Top 50 Plays of the Detroit Lions 2011 Season: 50-41

On more than one occasion, I have expressed my discontent with novelty sports lists. I hate them. I hate slideshows, I hate ridiculous conceptual lists (ie: Top 5 Lions Players Who Could Star In The Next Moneyball), and I especially hate how gimmicky lists are in general. But I am not ready to let go of the 2011 season. It was too much fun, and I want to relive every great moment. It is with this enthusiasm that I decided I would go against one of my stronger writing principles and create a list of the top 50 plays/moments of the 2011 season. Going through the early stages of this list, I thought it may be tough to find 50 great plays. I couldn't have been more wrong. Coming up with 50+ was simple. Whittling down the list to 50 and putting them order was the real challenge. With that, I present you with plays 50-41 of the 2011 Detroit Lions Season. (I tried to embed as many videos as possible, but NFL.com doesn't allow it. If it's not on youtube, it's not embedded.)

50. Matthew Stafford finds a wide-open Titus Young for a 41-yard touchdown.
In what will be the first of many, many long passes on this list, I found it hard to put this play any higher on the list. It just was too easy. Still, credit to Stafford for hanging in the pocket and Young for getting so open. WATCH

49. Tony Scheffler reaches paydirt and swashbuckles. 
I have to admit, I'm a sucker for celebrations. Almost everyone agrees they make the game more fun for fans, so Bob Costas can suck it. It's also a pretty darn good pass-on-the-run by Stafford.

48. Nate Burleson comes down with a huge catch against the Saints.
This play makes the list because it was a beautifully thrown ball and it brought the Lions extremely close to tying up the game against the Saints (the first time the two teams met). If Burleson keeps his footing, the score is knotted early in the fourth quarter, and who knows what would've happened the rest of the way. Of course, what actually happened was the Lions drive stalled there, and Jason Hanson missed a field goal. That's why this is only 48. WATCH

47. Scheffler catches a go-ahead touchdown in traffic at Lambeau.
In what was one, of many, fourth quarter touchdown passes, Stafford fired a perfect ball to Scheffler. Matthew fit it in a tight hole and Tony had the concentration to bring it into his body (PHRASING!). If this touchdown would have held up as the game winner, it might have made the top half of the countdown. WATCH

46. Alphonso Smith reads Matt Flynn like a backup book.
There was mot a lot of defense in this game, but Smith's touchdown was a phenomenal exception. He made an outstanding read on this play, and made the pick with ease. With all the momentum in his body going towards the endzone, it was surprising Smith didn't score on this play. Still, very impressive instincts from the Phonz. More from him later.

45. Fourth down stand on Monday Night Football.
The game was still scoreless, and the Bears were threatening to get on the board first. Instead of opting for a 43-yard field goal, the Bears tried converting a fourth and inches play. The play, however, never had a chance as Ndamukong Suh was in the backfield immediately. Matt Forte was brought down well before the first down. It was only a couple plays later that the Lions offense....oops, I'm getting ahead of myself, you'll have to wait for that one. WATCH

44. Brandon Pettigrew puts the Lions up for good against the Panthers.
Ah, the first of the Lions' double-digit comebacks on the list. This was a strange game against Carolina. Though the Lions fell behind early, they seemed like the better team all day. The scoreboard finally agreed late in the fourth quarter when Pettigrew snagged this touchdown pass with under three minutes to go. This is just a great play by Pettigrew fighting off the coverage. Just what you're looking for in the red zone. WATCH

43. Burleson's go-ahead touchdown against San Francisco.
I don't think I'll ever forget this play, as it served as the exact moment when I figured out that I will never, ever know what constitutes a completed catch. After the play, I was sure the Lions had been cursed, once again, by the "process of the catch" goblin. I figured that wouldn't be a catch, the Lions would fail to score and they'd, again, suffer their first loss of the season at the hands of the men in striped suits. Luckily, most of that turned out to be false. But controversy aside, this was an excellent run-fake by Stafford, and a perfect route by Burleson. WATCH

42. Stafford and Burleson connect on a 3rd and 19 conversion.
On a day that would be the Lions' offensive masterpiece, this play encapsulated everything awesome about Detroit when they are firing on all cylinders. Stafford does a brilliant job recognizing pressure, stepping up in the pocket and finding the hole in the zone where Burleson is waiting exactly at the chains. Nate then makes a move and nearly reaches the endzone. This is what good teams do. They see 3rd and 19, and they don't run away scared. They convert. WATCH

41. On the first drive of their first playoff game in 12 seasons, the Lions cash in.
This is the only game of the season that I have yet to re-watch. I'm not sure I ever will re-watch. As of right now, the wound is still too fresh and the pain has not fully subsided. So this will be the only time I will be mentioning this game in the countdown, as it is the only moment of the game I choose to remember. The Lions drove the field in convincing fashion and did what the needed to do to finish the drive: get six. WATCH

40-31 on Tuesday...

