Saturday, October 31, 2009

St. Louis at Lions: Gameday

St. Louis at Lions: Gameday

October 31st, 2009 | by detfan1979 |

The game is blacked out locally, and DF79 Clan will be moving my mother in law to my brother in law’s house where it will be easier for everyone to help out. I may even stay up to watch the game Sunday night, or get up early Monday to catch it on the NFL.com free game rewind.

For those of you who can see the game, or who will be catching it via streaming online feel free to post your thoughts here in the comments.

IF both Stafford and CJ play, with K. Smith healthy I can see all 3 having a BIG day vs. the Rams. This is a team the Lions should be able to blow out if their offense and defense are both clicking at the best level they are capable of right now. There are plenty of weaknesses to exploit with the Rams, and they are at least (if not more) bereft of talent as the Lions. The Ram offense is not even a shadow of its’ glory days, and the Lions should have no trouble bottling up Steven Jackson and pressuring Bulger. Even Detroit’s secondary should be able to cover the Rams’ WR.

The key words there are IF and SHOULD. IF not, then we are in for a Veeeery loooooong season. I think that the Lions will come out motivated at home and dominate. Just keep in mind, when it comes to predicting, I always think the Lions have a shot to win.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. The Little Pink Lions had a real blast, and so did Mrs. DetFan1979 and myself. 8-6-5 are a great age mix for Halloween — reminds me of back in the day with my brother, driving around to the other farms (we lived in the country) with a pillowcase. Good times.

Rating: 8.5/10 (2 votes cast)
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6 Responses to “St. Louis at Lions: Gameday”

  1. By Swive on Nov 1, 2009

    OK, well, I have a comment but as this is a family site I won’t post it. I greatly enjoy reading your site, Ty, but jeepers – every time ya think they have turned some sort of corner, along comes reality to smack you right between the eyes. You’d think that we would learn, after all this time, wouldn’t you? But no…

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  2. By chiefger139 on Nov 2, 2009

    you could tell it was halloween cause this team delivered true horror to its fans-game made me sick-I thought stafford looked good but the idiots kept dropping the ball, and the stupid penalties!!! heller played awful, petigrew made one good catch but looked horrible dropping others. smith and morris and aron brown ran the ball nice at times but like i said dropped balls-how pathetic. i had hansen on my fantasy team-0 points-not even a extra point as we went for 2 and got it-never sniffed the end zone again- the safety was a interception as once again a receiver muffed a sure catch that went to the rams, so instead of a td we get 2 points-pathetic game-defense looked ok but no offense-we played like a true 0-16 team this week.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  3. By Rob Stoker on Nov 2, 2009

    Having now watched the game:

    1. Stafford is not fit, he cannot throw on the run, which I am pretty sure is why we hardly ever saw the play action, and in particular the play action roll out, which killed the offense

    2. Depressed about the recieving core, another 1st round pick perhaps?

    3. Best game I have seen Delmas play, blew up a number of plays, and although he misses the tackle on the final TD, he’s the contain man, he forces it back inside, someone else has to fill that hole…

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  4. By Deano on Nov 2, 2009

    Ouch. Apparently the rams wanted their first victory of the year more than the Lions wanted their second. How ironic, my the way, to see Paris Lennon get his first victory after…, well, you know.
    Thoughts – hope Pettigrew learns fast – that would give Stafford a reliable checkdown as well as a deeper threat.
    -Delmas kicked butt.
    -No sacks????
    -Our D did a pretty good job containing Jackson in the first half but then the second half started and… Ouch.
    -How can our receivers be that bad? Ironic considering the previous drafts. Calvin – PLEASE heal quickly. That will make an immeciate improvement in the other recievers by taking most of the pressure off of them.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  5. By kitabug124 on Nov 2, 2009

    The coaching staff has swung the pendulum too far in the other direction. They require accountability which we haven’t seen in years but now many on the team are playing too tight worried that the least little mistake will cost them their jobs. I get the sense that the players and possibly the staff are starting to play anxiously. They are too busy looking over their shoulders to make the plays they need to make. They are just too tight. Other teams “just play”. These guys are trying too hard. Every play, every down is critical. Every snap will either solve poverty and cure hunger or bring on a nuclear holocaust. They are thinking too much instead of letting their football instincts and athleticism take over. These guys are professional athletes. It’s been said that the difference in talent between teams is not that great. I take the game between Detroit and Pittsburg as a case in point.

