OTL - WTF?

Jets 23 LIONS 20

Oh come on don't tell me you didn't expect this. Snatching defeat from certain victory is a Lions speciality. Yet somehow, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, I was sitting with time running out in the 4th quarter wondering if I should change my name to Nostradamus. OK so it wasn't going exactly how I'd expected in my preview but it was pretty close. Then, like one of those awful slow motion moments when you knock some precious ornament over and try, but fail, to catch it before it shatters on the ground, the Lions self-destructed. 

The play call media and fans have jumped on is the 3rd & 6 play coming out of the two minute warning where Schwartz called pass and Stanton threw incomplete, thus stopping the clock when the Jets had no time outs remaining. I'm not going to jump on this bandwagon because I was calling for him to be brave and throw the ball. My choice would have been to throw to a receiver rather than Felton as in these likely run situations I am always reminded of the Gelbaugh to Horton pass from underneath their own posts against the NY/NJ Knights that effectively sent the Monarchs to the World Bowl. Just as running the ball was predictable so was the choice of pass, so the Jets had it covered, if you're going to try the riskier option at least go for the unpredictable. Having chosen to pass though Stanton needed to have enough game management skills to know that taking a knee was preferable to throwing an incomplete pass in that situation. Stanton is our third string QB and so it is difficult to be too hard on him and we can only hope that if Stafford hadn't got himself injured again that he would have shown greater composure in the same situation. 

Julian Peterson getting a stupid 15-yard penalty for an out of bounds hit on the ensuing Jets drive was unforgivable though. He is supposed to be one of the experienced players and veterans should not be making such mistakes. 

The call I did find strange, and it doesn't seem to have gained much attention, is the choice of rookie sensation Ndamukong Suh to kick the extra point when Hanson went off injured. It's all very well saying he does it all the time in training but in training he hasn't been battling an opposing O-Line like the Jets have. I couldn't understand why they didn't go for a two point conversion if they regarded Suh as their best option to tack on one. The Lions leading by 12 late in the 4th quarter is still no guarantee they wouldn't have found a way to lose but it would have meant the Jets couldn't have got to OT.

Rather than focus on the woe of reality let us instead focus on the wow of what might have been and what might yet be. We have had a genuine chance to win every one of the six games we have lost so far this season, if Stafford had been fit there is every chance we would be 5-3(Bears, Packers & Jets) rather than 2-6, our next two road games are against opponents whose combined win total is less than ours (Bills 0-8, Cowboys 1-7, Lions 2-6) and that can't have been the case for a very long time.

Given our performances so far this season there should not be any games we go into in the remainder of this season where we shouldn't feel we have a chance to win. The fly in this particular ointment is the health of Matthew Stafford as this team is not the same without him. I'm hopeful the injured recover quickly, that the pain of this defeat hardens the resolve and the team starts to fulfil the potential it is showing, so I have no hesitation in saying...

Bring on the Bills.