As a beleaguered fan, could we please have the team that played the 2nd half of the Chicago game play out the season? This request is not to awaken dark thoughts of coherent team play but just to demonstrate a reasonable resemblance to competitiveness.

In the fading minutes of Chicago’s last gasp drive, our beloved Lions seemed on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory again with a stupid penalty. However, this time it was not fatal.

In summary, remember Chicago has a mediocre win/lost record resembling the Lions. We can hope to salvage some ‘Lion’s pride’ if they can capture whatever they conjured up in the games’ 2nd half against the Bears and finish out the season.

Well, you have the answer to “how low can you go?”. This Lion’s performance almost warranted genuine pity. Except, we’ve seen this act before over and over. Patricia should have a hood over his entire head, not a bandit o face mask for this turkey of performance.

In addition to the legacy baggage of feckless execution and performance, an element of ‘social justice warrior’ is now part of the pitiful mess encompassing the Detroit Lions. Never doubt asinine creativity when the Detroit Lions are on national display. Makes one pine for the good old days of W. Fontes and company.

Maybe this was the last act before the launch of our 64th year of rebuilding.

No need to elaborate after reading the title. Don’t bother looking at the stats. Nothing to see there but disaster. Key question. How much more abuse can Stafford absorb before a critical injury ends his career?

In spite of all premonitions, I’ll watch the Thanksgiving day game. Di-hard to the end. Plenty of ‘Tums’ and other anti acid remedies at the ready. Avoiding ‘Adult beverages’ because the effect is only temporary. Also, by definition you have an inherent deficiency of common sense when it comes to being a Lion’s fan.

Upwards and onward to our 64th year of rebuilding.

Let’s start with a ‘victory’ for the “Silver Sieve” defense effort. They barely managed to hold Washington to under 500 yards of offence, 464 yards specifically. Time of possession was lopsided by almost 11.5 minutes which in perspective approaches a quarter of game playing time. How about blowing another double digit lead starting in the third quarter? Sound familiar?

Now for the ‘good’ parts. The Lion’s generously contributed to Washington’s offensive drives with well timed pass interference penalties. Smith was allowed to get into rhythm and resulted in 375 yards passing.

Not to be outdone, Washington upped the level of stupid penalties with a hit on Stafford that was really dumb resulting in a fresh set of down. The rest is history. Prater’s kick looked like it could have cleared 65 yards with ease.

Notwithstanding, this performance does not portend a winning season. The 64th year of rebuilding is still on schedule with new geniuses at the helm.

Key indicators in the last two games stand out like a bad case of herpes! In the Colt’s game it was time of possession and in the recent Viking’s game it was the lopsided ratio of the ‘running game’. In the Colt’s game, defense deficiencies set aside, you cannot reasonably expect your defense to be on the field almost twice as long as an opponents. This week the Vikings exploited Detroit’s fabulous ‘Silver Sieve’ defense at will.

Ok, what’s the answer. Consider the premises put forth beginning with the establishment of the current regime. First, a skilled, superb General Manager knew how to put together a winning team. Secondly, we mated a head coach revered as a defensive genius. This had to be a match made in pro football heaven.

Several years later, here we are again back at another ‘new beginning’. All the platitudes, excuses and alibis are way past ‘use by’ dates. One can conclude that the ‘powers to be’ ie owners either don’t understand winning or couldn’t care less as long as the money rolls in. Or the owner leader ship is completely inept in staffing senior team leadership.

Our Detroit Lions have “burned” through enough raw talent to have produced at least a better than average team performance and are in the final stages of squandering a very good quarterback. Will someone please wake up and smell the roses! The creation of a “Pitty” fan base is on the immediate horizon with implicit financial impacts.

The win over Atlanta was a display of how two struggling teams keep things interesting. Atlanta had the game as they say, ‘in the bag’ and then they gave the ball back to Detroit’s quarter back who has a history of pulling off miracles within minutes to play. Story book ending for Detroit.

Atlanta was in pitiful shape (1-5) coming into this game and they should have never been in contention. Looking at the stats, it’s hard to determine who played over or under their ability.

The Lions have to do better with third down conversion against the Colts compared to previous outings. Expect Rivers to pick apart the Lion’s pass defense because his offensive line provides the protection.

All in all, another entertaining game between two average teams is all you can expect.

