Getting Closer: Grading the Detroit Lions for Week Nine

Here are my grades for the Detroit Lions/Chicago Bears game this past Sunday. Despite holding a 23-10 lead at halftime, the Lions were unable to score again in the game and lost. The Lions fell to 0-8 with their 27-23 loss.

OFFENSE: D -
Quarterback Dan Orlovsky made some plays in the second quarter, when the Lions scored 23 points after trailing 10-0 but looked pretty bad at other points in the game. He threw two interceptions, one in the first quarter that led to a Chicago score and then an interception deep in Chicago territory, where he misread (or didn’t see) the safety helping over the top on Calvin Johnson and had a bonehead intentional grounding in the fourth quarter.

What was positive throughout the game and especially in the second quarter, was that the Lions were looking towards man-child receiver Calvin Johnson. Unfortunately, he was open on many, many plays that Orlovsky flat-out missed. The Lions were able to establish some running game with Kevin Smith in the second quarter as well, as he scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.

His 14 total carries were his second highest workload this season, and most since opening day when he rushed 18 times for 48 yards. Still, Rudi Johnson still took carries away from Smith, who continues to look quicker, more explosive, and overall more impressive than Rudi.

The rest of the game was pretty horrible, from an offensive standpoint. In the first, third, and fourth quarters, the offense racked up a paltry 129 total yards and had some tough mistakes late in the game due to a fumble and some false start penalties.

One positive from the game, despite only racking up 53 yards rushing, was that they won the time-of-possession battle. Something else to build on is that they were better on third down conversions (7-17) than in previous weeks.

Overall, there is some progress, but Orlovsky doesn’t make enough throws when guys are open, namely Calvin Johnson, and they still aren’t running the ball enough. Orlovsky was apparently hurt on the first play of the game and is rumored to be out for a few weeks, so it appears that newly signed QB Daunte Culpepper will be the starter going forward.

DEFENSE: C+
They started out poorly, giving up 10 quick points to the Bears' offense but settled in pretty well. They forced two turnovers and stopped the Bears on nine of 14 drives in the game. They also held an opposing QB under 200 yards for the first time this season and notched a sack.

On the downside, they allowed another 100-yard rusher, which has become a weekly lock for opposing running backs. 

The defense played pretty solid overall and finally put the offense in some good situations. Dare I say that they seem to be figuring things out a little bit? Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but it’s encouraging to see them hang in there and not get run all over the field. The tackling is still bad and continues to be an issue.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Jason Hanson nailed a 50+ yard field goal and continues to be one of the best and most consistent players on the team. I won’t fault him for the missed extra point because he slipped. Middleton did a pretty good job on KR’s, posting a pretty good average and coming close to breaking a big one. The coverage team did great, seeing as though Hester didn’t score and the overall field position wasn’t great for Chicago throughout the game.

COACHING: B+

The gameplan was good for the second straight week, which is why this grade is so high. For a group of coaches that are supposed to be “lame ducks," they should be commended for competing and not just mailing it in. On offense, Colletto did a better job of getting the ball to Calvin but still didn’t establish a solid running game and continues to limit Kevin Smith’s carries for no apparent reason.

On defense, they caused some turnovers and didn’t lose the game for the offense by putting them in horrible situations. The team seems to be getting better each week and the coaches have to get some credit for that. Also, fundamentally, the team was much better, as they didn’t commit a penalty until the fourth quarter.