Detroit Lions Monday Morning Quarterback: Week 4 vs. the Green Bay Packers

The Game

In a game that was closer than most expected, the Green Bay Packers held on to defeat the Detroit Lions 28-26. The Lions lost once again at Lambeau field, a place they haven’t won since 1991. 

The Lions have now lost three of their first four games by a combined 10 points.

The Good

Shaun Hill

Hill played his best game as a Detroit Lion and accounted for 384 yards of total offense. 

I was really impressed with his ability to improvise with his legs. 

His rushing yards were obvious but his movement in the pocket when he needed to buy time is what really impressed me. Still, you have to wonder if Matthew Stafford would have made a difference with such a close final score.

Special teams

The Lions are finally getting the kind of special teams play that they need. 

The return game is not quite where they want it to be yet, but their coverage teams are much improved over previous years. 

On seven kickoff returns, the Packers only averaged 17 yards, add to that the two forced turnovers and the coverage teams had a great day.

Jason Hanson hit four field goals including a 52 yarder. His only miss came from 55 yards at the end of the first half.

The Secondary

I have been as critical as anyone of Detroit’s secondary and for good reason. 

Against the Packers the secondary did not have a great day but for a much maligned unit they gave the Lions a chance to win. 

It might be time to throw Alphonso Smith into one of the starting spots to see what he can do.

The NFL

The NFL and their support for the fight against breast cancer really hit home with me. 

The disease that robbed my wife of her mother has become personal to me. I normally try to stay professional when I write but this awful disease needs to be beaten. 

I also would like to voice my support for more birthdays.

The Bad

Brandon Pettigrew

Yes, he led the team in both receptions and receiving yards, but his drops are unforgivable. 

For the second straight week, Pettigrew had two very costly drops. 

The first would have given the Lions a first and goal at the two and the second would have been a third down conversion. 

It really is too bad because he played really well aside from the drops, but an NFL player must make those catches.

Jim Schwartz

I like Jim Schwartz and I think he is the best Lions head coach in recent memory, but he is making me question some of the things he does. 

For the second straight week, he made a late game decision that has me scratching my head. 

With 6:37 left in the game, the Lions had a 4^th down at the Green Bay 37 and Schwartz elected to punt instead of trying a 54 yard field goal.

Even though Hanson had missed from 55 yards late in the first half, he had crushed a 49 and 52 yarder in the second half. Those two kicks would have enough distance to be good from 54. 

Penalties

For the second week in a row, the Lions played undisciplined football. Although they cleaned it up some in the second half, the overall number of penalties is inexcusable. 

The really concerning thing is that a lot of the penalties are of the unforced error variety. The false starts and offsides penalties have been killing the Lions; tack on the personal foul type penalties and a team that is lacking in talent just made it even harder on itself to win.

The Ugly

Reality

The 28-26 final score is something for Lions fans to feel good about, but the reality is when the game was on the line the Lions couldn’t get it done. 

Late in the game, the offense had first and goal and couldn’t punch it in. Three incompletions later, the Lions had to settle for a field goal.

The defense didn’t fare much better when the game was on its shoulders. The Lions had the Packers buried at their own 13 and all the Packers did was march down the field and run out the clock.  

For a team that hasn’t been able to run the ball in over two weeks, the Packers discovered their run game just when they needed it. 

The worst part was the Lions were not able to force a third down until the clock had almost run out. 

Misleading Stat of the Day:

All of them

One quick look at the box score and one would have to assume it was a Detroit blow out. 

The sad thing is the only stat that mattered, the final score, was the one the Lions couldn’t win.

Play of the Day

Alphonso Smith’s interception in the 4^th quarter was huge. 

Not only was it a great play to wrestle the ball away from a top flight receiver like Greg Jennings, but the timing of it made it even bigger. 

The Packers had been shut out by the Lions the second half and the Packers wanted a big play to take the momentum back from Detroit, Smith stood tall and thwarted them.

Quote of the Day

"Yeah, which is part of the problem” – Brian Billick reacting to Thom Brennaman calling Jason Hanson one of the Lions’ best draft picks ever.

Random Thoughts

The sad thing is that not at any point did I feel the Lions would win.

I am not the biggest Kevin Smith fan, but I was really happy to see him out there.

Three sacks in four games by Ndamukong Suh—so much for interior linemen not getting on the stat sheet.

It was nice to see the Lions convert third downs.

Overall Impression

It was nice to see the Lions fight to the end. They may have fallen short but they exceeded my expectations. 

They improved on offense over the previous week, but it’s the big plays on defense and special teams that should have fans excited. 

The offense is supposed to make big plays, after all they know where the ball is going; it’s the defense that has to work for big plays and in this game they did.

The Lions are 0-4 and that is disappointing but their schedule has been brutal, as they have only had one game at home and the only team they played against that had a losing record is the Minnesota Vikings.

Next Week

In a matchup of the two teams with the worst record form 2009, the St. Louis Rams pay a visit to Ford Field.  

The Lions are hoping to get starting quarterback Matthew Stafford back for this game. If Stafford is able to come back, it will be a battle with Sam Bradford for the best first overall pick from the past two years.