The Morning After...

The end of the football season is always a somber moment. Football has the longest offseason of all the major sports, and while there are events like the draft, free agency and OTAs to keep fans buzzing all year, none of those come close to the thrill of actual football.

In the past decade, the end of the Lions season hasn't been particularly rough. While it's always disappointing to see your team for the last time in eight months, in a way it was relieving. The constant losing made the end of week 17 a release of frustration; an end to tortuous Sundays. Then, we could look to next year where optimism was infinite. Perhaps most comforting was the fact that we knew when the season was ending. We knew the Lions weren't making the playoffs, and we knew what would be their last snap of the season. We could mentally prepare ourselves for the awfulness that is "draft talk" and all of the other offseason blues.

But when you make the postseason, you aren't awarded that luxury. In one moment, you're at halftime, letting the tiniest thoughts of Lambeau Field creep into your head. An hour later, your team is just as dead as the other 20 that couldn't even make the playoffs. That's what is so painful this morning. In a manner of minutes, the Lions went from being ever so close to Green Bay and one step closer to the Super Bowl to, BAM, no more Lions until fall.

And that's why I found myself feeling an unfamiliar emotion after the game. Of course, I went through my typical stage of madness immediately post-game: cussing out linebackers, safeties and infuriating, unnecessary bombs to Titus Young. But it wasn't soon after that this fury morphed into depression. I know how ridiculous it sounds to say that depression was a new emotion for a Lions fan, but this was a different strain of depression. I wasn't depressed that the Lions let me down, or that they weren't as good as I thought they were (THEY ARE WHO I THOUGHT THEY WERE). I was depressed the ride was over. No more Matthew Stafford bombs. No more Megatron snatching the ball from the heavens. No more Cliff Avril burning the tackle and stripping the quarterback bare.

No more 20-point comebacks, no utter destructions of Tebow (not by the Lions, at least). No more Tony Scheffler Dances or Alphonso Smith pick-sixes. No more Nate Burleson inspirational speeches, no more Schwartz fist pumps. NO MORE FIST PUMPS!

It was all taken from us in one half. One terrible, terrible half. Now we're left with nothing for the next eight months. People get excited for the draft, but even that is over four months away. And at this point, the draft is no longer the Lions' Super Bowl. It no longer has the importance that it did only three years ago. The Lions have fewer holes to be filled, and they have fewer options picking 23rd overall. The draft is a minor footnote in the Lions' story, and at this moment, I don't care about it. I just want to watch this team play again.

The next eight months are going to suck.

The Morning Of...

The day is finally here. After a work week that seemed to drag on forever, Saturday is finally here. Game day. Hardly an hour went by, this week, without me thinking about today.

I thought about writing a pump-up article for today (and maybe that's what this is), but I ran into two problems. First, I'm not very good at that. I've always been more of a "lead by example" kind of guy more so than a vocal leader. A little strange for someone who blogs, I'll admit, but it's the truth. Secondly, anything I would've come up with would've been bested by two of the best Lions bloggers out there: Nate Washuta of Holy Schwartz! and Neil MadeUpLastName at Armchair Linebacker.

Nate wrote an epic comparison of the Lions/Saints matchup to the Rocky Balboa/Ivan Drago fight in Rocky IV.

But you know what? I believe that the Lions will prove that the Saints are human ["You see? He's not a machine! He'a a man!"] and I’m betting the Saints will be surprised by just how tough this Lions team is. 

My favorite part is where he compares New Orleans to Russia.

And, Neil. My man, Neil. His preview is so good that there hasn't been a word invented to accurately describe it's awesomeness. I suggest you read it, then read it again right before kickoff. In fact, if Nate Burleson himself read it to the team right before they took the field, I would be 100% sure the Lions would win the game. Here's just a snippet of it's beauty [NSFW language, in case you get in trouble for reading naughty words at work, in which case you should probably quit your job, especially if you're working today]:

This is not about respect. Not anymore. The Lions are in the playoffs. They don’t need your fucking respect, ESPN. They don’t need your fucking respect, New Orleans. No. This is about winning. That’s it.

Chills. And there are about 300 more paragraphs like that in his article. Please read it.

