Tinderbox: Impending Doom
>> 10.07.2010
I’m currently working on the Watchtower for the Rams game, and I can’t get away from a sense of impending doom. No, the numbers don’t look that bad—in fact, I have no logical reason for this whatsoever. It’s just . . . well, this one was supposed to be the patsy, the gimme, the sure thing. And, well, I don’t know if you folks remember, but the Rams were supposed to be the patsy last season too, and, well . . .
Impending doom.
Okay! Enough of that; let’s keep this fire going.
Remember that time Alphonso Smith was a guy the Lions might have taken with the second pick in second round of last season's draft, but instead they took Louis Delmas so Denver traded their first-round pick this year to take Alphonso Smith instead, and then the Broncos decided they didn’t like him or something and traded us Alphonso Smith for Dan Gronkowski? Well, Shawn Windsor of the Freep writes that Smith is pushing for a starting spot now, much as if the Lions had taken him in the second round to begin with.
If Smith and Houston continue to play well, it will be a huge boon to the defense—and we may have two starters at cornerback that start next year, as well. If my research is correct, that’s the first time that’s happened since the Bryant Westbrook/Terry Fair combination, more than a decade ago.
Tom Kowalski writes that Sam Bradford is, if not actually scared, well aware of the heat the Lions’ pass rush can generate:
"To be honest, I think that it's one of the better defenses that we've seen,'' Bradford said. "They're very good up front. I think they cause a lot of problems with what they do up front, with some of the pressures that they bring."
People: the Lions are tied for fifth in the NFL in sacks, with thirteen. That is HALF of their 2009 total! They’re fourth in sacks-per-dropback, with ten. Of course, they’re still 30th in opponent yards-per-attempt, and 28th in opponent passer rating—this is still not a good pass defense. But pass rush? Yes, and the Lions will be facing their best-yet combination of sackable quarterback, and porous offensive line. That, at least, is something to get excited about.
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5 comments:
Watching that fake FG, you wonder why we couldn't do that in the punt/FG situation last week. Nobody would expect us to do something so gutsy, and it probably could have got us on the scoreboard. Especially with the TEs we have.
Ty,
Yeah I covered the Alphonso Smith development Sunday Night. I know this team, and Alphonso Smith emerging as what looks like a very legit CB opposite of Chris Houston, whom has played VERY well this year is the most important thing that could have happened to this team.
Article at my site here:
http://www.lionsnews.com/a-very-important-thing-happened-to-the-detroit-lions-in-green-bay-alphonso-smith-claimed-a-starting-job-at-cb/
Going forward I expect the Lions defense to really start to improve their numbers, a pair of blanketing CBs to go along with the defensive line is a WINNING combo. Just need Amari Spievey to take hold of the safety position away from C.C. Brown, and boom, secondary is above average. I bet you never saw that coming this fast!!
You are correct to worry Mr. Ty, be very, very worried. With a healthy Stafford, Buleson, Best, Sheffler, Levy, and Delmas the WT numbers probably nicely work out to a Dee-troit victory. But...they ain't! And that leaves the door open to the usual woulda, shoulda, coulda, almost-but-not-quite-over-the-hump result.
If I remember correctly, Cullpepper started that game. He was beyond awful last season, Hill is a HUGE upgrade plus our defensive line should be able to slow down a hobbled Steven Jackson well.
I think we're just so used to expecting to lose that we expect to lose when we shouldn't.
Actually, Stafford played that whole game. The guy missing was Megatron. Stafford went 14/33, 168 yards, no TDs, 1 pick.
That's not the guy the Rams are gonna' see Sunday. This should be, in theory, Shaun Hill's best game as a Lion. It's easily their worst opponent so far. It'll be his 4th start. Everyone else is relatively healthy. Things are looking pretty good.
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