Lions vs Rams - Pregame Week-8

This coming weekend is easily the most important week of the Detroit Lions 2009 season. The 1-5 Lions are facing off against the 0-7 Rams. It is the only game this season in which the Lions are actually favored to win.

As bad as the Lions have played, the Rams have been worse. The game is a home game for the Lions. It looks very promising that Matthew Stafford will play this week. It is possible to see Calvin Johnson play again. If the Lions should find a way to lose this game, the fans will be near riotous rebellion. The "Sell the Lions" signs will come out. "Forget Millen, Fire Ford" T-shirts will fly off the shelf. (If I can come up with the money to have them made they will.) The Lions should win this week, but with their losing history and the fact the fans have stopped believing enough to sell out games, if the Lions lose it would be disastrous.

The Detroit Lions absolutely have to win this week against the Rams!

The Positives: ... The Rams have one aspect of their offense that is worth mentioning. Steve Jackson! The strong point of the Lions defense, if there is a strong point, is the run stopping. They are far from a great run defense. In fact, they really aren't even a good run defense. But stopping the run is at least something they can do sometimes when they put their minds to it. They have yet to show they can stop a pass from any quarterback. The Rams passing offense is actually nearly as bad as the Lions pass defense. So the one dimensional Rams offense will face the one dimensional Lions defense that is actually suited to stop them.

The Rams defense is actually the equal to the Lions defense. Horrible! The Lions offense, believe it or not, is much better than the Rams offense. If Calvin Johnson should play, the odds of the Lions winning will skyrocket.

The Negatives: .... I will be up front with you. I am not expecting Calvin Johnson to actually play. I think he is still another week away from being ready. Without him, Stafford will be forced to read the defense a lot more and that could hurt the Lions. Without Calvin Johnson, the Rams will not fear the pass nearly as much and be more liable to bring 8 men up in the box to stop Kevin Smith.

I question if the Lions defense can even stop the putrid passing game of the St.Louis Rams. If they cannot, it will be a long day for the Lions and the season will be heading for a major crash landing.

What I would Like to See: .... I would love to see constant blitzing against a bad Rams offense. I would absolutely love to see a few plays calling for Brandon Pettigrew to be hit on deeper routes. I would like to see Stafford make more use of the hard count to draw penalties. I would like to see a little more imagination in the play calling. (Lately it has been reminiscent of last season.) I would like to actually see the offensive line blow open a couple decent holes for Kevin Smith. I would really love to actually see the game!

Food for thought: .... Isn't it funny that the only win the Lions have had since 2007 was blacked out so the fans could not see it happen? Now they play the Rams and actually have a decent chance of winning... and it is blacked out again! How long will it be before the fans actually get to watch a win?