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.

Gentle Lion’s fan,

As you have discovered by now, screaming at the TV does not alter our Lion’s execution. Harbinger of things to come arrived almost immediately when ‘brick hands’ Ebron dropped a pass from Stafford that unfortunately hit him in the hands. Amassing 480 yards of offence and yielding 5 field goals is an astonishing accomplishment for a sand lot performance. Actually, the Lions had seven scoring opportunities. Enter the usual mistakes, tepid play calling, dropped passes and wallah another entry into the “L” column. Seventeen percent third down efficiency is terrible.

Based on the Lion’s history we can expect a valiant resurgent during the rest of the season that will amount to naught. Another “close but no cigar” accomplishment. Stay tuned for a melody of excuses, scapegoats, injuries, trades and recriminations. Question remains as to who will be sacrificially thrown under the bus to justify entry into our 60th year of rebuilding? Hold off for a few more dismal performances and Lion’s paraphernalia at Sam’s Club will by BOGO (buy get one free).

Gentle Lion’s fans,

With apologies to the Bard, it was a ‘Comedy of Errors’. Bizarre is a fitting description for the Lion’s game with the Saints. What a titanic defensive display by both teams. A meager 726 yards of total offense was allowed. Easily lost in the melee of stats is the Lion’s total 66 yards of rushing vs the Saints 193 yards. Stafford proved that he cannot magically generate a win without an offensive line. So much for the ‘ole college try’. Unfortunately by games end, Lion’s injuries resulted in the the cheerleaders preparing to suit up.

Stay tuned for a season of futility and exasperation. This game was not an omen but reality of what to expect the rest of the season. The light at tunnels end was not generated by Jim Bob’s magic play calling, Caldwell’s coaching or Stafford’s arm but the siren’s glow of our 60th year of rebuilding hurtling down the track.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

This game was painful to watch. First off, the offensive line execution put Stafford’s life in jeopardy. In case you missed recent events, he was signed for ‘BIG’ money as a franchise QB. Must give some credit to the Panthers defensive line and secondary. They kept Stafford bottled up and Lion’s pass receivers well covered. And yes, stadium fans finally had enough of Ebron’s ‘brick hands’ performance. Carolina’s ‘big/tall’ folks took full advantage of the Lion’s defensive secondary. Newton had significant time to find alternate pass receivers in spite of initial good defensive coverage by the Lions. Time of possession and net offensive yards by Carolina sums up why the final score was not really as close as perceived at first glance. The Panthers also ‘donated’ an extra 90 yards of penalties to the Lions.

This game was probably a prescient preview of games to come. Stay strong gentle Lion’s fans, year 60 of rebuilding is just around the corner.

Gentle Lion’s fans,
Three positive perceptions and one negative from Sunday’s game. Time of possession was very good. Fair running game displayed. Stafford passed to eight different receivers. Official’s perceptions went the Lions way on two possible pass interference calls late in the game. One was clearly missed and the second a toss up. Clear case of ‘luck’ over passing defense skill.

Teams on the rest of the schedule will note that keeping Stafford ‘bottled’ up in the pocket is an effective strategy against his deep pass threat. Could be an indictment of the Lion’s offensive line or the Viking’s talented defensive line rush. Also, an appearance of predictability to not pass on first down is open for some consideration. Detroit still gave away net 50 yards of penalties vs Vikings.

I’m not quite ready to leave the fortified bunker of memories from prior seasons’ performances just yet. And yes my overall NFL viewing time is absolutely minimized because I want to watch and enjoy a football game without dilution by political posturing. This also extends to the obnoxious so called end zone celebrations. Auto ejection would cure that disease quickly.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

Good game to watch but histrionically based Lion’s finish. Thanks to the defense for making the game closer than the score indicated. However, giving up 400 yards of offence is not dominance by any definition. Prater’s four field goals attest to an inability to ‘cash in’ on opportunities. Third down conversion efficiency slumped back to unacceptable. Definitely a fatal flaw in your rushing game when your franchise quarterback is 27% of your rushing yards.

Maybe I missed something but the short passing game seem to be succeeding early by design or Atlanta’s disdain to defend was abandoned after some measure of success. Oh yes, least we forget, ‘brick hands’ Ebron returned to true form. Still to many penalties even though they were almost even up with Atlanta.

And yes the final play review may have been questionable but the rules on clock management were implemented as written. One could question whether the ball crossed the front plane edge of the goal line maker vs the back plane line marker before his kneed touched the ground. Setting that aside, offensive execution on other scoring opportunities would have made the last play a mute point.

Bottom line is this season should be way better than last year but probably not good enough to cause jubilation.

Gentle Lion’s fan,

This is what it looks like when you put all the pieces together and in sync. Admittedly, the Giants are somewhat ‘crippled’ but that does not detract from the Lion’s performance. First I would like to offer congratulations to E. Ebron who appears to be on the road to shedding ownership of my designated name “bickhands’. Ezekiel Ansah was significant in not allowing Manning time to set-up and complete passes. Abdullah made some nice moves for good gains. Just when the Giants thought they had Stafford stifled, he responded with smart runs. Additional upgrades were time of possession, less stupid penalties and improved 3rd down conversion efficiency.

Let’s all savor the win and be realistic looking at the future schedule starting with Atlanta. And, I cannot let mention of Prater’s ricochet field goal pass by. Kind of icing on the cake so to speak. When thing go right the world is a vibrant Honolulu blue as opposed to black and blue ash cloth.

Welcome back to our 59th year of rebuilding Detroit Lion’s style. Sunday’s game, December 10th, was a perfect example of the schizoid personality of the Lions. The first half of the game made me want to watch the Weather Channel covering hurricane Irma for a sanity check. Ever stupid penalty ever committed was revisited 2017 style. And yes, dropped passes remained a stalwart part of their offence. The potent running game was left inscribed on the chalk board for the next team meeting. For sheer creativity special teams were not to be outdone. Kick returns and punting both crashed and burned. However, in spite of offensive ineptness the defense managed to keep the game alive.

Whatever transpired during half time should be brewed and bottled for future use for the rest of the season. Execution miraculously became a functioning element of the game. In summary, donating 100 yards of penalties combined with 300 yards of opponents’ offense is not an overwhelming display of dominance. But with the Lions, take a win when you can get it no manner how it is earned.

Stand ready for next week to see who shows up; Jekyll or Hyde. Keep your Tums and ‘adult beverages’ handy for medicinal purposes.

Gentle Lion’s fans,

This was a ‘stinker’ from the get go. Bile started gurgling up when Tate and ‘brick hands’ Ebron early on dropped sure passes. From there the down hill express to defeat left the station. No need to worry about containing Wilson’s running. Rawls shredded the Lion’s defense for ‘only’ 161 yards. Contrast this with Zenner’s combined output, run and receptions, exceeding 5 out of 6 Lion’s pass receivers. Notwithstanding, this had to be Stafford’s most miserable outing.

The only demonstration of Lion’s “excellence” was in the ‘stupid’ penalty category. Words cannot capture or describe the senselessness on parade. But as usual they were made to maximize negative impact at the most critical of times.

Lions, let’s stop with the ‘whining’ about the refs. You lost the last four games when destiny was in your hands. Maybe coach Caldwell might rethink his additional tenure of another year of Detroit Lion’s style of football.

Hang on Lion’s fans, the gentle breeze of hope wafts delicately in the air as we launch our 59th year of rebuilding. Until next season, this is marvinudy signing off and hoping we all survive long enough to watch a Lion’s championship team in action