    The players WANT to play perfectly. They WANT to win. They WANT to give the fans victory. They want it sooo much that they are almost paralyzed. They are analyzing every step, every angle, every tackle. They need to loosen up. The players, the coaches, and the front office need to RELAX. I am not saying we as fans or they as a team should accept failure or mediocrity. They need to chill. Effort, yes, but you can not achieve perfection. The monkey on their backs is the pressure of changing “the same ol’ Lions”. Don’t try to change franchise history. Just play the game. Play one game at a time.

    I wonder if the competition has become cutthroat. You want players to compete to better themselves and the team. At some point, it becomes a competition to survive. Each player will not care how his play affects the team or any other player because it’s his paycheck and livelihood on the line. He will want to look good individually just to be valuable enough to stay next year or be picked up by another team. That’s when a coach has “lost his team”.

    Schwartz has to take the pressure off his team. He has to find a way to motivate them to progress but without the burden, without the stress, without the weight. Only then will we cease to see players being Lionized.

    Long-winded, sorry. What do you think?

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  6. By Clusterfox on Nov 3, 2009

    Well put Kitabug, I was thinking along the same lines. But what bothers me is the fans that refuse to move on, grow up, or just plain look at themselves in the mirror.

    I went to the game and was thoroughly disappointed. But the point is that I took my kids(9,7,2)with me. The lions fan behind me never had a good thing to say. Constantly berating the Rams, The Lions, and The Refs. I bring this up because 3 rows back and dozen seats over was a Rams fan who cheered for each and every player on his team by name. Never belittling the lions or blaming the refs, just simply rooting for “Stevie to break it” which we all know he finally did. Annoying? Absolutely. But during the verbal altercation that eventually occured, I couldn’t help but laugh when the guy behind me said “I would never act that way if I was in St Loius” and I had to agree. He would have berated his own team worse than they ever could have. My point in bringing all this up is the combination that I agree with the post from above and I think that becomes more and more difficult as you have idiots yelling at our QB from behind the bench. When are we collectively going to accept the role of SUPPORTING our team.

    Sorry for the Rant,
    Clusterfox

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Friday, October 30, 2009

Offensive Line Question

Offensive Line Question

October 30th, 2009 | by detfan1979 |

Here is a couple of Lions offensive line questions I got from my editor at Fanballfor their Fantasy information. My response is below – and it also ties in to the ongoing features about the success/failure of the front office and personnel moves made by the Lions this Ifseason. What are your thoughts?

Got a couple of questions I wanted to ask you about the Detroit offensive line, and I’ll use it in my feature on Fanball this Saturday.

I hear they are moving some parts around. Who is moving where, and more importantly, why? I didn’t note any concerning injuries on their line last week before the game … so what’s up?

Sincerely,
Bryan Douglass
Managing Editor – Fanball Sports Network
Associate Editor – Fanball.com (NFL, NBA, PGA)

Gosder Cherilus did have a minor injury at one point, and was replaced by Jansen. However, Cherilus is healthy and has a lock on the right tackle position. The RG position is also stable, as Stephen Petermanis still holding down that spot well. The two of them work well together, especially in the run game. Dominic Raiola rock at center, and Jeff Backus is – for better or worse – entrenched at the left tackle position.

