Off the Schneid

I thought the only positive thing to come out of this Lions season would be good draft position and the end of the Matt Stafford era. Fortunately, I was wrong. The Lions beat Green Bay at Lambeau Field, something that hasn't happened since December 15, 1991. That is a LONG losing streak. The victory potentially hurts their draft position (they go from dead last to now 2nd-to-last, tied with 4 other 2-7 teams and behind 2-8 Cleveland), but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can lose enough down the stretch to still be able to draft Paxton Lynch. It REALLY feels good to get off the schneid from that Lambeau losing streak.

The game was super ugly. Some of this was good game-planning by BC Teryl Austin, but a good deal of this was Aaron Rodgers was AWFUL. I haven't seen him play as bad as he has the past 3 games in a LONG time. He's inaccurate, missing open receivers, and he sometimes doesn't look like he knows whether to run for it or pass. The Lions shut down GB's run game, so it was basically all on Rodgers and right now he's like a pitcher who needs a week off to work on his mechanics.

Detroit's offense was BARELY better than GB's. They benefited from a near kickoff return for a TD. I thought Ameer Abdullah crossed the goal line, but Caldwell elected not to challenge. I get why you don't challenge there - teams eventually punch it in about 99% of the time from there - but the Lions ALMOST screwed that up. I REALLY didn't like the play-calling there. The Lions ran Joique Bell off tackle once (the words "Joique Bell" and "run off tackle" should never be in conjunction) and a bubble screen thing to Tate (which doesn't make sense in that situation with a shorter field) netted 0 yards, and I was legitimately concerned. Thankfully, they called a play that actually made sense on 3rd down and Stafford connected with Pettigrew in the end zone.

I spent the entire game guessing how the Lions were going to blow this one. Stafford threw a BAD pick right when they were at least going to get 3 points. Matt Prater, solid on FGs, was 0-2 on extra points. He's missed no FGs all year, 3 extra points. Go figure.  The Lions then allowed GB to cut right through their defense and score, but lo & behold, played solid D on the 2-pt conversion attempt and recent call-up Crezdon Butler knocked Rodgers' pass away (although somehow he wasn't credited with a pass defended on the stat sheet). At this point, the game should've been over, but Mason Crosby executed a pretty good on-side kick and Calvin Johnson let the ball slip through his hands. A couple of plays put the Packers inside his FG range, but I think he mis-hit it and also had it partially blocked. The end of the game was crazy, and the Lions ALMOST did enough to lose it, but not quite.

My wife, of all people, noticed the Lions' new right tackle Michael Ola, who I thought played a pretty good game overall (turns out that was only as a pass blocker as he sucked big-time in the run game). The Lions' DBs were good for the most part, which should come as little surprise considering Rashean Mathis was out. I thought Nevin Lawson was acceptable (although he probably deserved to get called for PI a couple of times) and Butler was also solid when called on, which is remarkable considering he was watching the games from his couch last week.


I don't like watching the Lions lose, but I hope for their sake that they finish with a record in the bottom 3, because they desperately need a top tier player. OT is probably the boringest but rightest solution, but I'm hoping for a QB.