Alright, this is the part where I try to gather all my thoughts and bring it home:

Today is the day we have been dreaming of for 12 years. For many of us, it will be the first time experiencing the Lions in a win-or-go-home situation. I was 13 the last time the Lions were in the playoffs, so technically I've been through this before. But when I was 13, I also listened to Limp Bizkit and thought "Austin Powers" was the greatest film franchise ever made. Outside of my Lions faith, the man that I am today has no resemblance to the stupid kid I was then. My only memory of that playoff game was the fact that my dad and I considered flying to D.C. to catch the game, but when the Lions lost, we were relieved that we had decided otherwise. In other words, 12 years ago, I was dumb, had no taste in anything and couldn't appreciate the good things in life. But now, I'm ready. Ready for everything today has to offer.

In about 13 hours, we will know our fate. I will either be an inconsolable mess or experiencing a type of euphoria I cannot even fathom right now. But this is what we've been asking for. This is what we've wanted. For the past 11 seasons, we've spent each weekend of the playoffs watching games with little-to-no emotional investment. We'd watch the games and the jubilation of the crowd with a sigh. We'd see quarterbacks stand on podiums with confetti raining down upon them, and we'd daydream. But not this year. This year, we get to be a part of it all. We get to feel the desperation of needing a win to survive, the pain of every turnover and the bliss of every Lions touchdown. We get to fill out playoff brackets that could conceivably have the Lions in the Super Bowl. We get to see the National Media give the Lions their full attention. We get to put the NFL Draft on hold while we have better things to do. We get to see our Detroit Lions in the freakin' playoffs. And even if that ends in a terrible tragedy, we get to experience it. And I'll take that any day over passively watching a meaningless game.

Go Detroit Lions!

Lions-Saints Film Review Notes

This week, instead of reviewing the Lions regular season finale, I decided to look back at the week 13 game against the Saints. I highlighted the important parts in my video review article at Pride Of Detroit this week, but I decided to post all of my notes unedited here.

• Very first play, Chris Harris misses a tackle on a run (Louis Delmas would've made the tackle)
• Eric Wright with good coverage on Graham, but he still caught it

• Saints successful early on short yardage, not deep
• Offense: First two third downs, Saints only sent three rushers (Lions went 1/2 on converting). They sent five on the next third down and forced a holding penalty (Lions would have converted if penalty wasn't called).
• More good secondary coverage, but Brees made a great pass.

• Saints have six men in pass protection, interestingly doubling both DTs (despite the fact that Fairley is out at this point). Leads to 19 yard pass play:

• Eric Wright is getting visibly upset. First, upset over the Graham play above. Then gets called for an iffy pass interference in which it looks like he was pulled down by the receiver. Next, he misses a tackle on an end-around. Then, the refs miss a holding call on the Saints' rushing touchdown. Only a couple defensive plays later, Wright gets embarrassed on a bomb (that really isn't his fault). Rough second quarter.
• Offense: failed on first down early. Found themselves in a lot of third and longs.
• Tried to utilize screen pass early against aggressive defensive calls. Worked well on a 3rd and 17.
• Wright was looking for help from Harris on deep TD. Did not get it:

• Cris Collinsworth with a foreboding quote in the 2nd quarter "[Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams] has been very happy to sit in some zones and let these Lions [...] self destruct." Spooky.
• Last drive of 1st half (for Saints): Spievey on Graham isn't going to work. Saints are almost unbeatable in no-huddle. Tough to get pressure, and Saints have great checkdown options in Graham and Darren Sproles.
• Lions open second half with a beautiful drive...that is spoiled by a Titus Young personal foul penalty. Instead of third and one at Saints three, Lions have third and sixteen. They don't convert. Three instead of seven. 
• Lions first and third quarters were good enough to win the game. Third quarter especially.
• Without Young personal foul penalty and blocked field goal, the game would be 24-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
• Even after all of those mistakes, the Lions were first and 10 at the Saints' 35 yard-line with 13 minutes left, looking to tie the game. (Drive ended with a missed 55-yard field goal, giving the Saints good field position, which they would use to score quickly).
• On the ensuing drive, the Saints had a key 3rd and 8. Lions dialed up obvious pressure, which Brees easily read and connected with Graham, who was in man-coverage. Too easy.

Overall, the biggest thing I noticed was that the Lions had plenty of opportunities to win this game. They forced a lot of third downs, and if they would've gotten just one or two more stops on those downs, they would have won the game.

On offense, the Lions drove the ball with ease for almost the entire game. There were small miscues here and there (including a screen pass that would've almost certainly gone for a touchdown had it not been under-thrown and dropped), and the penalties were killer. But even with the penalties, the Lions could have won this game. And for that reason, I think the Lions have a very legitimate chance to win their first playoff game in two decades on Saturday.

