HUGE WIN and Coaches Deserve CREDIT!

HUGE WIN

Lions win today was a combination of great player additions and creative play calling. Especially the defense! For example:

The safety was Levy's, but Charles Johnson made it happen. He drove his man right back into the endzone where Levy grabbed him. Great move my staff to keep Johnson and also move Levy to the middle. 

Even losing your D-play caller, the Lion defense was great. What a difference from last year. Third game in a row without giving up a long TD. Average yards per catch for GB? Less than 10! 

Bush's TD: That counter play where Pettigrew was in the backfield was a thing of beauty. He went right as if to lead Bush, who went left. A.J. Hawk completely followed Pettigrew leaving one guy for Bush to outrun. Credit to the coaches for making the best use of a player's ability. Last year, we didn't even RUN a counter. 

Getting a fullback:

Jed Collins was the perfect pick. He is the missing piece for this offense, even more so than Tate. Last year, we lost five games because we could not just make ONE short run in the fourth quarter of each game. I bet we have more rushing first downs late in Q4 this year than all of last year. And he catches the ball on the bootleg. 

Corey Fuller:

Caught his first pass and it was 52 yards. And yeah, he had the miss that became a pick. But his best play was on Bush's run, where he engaged the DB and pushed him down the field. He doesn't do that and Bush does not get in. His size and speed will be in full view as he only gets better. Great work on the coaches part in turning him into an NFL regular. 

This is a different Lions team. Sure hope Tulloch and Carey are ok!

Halftime Against Green Bay

Halftime Vs. Packers

Suh has a huge sack !!! But Tullouch injured. That will hurt! And Nate Freese has to be done.

Suh is not the reason we lost!!

Once again we get attacks on the guy who makes this defense work, and it is working. I went back and watched our losses from last year, and they were totally different than last week's.Here's why:
1. The Lions gave up a few big plays against Carolina, but not one long touchdown against either the Panthers or the Giants.  Last year we gave up a long touchdown on the first defensive SERIES and continued all year with that trend. Not so this year.
2. The Lions turnovers were not on the defense. And we have 6 sacks this year, which is a 33% higher rate than last year. ANd Suh causes a lot of that cause they almost have to double team him on every play and the Lions can bring pressure from the LB"S which they have.
3. The kliiing blow play against Carolina was the tripping penalty on Ansah, who was clearly being held, and he made little or no contact with his leg. Much like Suh's trip on Rodgers last year. (or was it the year before?) That was just one hold of many uncalled this year. And even the announcers said it was a  questionable call.
4. Last of all, let's remember that team was 12-2 last year, and the Lions certainly were not outclassed. I think the coaches have done a great job of changing this team and we all need to be patient. I want them to commit more to the running game and not rely as much on Calvin. And where did Tate go after the first few series? Those are the things I want to see adjusted. But Suh is not the problem.

My Predictions Come True!

Ok, so here is what I said the Lions would need to do to win.

1. Stick with Stafford up under center.
2. Move the DB's up to the marker on third and long.
3. Use the fullback formation often, especially on third and short.
4. Be aggressive with the pass rush and blitz package.

I also said Fairley and the rest of the line would be hard to stop, especially Ansah. Here's a breakdown on all of this.

1. Stafford under center.
He was there for at least half the snaps and I will have that exact figure later. At the beginning of the game, and later in the 4th quarter, Bell and Bush had success running the ball. After the first couple of runs, the Giants committed to stopping it which opened up the passing game. Several play action passes were successful also. Stafford is a good ball handler and froze the Giant linebackers several times with his fakes and his real handoffs were also hard to read.
2. Move the DB's up.
Nobody has mentioned one HUGE difference between this game and almost EVERY game in the last few years: the Lions did not give up a big play TD. Game after game, the opposition broke off a long run or short pass that turned into a TD or a long pass. Not so this time. One big reason is we no longer have Delmas back there "guessing" (wrong a lot, never should have given him that leeway.) And I saw a lot of straight cover 2 in the secondary, with the safeties well back taking away the long throws. Later in the game, the Lion safeties were coming up more aggressively and especially on third down, the corners and safeties were right on the receivers at the marker, making several key tackles to stop Gian drives. Also, the linebacker drops were not as deep as in the past, so there was no big open layer.

Predictions For Lions vs.Giants

Monday night represents a huge opportunity for the Lions to take advantage of the losses by the Packers and the Bears in their openers. A victory will be will give the Lions an early division lead and a wild card advantage over the Giants. But the Lions will need to eliminate penalties and play to their strengths and avoid repeating the coaching errors of the past regime.
Here's how it should happen:

