Two Days Late "Live" Blog: Lions at Titans

Alright, let's get this out of the way...

First Quarter
14:50 - Pettigrew drop #1.

11:43 - Great first drive (five passes, three runs) killed by third down failure. Pettigrew and Burleson's routes practically collide, and the linebacker covering Pettigrew out-physicals him (maybe gets away with a hold), giving Stafford no room to pass.

8:52 - Oh, Stephen Tulloch, when will you learn how to fall on a fumble?

6:50 - Two inaccurate passes by Stafford on 2nd and 3rd down stall this drive, not the running game. 3 rushes for 15 yards, two passes for four yards.

6:00 - No idea what went wrong on this 32 yard pass for the Titans. Lions playing a soft zone. Either Tulloch didn't drop far enough back, or Bentley or Coleman dropped too far. Ugly.

4:12 - "Maybe his first big run of the year...that's ten yards!" Hilarious. Terrible job by linebackers. Just check out Levy.

Chris Johnson is directly behind him. That is, Levy is facing the wrong way with Johnson DIRECTLY BEHIND HIM.

2:45 - Tully with a great read, fires into the backfield, gets held and STILL slows down Johnson enough for no-gain.

2:08 - Holy crap! An effective blitz! Probably the first time all season the Lions managed to get an unblocked blitzer. And what do you know, it caused a 3rd down stop.

0:49 - Still very confused at people who were insistent that Calvin caught this ball. He did not. Yes he got both feet in, but ball CLEARLY comes out when he hits the ground.

Hard to see on a screen grab, but that ball isn't in his hands and hits the ground. No controversy here.

Drive summary: 2 rushes, 5 yards; 1 pass, 0 yards.

0:33 - I have nothing to say about the Music City Miracle play.

Second Quarter
14:45 - Stafford did not sell that screen at all, too obvious, and Logan continues to be a liability on offense. Don't understand why he's ever used.

13:00 - Epic. Epic safety failure. Lions in cover-2, Locker trying to split the two deep safeties. Coleman was in good position, but failed to knock the ball away or make a tackle. One ugly, Spievey whiff later, touchdown.

12:52 - Very effective play-action resulting in 10 yards on first down.

11:00 - Pettigrew with a 3rd down catch in traffic. Goooood, Pettigrew.

10:00 - Big hole for Leshore. Good...run...blocking?

7:00 - Incredibly frustrating drive. Moved so effectively down the field, had 2nd and 3 from Titans 15. Followed it up with an ineffective bubble screen, then a failed assignment on running play. Peterman went straight to the second level, letting a guy through that Cherilus couldn't get to in time. That guy made the tackle. Cherilus was pissed.

FOX decides it's more important to show Jake Locker running down the field at this point, rather than the Titans' big stop on third down. I am not amused.

5:49 - Chris Houston with a great stop on third down. Caused a disruption on the catch AND made the tackle. Safeties, take notice.

4:15 - Leshoure is a first down machine. According to Football Outsiders, he had eight first downs on the ground and two through the air.

2:55 - Scott Linehan came under fire a lot for this game, and on this third down play, he deserved it. The defensive end did not bite on the inside draw and was there to blow up the outside pitch. Leshoure had been dominating up the middle. No reason to be cute here. Credit to Leshoure for almost picking up the first anyway. 4th and 2 from Titans 45 yard line. Debatable go-for-it territory.

1:44 - BILL BENTLEY WITH A HUGE HIT!!! on jacob lacey...

1:04 - Tulloch and Lacey with terrible angles on the Locker scramble. Clearly underestimated Locker's speed.

Third Quarter:
13:45 - For all the crap that the defensive line took this game, they sure clogged the middle of the line all day. It's when Johnson bounced it outside that they had problems.

13:24 - Hey guys, I found it! Good coverage by a safety!

12:20 - Two good defensive plays on 1st and 2nd down, followed by an offsides and a three-yard pass that allowed the tight end to walk his way to a first down. Pattern...developing...

9:30 - Announcing tip: When calling a field goal good, it's imperative that you actually watch the ball go through the uprights first.

9:25 - Pettigrew drop #2. Baaaad Pettigrew.

6:36 - I wish offense was this easy all the time. Lions took less than three minutes to drive 69 yards.

5:17 - Absolutely inexcusable third down defense. Lions only using three lineman, so they are depending on good coverage. Problem is, the players in zone in the middle of the field inexplicably drop too far beyond the first down sticks. Just look at all the space the tight end has for an easy first down.

4:39 - Levy missed tackle. Drink.

0:29 - Calvin Johnson draws a couple defenders, Burleson wide open. I'm starting to feel...better.

