Catching up with the NFL: Do my Lions have some hope?!

Before making any assumptions about the NFL season (and the Detroit Lions) I took the high road this year and waited until after the Thanksgiving games before making any "official" decisions on any one team. Sure, it may be the middle of a week of the NFL schedule, but, considering I'm a Lions fan (yeah, I know, but at least I can admit it) it makes some sense.

Since I have a lot to say about the Lions-and their latest Thanksgiving Day fiasco-I'll get to everything else in the NFL first.

Let's face it-there really isn't very much parody in the NFL this year. Through 10 and a half weeks we have 4 really good football teams: the Patriots (as always this century), the Colts (likewise), the Saints, and the Vi-queens (sorry, I can't help it-they are my most hated team of the NFC North).

On the flip side we have twice as many lousy teams: the Lions (as always in the 21st century), the Buc's (really not surprised), the Rams (ditto on the lack of surprise), the Seahawks (just goes to show you how important depth is in the face of massive injuries), the Redskins (wtf happened here?), the Browns (like my Lions, as expected), the Bills (Owens really proved to be the "missing link" there, hasn't he?) and the Raiders (so much for talent).

The remaining 20 teams are lumped in the middle. the Bengals (!!!?) are the only real surprise of the group-they will most likely end up sweeping their divisional games. The only question left is whether they will get a home play off game because they aren't catching the Colts or the Patriots.

Denver-come on, did we really think Kyle Orton was that good? I didn't, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he proved what he was: a lousy quarterback. If he had a good running back this year, all he would have had to do is "manage" the game, but with no running game defenses can easily confuse him. Therefore, pencil in the Chargers as that divisions winner-again.

Chicago-way to high of expectations by Cutler given they have no other weapons around him and a mediocre offensive line at best; and losing Urlanbacher guaranteed they had no chance of making the playoffs.

The Cardinals are still the Cardinals-great passing game, little running game, but do have an improved D. All in all, they have the luxury of taking advantage of a lousy division.

Green Bay seems to be coming on, but, come on: anyone with my home team on their schedule twice (for now I hope) should have a good chance of making the playoffs.

Nice to see V. Young grow up-but how the Titans could start off 0-6 still baffles me.

The Steelers will have difficulty defending their title given that they will most likely be competing for a wild card slot given the emergence of the Bengals (!!!!?) as their Division's powerhouse.

The rest aren't worthy of conversation-they are what they are-mediocre, at best, football teams.

Now for my Lions…I have a lot to say about my home team.

I'll start with their rookie class of draft picks.

--Matthew Stafford: it took me 4 games before I started to believe in him ,and when he was hurt and Culpepper had to play it became very obvious to me why he won the starting job: Culpepper is done like a Brit cooks their meat. Stafford has already had a game or 2 that he played really well in, and showed us Lion faithful what the future could have in store for us. I only hope that they can keep him up right and healthy.

--Brandon Pettigrew: I hated his pick. How they could draft a TE with the 20th overall pick while having so many needs on defense I'll never know. It took me until their win against the Browns to see why they chose him…From the beginning I liked Pettigrew's ability to pass block, but the perpetual drops were too much for me to say that the was 'worth" the trade for Roy Williams. However, after watching him settle in and finally develop some chemistry with Stafford (they are both rookies after all, and Stafford did miss 3 weeks) I get why they drafted him. And, if the Lions coaching staff can continue to make him an important part of the offense, opponents will have a hard time keeping their safeties back to cover CJ on the deep ball.

--Aaron Brown: late round draft pick with mad speed. When he touches the ball things seem to happen, I only wish they could find ways to use him more right now.

--Louis Delmas: I love this guy. I love him from the beginning. He is the Bob Sanders/Troy Polamalu of the Detroit Lions. The guy loves laying the wood on anyone who comes over the middle of the field. That causes fear in your opponents-something only Barry Sanders ever caused Lions opponents; so, needless to say, that is saying a lot.