      Offense: I don't believe we have seen anything close to the entire Lion offense in the preseason. The only give-away in that regard was Kellen Moore's obvious mastery of an offense that spread the ball around and used a variety of plays we wouldn't have seen last year.
      For example, Stafford up under center.
      If the coaches stick to this, especially on third and short, we will win some games we would have lost last year, when we gave the defense only one look, shot-gun with a single back. Had the Lions made just three more third and short conversions, we would have beat three teams we lost to and made the playoffs.
When you line up with a fullback and a Reggie Bush or Joique Bell in the backfield, you create uncertainty in the minds of D-coordinators. This makes them pick a poison, which gives the Lions options in both the running and passing games. For example, you can't play four men in the box with the linebackers reading because the backs will be closer to the line when they get the ball and will have more momentum. The defense will have to have more men in the box, leaving the D-backs with less support underneath.
      This formation should be used on second and 2-5 also, with the receivers going deep and taking away the run support by the db's. In short, I believe we will see the fullback a lot and if the Lions can make it work, lookout, the sky is the limit.
      Defense: Given the current disarray in the Giant offensive line, the Lions should have a field day if they continue to mix in their blitz packages as frequently as I think they will. Since most teams will double Suh, there is no free man to pick up the blitz, unless the Giants keep a tight end or back in to block. And I think Ansah will be a major factor as he was at the beginning of last year when he was so quick the refs thought he was jumping offside. He got four sacks that were called back, yet was only offside on one and lined up offside on one. Jason Taylor and Fairly will also make this a long day for a Giants line that had to pick up a 32 year old castoff (Adam Snyder from the 'Niners) to bolster them when they lost their starting center.See it here at http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/transactions/nfl/all/today/
     The other defensive coaching move will be to move their DB's and safeties up in front of the 1st down marker on third and more than ten, especially when in a "prevent" situation.  Last year, we gave up several long completions into field goal range because our safeties were five yards behind the marker with nobody to cover back there. We also had our linebackers dropping back BEHIND the marker on third downs and gave up the first down to completions in front of them. Well there you have it. We will see how it unfolds. If the Lions do the above, I say we win by 21. You read it here first!!

Lions vs. Jaguars

     LIONS OFFENSE
    One big difference that is apparent is Stafford under center with either a single back or both or a fullback set, which is a huge change from the Linehan scheme. Although I couldn't get the game in my area, I did see Bush's run and our line moved the entire front to one side, allowing Bush to cut back to the off side.....the fact Bush started seven yards deep gave him a better look at the defense and brought him almost to full speed as he reaches the line. This gives him time to see what is happening up ahead and adjust to it, which he did very well. another benefit to that set is the play action possibilities. You can clearly see the linebackers for the Jags coming forward and reacting to the run; had this been a fake they would have struggled to get back in coverage. Bush will have a lot of long runs from this set and so will Bell. Still can't believe we didn't put Stafford up under center all last year.
      Bell had a nice run out of that same formation against Cleveland, and was able to choose his spot also, cutting in behind Fauria's block. I didn't see the run by Leshoure for 30 yards. Was it from a similar set? Let me know in a comment.
     That being said, I am hoping the Lions ran from a fullback set on third and short, or if not for sure on fourth and short. I didn't see the series, so I don't know, but put Collins and Bell out there and we should convert a lot of those.
    LIONS DEFENSE: 
     I'm not surprised at that Tahir Whitehead did well against the Jags......I thought he was great against Cleveland, but he got injured. Glad to see one of our draft picks develop into at least a solid backup.
    PREVENT PREVENTS NOTHING!
    Am I the only one who hates the prevent defense? Just when a rookie comes into the game, you back off your defense, rush four and then watch him pick apart the secondary. If you have all those guys back, why can't you cover anybody. And the coaches need to drop the first five DBs no deeper than the marker. We drop too deep and let them catch it for a first down. Not good and been going on way too long. Is Gunther Cunningham still calling plays?

Lions vs. Raiders - Quick Thoughts

Tongue-in Cheek: Wrestling Names for the Lions

After watching the Raiders continually hold and take down the Lions pass rushers (only one holding penalty called all game, I think) I've given some of our lineman wrestling names, so the opposing announcers will have a little spice in their broadcasts between their swooning over the home team. Also, since the referee in wrestling seems to always be looking the wrong way or not see something happening under their noses, our guys wont mind it so much.  Here we go, feel free to chime in cause I need some poetic flow on some of these:

1. Ndamu "KING KONG" Suh!  That one was easy.
2. Jason the "JASANATOR" Taylor!
3. C.J. "MONSTER" Mosely
4. Devin the "DEMON" Taylor
5. Nick "UN" Fairley
6. Ezekiel the "WRONG" Ansah

One play in the middle of the game had Suh immediately splitting a double team and then being held by both sides. That shit happens so much, I guess it's the "new normal" for the officials when it comes to King Kong. In this case, the two holders did everything but lock their hands together. I think when that happens, Suh should grab the back of their helmets and slam their heads together!!

And last but not least, I love the Twentyman, but him saying Caldwell "probably" should have won his challenges is being a little too polite. Hope it has nothing to do with him now working for the Lions instead of the FREEP. Especially on that key third quarter play where Whitehead and another Lion stood up the running back on the 25 yard line (just kiddng, it was the 28) clearly short of the sticks. Even the Oakland Announcers, especially 'Old Tom Flores said he wasn't even close to the 30.