Lions Fall Short Again - Week 2

In week one, the Lions made a comeback and lost after what looked like a game winning TD was called incomplete due to a rule that is written differently than it is enforced. This week that same rule was enforced again but this time the Lions were at the beneficial end of it as it was an Eagles receiver who dropped the ball at mid-field. Again, the Lions looked to make a great comeback but fell short again.

After taking a 17-7 lead in the second quarter, the Lions gave up four unanswered touchdowns and fell behind 35-17. Then the Lions finally scored again on Jahvid Best's third TD of the day. With 1:50 left to go, Shaun Hill hit Calvin Johnson for a 19 yard touchdown, the completed another pass to Johnson for a two point conversion. The Lions were now down 35-32.

On the ensuing play, Jason Hanson kicked an on-side kick and the Lions recovered. With well over a minute left to go and on their own Lions 43 yard line, it seemed all common sense left as Hill threw four straight incomplete passes in a row to end their hopes for a comeback.

Still, there was a lot of good in the game as well as a lot of bad. Jahvid Best looked like he was every bit the game breaking running back the Lions hoped he would be when they traded to move back into the first round to draft him. Best had 78 yards on 17 carries and two rushing touchdowns. On the receiving side, he had 9 grabs for 154 yards and another touchdown. A total of 232 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns.

It was also a good thing to see that the Lions are not to be considered out of it this year no matter how bad they look. Though they have yet to win a game this year, Detroit has made two come from behind efforts that were as exciting as any in the last minute of the two games they have played.

Yet the bad still out weighs the good as again the play calling was less than desirable. The few times they showed the play action pass, if that's what those were, they were not close to selling the run to anyone much less the defense. I did not see even one end around or one reverse in the game. In fact, the most imaginative plays came in the second half when the Lions brought Ndamukong Suh onto the offensive side of the game.

Near the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lions found themselves in a 3rd and 1 situation. In came Suh. The play? A hand off to Best straight up the middle, which was stuffed for no gain. Detroit decided to go for it on fourth down and kept Suh on the field as a full back again. The play? A hand off to Best straight up the middle which was stuffed for no gain, again!

With the powerful Suh playing fullback, it had to be telling the defense that the Lions were going to try and power their way for a first down. With the Lions center, Dominic Raiola being undersized and having a reputation as being pushed backwards, by the time Suh reached the line , it was already a yard back towards him. Why telegraph the play to the world? Why not fake the hand-off and let Hill run it to the outside? Hill is not the most agile quarterback but he can run some. Why not let one of the tight ends slip away on a fake hand-off and hit him with a pass? Or better yet. Why not let Scheffler slip away and go deep on a fake hand-off?

For most of the game, the Lions would not throw the ball more than five yards down field again. When they brought in Suh on a short yardage third down, that would have been ideal for the deeper pass. It almost seems as if Linehan is one of those old men who do not like the idea of thinking outside the box. He has his set plays and will stick to them no matter how old, out dated, and unimaginative they are. Sometimes I think his play book must come from the days before the forward pass. My big question is, whose play book did the Lions use in the preseason?

After starting 0-2, it is difficult to hang onto the good but that is exactly what we need to do. We have to remember that the Lions are not a play-off team yet and if you had expected them to be, you were truly living out of Never Never land. But the Detroit Lions are an improved team. They have come very close to winning both of their games this year and have shown a lot of improvement.

Oh yeah. The defense had another 5 sacks and Suh had his second in two games.