Game Notes - vs. Bears: Broken Record

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record when I describe the Lions Offense this year. It's had the same problems week after week, even when players are changed for whatever the reason may be. Here is the quick summary of the issues:

- Questionable decisions by the Quarterback

- Shoddy pass and run blocking by the O-Line

- Bad route running and dropped passes by the receivers

- Little to no running game

- Overly conservative and predictable playcalling

It should be painfully apparent now that the Lions have significantly more problems than just the guy under center. I've been chanting this mantra all year, and it looks like the bozo's reporting for the newspapers are finally coming to the same realization. Joey Harrington was an easy target because he has that 'blue skies' personality where he is naturally the eternal optimist. So the fans and press crucified him as the sole problem with the Lions and Mooch was more than willing to lay the blame for his inept offense on Joey so he could continue to bring more of his 49er players and coaches to Detroit.

The problem for Mooch is that everyone is finally starting to see that the emperor has no clothes.

About a week ago, one of the posters in The Den decided to venture to the 49ers message boards and ask the people there what they thought about Steve Mariucci. What's funny is that they repeated almost verbatim what the criticisms of Mooch have been here in Detroit. To paraphrase, here's what they said:

"He's far too soft with his players and practices."

"He is ultra conservative and unimaginative with his offensive playcalling."

"His system needs a superstar WR to bail him out."

"He's a snake-oil salesman who the media has a hard time pinning down on anything."

"We'll never win a Super Bowl with him as coach."

Sound familiar? Only too eerily so – especially on Halloween. I could get into the details of the train wreck on O this week, but we all know them too well. The dropped passes that killed drives. The short passes on 3rd and long. The poor throws that were nowhere near the receivers. The poor blocking causing the QB to get hammered all game. The lack of much running room for most of the game. The ridiculous sideways 'pass'. The interception in Overtime. It all sounds like a broken record. The only difference is that Joey Harrington wasn't out there to be the scapegoat for the rest of the offensive inadequacies.

One final point on the O issues before I move on as just don't want to beat a dead horse too much. Scott Mitchell was benched and never started another game for the Lions after throwing an ill advised interception that was returned for a TD in overtime. After a nearly identical situation, Jeff Garcia was asked if he felt OK, and if he thought he would be healthy enough to play next week. You draw the conclusion...

The Defense again played OK, not great. For most of the game, they kept the Bears in check, save 3 key series, all of which resulted in points by the Bears. The 99 yard drive was just unthinkable. Boss Bailey dropped two easy interceptions, both of which could have been returned for TD's. The first was on the Bears first pass of the game. Think that may have completely changed the tone of the game? The other was on 3rd down, immediately before a FG. Kenoy also dropped an interception.

It's also readily apparent to me that the D misses Dre Bly much more than it misses Shaun Rogers. I think that's more to do with the depth and backups at those positions than the individuals involved though.

And then there were the quick whistles that negated potential fumbles. The long pass play to Bradley was close to being a fumble at the end, but the whistle blew. It likely would have been ruled as being caused by the ground, but it was still a quick whistle. The swing pass to Thomas Jones that was ruled an incomplete and not a fumble due to a quick whistle was heinous. Using any definition that the NFL has, that play was a fumble, and it was picked up and returned for a TD. Again, the Lions got hosed by incompetent officiating. What was funny is that after that play, someone must have gotten hold of the officiating crew and reminded them to not blow the whistle until the play is over, as they sure didn't blow it on the Garcia 'intentional grounding' pass.

What may be the most frustrating aspect of the game was one that I read this morning after Drew Sharp reported it. To quote: " The St. Louis Rams beat Jacksonville Sunday without the benefit of their starting quarterback, top two receivers -- all three of them former Pro Bowlers -- and two defensive starters. And, yeah, their head coach told them last week that he's out for the remainder of the season due to a bacterial infection striking a valve in his heart." Other teams can do it, but the Lions can't. I'm tired of the excuses.

But once again, the excuses keep flying in LionsLand. Mooch had his typical 'woe is us' press conference after the game, deflecting all criticism, selling his snake oil, and trying to put a positive spin on the Lions prospects. Even with the lack of plays being made on both sides of the ball, the game was still within grasp. Truth be told, there still are 9 games left in the season, and in the watered down 'parity' of the NFL, anything is possible, even a 9 game Lions winning streak.

