It's Week Six, Game Five of the Lions season and perhaps no exaggeration to say that this game will define where the Lions season heads from here. Win and they can build their way back into playoff contention. Lose and they can start to think about who may be at the top of next years Draft (just like the old days). A 1-3 start is recoverable but a 1-4 start turns a season into one of damage limitation. Despite my own and the majority of Lions fans, according to various online fan polls, desire for the coaching staff to be shaken up there have been no dramatic changes since the Vikings defeat in either coaching staff or player personnel. It seems that them's the apples that have fallen from the tree so we are just going to have to hope they can correct the ills of the first four weeks. The Tigers late season surge into the playoffs in search of a World Series has taken some of the local media attention away from the Lions struggles. The return from the Bye Week sees this game providing the entree to Game 2 of the ALCS though so the focus will most definitely be on the Lions, and after Jose Valverde had the cities sports fans squirming in their seats with an epic meltdown, more of what they were serving up pre-Bye will not be appreciated.
Anyone who has borne witness to the Lions offensive woes would probably be surprised to learn that they are currently ranked as the NFL's 3rd best offense. A better argument for total yards not being the pre-eminent stat of choice when ranking offenses could not be made. The offense is supposed to be the great strength of this team but so far this season it just has not clicked. Young star QB Matthew Stafford has been off both with his passes and his leadership while his receivers have struggled to find space and catch the ball when it is thrown their way. League superstar Calvin Johnson has found himself subjected to smothering coverage, although in fairness this has been the case in the past too, and his team mates have been unable to present themselves as a punishing alternative. The anaemic run attack looked to have found a saviour in Mikel LeShoure but his debut performance against the Titans was not close to being repeated against the Vikings. It's probably not surprising that the offense has been so inconsistent given the inconsistency from the O-Line in both pass protection and opening running lanes. Too many opposing defensive players have found their way into the Lions backfield unopposed and with a clear shot at Stafford or a running back. Today's opponents, the Eagles, have so far this season found a way to win the kind of close games that the Lions have found a way to lose. Like the Lions they have star players throughout the roster yet have not really clicked as they might have reasonably been expected to. The Lions offense could prove to be the perfect opponent for the Eagles D to find its feet so it has to be hoped that whatever was wrong within the Lions offense it has been corrected during the Bye week.
On the defensive side of the ball all Lions fans will be hoping for a return to action for Louis Delmas. Never has the saying "you'll miss me when I'm gone" been more appropriate. The criticism heaped on the Lions D-Line from an un-named opposing GM in the media probably resonated all too well with Lions fans. As a unit and as individuals they have not lived up to their billing and it's about time they did. Eagles QB Michael Vick offers a chance for the Lions front 7 to play themselves back into form given his tendency to break from the pocket and his lack of accuracy with the pass. He offers chances for defensive headline stats in both sacks and interceptions but if the Lions D don't take those chances he could well find himself having a fantastic day. Hopefully we will not see missed tackles like we have so far this season something particularly galling for fans given that tackling or lack of appears more due to desire than ability. Fans can forgive, to a degree, a lack of talent but they can't forgive a lack of effort. As stated a return to action for Delmas will give the whole team a lift but most importantly will bring some much needed bite to a Lions Secondary currently looking much worse than was even feared.
It seems almost pointless to mention the Lions Special teams unit. Hopefully they have some pride and have applied themselves well in practice and will show that in the game with a massively improved performance. Hanson is as reliable a kicker as you could find while Harris is a slight drop down from Graham it's not a major issue. Personally I would be looking for Young or Broyles to have taken away the returners job from Logan but it doesn't look like that'll be happening anytime soon.
Whilst hoping that they return from the Bye week looking more like the team they are capable of being I'm afraid I haven't seen any evidence so far this season that would lead me to believe this were a likely possibility. There's been a complacency around the Lions this season that I've found disturbing so I'm going to predict that these two teams both play another game that frustrates their fanbases with the Eagles edging this one, as they have others this season while the Lions once again troop away wondering what might have been had they just.....
Prediction: Lions 24 Eagles 26
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