- The O-Line once again had a rough day. Last year it took them until nearly the mid-point of the season to gel. I hope it's much sooner this year.
- Joey again was somewhat inconsistent as well as being victimized by drops. The Lions team site claimed 3 drops, but I counted 5 by Roy myself, and the Pollard drop in the endzone. I can understand that some of the plays - Pollard's for example - were probably labeled as good D plays by the Pack hitting the receiver. I still view those as passes that should have been caught.
In addition to that, Joey was off on a few throws - about 5 by my count. Out of 32 pass attempts (including 4 no-plays), that's not a bad number.
One thing I'm confused about is what game people were watching who complained about a lack of passes to our WR's. Out of the 32 pass plays I mentioned, 16 went to our WR's. That's 6 completions (don't forget KJ2 caught 2) and 10 incompletions. Roy had a lot of action his way - 10 throws to him, and only 2 catches. If people want to complain about our WR's not catching more passes, I can agree. But they definitely had opportunities.
- KJ looked like GB was daring the Lions to beat them through the air. There weren't too many 8-men-in D lineups, but they played a close bump-n-run on the WR's and stacked the middle to stop KJ. Again, it will take the WR's making a name for themselves and some different playcalling to really open things up for KJ. Plus Smith was a waste of a positional player while he was in there. They'd be far better off to use Bryson as a FB as at least he is a receiving threat.
- As every newspaper article written has indicated, the D looked good. It wouldn't have looked quite as good had GB not shot themselves in the foot so many times. Javon Walker had a 55 yard completion wiped out by offensive pass interference. Had he not had a brain fart, he likely still would have caught the ball based on where Favre's throw was - high and outside - where Bryant couldn't defend it. That could have set up a score, and the botched field goal was another woulda-shoulda-coulda had points. That being said, Favre looked average and Ahman Green had all of 58 yards rushing. A lot of the credit for their performances has to go to our D.
Where we go from here is uncertain. I know if I was Joey, I'd be making a pitch for CRog and Roy to switch spots for the next game to see how they respond. Mooch had hinted that he would rotate the receivers around the positions, so this just might happen. Roy was very disappointing IMHO. He dropped several passes last year, and was let off easy because he a) was a rookie, b) was playing injured, and c) made some spectacular catches. Yesterday, he dropped several easy ones, ones that could have kept drives alive. I'm not saying dump him, but we have three guys who all could be #1 receivers. Roy's status as #1 WR for this team should not be set in stone - more like sand.
The Hanson situation worries me. The Lions have almost never had to worry about the kicking game in my memory. In the last 25 years, we've had Eddie Murray and Jason Hanson as kickers. Now, if Hanson can't go, it suddenly becomes a worry. I'm keeping my fingers it's just a soreness issue, and that Harris can handle kicking for one game, giving Hanson until October 2 against Tampa before he has to kick again.
Next week, it's Chicago. I'm not sure what to make of that game just yet. I'll think more as we get closer to gametime...
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