Gentle Lion’s fans,

Up front I understand that preseason football is not the ‘real’ thing. Last Friday evening as I am wont to do, channel surfing was in full mode. As curiosity won out, the Lions preseason game with Tampa confronted me. Yes, random viewing was involved for the first half and start of the third quarter but what was revealed could only be described by Yogi Berra. It was “Da Ja Vouse” all over again. Saving time and your exasperation, not much has changed from prior seasons.

Highlights(sic) included: Stafford running for his life, passes dropped, ugly running game, sloppy tackling, and pathetic special teams play just for starters. Coach Patrica’s ire was on display when the 1st string offence started the second half.

Stay tuned but keep your supply of Tums handy.

marvinudy

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Sunsets can herald a beautiful ending or portend a warning of what is to come. “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning sailors take warning”. Unfortunately, Lion’s history is more of the latter.

Back to the Green Bay game. A perfect example of how a single element, quarterback in this case, can alter strategy and tactics of a game. No doubt our Lion’s feasted at Green Bay’s expense. No better example of a tormented season was the ‘Oh what the hell’ two point conversion play.

Now that Caldwell has joined the plethora of previous coaches in the Lion’s graveyard of NFL coaches, we are again facing a choice between reality or optimism. A few points of reality include: healthy/improved offensive line, north-south running back, secondary defense past the line of scrimmage, third down execution and discipline regarding ‘stupid’ penalties.

Tamping down optimism is a hard objective when you have an exceptional quarterback paired with a host of experienced and developing receiving corps. Injuries aside, there is no reason why our 60th year of rebuilding should not succeed if some existenting weaknesses are rectified.

So, I’ve come down on the side of optimism.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Whoever is responsible for the well worn quote about the insanity of repeating the same actions and expecting a different outcome apparently envisioned the Detroit Lions. The “stench” from this game in Cincinnati wafted all the way back to Detroit and required emergency use a “barf” bag. No need to bother ‘highlighting’ the stats. Flat out ‘ugly’ by any measure.

We’ve seen enough to justifiable demand a new beginning starting with the coaching staff. Other than a few consistent performers, all others players are subject to displacement. True character will be on the line in the upcoming Green Bay game even though the outcome is of little consequence.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

This ‘gift’ was so bad it should have come with a ‘gift return tag’. Ponder this. A team with a rookie QB racks up more total yards, more first downs and more passing yards and still looses the game. Yep, the Lion’s ‘prodigious’ running game managed to surpass Chicago’s run game. Yes you can legitimately point to important interceptions as a primary cause but in an overall perspective, secondary defense was ineffective based on a fore mentioned stats. However, Chicago did ‘chip’ in a few extra yards via penalties.

The Lion’s remaining two games should be only slightly more entertaining. If Green Bay’s A. Rogers regains full form keep your ‘barf’ bag close at hand. Oh well, the “sunrise” of our 60th year of rebuilding is only two games away.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Well, we’ve seen it before. Detroit’s ‘Silver Sieve’ defense allows an opponent to run up 400 yards of offence but the Lion’s passing game ekes out a win with Prater’s last second field goal. E. Ebron, aka ‘brick hands’ has a great game but managed a fumble and drop a critical 3rd down reception in a critical situation. Nothing to see here, moving on. Offence without a running game is like a two legged stool. Enough said.

The ‘good news’ is Stafford did not get the ‘crap’ beat out of him. Good strategy for a $28 million dollar investment.

As we stagger to seasons’ end be prepared for at least one more let down. It’s the Lion’s way of tempering fan’s eternal optimism. May the ‘Force’ be with us in our 60th year of rebuilding.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

As a fortuitous act of mercy I only watched or listened to part of the Lion’s game against the Ravens. Can we now get off all the “losers’ blather” and get on with our 60th year of rebuilding. Looking at the game stats and one wonders how the final score could be so lopsided. Always the answer is of the: coulda, woulda and shuda litany from a Chinese menu of excuses. We’re to far into the season for those alibis. Execution is a two sided coin; players and coaches. Time to produce or move on.

Even die hard Lion’s fans like myself are approaching our patience’s limit akin to other fans expressing distaste over the insidious ‘political correctness’ BS infecting the core of NFL football. Ignoring disappointment and/or sensibilities of the fan base is a slippery slope. May God help us if soccer and cricket become our favorite national pastime.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

The game stats tell the entire story. Detroit not only got ‘run’ over but ‘passed’ over. Spot a team a 13 point lead in the first quarter and then try to play ‘catch-up’ football with no running game, let the infamous ‘silver sieve’ defense allow over 400 yards of offence and presto a valiant struggle to another loss.

We’ve been here before. Maybe with the remaining schedule a wild card playoff is possible but never underestimate the Lion’s ability to ‘play down’ to an opponents level. Early exit from the playoffs is a historical Lion’s reputation with or without referee help.

As the sun starts to sets on another ‘blah’ season we can look forward to our 60th year of rebuilding. Keep in mind that Stafford is only mortal and has quarterback ‘shelf-life’. And folks still wonder why stars like B. Sanders and C. Johnson retired?

The Bobby Lane curse continues.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

As usual the Lion’s played down to their opponents level. Evidence is in the game stats. Chicago had more first downs and huge rushing yardage advantage. Third down efficiency is not playoff caliber. If the tools existed to execute a ‘balanced’ offence, they should be evident by now. Bottom line, the Lion’s are a passing team with a mediocre run game for what ever the root cause is defined to be.

Against the Vikings its time for an all out aerial assault. If the receiving core can’t hang on to the pass and the offensive line can’t give Stafford time to throw, so be it. Win by playing with your strengths and without exclusive dependency on Prater’s foot.

May forces of ‘good’ not ruin your Thanksgiving dinner.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Yes a win is a win but this one was troubling. A record losing team with a little known QB manages to run up 423 yards of offence including 200 yards of rushing. Time of possession was the inverse of expectations. Where was everybody during the first half of the game? This type of play guarantees express lane elimination from play-off contention or early out if you get there by some fluke of scheduling. And penalties are back. Credit to Stafford and the passing game for avoiding a disaster.

Time to ‘walk the talk’ and play consistent, complete games. More hapless half game performances during the remaining schedule is failure beyond hype and excuses.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Good game to view. First the positives. Time of possession was dominating. E. Ebron (aka “brick hands”) caught three passes and made some good blocks. Stafford did not have
to run for his life to many times. On the negative side remains some more of the same. Lack of a ‘smash mouth’ running game. Starting with ball on the one yard line and no TD is unacceptable. Abdullah suffers another bout of ‘fumble-lites’. Predictable play calling on goal line scoring situations. Failure to ‘finish-off’ opponent and alter their game strategy. Apparent prevent ‘defense’ at games’ end was not impressive.

Even though the Lion’s remaining schedule looks ‘soft’, never underestimate their ability to ‘play down’ to the opponents level. Keep your seat belt fastened and adult beverages nearby for the rest of our ride into our 60th year of rebuilding.