--Sammie Hill and DeAndre Levy: Hill isn't a starter. I don't care what the coaching staff "thinks", but he doesn't have the talent. Against the best guards and partial double teams he disappears-there was obviously a reason why he didn't get drafted early; but, this just goes to show you how little talent the Lions have on their D-line: that a mid round draft pick could start for them there. Levy looks to be making Earnie Sims expendable. Levy is great at blitzing and has a nose for the ball. I only hope that if the Lions can trade Sims (I don't know his contract status) they can get something for him. If not, at least they can cut him loose to make room for their high draft pick next year.

--Kevin Smith, Calvin Johnson and Gosder Cherilus: Smith and Johnson have disappointed me this year. CJ seems to all but disappear-this could simply be because the rest of the receiving corp suck major you know what, or because he is not as good as we all thought he was. Either way, I think he needs to step it up. The same goes for Smith-the guy is a work horse, and I love his toughness, but he is not the breakaway running threat that we need at running back. He is an excellent pass catcher, but we need a real runner back there. I mention Cherilus because he was our 1st round draft pick last year and, besides the surprising Manny Ramirez, is our best OL.

Thanksgiving game: How much longer are we Lions fans going to have to put up with lousy Thanksgiving Day performances? I see much hope in the team for the future, but saying this year in and year out is getting old really quick.

Anyways, I have a lot of questions to ask about this game:

To start with: why was Stafford still in that game when it was already a lost cause? I appreciate the guys toughness, but if he is the future of this franchise and you want him to get as much real game experience this year as possible, why would you risk him by playing him-already injured-when the game is already decided?

--What happened to Aaron Brown? The guy was a huge reason for helping Stafford get the win against the Browns but he never got the ball against the Pack. The guy shows great potential and, as I said, things happen when he touches the ball on offense-so why aren't they giving him a bigger role?

--Why don't they blitz Julian Peterson more? The one time they blitzed him all he did get a sack and force a fumble, why can't they do that 5-6 times a game with him from different LB spots throughout the game?

--Could our defensive line be any worse? Good lord! How much time can you give a QB to throw the ball? They are so bad that I think they should play 4 CB's, 2 safeties and 6 LB's-forget putting DL out there: the ones they have are useless. They get no pass rush and me and 5 of my 150lb-when-soaking-wet-with-cloths-on-friends could hold them off long enough for a QB to find an open receiver. Calling them terrible is the understatement of the year.

--Can anyone else besides Pettigrew catch a ball? B. Johnson was supposedly this great addition-a former high draft pick who some say wasn't given a fair chance; but now we know the truth: the guy is lousy. So is Northcutt. It's a shame that 4th rounder Derrick Williams got hurt, otherwise he may be starting in place of either of these 2 lackey's.

OK, I've rambled long enough about my Lions. I see some potential-unfortunately almost all of it is associated with their 09' draft class. I do think that Pettigrew going down in the first series screwed their offense: he is proving to be the real deal now that he has learned to catch a ball from Stafford, and I think that the Lions would have given Green Bay a much better game if he hadn't of gotten hurt as his presence frees up CJ over the top and he is a great blocker. Regardless, injuries are a big part of the NFL, and if you don’t' have depth, then you are effed-just like every one else in the league.

Hopefully the Lions will pull out another win or 2 this year. It's unlikely, but as a Lions fan all I have had for the last decade is hope-which got old 5 years ago-but with some of the pieces they have in place right now, their does look to be a light at the end of our very long and dark tunnel…But, lets be honest-I'm only hoping.

It all starts with 1!

For almost a decade now, it has been down right embarrassing to let it be known if you are a fan of the Detroit Lions. As one myself I haven't hid it, but I certainly haven't broadcast it-especially given there really hasn't been a reason too.
That isn't to say that just because the Lions finally ended their 19 game losing streak yesterday changes everything and you will not find me on street corners wearing signs and practicing new cheers for the team. No, it doesn't do any of that; but what it does do is show the signs of improvement that observers like myself have noticed in all 3 of their games this season: they don't give up like they used too as soon as their opponent scores; they are tougher up front on both sides of the ball despite their obvious lack of talent; from the looks of it, they do have that elusive franchise QB in Stafford-his improvement from game 1 to game 3 is blatant; for the first time since Barry was on the team, it looks as if they have a running game-so long as Kevin Smith can stay healthy; and it looks as if they have a core of young players on which to build around in Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, Gosder Cherilous, Brandon Pettigrew and of course Stafford, on offense, and on defense Louis Delmas, Jason Hunter-a suprise pick up off the waiver wire-and Sammie Hill (if he can stay healthy) give them something to build off of on that side of the ball.
They are still talent deficient relative to the rest of the league, but at least now you can't say they are the worst team in the NFL.
Regardless, the most important thing of all is that, after nearly 2 years of ineptitude, they finally won a game. Yes, its just one game, but you can't learn to run before you learn to walk can you? And for team veterans such as Dominic Raiola and Jeff Backus who have never had a winning season, last year was the culmination of 8 seasons of futility, during which the entire organization had forgotten how to win.
Does this one win change anything within the organization? Of course not, but for those changes to happen they have to start with that first win-which, for this years version of the Detroit Lions, came much sooner, rather than later and hopefully it is the precurser of things to come in the not so distant future.

