The Lions will host the Patriots Saturday evening. It is their first sold out preseason game in years. It is also a nationally televised game. What seems most important to many fans however, is that it is against the Patriots.
New England has made a showing of blitzing the quarterbacks this preseason. Likely, Stafford will take at least one hit. Everyone will be watching to see how fast he gets up from that hit.... if at all.
The Patriots are the team that embarrassed the Lions last year on Thanksgiving. With the Lions feeling much improved and with their starting QB healthy, the fans want to see how we will compare.
Then there is Tom Brady. Will he pick the Lions secondary apart like he did last year? Will Suh bury him?
The game is filled with questions and hopes and excitement. Which is a very cool thing if you keep in mind that it is after all, only a preseason game.
Likely Brady will complete his share of passes. It means nothing because he does that against every team. It is possible Suh will use the turf like silly puddy and see if Brady's name will transfer to it if he pastes him against it hard enough. It will mean nothing except that the NFL will feel they have to protect one of its superstar QBs and fine Suh. It is highly likely that Stafford will take his first real hit since the surgery. It is also likely he will get up and his day will be cut short because Schwartz does not want to take anymore chances.
I will even go so far as to say it is about a 50-50 chance the Lions will lose this game. It means nothing! This is a dress rehearsal, not a real game. The win or loss will mean nothing for the season. The Lions might look great against the Patriots and fall apart against the Bucs in the first week. Or they may let the Pats destroy them and then win the next 8 games in a row.
What do you take from this game? Glad you asked....
How well does the Lions pick up the blitz to give Stafford a second to throw the ball?
Does the secondary keep the Patriot receivers from getting behind them?
How does Backus look in his first game action (if he plays)?
How well does Stafford read pressure. Does he have pocket presence to avoid the hit?
Does Amari Speivey continue to show strong tackling abilities this game?
Do all the key players come out of this battle injury free?
Give me positive answers to all of those questions and I will consider the game a complete success. But I guess it would be all the more enjoyable if the Detroit Lions returned the spanking they gave us last year.
8/20/11
Lions Preseason Week-2: Not to Worry
After the Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, thanks primarily to the 3rd stringers and Stanton's improved play, there are a lot of fans worried about the Lions this year. Do not worry yet....
Jahvid Best:
The greatest reason to worry might be Jahvid Best. He got his bell rung early on and was out for the game. His absence along with his bad choice to follow the hole and his fumble have many fans thinking he is not good enough. Some say he is too small. Many do not believe he is an every down back. Do not worry.....
Likely if it was regular season, he would have been back in the game. Players get their bells rung all the time in the NFL. Many players will take a hard hit, leave the game for a few plays and return. But since it is preseason, Schwartz was not taking any more chance with him than with Calvin Johnson. Even the smallest injury will keep his stars out of games in the preseason.
Defensive Line:
There are those who do not believe the defensive line is as good as we thought since they did not sack McCoy. Do not worry....
The truth is, the Lions defensive line was rushing McCoy's passes consistently. The starters have only played a total of two maybe three quarters and they are pressuring the QBs. The sacks will come.
Defense:
Some may worry that McCoy threw for three touchdowns against the Lions starters. Do not worry....
Two of the TDs came from the Browns getting the ball at the Lions 34 yard line and the Lions 21 yard line. Short fields like that will tend to give quarterbacks good chances of throwing touchdowns. This is not something that will continue to happen. Keep in mind that McCoy only completed 10 of his 18 attempts.
Run Defense:
The Browns had 135 yards rushing! What are the magic words?... Do not worry!!!!
81 of those yards came from one scamper later in the game. That means the rest of the game, the Browns were held to only 54 yards on 21 carries. It was also the back-ups who gave up the long run. Not the starting unit!
Finally:
Keep in mind two important points here. One - While it was not an exciting game, you have to remember they all wont be. But the Lions found a way to win it anyway (even though wins and losses make no difference in the preseason!). Secondly, is that it is only preseason. The coaches are not calling plays to win the games. For the most part, they are calling plays to see their team react to certain situations.
Jahvid Best:
The greatest reason to worry might be Jahvid Best. He got his bell rung early on and was out for the game. His absence along with his bad choice to follow the hole and his fumble have many fans thinking he is not good enough. Some say he is too small. Many do not believe he is an every down back. Do not worry.....
Likely if it was regular season, he would have been back in the game. Players get their bells rung all the time in the NFL. Many players will take a hard hit, leave the game for a few plays and return. But since it is preseason, Schwartz was not taking any more chance with him than with Calvin Johnson. Even the smallest injury will keep his stars out of games in the preseason.
Defensive Line:
There are those who do not believe the defensive line is as good as we thought since they did not sack McCoy. Do not worry....
The truth is, the Lions defensive line was rushing McCoy's passes consistently. The starters have only played a total of two maybe three quarters and they are pressuring the QBs. The sacks will come.
Defense:
Some may worry that McCoy threw for three touchdowns against the Lions starters. Do not worry....
Two of the TDs came from the Browns getting the ball at the Lions 34 yard line and the Lions 21 yard line. Short fields like that will tend to give quarterbacks good chances of throwing touchdowns. This is not something that will continue to happen. Keep in mind that McCoy only completed 10 of his 18 attempts.
Run Defense:
The Browns had 135 yards rushing! What are the magic words?... Do not worry!!!!
81 of those yards came from one scamper later in the game. That means the rest of the game, the Browns were held to only 54 yards on 21 carries. It was also the back-ups who gave up the long run. Not the starting unit!
Finally:
Keep in mind two important points here. One - While it was not an exciting game, you have to remember they all wont be. But the Lions found a way to win it anyway (even though wins and losses make no difference in the preseason!). Secondly, is that it is only preseason. The coaches are not calling plays to win the games. For the most part, they are calling plays to see their team react to certain situations.
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