The spot that is in flux — and has been, it seems, for the past dozen years — is left guard. Daniel Loper and Manny Ramierez were fighting for the starting job throughout camp. Loper was fighting a neck injury early and was replaced by Ramierez, who has since held onto the starting job — that is, until the bye week came around.

The Lions’ coaching staff spent extra time breaking down film heading into the bye, and decided they that while Ramierez was better than Loper (especially in the running game) at this point he was still having too many mental lapses. To try to improve on the LG position, they have been working Jon Jansen (who has spent his entire career as a RT) with the 1’s in the LG spot. They are hoping his power in the run game, combined with his finesse at blocking ends as a tackle will translate well to LG.

While the outcome remains to be seen, thus far the Lions offensive line has out-played its’ talent level on the whole. They have been providing at least decent holes in the run game, and good protection for whoever is under center. This comes back to Jim Schwartz’s willingness to shoot for a better combination rather than tolerate mediocrity, or especially repeated mistakes, from any position. At this point, the LG position is where they are still trying to find an answer they like; Indicators point to this week against the Rams being Jon Jansen’s turn. We’ll see how long he can hang in there before Loper or Ramierez overtakes him.

Don’t get me wrong — the left guard play has been far from horrendous; but on the whole, it has been average at best. This coaching staff will not settle for average unless that is the best they can do with the players they have. Thus – Jansen gets a shot to see if he can improve the play of that position for the Lions. How he does dictates what happens next.

On a side note, the Lions are doing this up and down the roster — if there is a possibility of a better option they will try it. Thus far, they appear to be satisfied with the healthy Kevin Smith at RB. When he was healthy, he was making the tough yards he did not pick up the last couple of weeks after bruising his shoulder. Word is that he is healed up and motivated after the bye to go out and prove he deserves his current role as feature back for the Lions. Something tells me he won’t disappoint.

DetFan1979

Rating: 9.5/10 (4 votes cast)
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3 Responses to “Offensive Line Question”

  1. By chiefger139 on Oct 30, 2009

    detfan79-know youve been in poor health-and too much to swallow-since youve been on here your other blog hit the dumps-still havent posted on the 53 picks etc-forget it now-no one cares-time to dump your other blog and just concentrate on this one-keep your other blog alive by just postin-sorry but now heres my site and post it- hopefully you can still do the 53 man roster next year the fantasy football and everything else we loved from this site-i know its tough now-games every week and m-live postin articles by the hour tough to compete and its easier during the off season-not so much comp-but notice chief is lately your only follower-time to dump your other blog-get on m-live and make a presence and go all out on this good yet neglected site!!im not much of a force on m-live anymore either-it blocks me out 1/2 the time-but will still try now and then-and if I can get on there enough will promote your site!!

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  2. By chiefger139 on Oct 30, 2009

    maybe a better thought just post what you have on here each time and just say as posted on lions roar-guys check out the site-then your not doin double duty

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  3. By detfan1979 on Oct 30, 2009

    You did hit the nail on the head that this IS my blog — but nothing has changed other than the location. I still plan on looking at the roster predictions we did as part of the ongoing series of ifseason moves — I plan on pulling it out and comparing later.

    The hits/read are actually higher here than they were at my old DF79 blog, but fewer comments. A lot of the regulars are still in contact — just are more busy with life than hobbies for a lot of them.

    I don’t try to compete with the news outlets, but instead want to provide a different look at things, and some analysis that often gets overlooked in the copy-paste-link reporting age. hopefully, I am still accomplishing that.

    I haven’t been posting links over at my personal blog recently, but will think about putting at least a notice up there – or something along those lines. Honestly, it is fun to write unique content for one blog — but two would be beyond my limitations. Hence, one blog.

    It’s still me fellows (and I am getting my backside kicked in the df79 FFB leagues this year, btw. Way to go oh favored to win the SB in teh annual league mighty chief while I am making our Lions look good with my ZERO wins there…) – same as always. Same DF79 writing, different website.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)