But if history is any indicator, I wouldn't bet on it.

Quick note...

Wow, I've gotten hits like crazy since Scout.com published my game notes last night. Since I don't want the comments to get overcrowded with spam, I changed the switch that only allows you to leave a comment if you're registered with blogger. Sorry, but the spam had gotten ridiculous already.

Also, if you have a Lions related link you think I should add to the links to the right, post them in a comment. I'll try to get the good ones added. No need to leave links for the obvious ones like ESPN, CBS, Fox, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, etc.

Have fun, and please remember, this is only my opinion. I'm not an expert, just a fan. :)

Game Notes - @ Browns: What Did 'The Change' Really Do?

Coming out of the Cleveland game, I have more questions than answers for the Lions. Yes, they won the game, but again I have a different opinion on what I saw vs. what the media is reporting. IMHO, we saw about what we predicted earlier - a win against a bad Browns team that exposed some of the same flaws on Offense that we have seen all year. I saw the Defense hand the Offense everything it could in gift-wrapping the game, and the O still tried to give it away. If it wasn't for Cleveland being so inept in their own O, this game would likely have been a loss.

I'm not taking anything away from Jeff Garcia. He played a nice game. He did some things that Joey Harrington simply can't do:

- The bootleg for a TD - nice play, and Joey just can't run well enough to do that.
- The shovel pass to Bryson - Great improvisation, something Joey has not done well at all.
- He is 10,000% better than Joey at play fakes.

But the O still only scored 13 points. - against a team with a suspect D that couldn't generate any pressure to speak of on Jeff. He showed some of the same maddening tendencies as Joey does:

- He did the same dump-off passes that Joey gets ripped about
- The same unexplainable overthrows of receivers on simple routes
- What's worse is he simply cannot throw the deep ball even if he wants to.

He was lucky that the Browns didn't pick him off 3 times yesterday - a better Defense would have. He was very fortunate to get this tune-up game before facing the Bears next week.

If anyone really wants to debate the Jeff vs. Joey stuff any longer, save it until after the Bears game. Jeff is the starter for the foreseeable future. But to compare the two, the Bears game will be a better gauge because:
A - Jeff will have had another full week of practice
B - Roy should play and give him a better target - if he catches the ball
C - The Bears have a significantly better D compared to the Browns
D - We know what happened the last time we played the Bears

I fear that the Jeff vs. Joey debate is far from over. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm defending Joey and bashing Jeff - I'm not. I've said all along that the Lions problems are more the other players on the team than the QB. We still didn't have a great game running the ball. The pass protection was better, but likely only because Cleveland isn't very good at pressuring the QB. In the end, our O only scored 13 points against a team that isn't that great defensively. It's not something to be that ecstatic about.

If it sounds like I'm saying that Cleveland's D is not in the same league as the last 4 teams we played, you're right. I've heard several people trying to justify that Cleveland is a top-10 scores against D, and they even shut down Indy. Sorry, I don't buy it - they just aren't as good as the other teams we've faced. If we really want to compare team's D's, I've come to trust the Aikman Efficiency Ratings as the best source for truly comparing teams' O's and D's as it factors in scoring, red-zone, and turnovers along with yardage allowed. The Lions last five opponents D's were rated like this prior to week 7 games:

Chicago - #1
Tampa - #2
Baltimore - #11
Carolina - #7
Cleveland #16

Baltimore was rated much higher before we dropped 35 points on them with all the rushing yardage and red-zone success we had against them. Clearly Cleveland isn't as bad as some people say, but it's not the murderers row we just got done facing.

I'll put it another way that clearly demonstrates the difference. Last week, the Lions had a nearly identical situation late in the game against Carolina where they had the lead and got the ball back. Mooch ran nearly the identical plays that he always runs - 1st down run up the middle, 2nd down run up the middle. Everyone in the NFL knows Mooch will run these plays as he does it EVERY time. Last week, those plays gained 2 yards, this week 9 yards. 3rd down this week was an easy run up the middle conversion to seal the victory, last week it was a 3rd and 8 desperation rollout that got Joey sacked before he could even turn around. The difference between the two games was more the defense the Lions played against than the guy running the plays.

