Halloween weekend is turning into a bit of a nightmare for Michigan sports fans and the Lions have the opportunity to pull the states sports fans out of the horror weekend with a win over the Seahawks. Those watching the Tigers in the World Series may well have wondered if the Lions offense had been giving the Tigers lineup batting advice as they replicated the impotent offensive Monday night display against the Bears. Amid growing fan unrest Coach Schwartz has reiterated his belief in both his players and his staff so this would be a good place for them all to start repaying his faith.
After seemingly having found their form late in the Eagles game it was back to how much of the season has gone against the Bears. In many ways it was a similar performance to that in the corresponding fixture last season in which Stafford coming back from a hand injury struggled to find his receivers in blustery conditions. This year there was no hand injury to blame, or troublesome wind for that matter, but Stafford and his receivers repeatedly appeared to be on different pages of the playbook. I suggested in last weeks preview that Linehan should start focussing on the run game, especially as opposition defenses are loading up on preventing the pass, and the performance of LeShoure and Bell against the Bears suggested a little more faith in the run game may well have reaped much greater rewards. I'm hoping that this is the week when they finally do go run heavy and start to ease the pressure on Stafford and the receivers to produce in difficult conditions. Bell looks like he could be a decent lead blocker and with Smith active on game day that's a handy trio that could really grind out some yards against the Seahawks. Pete Carroll's team from the north west of America have a similarly inconsistent feel about them as the Lions so there's probably equal potential for both a close game and a blowout either way.
Defensively the Lions are improving week by week and are doing a good job of protecting their Secondary from being exposed too much. The Bears game opened up much like the 49ers game had with the Lions looking both incapable of moving the ball on offense or stopping the Bears on defense. Fortunately the Lions D got into the game and, although they still failed to shut down the Bears as they perhaps should have, they looked the most likely source for Lions offensive points too such was the awfulness of the offensive display. The Seahawks will throw a well balanced offense led by a mature rookie QB Russell Wilson at the Lions and defensively the Lions will need to be able to shut down the ground game led by Lynch as well as pressure the potentially elusive Wilson. With him not being the tallest of QB's hopefully the rushing linemen will do a good job of keeping hands in the air to bat down low flying passes. It would also be nice if we could get through a game without the usual slew of missed tackles.
I've lost all patience with Special Teams or rather Stefan Logan. Crossman appears to have done a good job in coaching the group up to an acceptable level in terms of coverage but with Logan remaining as our returner I don't see us offering much in terms of offensive threat.
Realistically the Lions can only afford a couple more losses for the remainder of the season should they wish to make the playoffs and this Seahawks game should not be one of them. A repeat of the lethargic starts to most of this seasons games is not what is needed and this game needs the Lions to start with an intensity they have yet to show this year on both sides of the ball. For me this game will show us much about the current roster and whether they have the mental capacity to become a top team. I am going to to go with a Lions win but this is more heart than head to be honest.
Prediction: Seahawks 20 LIONS 24
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