Detroit Lions vs. Atlanta Falcons: 5 Lions You Must Watch on Sunday

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Where’s Wayne Fontes? Get me Barry’s number!

OK, a little too melodramatic, similar to an excessive Boone’s Farm evening for your college sweetheart. The Lions have their first blemish of the 2011 season but are still in much better shape than most of us had pegged when we went through the schedule back in August.

Truth be told, the Lions are possibly a referee’s five-yard oopsy-daisy from still being undefeated and the national pundits swarming around a transcendent Thanksgiving Day showdown with the Packers. 

Ted Ginn Jr. stepped out of bounds at the Lions' 40 on his punt return to set up the game-winning TD.  The officiating crew spotted the ball at the Lions' 35.  Would 4th-and-11 have been enough to keep the Niners out of the end zone?

But don’t make the mistake of blaming the officiating for losses.  There is bound to be another error later this year that will help the Lions; the pigskin is an odd-shaped ball and takes unforeseen bounces.

The Dirty Birds from Atlanta fly north this weekend to another sold out Ford Field where over the past two weeks, the fans have accounted for 14 false start penalties for the opposition.  When that place gets rockin’ it reminds me of 80,000-plus at the Silverdome.  Don’t tell me the Squawks in Seattle are any louder than the fans of Detroit.

I’m not going to discuss how Matthew Stafford needs to be more accurate and get rid of the ball or how it would be a great idea to target that Calvin Johnson fella a few times down in the red zone.  You can get that anywhere.

Rather, let’s poke our heads outside the Honolulu Blue and Silver box and look at five players that although they create very little chatter in fantasy football circles, they’re critical to avoiding the dreaded “losing streak.”

Here are the Van Etten V!

Willie Young

The second-year project from North Carolina State has been a bright spot this year for the Lions.  The guy has the proverbial “great motor” and makes his presence felt when he rotates in as part of the “front nine.” He has a tremendous burst off the line and can get the edge on tackles easily. I also think he has a better bull rush than Cliff Avril.

His problem is penalties and playing too recklessly.  It’s natural for a player trying to make a name for himself to do this; the ones who attain stardom successfully harness their natural ability.  Young may be on his way.

With the Ronnie Brown trade falling through yesterday, the Lions have kept their seventh round pick.  If they can find another seventh round gem like Willie Young, Jerome Harrison’s health issues may be a blessing in disguise.

Amari Spievey

Frank Gore killed the Lions last week and my game MVP Delanie Walker was the knife.  On both of Gore’s long runs, Walker trapped Ndamukong Suh to allow the “Wham” play to develop.

Most will say this is Suh’s fault and I agree to a point.  This defense is designed around the front-four getting a push upfield.  When Suh feels the interior lineman sliding off of him, it should be a sign of trap or screen coming. In defense of Suh, he gets through even when they’re trying to block him, it’s tough to tell the difference.

Bobby Carpenter was out of position on one of the big runs, Tulloch ran himself out of the other, the bigger problem on both plays was Amari Spievey.

The strong safety was out of position both times flying to the ball out of control and with horrible angles.  If he fills correctly, those 50 yard gains become 15 yarders and keep the damage to a minimum.

Michael Turner comes in this week and the last time he faced the Lions he torched them for 220 yards on 22 carries.  Yes, that’s 10 yards a pop!

Spievey must play the run better this week, but if he cheats too much, Atlanta will go play-action and get soon-to-be Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez behind the second-year DB.  Spievey will be critical this week because he’ll be a focal point to what the Falcons want to do in the air and on the ground, they’ve seen the tape too.

Titus Young

The rookie from Boise State has had his reception total drop by one every week. He has had a total of 14 yards receiving in each of the past two games, but  Jim Schwartz is high on the second round wide receiver.

"There's a reason we drafted him so high and had such high expectations," Schwartz said. "He's going to make a lot of plays in this offense. He's a young player and still has a ways to go, but he made some really big-time catches. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he's got really strong hands, and he's fearless going across the middle." (freep.com)

With Tony Scheffler out, the Lions will employ more “11 personnel.” Meaning one RB, one TE and three WR.  Atlanta nickel back Christopher Owens was torched in the NFC Championship game last year by Aaron Rodgers and this preseason was no better.  The Falcons signed veteran Kelvin Hayden in September to split the nickel duties.  This is an obvious weakness for Atlanta.

If the coverage continues to roll to Megatron, look for Scott Linehan to exploit this matchup and Titus to make some plays downfield.

Jeff Backus

I know, I know this is becoming a broken record…I mean a worn out tape, scratched CD…corrupt mpg?  Kids have it way too easy these days.

Yes, Backus is in the crosshairs again as he draws the assignment of John Abraham.  I like the matchup this time because Abraham is dealing with a groin issue, but then again, who amongst us hasn’t?

Many will point to the RB position this week and the replacement for Jahvid Best.  Maurice Morris is an adequate replacement and will be fine but I really find that to be secondary.

I don’t care if it’s Maurice Morris, Mercury Morris, Jack Morris or Morris the Cat; this offense is pass first, run second.  Keeping the defense off of Stafford is infinitely more important than who gets the dozen draw carries sprinkled in between pass attempts.

It would have been interesting to see what “Brown can do for you,” but the Ronnie Brown boat has sailed.  Keeping Stafford comfortable in the pocket will go a long way towards starting a new winning streak and it starts with Backus.

Jason Hanson

Old Faithful failed to deliver on Sunday.  The 20-year veteran and fourth ranked kicker, could not add to his NFL record 48 field goals of 50-plus yards as he missed a 52 yarder in the second quarter.  What made it worse was David Akers bombed a 55 yarder just after that to give San Francisco the lead at halftime.

This week’s game figures to have plenty of points and the Lions will need to convert all scoring chances.  Hanson must connect on his opportunities and it seems a bit presumptuous to assume 50 yarders are similar to chip shots, but Lions fans are conditioned for those types of lofty results after two decades of precision.

I have no doubt Hanson will rebound nicely, but it's worth watching as last year's fourth ranked kicker Matt Bryant comes in this week. 

Twenty years? Hope the Fords are planning on engraving a gold watch for No. 4 in the near future.

Those are my five players to watch, enjoy the game!