In the end, we won, and that is what it's all about in the NFL. 13-10.

Once again, our D was dominating. They only gave up 3 points this time, and held Cleveland to only 73 yards passing. Of course Ruben Droughns ran for 100 yards, but he was slowed down - way down - in the second half. He had 11 for 83 in the first half, but only 8 for 17 in the second half. But the win may have been extremely costly - Baby went down with what's being reported as a strained MCL, and Dre' has a severely sprained wrist which may require surgery. I haven't heard it yet, but I suspect that Dre may be able to play with his cast. I'm not sure about Baby though. Any lost time by those two will hurt.

The O also lost KJ2 - our most consistent receiver to date. Apparently it's a torn Achilles tendon, so he's gone for the season. We may get Roy back next week, but we may need a new nickname for him to go with his continued injured status. iRoy maybe? May also fit his personality which seems to have been taking a slant toward the typical prima donna #1 WR attitude of the T.O.'s and Randy Moss's of the NFL. I kinda like it - it fits. Sledge played this week, and he looks like he needed the time to get the rust out.

In any case, we need a better effort next week, or the Bears will sweep us. Their D looks every bit as dominating as ours does, and they'll get a lot more pressure on Garcia than the Browns did. If we have the same effort next week, it could get ugly inside Ford Field. Let's hope it gets better...

Confidence

Something that Atticus3 said a few days ago has been rattling around in the back of my head and has sparked a few thoughts about the difference between Joey and some of the more successful NFL starters. I've come about with the theory that the biggest difference is one thing - Confidence. You definitely see it when you watch some of the other QB's in the league - Manning, Brady, McNabb - they're just overflowing with confidence that somehow their team will get the job done. It's clear to me that right now, Joey has no confidence - not just in his receivers catching the ball or his line blocking for him, but in himself. The looks on his face and the tone in his press conferences tell of a QB who has completely lost confidence in everything going on around him. A lack of confidence may have more to do with his erratic performances than anything else.

It bears repeating that I'm not a Joey Lover or Hater. I simply want the Lions to win, irregardless of who the QB is. Personally, I like the guys attitude and hope he can be successful because if he is, then the Lions will be as well, but he simply hasn't been successful yet. I've watched Joey enough to think that he has all the necessary skills to be a successful NFL QB, but something else non-physical is just missing. This is just a theory of mine to try to understand what we see on the field.

It's easy to see how Joey's confidence could have gotten so low - constant losing will do that to anyone. He has little confidence in his receivers because of how little help he has gotten from them. This may be part of the reason he checks down so much - he may think if he does throw downfield that the receiver will simply drop the ball. Again, I'm not sure if this is the reason, but it seems possible based on previous games.

He almost definitely has little confidence in his line because of the hits he's taken. We can all see when he gets nervous as he starts to get 'happy feet' in the pocket and fails to set them properly or dances around too much. Every time I've noticed that behavior, it's been after he's gotten hit early and often in a game.

If my guess is correct, and Joey's only real issue is confidence, then the obvious question is how does he regain it? The answer is surprisingly simple and difficult at the same time - he needs to have success in a tough situation.

There have been several times when we as fans thought he may have been ready to turn the corner and become the QB we all thought he would be. A key drive by Joey to win a game could easily do just that. On the other hand, a key game where the team falls just short can have the opposite effect. Think of one game last year - the Minnesota extra-point game. He led the team down the field, poised for a comeback, and then we missed the extra point. Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. That kind of a let-down could be crushing to a player's confidence. The feeling that "no matter how well I play that we can't win" sets in. Especially when any real success has been so limited already.

This year, I'm almost wondering if the Bears game followed by the end of the Tampa game is having a similar effect. After taking the beating he did against the Bears, compounded with the interceptions, the blame was laid on Joey, and much of it was justified. His confidence had to be pretty low at that point. Then against Tampa, the Offense did little for 55 minutes before coming alive. Finally, the O marches down the field, and Joey looks good moving them. The drive is capped off when they score the game winning touchdown. His confidence had to have taken a boost from that series. Then the unthinkable reversal happens - and shatters his confidence. He digs deep, and follows with the next play, where he once again throws what could have been a game winning pass, only for BMW to not drag his toes. By that time, he's spent what little confidence in reserve he had, and sails the last pass over Roy's head, and the Joey bashing commences.