The last two week have been great. The Lion’s did not lose during the ‘bye’ week and won against a terrible team last Sunday. Lion’s history is replete with multiple versions of this scenario through out our 63 years of rebuilding. At this juncture of the season it would be masochistic to even allow a tiny bubble of ‘hope’ to materialize out of NFL thin air. Been there, done that and will hold out for a contiguous demonstration of winning results.

As far as the Jacksonville game, there were a few moments to savor. Offensive line provided some running lanes, passing was spread around, and time of possession was favorable. On the other side of the equation, 3rd down execution was mediocre, Prater missed what should have been for him a ‘gimme’, and Stafford still appears a little ‘off’ in his passing execution.

All the little things will make a significant difference when a higher caliber opponent is on the schedule. Keep your powder dry because you may need it to cauterize self inflected wounds the Detroit Lion’s are prone to cause sooner than later as history recounts.

After last weeks’ anomaly, IE a win, our beloved Lions returned to form. Firstly, concede that New Orleans is a good team. But from there our 63rd year of rebuilding is a complete and utter bust. What you ask leads to the defeat? Consider all the stats impacting the game:time of possession, third down conversions, first downs generated, total net game yards, net rushing yards, and completed passing percentage.

Bottom line, the defense, if that is the correct definition, only gave up 35 points and nearly 400 yds of offence. The only game element to change was a modest ground game sponsored by A. Peterson. Other than that “HO HUM” prevailed. Why do fans have to endure this ongoing dismal deception with the same coaching staff? Historical president exits to ‘change horses’ mid season and get on with life.

Season after season Lion’s fans have been subjected to a stream of cruel creativity in: how not to win, how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, how to allow winning opportunities to just slip away, how to allow sloppy discipline determine outcomes, how to waste superior talent for entire careers, and have an ongoing ownership display indifference as long as the revenue flows in the right direction.

Our anticipated 64th year of rebuilding stands as rock solid evidence of the fore listed assertions.

Well, well another re-run and the specter of another year of rebuilding. In the spirit of ‘truth in writing’, I only watched the first quarter and the last futile 8 minutes of the 4th quarter. The entire viewing time was done with the TV on “mute”. The phony ‘crowd noise’ is nothing but an insult.

What do the game stats tell us? Defense is horrible. Green Bay only generated 488 yds of offence. The key disparity was in the lopsided rushing 189 yards in the Packers favor. More disturbing was Stafford’s irregular passing performance. And, yes we still had the illustrious stupid penalties at critical times.

Personally, I do not give a ‘rats ass’ about player’s political opinions. Football is entertainment by individual who, as it has been said, won the genetic lottery of athletic ability but they are entitled to believe what ever they wish just as anyone else. Understand, your proselytizing of an opinion has no more weight than any other citizen.

The rest of the season is destined to be like an old re-run of a sitcom on TV. Been there and seen it before. Likens to the fabled ‘Chinese water torture’ Drip, drip, drip. More than Lion’s fan deserve.

marvinudy

Gentle Lion’s fans,

First, by happenstance, I only saw the last quarter of the game while eating dinner in a sports bar restaurant. What a way to generate severe gastrointestinal distress.

As we stumble into our 63 year of rebuilding intertwined with all the ‘PC’ ‘BS’, I’ve taken the liberty of posting a new a long overdue ‘Help Wanted Job posting’.

IMMEDIATE OPENING FOR HEAD COACHING JOB AT MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS TEAM!!

Applicant must have basic logic skills to understand that the only score that counts is after the game clock has expired. In addition, belief that “Prevent-defense ” schemes do not automatically hinder opponents scoring ability. Comprehend that play calling consists of more than ‘twice up the middle followed by an incomplete-pass and punt the ball’

Coaching skills must adhere to fundamentals such as , catching the ball when it is thrown in your direction, blocking the big guy trying to dismember your quarterback team mate, running to ‘daylight’ vs straight into the big piles of bodies in the middle of the the field, crossing the line of scrimmage AFTER the ball is hiked by the opposing team, and ‘Hot Dogging Displays’ after a play is for little kids playing at the school yard.

Expectations of your initial success are extremely low because of 63 years of prior dismal, historical disappointment. Please forward in a maximum of 30 word or less of how you think a ‘winner’ should perform. Direct your correspondence to Martha Firestone Ford P.O Box Beleaguered Fans, Detroit, Michigan.