Week Eleven

Panthers @ LIONS

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.

Week Ten

LIONS @ Bears

The march to the playoffs begins here for the 6-2 Lions as they visit the 5-3 Chicago Bears. The Lions are coming off their bye while the Bears come off their impressive win over the Eagles in MNF. Since these teams met on that memorable Week 5 MNF game the Bears have gone 3-0 while the Lions have gone 1-2 and the general media view seems to be that this return fixture will see a different result to the one at Ford Field. The Bears appear to have picked up their game and must be relishing the prospect of having a home field that will not drown out the play calling of Jay Cutler when he takes his position behind center. This game offers the Lions the chance to send out quite a statement to not only their divisional rivals but the wider NFL as well. It's an intriguing matchup of that there is no doubt.

Bye Week

Half Season Review

Having predicted a Lions win in each of my eight game previews so far this season I suppose I should be disappointed that the Lions have reached half way at 6-2. Thankfully my disappointment is tempered by the realism that to get to the midway point in an NFL season with 6 wins and 2 losses is no mean achievement. There is many a team that would happily swap records with the Lions right now.

Despite my predicting otherwise I believe that 6-2 is a fair reflection of where the Lions are. The two defeats they suffered were to good teams and they were games that could just as easily have resulted in Lions wins. It is also true to say though that two of the Lions wins could easily have been defeats and fans of the Vikings and Cowboys will no doubt tell you they should have been. The remaining four wins though were all games in which the Lions dominated and which showcased just how good this team can be. The quality of the opponents in those four games is not to be sniffed at either as three of them are entering their eighth game with a 4-3 record. Even the lowly 2-5 Broncos have only suffered one other defeat by more than 5 points and that was a 26 point margin of defeat at Lambeau Field to the defending Super Bowl champion Packers. 

Week Eight

LIONS @ Broncos

Considering the importance of this game (6-2 or 5-3 going into bye week) and the hype surrounding the Bronco's new starting QB, Tim Tebow, I'm a little concerned that I may be feeling too comfortable ahead of the game. Maybe I've not been sufficiently downhearted after successive home defeats or maybe I'm not paying enough respect to the former College national hero now starting to make his way in the pros but I just don't see this game as being the danger that many do.

It's looking like Stafford being our starting QB will be a game time decision and there has been sufficient contrasting information coming out of Allen Park all week to leave no one outside the Lions organisation with any real idea on how this will swing. If it is Stafford then he will be keen, no doubt, to bounce back from his last two performances that have been widely criticised. It's easy to forget Stafford is still learning his craft and I think much of the criticism he's received has been harsh. That said he will need to find a way of dealing with what is now likely to be a repeated pattern from opposing teams namely cheating on defending the run game to rush the pass. It's not just Stafford, of course, that needs to adjust to this it's the entire offense and coaching staff too. The Morris/Williams RB combo should continue to offer much of what Jahvid Best did/does if not a little more in every down play but that is still short of what is needed so it has to be hoped either or both of these backs can step it up another notch. Similarly the Lions secondary receivers Burleson/Young are noticeable by their absence from the stats of the Falcons game and they will need to offer a better target for Stafford if the Lions are to be more than Megatron. There is ability there and it needs to come to the fore or the Lions are too easy to shut down offensively. The O-Line is not as good as we'd like but it is good enough as it has proved in winning games.