The fact that everyone in the world knows that Pollard was inbounds is of little consolation to the fact that the Lions lost in the record book. Had the Lions pulled out that game, it could have sent his confidence soaring. Instead, it's the kind of a defeat that can send a players confidence into a free-fall, especially when everyone points their finger at that player as the reason the team lost.

Joey had another opportunity to re-gain his confidence this past weekend. He once again faced some long odds with 30 seconds left and needing to get 20 yards with no timeouts and none of his top 3 receivers in the game. Again, had Glenn Martinez made the catch, and then Hanson kicks the field goal, Joey would have had a genuine reason to be proud of the team's performance in the clutch - irregardless of the rest of the game - and his confidence could have received a badly needed shot in the arm. Unfortunately, we all know the outcome.

The most sure-fire way for Joey to regain his confidence is to have success. A come from behind victory can do exactly that. Joey's had 3 chances for that in the last 8 games - Minnesota, Tampa and Carolina. At some point he is going to need some help from one of his teammates to get the Lions over the hump. He definitely is running out of chances.

Game Notes - vs Panthers: Truly Offensive Line

On Sunday, I got a rare opportunity to watch the Lions play at Ford field as I'm still a ways down the season ticket waiting list. The unfortunate thing was I forgot to turn on my TiVo to record the game, so I'm writing without a net this week. That means that people can tell me that I'm delusional and that I need to re-watch the game they way I usually tell other people that. Touché...

In any case, I saw two things on O that really bothered me today - The O-Line play, and the playcalling. Even with how inept the O was at moving the ball during the game, we still had multiple chances to put the Panthers away, and we couldn't capitalize. The problems though start back where I've said time and time again that everything starts with - line play. And ours was truly offensive.

Before the game, I had a bad feeling about what Julius Peppers was going to do today. Turns out we had to worry about the entire Panthers D-Line as every single one of them recorded a sack. Let me repeat - every Panthers D-Lineman registered a sack. That is just amazing, and it describes to a tee what the biggest problem was in this game. Our O-Line reverted to their Bears / Rams games form. I can only remember two or three pass plays where Joey didn't finish the play on his back. He spent so much time on his back he may have thought he was Michelangelo painting Ford Field's roof. We had no running game because the O-Line opened no holes. Plus the O-Line continued on with the Lions time honored tradition of committing stupid penalties at inopportune times to put the O in a hole. It was truly a trifecta for the O-Line today.

That being said, the playcalling lost us the game. With as bad as the O was, they still could have salted the game away. On our last three possessions, the playcalling was so bad that everyone - and I mean everyone - in my section of the stands knew EXACTLY what plays the Lions were going to run. The first series with 1st and Goal from the 5 - a run, a bad screen, and a scramble for a minimal gain due to no one being open and a heavy rush. Then with 3:40 left, run, run, try to pass and get sacked. Two series that were so predictable that had we been the least bit creative, we would have scored a TD on the first and been up by 10, not 6. Then on the second, we would have been able to run out the clock. Two series, two entirely predictable outcomes. Predictable because we’ve seen Mooch do the exact same thing so many times it makes our heads spin.

And all that was after watching Mooch refuse to stop running into the strength of the Panthers D. We ran between the tackles 20 times during the game, and gained more than 3 yards only 3 times. The strength of the Panthers D is their run D, we were having no success with our attack, and yet we refused to try something different. And again, we came out and ran up the middle on first down 13 out of 24 times. When you look at the combined effect of those two stats, you can easily see why we as Lions fans feel like we’re beating our heads against the wall while watching the team play.

But wait, it gets worse...

After Carolina had done the other predictable thing – drive the length of the field for a go-ahead TD – we were treated to a fantastic kickoff return by R.W. McQuarters. It seemed like there may actually be hope that maybe, just maybe we might be able to pull this game out after all. It’s then that the Lions O stuck the final dagger into our hearts. We needed about 15-20 yards to get in field goal range with no timeouts and 30 seconds left on the clock. Everyone knows we have no choice but to throw, and so does Carolina. First down, Joey gets hit as he tries to throw (what else is new) and the ball goes into the turf. On second down, he throws a strike about 15 yards downfield on the sideline to Glenn Martinez - who two weeks ago wasn’t even on the practice squad - that in classic Lions fashion, he drops. On third down, he throws again to Martinez as he again gets hit, and the ball is knocked away. On fourth down, he heaves one to Kevin Johnson as he is getting dragged down from behind, and that one goes just past KJ2's outstretched hands. It felt like Tampa Bay all over again, but worse - somehow Joey was throwing to a guy who couldn't make our practice squad coming out of training camp as his only open target on the final series of the game. Dang, that sounds a lot like last year all over again.