Tonight, NFL Network is replaying this game at 8 PM. Watch it and tell me the Lions don't have a shot. My guess is you won't. Let me know what you see...

Turn The Page

It has taken me awhile to muster up the motivation to throw myself behind a keyboard and talk about the Packers game. It's not because I'm still recovering from the anger over the Lions getting abused by the refs. It's not because I'm struggling to figure out whether to focus on the positive (Matthew Stafford's record-setting day/season) or the negative (Matt Flynn's record-setting day). It's simply because the game made me feel nothing. From the muffed opening kickoff to the final whistle, I never really got into this game.

I realize many Lions fans would take offense to this, but I just didn't care. I know there were things at stake on Sunday. The Lions could have grabbed the five seed and faced New York instead of heading to New Orleans. To me, that reasoning wasn't enough to get emotionally invested in the game. Yes, the Lions would have a much better chance at winning the opening game of the playoffs, but what does that really accomplish? A win over the Giants likely puts the Lions right back in Lambeau and if the Lions can somehow pull that off, they would likely face the Saints anyway. Now I know the Lions have only had one playoff win in the Super Bowl era, and a post-season victory may mean a lot to some. But not to me, especially considering the Giants barely found their way into the playoffs. A win over them would be inconsequential if the Lions got worked in Lambeau the following week.

Now I'm not saying I'd rather face the Saints, but think of what a win over New Orleans would mean in comparison. The Saints haven't lost at home this year, they have an elite quarterback in the midst of a record-setting season, and the Lions could get redemption from their embarrassing performance on Sunday Night Football. A win over the Saints would be much more meaningful than a win over a Giants team that no one expects to make any post-season noise.

The other reason to get excited for the Packers game was to end the Lambeau drought. As I'm sure everyone in Detroit knows, the Lions haven't won in Green Bay since 1991: when I was five years old, gas was a nickel, Abraham Lincoln was president, and "Happy Birthday" was the number one song on the Billboard Charts. Much was made last week about the Lions ending this streak, having destroyed almost every other blemish on the Lions' record-books this season. Meh. Not that important to me. The Lions teams of the past 20 years have absolutely nothing to do with the team that sits before us present day. And let's say the Lions do win that game. Guess what graphic display FOX uses next year? "The Lions have lost in Lambeau 20 of the previous 21 matchups. The point is, the Lions are going to have to have more than one impressive season to completely slay the dragons of the past. The Lions history has been so bad, that in order to rid themselves of the stigma, they will have to not only make the playoffs for years to come, but make a couple of deep runs. And this is why one small playoff win over the Giants would be just as meaningless if they were to lose the following week. Okay, they doubled their franchise postseason wins. Guess what? Now they only have two.

So now the Lions head to New Orleans where the chances of victory are smaller, but the opportunity to turn heads is larger. Lions fans are pessimistic about their chances to win because of the defense's poor performance against Flynn and the Packers. I don't understand this mindset for a couple reasons. First, some of the best teams in the NFL have a poor pass defense. Both the Packers and the Patriots broke the previous record of passing yards allowed in a season this year. Those teams have managed pretty well this season without a stout pass defense. Of course, there is also the fact that the Lions will likely get, at least, two key defensive starters back for the playoffs. The importance of Louis Delmas and Corey Williams (and possibly Aaron Berry) cannot be understated. Delmas acts as a the quarterback of the defense, and Williams will provide a much-needed addition to the interior of the defensive line. Finally, the Lions have Matthew Stafford. The way he has been playing in the past month, I believe he can keep up with Drew Brees in a shootout. Stafford already has survived shootouts against Dallas, Oakland, San Diego, and nearly did it again last week, when the Lions pass defense couldn't have played much worse.

I understand the trepidation of facing an elite offense after such a poor performance against a backup quarterback, but it's important to remember that the Lions are only two weeks removed from an excellent defensive game against the Chargers, who were fresh off a dismantling of an elite Ravens defense. If anything, the Lions performance against the Packers will act as a wake-up call and there's no doubt in my mind that Jim Schwartz will have this defense ready to play on Saturday. I don't expect them to hold Brees to 200 yards or below 20 points, but I have full-confidence that they will look much better than they did in Lambeau.

While Sundays performance may have been ugly, frustrating and disheartening, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't mean all that much. The loss wasn't all that costly and the defense's performance doesn't damn their chances against the Saints this week. The Lions will be healthier, more motivated and much more focused in the playoffs, and there's no reason to believe they are incapable of pulling off the upset. Bring it on, Saints.