Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Three Days Late "Live" Blog: Lions at 49ers

This is a recounting of tales from Sunday night's game against the 49ers, which I attended.

First Quarter:
13:48 - Using timeouts on your first drive of the game makes me angry...unless it works. Let's see how the Lions come out from that timeout. 

13:41 - Damnit. 

13:25 - Cliff Avril is the latest defensive line victim of the misdirection plays. Getting pretty sick of EVERY misdirection working against this defense. 

13:00 - So the Lions come out running and the Niners come out passing. Did not see this coming. 

12:44 - Wendling abused #1



12:25: Wendling abused #2



The first mistake by Wendling was just poor form. He had his hips turned the wrong way and got turned around in an embarassing fashion. The second was Wendling underestimating Vernon Davis' speed. He simply let Davis run by him and couldn't catch up. Inexperience at it's finest.

10:00 - 49ers sent TWO defenders to pass rush. This is why we did not pass all day.

9:42 - STOP TRYING TO RUN OUTSIDE OF BACKUS. HE CANNOT SEAL ALDON SMITH WITHOUT HOLDING HIM.

9:21 - Terrible pass interference call. I'll take the free three points, anyway.

9:15 - If that ball to Scheffler is a little higher, the corner doesn't get his hand on it and Scheffler Gangnam Styles in the endzone I'm standing in. Sadface.

6:47 - Second third-down pass deflected. This whole running ourselves into 3rd and short thing does not seem to be working out.

6:32 - Hey, wham play. Didn't miss you at all.

5:20 - Fun fact: Drayton Florence is from Tuskegee University. Funner fact: Tuskegee has a University.

2:21 - Bad throw by Stafford, worse attempt(?) at a tackle by Titus Young. Cost the Lions 20 yards of field position. 

0:43 - Fun fact: Drayton Florence likes giving his opponents four free points. 

-00:01 - Ultimately, it's on the Lions for not making a play here. But it's hard not to get frustrated when they blow it on a play that shouldn't have happened.

Second Quarter:
14:10 - Joique Bell just joiqued that Niner out of his joiques. Joique!

9:53 - Lions with a...COVERAGE sack? Nice.

8:36 - If Crabtree doesn't drop that pass...uh oh.

That's a lot of green in front of him.

8:20 - 2:46 - This is exactly what the Lions tried to do for the entirety of the game. Kevin smith ran the ball six times for 25 yards, Stafford completed two passes of 10+ yards. It was a great, great drive. And it ended with no points.

Third Quarter:
11:27 - Suh having a solid day in pass rushing. Pretty meh in run coverage, though.

11:00 - Levy missed tackle. Drink.

6:30 - Holy crap, Kevin Smith made it to the second level! 

5:00 - Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. After a good gain on first down, Joique blows it on a crucial play. He could have put his head down and picked up at least 2-3 yards in the intended hole. Instead he tried to bounce it outside and lost a yard. Once again, DON'T RUN IT OUTSIDE WHEN BACKUS IS NOT TRYING TO SEAL ALDON SMITH.


3:44 - Another frustratingly good drive that ends in disappointment. If those last two offensive drives had finished better...

Fourth Quarter:
14:56 - Drop. Phew.

14:51 - Drop. Phew.

14:47- Drop. Phew.

11:55 - Love, love, LOVE, this read by Stafford. Checks the play at the line and calls a perfect QB draw. 

10:32 - I equally hate, hate, HATE this misread by Stafford. He takes a bad sack here when he EASILY could have had at least eight yards.


Drive killer. Another good drive wasted by one missed opportunity.

The following is a verbatim transcript of what I said live at San Francisco:
9:10 - Holy crap, that is the first unassisted tackled I've ever seen by DeAndre Levy.

7:00 - Holy crap, that is the second unassisted tackled I've ever seen by DeAndre Levy.

6:59 - 3:11 - Four straight minutes of obscenities. Most frustrating defensive drive ever.

2:32 - Bell trying to make amends on this screen. Good read by him and great downfield blocking.

2:00 - Titus Young with his first and only catch of the day with two minutes left. I continue to be disappointed with him. 

1:45 - That side-armed throw by Stafford on fourth down is really something to see in person.

1:40 - WHY WON'T THE UNIVERSE JUST GIVE ME A SCHEFFLER GANGNAM STYLE CELEBRATION?!? 

1:29 - I hate this onside kick attempt. Not only have I never seen it work, I've never seen it come close. I understand the Niners were loading the line, but its much harder to grab a ball midair than it is to just fall on it. Just do it normally next time, please.

Overall
I was shocked to see how not-bad the offense was in this game. Look at the final four drives (excluding the drive where the Lions ran out the clock): 11 plays, 65 yards; 10 plays, 39 yards; 9 plays, 50 yards; 10 plays, 80 yards. Those aren't outstanding numbers, but against San Francisco's defense that certainly ain't too shabby. 

This game might've gone much differently if it weren't for three key plays: Hanson's missed FG, Joique Bell's bad read, and Stafford's missed read. That's potentially an 11-point swing. Of course, I'm sure the Niners could just as easily play the what-if game, but those were three VERY minor changes that could have easily gone Detroit's way. I feel much better having rewatched the broadcast and going into Tennessee next week. 

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