Lions vs Vikings Pregame Week-3

I can see it now.

It will be sometime in the second quarter in this Sundays Detroit Lions game in Minnesota. Brett Favre will take the snap and drop back. His line will collapse under the over powering charge of the Lions defensive line. As Ndamukong Suh breaks free, Old Man Favre will run to his left and find Kyle Vanden Bosch. The two defensive linemen will converge upon the ancient quarterback like a hammer and an anvil. Favre being the tempered metal. As the three of them crash together their will be a splash of sparks.... wait.... those aren't sparks. They are Brett Favre's age spots. At half time, while the grounds crew are cleaning up the spots, Brett Favre will be holding a press conference, announcing his retirement... again.

When the third quarter starts, Brett Favre will start thinking about coming back and playing again. He will grab a hold of his walker, lift it up and throw it to the side. Then he will sit down and take a couple of breaths from his oxygen tank. As he pulls the mask away, he will have a problem with his dentures being stuck to the mask. In disgust he will throw it all aside and drop his shoulders in a slow and very long sigh. It's just no use. It would be ridiculous to consider going back out there in his state. Maybe he can wait until next week to come out of retirement. No need in facing the Lions defensive line for another two quarters now.

The Media does not respect the Lions defense. They look at what Cutler did in the first week and do not consider that the defense was on the field far too long due to very bad offensive play calling by Linehan. The Media looks at last week and what Michael Vick did and do not look at the near superhuman ability that Vick showed in avoiding the pass rush and making plays as he was being pulled to the ground. The season is two weeks old and the Lions defensive pass rush has been outstanding. Believe me... Brett Favre is no Michael Vick!

The Lions sacked Vick 5 times last week. He avoided at least that many more with his agility and quick spins. If the Lions put as much pressure on Brett Favre, he will be sacked anywhere from 7 to 10 times. However tough he has been, at his age, I do not see Favre taking that kind of beating and still having a good game.

Brett is no longer getting older by the year. He is getting older by the hit. The hits will have more of an effect on him than they once did when he was young. Hit him a few times in the past and he shook it off and played even better. Now he will rush himself to avoid the next hit. Against the Lions he will know many more are coming. Pressure him early. Hit him often. Blitz him early and often. Even if he burns you on it a couple of times, if the blitz gets to him and hits him, he will start rushing it.

Quite frankly, the absolute very worst thing the Lions can do, is play a soft zone defense and give Favre some time to throw. Throughout history against Brett Favre, the Lions have done just that. For some reason they have never blitzed him much. They allow him time to throw and he kills the Lions because of it. This year the Lions have been getting pressure from the linemen and using the blitz as well. Hopefully this year the Detroit Lions will go after Favre.

As much as they need to get after Brett, the Lions also have to make some adjustments on their offense. Every defensive coordinator will now have watched the film on Jahvid Best. They will expect the Lions to use him a lot. It is imperative for the Lions to use a good play action fake. Not the half-hearted fake hand offs with the running back two or three yards away that I have seen so far. They need to sell the hand off and make defenses come in to stop Best then throw it deep. Scott Linehan needs to use his tight ends and running backs in the passing game deeper than two or three yards. Most importantly though, he needs to get Calvin Johnson into the game during normal plays and not only during passing situations late in the game.

If the Lions play it right, there is no reason they should not be able to come away with a win. If they play their usual style, they will lose. I think Linehan knows that if he doesn't open things up this week, he will have every fan calling for his job.

My Prediction
Detroit Lions 27
Minnesota Vikings 17