Fourth Quarter
14:30 - Holding call on Cherilus. Debatable. It wasn't for long, but it was pretty effective. I think that normally gets ignored. Absolutely killer in the red zone.

14:00 - I hate this play. Stafford doesn't sell it again, and everyone sees the pass to Burleson coming.

12:44 - Titus Young with his best Dan Orlovsky impression. White field means baaaaad. More frustration as the Lions mistakes continue to mount, costing them four points here.

6:53 - Lions touchdown drive: 9 plays. 6 rushes, 3 passes....perhaps I'm being too subtle.

THE RUSHING GAME IS NOT HURTING THIS OFFENSE, IT'S HELPING.

Better? Side note: Calvin Johnson with no touches on that drive.

6:41 - I have nothing to say about the kickoff return other than Logan left his lane, and Jonte Green manages to annoy me even when he only plays four plays a game.

5:59 - Terrible call on the Pettigrew hold. Once again, devastating. Also, once again, there's no replay. FOX did an awful job today.

4:09 - Cherilus and Peterman again not on the same page and yelling at each other. Offensive line chemistry is important, and those two clearly don't have it.

3:13 - *PROJECTILE VOMIT EVERYWHERE*  Where do I start with this play? Jacob Lacey is in position to make a play, but fails to put a hand up, make a tackle or do anything that resembles football. Wendling decides to take a terrible angle and has no interest in making a tackle, so he pretends to make an effort by swatting at the air for some reason. But, hey, at least we have one of the best secondaries in the league...

Let me take this moment to warn you that the rest of this post will contain a lot of caps lock and obscenities. If you are not comfortable with that, or just do not want to relive the rest of this game, I completely understand.

2:20 - Drop by Will Heller. I BET THAT WON'T COME BACK TO BITE US IN THE ASS..

1:18 - BRANDON PETTIGREW, HANDING THE BALL OFF IS SOLELY RESERVED FOR THE QUARTERBACK. NOT ONLY BECAUSE HE PRACTICES IT EVERY DAY IN PRACTICE, BUT BECAUSE THE COACHES HAVE INSTRUCTED HIM WHICH TEAM TO HAND THE BALL OFF TO. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO DO THIS AGAIN. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL BE TERMINATED. NOT FIRED, LITERALLY TERMINATED.

0:20 - I'm not being facetious. That was one of the best clock-managed drives I've ever seen. Used all three timeouts to perfection. Only issue was Joique Bell failing to get out of bounds once.

0:18 - I love you, Jason Hanson. I fucking love you.

0:08 - If Burleson doesn't drop that pass, this never happens...

0:00 - HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. TITUS YOUNG, I FORGIVE EVERYTHING. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Everything is going to be oooooooooookay.*

*NOTE: everything was not okay. I don't forgive Titus, and I certainly don't love him.

Overtime:
14:40 - A tight end against a Lions safety that isn't Louis Delmas is always a mismatch.

12:42- HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU HOLD ON A THIRD AND 16 IN OVERTIME! YOU WEREN'T EVEN IN TROUBLE, BENTLEY! YOU WERE IN FINE POSITION AND FOR SOME DUMBASS REASON YOU FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO GRAB A HOLD OF HIM. WHY, GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

12:12 - DOUBLE INCOMPETENT REF TIME! First they overturn the catch for some stupid reason, then they mark the personal foul penalty from the wrong side of the field. Replacement refs are horrible. There is no refuting this.

10:20 - Play-action rollout to Pettigrew. All. Day. Long.

9:15 - What an unbelievable catch by Calvin. That pass is easily picked off with any mortal receiver, but Megatron elevates soooo damn high, it's hard to believe what you're watching.

Series of events on final four downs:
1) Joique Bell misses huge cutback lane, 2 yards.
2) Bell drops a poorly thrown pass that would've gained a first down.
3) Leshoure escapes tackle nicely, but fails to reach the ball out as he's going to the ground. This was a good spot by refs, but if Mikel reaches out, there is no fourth down.
4) CLUSTERFUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

As stated by everyone, I'm extremely disappointed to hear that Jim Schwartz had no intention of going for it here. It was the right call and, hell, it was even the right play call (even though there technically wasn't a play call). If the rest of the offensive lineman are intending on playing that down, I bet they pick it up. Instead, we have the enormous gaffe by everyone and an embarrassing Sunday.

Thus ends the game that shall be known forward as Clusterfuck 2012.

The Darkest Timeline

 I can come up with a lot of scenarios of how the Lions win this game, but I'm finding it hard to come up with ways the Lions drop this one.

