For Detroit Lions, "Run the Ball and Stop the Run" Equals Zero Wins

Sometimes statistics can help us to understand the performance of a team, to find out where they might be doing well—or not so well, as the case may be—or to determine if the numbers mask an issue that gives way to a great underlying problem.

Regardless which method we use to attempt to understand the underperforming Detroit Lions, rest assured we will never find enough ways to measure our collective disappointment.  I’m “x-bar plus three” on the disappointment meter.

So what are big kids to do when some kids from out of town break the arm off your Bionic Man and the turf monster claims the big toe of your speed demon action figure?

Might as well put on the “patience” hat, because that is what the Detroit Lions' 2010 season will require if fans are to tolerate what lies ahead.

The idea that these Lions could somehow capture a winning season after an 0-3 start seems as likely as a 60-degree morning in Sault Ste. Marie on Valentine's Day. 

Not gonna happen, Lions fans.

Let’s start with the positives: This won’t take too long as there are few.

The Lions currently share the NFL lead with the Philadelphia Eagles with 11 sacks.  The Packers have 10 sacks, as do the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.

Clay Matthews III may move the Packers to the top of the list in the sack category:  The blond-haired monster is coming to Chicago to feast on “Breaded Veal” Cutler, a dish served best on the western shores of Lake Michigan, when Green Bay faces the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

The Lions are presently tied, along with the Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans, for third in forced fumbles with five, and trail the league-leading St. Louis Rams (eight) and Pittsburgh Steelers (seven).

The Lions' defensive line has been a hungry and active group, and the defense has been a pretty hard-hitting group as a whole.  Unfortunately, neither of these positive traits has yet to translate into victory on the field of play, the most important statistic of all.

The turnovers that have been created by the defense have all too often gone to waste: The Lions offense has truly managed to score only three points on their own, as defensive tackle Corey Williams returned an interception to the Minnesota 12-yard line. 

Aside from the five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shaun Hill to tight end Tony Scheffler, Hanson’s one-for-two effort on field goal attempts provided the visitors with three points.

The principle of “run the ball and stop the run” is a theory the club just cannot seem to grasp.

As fate would have it, the Detroit Lions are presently dead-last in the NFL in run defense, allowing 148.7 yards rushing per game.  Unfortunately, the Detroit Lions offense compounds the problem, as they are next to last in rush offense, gaining only 66 yards on the ground per game.

There it is folks.  It’s that simple.

So what is a team to do when the assembled offensive weapons break, the starters are  not star-quality, and the play-calling becomes so telegraphed that everyone in the stadium knows what’s coming next?

As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan, I can only hope going forward that the team uses its top draft resources to build the proper foundation upon which to raise a winning franchise.  Some of those pieces are in place, but the more the 2010 Detroit Lions play, the more defective pieces are identified, producing a horror show at best.

Lions fans are already wearying of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan’s unimaginative play-calling, and some are calling for his dismissal in light of the abysmal performance of a group that had supposedly been restocked and retooled for high-speed and low-drag.

It has been a drag, all right.

Lions fans are running low on patience with the coaching staff, and should the team fail to win their next home contest, local television blackouts could prevent the broadcast of Lions games to many fans.

One statistic that pops out at me is the Lions 17th-ranked scoring offense.  It seems strange to be an 0-3 team with a middle-of-the-road scoring offense, unless that scoring offense isn’t actually "middle-of-the-road."

Take off your mask, scoring offense category.

As a little fellow, I grew up watching Sesame Street, as did many of you, and one of the songs they sang on the program had to do with identifying which items were the same and which items were different.  You have to do the same in statistics if they are to hold true, as anomaly creeps in to distort reality.

While the Lions did score 32 points against the Eagles, the score was 35-17 when the Eagles took their talons off the Lions' throats.  In divisional road games, the Lions have scored just 24 points, 14 against the Bears and 10 points against the Minnesota Vikings.

Since the 32 points scored by the Lions against the Eagles paint such a disparate picture, I’m going to throw that game out.  For me, it is outside the relevant range for consideration.

The short math is 10 + 14 = 24 / 2 = 12.  Twelve points per game is what the Detroit Lions offense contributes on average.

That statistic will get you zero wins, and until it changes drastically, the forecast is more of the same.  Gird your loins, Detroit Lions football fans: This season could be a serious doozy.  “Owen Beware,” folks.

That 12-points-per-game average would qualify for next-to-last in the NFL in scoring offense at present, between San Francisco at 12.7 and league-worst Carolina at 10.7.

The Lions' scoring defense is in the bottom third at 26th, allowing an average of 26 points per contest.

When looking at a good many statistical categories, the Bears, Packers, and Vikings are often found at or near the top, showing their separation from the Lions.

Earlier today, the San Francisco 49ers organization parted ways with the offensive coordinator responsible for the moribund Niners offense.  The head coach of the storied franchise, Super Bowl champion and former Baylor Bear Mike Singletary, has as much passion and fortitude regarding the game as any man alive on the planet.  Failure was met with stiff resolve and preparedness to go forward with different leadership, as the man currently responsible had not lived up to his end of the bargain.

I can only hope that this in-conference firing will serve as a boiler room of creative ingenuity, enveloping Scott Linehan in a flame of new direction that leads to a victorious Detroit Lions offense.  Get people better, or get better people.

The statistics don’t begin to measure fan frustration with the team that is never afraid to exceed the surgeon general’s warning of too often snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as that is all the organization has known since 1957.

The clandestine operations in Allen Park do not best serve the interests of a fan base who contribute their hard-earned discretionary income to pay the salaries of the team’s players; and while in the theory of Sun Tzu it makes sense, as a winless franchise, the practical application is nonsensical. 

If the leaders want to see fans in the stands on Sunday afternoons in Detroit, they might want to reevaluate the clever, “mum’s the word” mentality that guards great national secrets at the Allen Park facility.  Nobody is buying it anymore, and the fans are getting turned off by it. 

When you’ve reached double-digit wins for consecutive seasons, it might make more sense then, but that doesn’t appear to be a problem anyone will be having soon.

And I moved from 3-13 to 9-7 why?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/407993-2010-detroit-lions-better-than-a-3-13-team-hammer-says-no

Which brings me to my next point. Don’t overdose on Hopium during the preseason: It is hazardous to your mental health.  (Come on feel the noise…)

GO LIONS WIN!

HäMMëR