The playcalling and O-line did us in. Sure, Joey didn't look great, but I doubt if even Steve Young could have saved that game for Mooch. Joey's final stats were both helped (86 yard completion) and hurt (4 straight incompletes) on the final 3 drives. Before those, he was 16-23 for 117 yards (69.6%). Very pedestrian yardage and definitely not as much as we would hope to get from our starting QB – But far from the horror show so many others are reporting. He threw 1 pick and from what I could see at the game only two other passes that were off – a high one toward the sideline over KJ2’s head, and one at KJ’s feet. There were still drops included in those numbers too. All for a guy who hit 70% of his passes to that point. He actually was hitting on the short passes that are supposed to burn the blitz, but the receivers just couldn't turn any of those into big gainers - likely because the Panthers didn't have to worry about the long pass and could play tight coverage. The reason for that? Simple – Joey never had time to throw a long pass – he was already admiring the chandeliers.

It got so bad that the guys in my section that had been chanting “Joey sucks” every time the O went on the field started wincing every time he got hit again and saying “dang that boy is getting killed” before shouting out another “Joey sucks”. It was surreal, and I’ve never seen any QB take a beating like that. Of course I haven’t watched the Texans play this year.

More than anything, the Lions shot themselves in the foot repeatedly. Here’s a quick summary of our first half possessions.

Possession 1 - drive 31 yards, 3rd and 6 at CAR47, then false start and sack before punting
P2 - gain 5 yards to CAR29, field goal blocked
P3 - gain 10 yards to DET15, sacked and fumbled
P4 - KJ gains 8 on 1st down, then loses 7 on 2nd down, Joey scrambles for dear life on 3rd, punt
P5 - move 14 yards to the 50, then holding + false start to turn potential 3rd and 4 into 2nd and 24. Gain 14 yards back on next two plays, only to turn 4th and 10 into 4th and 30 with successive holding penalties. Panthers get ball at CAR41 instead of CAR12.
P6 - after gaining 15 yards, false start, then sacked and fumbles
P7 - Pollard drops first down pass, sacked on 2nd down, run up the middle on 3rd and 18, then punt

I could go on and on as the same kind of ineptitude continued in the second half. But I think I've beat this dead horse enough. Now to talk about what was good - the D.

I honestly can't recall ever seeing the Lions D play at this kind of a level for this long of a stretch. Maybe back in the days of Spielman, Blades, Ball, Porcher and Crockett, but I think this group has played even better. Dre Bly and Shaun Rogers are locks for the pro-bowl. The linebackers are starting to step up and the safeties are so significantly improved over last year that there is no comparison. I could go on and on like crazy about the turnovers they have created this season. For all the grief that Dick Juaron was getting in pre-season, he has this D flying around the field, making plays, and creating havoc. They gave up one big play for a score, and allowed only one real drive on the day – which just so happened to be the game winner - so it wasn't perfect, but they also put 14 points on the board. That should have been more than enough to win.

Where we go from here is anyone's guess. When Mooch finally gets his wish and puts Garcia in, he'll be in for a rude awakening as Garcia may not last the entire game. He was known for getting hurt during his time in San Fran – he seemingly always had a sprained ankle or bruised ribs - and now he will be the beneficiary of one of the worst lines in football as well as being 35 years old. Add in that there is no one open to throw to unless Roy Williams decides to show up (and stop dropping passes), and he'll be getting booed in record time by the faithful. If he starts next game at Cleveland, he'll at least have one game to compile some decent stats before the Bears come in and maul him at home. I just don't see him surviving that game, and then what is Mooch to do? Start the rookie DanO and let him get killed as well? Something's gotta change and change quick. The first change will likely be Joey, but it won't solve the problems on the Lions O. This is not looking too good...