making.

Sooner or later, Stafford has to realize he isn't playing high school or college defenses anymore. The Lions decided they want him to learn on the job. That starts now.

2) Improvement? Where to begin?

We cut the loss deficit in half (35 last year, 18 this year), and notched an interception against a top-three quarterback in the league. That interception in Week 1 equals the secondary's total INT count for all of last season. We also scored a defensive touchdown, two special teams touchdowns, and never trailed by more than 18.

Most importantly, the Lions never let the game get out of hand. Yes, they trailed between 11 and 18 points for the entire second half, and an 18-point loss isn't something to be proud of. But they were only a couple of missed opportunities away from making this a close, winnable game. They played to keep themselves in it, but never capitalized or made a surge.

As we are well aware, this is a team with a deeply ingrained losing culture. It's nothing new; it drove Barry Sanders to retirement nearly a decade ago. For once, the Lions have the right people in place (aside from the owner) to reverse that culture, but it won't happen instantly.

A team that knows how to win gets touchdowns in the red zone instead of turnovers and field goals; points off of long kick returns and sustained drives; and big plays and stops when they need them. Those are the things the Lions were unable to get in New Orleans. Had they gotten them on Sunday, they could have not only played close, but possibly won the game.

Should they get them on future Sundays, we will start to see that losing culture reversed one game at a time; and we'll see a team capable of putting up numbers where it counts- the win column.

Seattle Lion Fan

Recent Article - Detroit Lions Going Through Growing Pains

1) Stafford's first start was, at best, underwhelming. He displayed good footwork, threw nice tight spirals, but his accuracy was off with passes ending up in the ground in front of receivers. But he did show some potential when he hit Calvin Johnson for a 64 yard gain. 

One thing I wasn't sure of is why he made a tackle on a 365 lb. lineman. Perhaps, with more experience, he'll learn not to do that.

But since everyone wants to compare Stafford's situation to other rookies that started their first year, most notably Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman, lets take a look at how he compares to them:

Stafford:16 for 37, 205 yards, 0 TD's, 3 INT's

Manning:21 for 37, 302 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT's

Aikman:17 for 35, 180 yards, 0 TD's and 2 INT's

Comparing Stafford's first game to Manning and Aikman doesn't mean anything. However, as far as first games go, Stafford didn't do all that bad. 

By the same token, neither Manning's 1998 Colts and Aikman's 1999 Cowboys were anything special going 3-13 and 1-15 respectively. In fact, it was the New Orleans Saints that shut out the Cowboys 28-0 for Aikman's debut. 

How's that for a bit of irony?

2) About really the only thing that "improved" for the Lions this game from last years 42-7 debacle, was the fact that they held Drew Brees to only two touchdowns as opposed to six, and scored 20 more points. 

1st downs                       15             14

Rushing yards                  129            33

Passing  yards                 126            205

Total Yds (Offense)          255            231

Total Yds (Defense)          532           515

Outside of scoring 27 points this year, not much else has improved.  The secondary was lit up in both games and the defensive line couldn't even get near Brees.  They did sack him twice last year, but none last week.