By Charlie Portelli
The Detroit Lions pulled off an improbable comeback on Sunday over the Cowboys that has Lions fans far and wide jubilant. With their backs against the wall in front of a sold out home crowd, Stafford and the Lions drove 80 yards with less than a minute on the clock and no timeouts remaining to cap an amazing victory. The win puts the Lions in the driver seat for a playoff spot in the NFC. All's well that ends well for Lions fans, right? Proceed with caution.
The Lions were extremely fortunate to be able to come away with a win Sunday. On defense, they continued to display a strong degree of ineptitude. Their inability to generate a consistent pass rush, coupled with the fact that their secondary has been awful has developed some real concerns for this team. They were just seconds away from dropping a second consecutive game at home where they desperately need wins. The Lions defense has given up 7 passing plays 40 yards or more, tied for 3rd worst among all NFL teams. They have also given up 4 rushes over 40 yards, which is the worst in the NFL. The Lions are known around the league to have one of the best defensive lines in the game, yet they have only accumulated 13 QB sacks, good for the 5th fewest in all of football. In typical Lions fashion, they again shot themselves in the foot several times. They committed 4 turnovers (2 INT's and 2 fumbles) and after losing one of their fumbles, rookie TE Joseph Fauria committed a brainless personal foul that put the Cowboys directly into field goal range. These are all recipes for losing. A recipe that the Lions have mastered. The win tends to mask many deficiencies for some, but not for me.
The Dallas Cowboy defense is every bit as bad as the Lions defense, so lets not over-analyze this one, that's why the Lions were able to win this game. They continued to allow Calvin Johnson to burn them time and time again as he amassed 329 yards on 14 catches. When the Cowboys had to make one play to finish the game, they could not.
Of course, we have to give credit where credit is due. Stafford was incredible in this game, and all season long for that matter. In a quarterback driven league, Stafford has shown the ability to carry his team to victory. He has about as much talent throwing the football as any in the game. He and Calvin have developed the most explosive connection in the league and their rapport continues to grow. The Lions stayed the course in this one, and despite their defensive inefficiencies, their offense prevailed. Perhaps the most impressive trait through eight games for the Lions has been their ability to protect Stafford. The offensive line has only allowed 10 sacks on the season, the lowest in the NFL. Much of that credit goes to Stafford as well, as he has been brilliant at getting rid of the football quickly and not allowing the defense the time to get to him.
Many fans think that this win is the difference. The Lions were never able to win these games in the past, so winning them now proves that this team has made that jump. Although in reality, that is hardly the case. The Lions have the easiest remaining schedule in the entire NFL, but they will NOT win their division. Luckily for them, there should be one playoff spot left for the taking after the 4 division winners and 49ers claim their spots. Will the Lions do what is required and grab that last spot? Depend on wins like they had this past Sunday against the Cowboys and they can forget about that.
Big win. There's a big difference going in the halfway mark of the season (and your bye week for that matter) at 5-3 rather than 4-4. Especially when the Cowboys could be a team you are battling for a wild card spot and the loss would of made back to back home losses.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to need the offensive line to keep it up because we all know how much Stafford is while he is in the pocket. Additionally the defensive line needs to create more pressure because our secondary is not good enough to cover offenses when you give them 4,5,6 seconds to pass. This is one of those games that can change the mindset and culture of a team the rest of the way so we'll see!
Huge win, like I said, it put them in the drivers seat. The offensive line has been incredible, I for one can admit I never saw that coming, I thought they would struggle mightily. Offense was amazing but the four turnovers is unacceptable and we will not be able to overcome that again. Defensive line has been a disappointment and needs to step it up. As we both said, Ziggy Ansah.....awful draft pick.
ReplyDeleteI am a Cowboys die hard and at this point i dont know if it's more embarrassing for them to lose like that or if it's more embarrassing that Jerry Jones hasnt figured his empire out in 15+ years. Losing like that time after time is starting to build up. Late in the game when you have all the HOPE in the world just to be shot down time and time again is becoming exhausting. You know this feeling right?!
ReplyDeleteI bring this point up because lions fans are in a very similar state. You win some crazy games and you think it's all perfect but in the reality of it you are not a championship team by any means. Another thing is we all know Denver and it's explosive offense is terrific and all but Defense wins championships which has been proven time and time again with the Steelers and Ravens. Something Lions and Cowboys both lack. I also think i am in a similar position as Lions fans because we both at this point think we are playoff bound. The NFC east is frankly terrible so the Cowboys seem to have it locked up right now, but all the HOPE defines a Cowboy and Lions fan of the past hopeless decade.