A bright light at the end of the Lions dark tunnel

As anyone who reads me regularly knows, I am from metro Detroit and am, unabashedly, a sports homer relative to most of the pro sports teams native to that area...

For the last decade it's been embarrassing to be considered a Lions fan, but, what can I say, I am. But I was really going to give up on the team this year and not pay much attention to them when they decided to start their rookie QB over Dante Culpepper, but it was just enough to get me to at least watch their first couple of games this year-which I have actually done.
Unlike most people who watched Drew Brees and slice and dice their defense in week 1, I didn't see it so much as a bad performance by the Lions. I saw it more as the performances of 2 teams who shouldn't be on the field together at the same time. The Lions are in more than a "rebuilding" phase, and the Saints could be the best team in Football this year in my opinion. But after that game I saw one major positive out of the Lions: they were aggressive on both sides of the ball to the bitter end (unlike years past when they just simply gave up after the first 10 minutes). And after yesterday's loss at home to the Vikings, I took that same positive (and others) away from the Lions performance that makes me think that we Lions fans really do have something to look forward too in the near future with this current coaching staff and a couple of key players-assuming they can keep them on the team for more than a couple of years.
But, what I see that I like more than anything else out of the Lions is the apparent plan out of the coaching staff. During yesterday's loss it was obvious to me the plan that the coaching staff has in place to make the Lions better.
If you watched the Lions first 2 games as I did, it was obvious that the Lions biggest problems weren't scheme's, play calling, or toughness (as it was in years past)-it was talent. Plan and simple talent. Despite all of those top 10, first round picks over the last decade, the Lions are devoid of any real talent. Fortunately they have drafted some good offensive players the last 4 years, but on defense and up front on both sides of the ball they are just talentless. To that end I think I see was Coach Jim Schwartz's plan is.
Simply put, the focus appears to be to just get better.
The logic makes sense to me: if you focus on getting better each and every week wins will come; but if all you do is focus on winning each game as it comes, then you have no guarantees of taking anything positive away from even a bad outcome.
There is a saying that says practice can only get so good at something through practice and to really excel at it, you have to be doing it when it really counts.
To me, yesterdays game against the Vikings proves all of this to me.
For the first 30 minutes of football, the Lions not only hung with the Vikings (by many considered to be Superbowl contenders this year), but the Lions were actually dominating them-especially in the running game which was the obvious focus on offense for the Lions throughout the game despite the score. The 2nd half ended up being a different story of course, but Schwartz conceded it to the Vikings, instead preferring to stick to "getting better" at one aspect of the game-the running game. This was obvious to me because despite falling 14 points behind Minnesota during the forth quarter Schwartz kept pounding the rock even though it wasn't producing any big plays.
Further evidence can be found in the play calling-rounghly 3/4ths of which were running plays.
It was also very obvious that Schwartz had a much more limited passing game installed for Stafford after his 3 interception performance in week one. The limited play book for the passing game didn't help Stafford much-he still threw 2 picks-but the obvious focus on the running game on both sides of the ball was worth the effort I think.
For the Lions part, Kevin Smith rushed well against one of the better run defenses in the league and the Lions D held the leagues best runner in Adrian Peterson to under 100 yards, although he still found the end zone against them. The defense also showed its toughness throughout the contest and perhaps saw the emergence of a couple of players in Manuel and a DE by the name of Hunter whose name was called way to often in the first half of the game to not get noticed by opposing offensive coordinators in upcoming contests.
As far as their rookie QB is concerned I still think they should have kept him on the bench until after the bye week, but now that I have discerned exactly what Schwartz's plan is I say leave him in there. He obviously has the talent, but he needs to experience what he is experiencing now-the bad throws leading to the interceptions-to get better (this also will force the defense to get better which, if you noticed on Sunday, they will because it falls on them to keep those turnovers, which will happen, from becoming points). At some point-probably week 4 or 5-Schwartz will put the offensive focus on the passing game as far as what to work on for the week; but football is a complicated game, and with the serious lack of talent which it is now obvious that the Lions have (not), Schwartz is going to have to take his time rebuilding this team-picking one aspect of the team each week to work on and get better at and it will probably depend on the type of opponent the Lions are facing as it relates to what that focus will be on.
That all said, what do I think I have learned about the Lions after only 2 games? That there is, without question, a light at the end of their very long and dark tunnel. In fact, I think that light is very bright and we will have an idea of how bright that light will be during the 2nd half of the season.
For now, we Lions fans must learn to watch each game for what it is: work towards an end product that will be better.

