It's in weeks like the one that has just gone that you realise how limited the general press is in its ability to accurately reflect the form of teams, such as the Lions, who tend not to play in the national spotlight. I'm not one that subscribes to the view that last weeks loss to the Bears was a reflection of how limited the Lions are and that they will now drop back into the pack. However, the visit of the Panthers is a perfect example of the NFL maxim 'Any Given Sunday' and there is more than the potential for an upset. Hopefully the Lions have had a productive week of preparation and will come out focussed on this game and not be already looking ahead to the big game around the corner. Looking beyond the Panthers to the Packers on Thanksgiving represents the biggest danger in this one for me and I have to believe that these Lions are too good to be doing that.
The opening two drives against the Bears, until the fumbles, suggested the Lions would have little trouble moving the ball with a nice mix of pass and run. Whether it was always the plan or whether it was the result of falling behind so quickly I guess we'll never know now. But the decision to forsake the ground game for one overly focussed on the pass in windy conditions against a powerful pass rushing defense was the wrong one for me. The Morris/Smith combo was able to gain ground and whilst neither offer the home run potential that Jahvid Best does they do provide a steady enough threat on the ground that should mean Linehan's game plan is more balanced against the Panthers. It is to be hoped that Matthew Stafford is not hampered by his injured finger and that he has a more confident outing with the return to Ford Field. It's easy to forget that Stafford is still a work in progress when he's slinging bombs to Megatron and generally commanding the offense with the poise of a veteran but his second half performance against the Bears and his final drive of the game against the 49ers in particular have showed his immaturity. When Stafford is off his game he tends to lose accuracy on his passes, lose poise in the pocket and zero in on CJ. This tends to result in frustrating three and outs at best and turnover TD's at worst. In Charles Johnson the Panthers have the kind of sack hungry DE that the Lions O-Line and Stafford have struggled to deal with so the quicker Stafford gets into his stride against the Panthers the better. A mix of steady ground gains from Morris/Smith combined with passes to the secondary receivers should not only see the Lions steadily advancing up the field against the Panthers but should also eventually lead to Calvin Johnson getting big gains. If Morris is unable to make an impact early on then I expect Smith won't have to wait long to be given the opportunity to take on the weak Panthers rush defense.
The criticism the Lions defense receives for its supposed dirtiness detracts attention from just what an impressive job they do week in week out. The Panthers bring their highly productive Cam Newton led offense to Detroit and will test our weakness against the run as well as our NFC leading pass coverage. The rookie Qb sensation Newton represents a genuine dual threat that the Lions D will be looking to shut down as they did, the less talented but greater publicised, Tebow a few weeks back. Fairley will be keen to get to his former team mate and this could be a great game for him to establish himself within the D-Line especially if he see's action at DE due to injuries to Young & Jackson. It's important the defense stays disciplined now that they are receiving a reputation for being indisciplined and dirty. Even at home they are unlikely to get the benefit of 50/50 calls now in penalty situations and they don't want to be sustaining opposition drives by giving away cheap yards. The Ford Field crowd will need to be kept in the game if they are to provide the noise levels that will unnerve Newton as the noise levels faded when the Lions struggled in their previous two home outings.
With Donahue out injured there are more than a few on the Lions Special Teams coverage unit that should be grateful Robert Malone has taken the blame for what was another below par performance against the Bears. Ben Graham has the chance to stake a claim for a permanent spot on the roster and it is to be hoped his Aussie Rules skills are just what the Lions punting needs. Another poor Special Teams display and I suspect it won't just be the punter that carry's the can this time. Jason Hanson had less trouble with the wind than Stafford did last week but will still welcome the return to the kicker friendly conditions of Ford Field.
Despite losing three of their last four I am not yet ready to give up on my belief that this years Lions are playoff bound as a Wild Card. I'm looking for them to bounce back with a dominating win against a Panthers team coming off their own poor performance, last weeks 30-3 beat down by the Titans. On the offense I think that we will see a 100 yard rusher and a more composed performance from Stafford that see's him consistently selecting the correct choice from the spectrum of receivers at his disposal. On the defensive side of the ball I think we'll see Cam Newton why his college opponents feared Nick Fairley so much and why Ndamukong Suh has such a fearsome reputation as I see a big game from the young DT's.
Prediction: Panthers 13 LIONS 38
No comments:
Post a Comment