For some reason, I feel the need to start this post off with a disclaimer - I didn't watch the whole game. I only made it through about 3 minutes of the second quarter, when I had to leave and catch a plane. I wish I could say it was because I was so disgusted with what I saw that I just couldn't stand watching it any longer. It was that bad, but I'm a sucker for punishment, and I would have kept watching every stinking minute of that flaming bag of turd of a game. But work called, and I had a convenient excuse to end my misery.
If there was one phrase to describe my impression of the game for the little I saw and the little more I caught on the radio, it's "The more things change, the more they stay the same." We had a new head coach, a new QB, new RB, new WR's, and the same old results. Garcia got the start which provided some of the most ridiculous discussions about why he was starting I've ever heard. IMHO, he got the start because Jauron was trying to make peace in the locker room, not because he is a better QB. He'll probably start again this week, and if he performs poorly again, he may get yanked. He sure did deserve to get yanked in that game. If JH put up those kind of numbers, the city would be screaming for his head, and Dre Bly would have called him out as the worst QB in NFL history on ESPN following the game. Seriously, 17 for 35 for 126 and a pick? So much for Greg Olsen making a difference. Of course when your QB can't throw a 15 yard pass on a line, you really have no chance to complete any downfield passes. From what I heard, a 15 year old kid at the NFL punt, pass and kick competition at halftime threw a 59 yard pass, and Dan Miller even joked that Garcia only wishes he had that 15 year olds arm. So much for any chance of a vertical passing game...
On the running game, it was more of the same, although it was all Toose and Bryson. KJ not playing was a major setback for the O, and really handicapped the team. There are people who have been trying to rip on KJ about his yards per carry and his playing this year, but I don't buy it. To steal an old Barry vs Emmitt line, I'd love to see Shaun Alexander and KJ switch O-Lines and see how they do. KJ (and the rest of our O) have been the victims of one of the worst O-Lines in recent memory in the league. Toose did OK, but he's just not in KJ's league.
As far as the receivers go, benching CRog seemed about as counter-productive as you can get. I'm guessing the real reason he was benched was to send a message to him to keep his act straight more than anything. But of course Jauron seems to have inherited Mooch's speaking in tongues press conference style now, so we'll never know the answer. Of course it's not as if the Lions could have taken advantage of CRog's speed anyway with Garcia flinging the ball. Roy caught all of 4-34, Vines 2-10 and BMW 1-6. There was simply no way the Lions could threaten anyone when they can't stretch the field.
As far as the D goes, All I needed to see I saw on the first play - McQ getting burned for an 80 yard TD on the first play. I really didn't need to see anything else after that. I did get to see Dre get burned, which is not something we've seen too often. Baby and Daddy were on a mission, but if you can't sack Johnson in 0.3 seconds, he'll have an open receiver to throw to.
Again, I missed too much of the game to really know everything that went on. I'm still debating if I haul out the TiVo and subject myself to the torture that I'm sure to see. I probably will, and I'll then post something more to the blog to finalize my thoughts, but for the time being, ignorance is bliss. Or at least less painful.
1 comment:
I like your site. Good writing and observations. Keep up the good stuff.
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