Questioning Joe Dumars

If you know me, then you know that I have much respect for the Detroit Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars. When Dumars was first hired in 2000 he made some moves that turned heads and made people in the world of professional Basketball ask "Is he on crack?", but considering how well those moves turned out, and the success which those moves generated for most of the decade, everyone, including myself, recognized the brilliance of Joe Dumars as being one of the, if not the best General Manager in all of professional sports.
Fast forward to this month and some very interesting moves that "Joe D" has made for the pistons.
The signing of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are nice additions, but I question the price he paid for them. Gordon gets $11 mill a year, and Villanueva $7 mill a year. That is a lot of money for a pair of players who, to be quite frank about it, have done nothing in their careers. I don't claim to know much about Villanueva, but I've watched Gordon play against the Pistons for years as a Bull, and the best they can boast of is a 2nd round defeat against the Pistons a few years ago. As such, I have a hard time understand why the big dollar contracts were dished out to 2 players who are only going to make it more difficult for established players such as Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince to get minutes along with rising stars Jason Maxiel, Will Bynum and the heir apparent to Chauncey Billups, Rodney Stuckey.
Leading to more questions about Joe D's moves as of late is the way in which he handling the coaching situation the last 2 years. He gives Mike Curry a shot after only one year as an assistant with the organization, saddles him with Allen Iverson in a last ditch attempt to get to the Finals with the core of players he first developed, then, when it all fell apart, Dumars got rid of Iverson and the coach. After firing Curry, he had Avery Johnson sitting there for him on a silver platter-2 years out of the league and chomping at the bit to get back in, but, instead of trying to make a deal work and staying fast to this stance that he wanted someone with more experience, what does Joe do but go with another assistant. This one the Cleveland Cavaliers "offensive" coach John Kuester.
True, Kuester possesses much more experience than Curry did when he was hired, but again I have to ask: what has Kuester done? This guy's claim to fame is coaching Lebron James offensively-as if that is a hard freaking job!
I just don't get it. The Pistons are obviously heading into a transition year and the last time they did so they went to the Eastern Conference Finals before winning it all in 2003 against the Lakers. Back then, even though you couldn't see what the plan was back then, you could tell by teh personality of the players assembled and the coaching staff in place, what kind of team they were going to be.
This year, with players who have more of a playing history to examine, it's impossible to tell what kind of team they are going to be heading into the 2009-10 season. Will they score 100+ a game? Will they give up more than 100+ a game? Will they play a 3 guard set or play point forward? As of now, we have no clue, and, based on Dumar's past, we won't have a clue until we see it all on the court.
Regardless of how you look at it however, it does make you wonder-again-about the decision making of Joe Dumars.

The NBA and Stanley Cup Finals

(Note, this post was originally written on 6/15/09).

Since I was “indisposed” for a bit and unable to comment on either the NBA or NHL Finals’ matchups as they took place, now is as good of a time as any to catch up and take a look back on them…

I have to admit to not being very surprised that the Orlando Magic made it to the NBA Finals. I didn’t pick them, per se, but I wasn’t as surprised by it as most seemed to be. I could tell from the beginning of the Eastern Conference Finals that the Magic had Lebron’s and his Cavaliers number-they just matched up too well against them. The biggest surprise to me, however, were the Denver Nuggets. I knew that when they acquired Chauncey Billups in the Iverson trade with the Pistons that they would be better, but its been quite some time since I’ve seen one player have such a profound impact on the overall attitude of an entire organization. After the Nuggets stole one from L.A. in L.A., I thought maybe they had punched their ticket to the finals, but, alas, it was meant to be the Lakers year, and once they had made it to the Finals I knew it was only a matter of time before they were crowned champs once again. Does this settle the Kobi question of whether or not he can lead a team without Shaq to a title? I’m not so sure about that…When considering this question you have to consider Kobi’s supporting cast and I would say that his supporting cast this year was better than Shaq’s supporting cast in Miami a few years back when he lead that team to a championship without Kobi before Kobi was able to do it without him…Anyways, I did think that the Magic would give them a little more of a challenge than they, but, ah well…Before I move on, I have to give some credit where credit is do: my good friend Mike Davies called the Magic for the Finals before they had dispatched the Boston Celtics-a point on which at the time I disagreed with. Good call my friend (bow)…

As for the Stanley Cup Finals…What the fuck happened to my beloved Red Wings?!! They have game 7, at home, and they can’t manage to score more than 2 goals against those pathetic tuxedo clad arctic birds?! Come on! After finding out the outcome, I was almost glad that I was unable to watch that game 7-almost (I still believe that I had been able to watch it, they would have won lol). Anyways, no one was really much surprised that it was a rematch of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in which the Wings won, particularly after Detroit got rid of pesky Anaheim, but I do think Pittsburgh pulling off the win the way they did surprised most people especially given that the Wings outscored them for the series. Unfortunately, all that matters are the wins and losses and the Wings lost the most important game of the season during the most important series of the season-a trait we Wing Nuts are used to seeing in our beloved team…Oh well, there is always next year, and, like the Yankees of Baseball, the Wings are more likely than not to be there when it’s all said and done…Again I have to give some credit where it is do. My life long friend Amy called me during the Eastern Conference Finals to tell me that, should the Wings at that time have made it too the Cup Finals, they “ didn’t stand a chance against either Washington or Pittsburgh in a 7 game series”. As a die hard Wing Nut, her statement shocked me and of course I abused her for making out. However, in the end, she was proven to be more right than I and so, it is with much eating of crow that I say-good call dude, you got me, this time lol.

And the Lions Draft...2 Offensive players in the first round!???

It's been a week since the Lions draft QB Matthew Stafford (#1, rd 1); TE Brandon Pettigrew (#@20, rd 1) and some safely with the last name of Delmas out of Western Michigan University with the first pick of round 2, and even though my anger has subsided somewhat, I still find myself scratching my head over their entire draft. According to their new coach and GM, they said they weren't going to draft on need, but be looking to draft talent. But, I have to ask: what good is talent if you don't have a system in place for which it fits into? It seems to me that Schwartz and Mayhew really have no clue what they are doing at this point, and that is sad, because I really happen to have liked the Schwartz hiring-at first anyways. Now, I'm not so sure. For one, BOTH of the Lions 2 first round picks had their pathetic owners imprint all over them; 2. They had much MUCH greater "needs" which they could have addressed with their 2nd pick of that first round (like Offensive and defensive lines) and yet they take a Tight End. Unreal! At first, I was so pissed off that they had drafted this way that I was very out spoken about having NO interest at all in watching or following the Lions this year-they are going to be pathetic again anyways so why bother. But, the more that I have thought about it, the more interesting they have become to me-if for no other reason than to be the proverbial "circus freak side show" within the NFL-and now I find myself unable to not look every single day for news on how these new draft picks are doing as they begin mini camps and practice sessions in Detriot...Ah well, I suppose such is my fate as the Lions are concerned, it's just a good thing that since I've moved to Florida I have become a fan of the New England Patriots much more so than the Detroit Lions. I only wish I could "shake the disease" (as one of my favorite bands used to sing) of being a Lions fan.