- Me, previewing the Lions/Titans game

What a moron. How did I not see this coming? How did I not see the Titans pulling out the Music City Miracle play? How did I not see the Lions giving up a return touchdown? How did I not see the Lions giving up the most 60+ yard touchdowns in one game in NFL history? How did I not see this Lions defense let Jake Locker look like Aaron Rodgers (or, I guess, Matt Flynn)? How did I not see six(!!) touchdowns in the final 6:53 of regulation? How did I not see the Lions "miscommunicating" on the final play of the game?

Oh, because I'm not crazy person. Or, at least, I wasn't. If that game was a food, the FDA would have banned it for causing ailments previously unknown to man. Side effects include: prehistoric grunting, wall-punching, spontaneous stripping, and overactive twitter.

But beyond all the improbable, inconceivable plays, the Lions didn't really deserve to win this game. The offense, continuing their stretch of the most frustrating unit in the NFL, came out slow, once again. Game plan be damned, the Lions made mental errors on third down that resulted in field goals rather than touchdowns.

The defense is in shambles. Opposing quarterbacks are slowly, but steadily shredding the Lions defense to pieces. There's no pass rush, the safety play is horrible, the cornerbacks are below-average, and the linebackers are a non-factor in the pass game. Here's what teams are doing to this Lions team:

Sam Bradford: 17-25, 198 yards, 105.1 passer rating
Alex Smith: 20-31, 226 yards, 107.7 passer rating
Jake Locker: 29-42, 378 yards, 113.0 passer rating

Three quarterback that most people would not consider top ten quarterbacks absolutely lighting up the Lions defense. They now rank 29th in passer rating allowed.

And this is not just the Lions suffering from bad secondary injuries. Granted, Chris Houston looked pretty good yesterday, and Louis Delmas is to John Wendling as Ed Reed is to Pat Carter (some freshman Idaho State DB I randomly googled). But the Lions front four isn't getting any consistent pressure, blitzing schemes are not working, and many of the Lions are reacting too slow to their zone reads. Getting Delmas back will be huge, but it won't solve everything.

But despite all this mud-slinging and finger-pointing, the Lions were in a position come away with a road win...twice. First, the Lions took their first lead late in the fourth quarter, 27-20. But then they proceeded to committ several devastating errors, starting with the ensuing kickoff return TD. Then they committed a killer holding penalty on the ensuing offensive drive. Then Wendling took a horrible angle and Nate Washington made a miracle catch. Then Brandon Pettigrew handed the ball off to the Titans for a touchdown, injuring Matthew Stafford in the process.

And despite ALL of that, one miracle later, the Lions again had a chance to win the game. Watching it all unfold pulled the memory of my afternoon in Ann Arbor on the day of The Horror from the depths of my subconscious. Obviously, Tennessee wasn't the underdog that Appalachian State was, but the fan experience was the same. The Lions were supposed to win this game, they had played horribly, but there they were, on the doorstep of putting the ugly experience behind them. In Ann Arbor, it was a blocked field goal. In Tennessee, it was an ugly miscommunication that resulted in the worst QB sneak in history. The portal to escape catastrophe was a step away, but we tripped just before the stargate slammed shut. We're now left to wander this horrid universe, not completely sure of where or who we are.

Michigan turned out to be a terrible team that year and got absolutely embarrassed the following week against Oregon. Next week, the Lions host a 2-1 Minnesota Vikings team that just dismantled a 49ers team that many believed was the best team in the league. Nervous?

If Raiola doesn't snap that ball, and the Lions go on to win, we escape this darkest timeline and we're likely spending this morning forgiving and excusing the Lions' poor play. But we have to accept our reality and the mistakes are impossible to ignore.

And the problems the Lions are suffering from are not even new. They're the same ones that plagued the Lions' 2011 season: iffy secondary, disappointing pass rush, slow starts by the offense. People excused them because the Lions ended up pulling nearly every close game out of their ass. We all swallowed the "Win" Pill, conveniently allowing us to avoid and ignore the true problems that exist. Now we're running out of Win Pills and while we still may not understand the universe we currently exist in, it's beginning to look like the darkest timeline.

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. 

Stafford Infection: Eyes

Matthew Stafford had some trouble in the first half against the St. Louis Rams. This is not news. He threw three interceptions that left many fans scratching their heads wondering what had happened to their franchise quarterback. Indeed, all of those interceptions were pretty ugly looking and concerning. However, what most people didn't see was the adjustment Stafford made in the second half to prevent the Rams from getting a fourth or fifth pick.

In the first half, the Rams defenders were jumping routes with impressive instincts. They seemingly knew where the ball was going before Stafford did. But the Rams defenders don't have ESP, they were just reading Stafford's eyes.

Over at Pride Of Detroit, I broke down all of Stafford's interceptions, but take a look at Stafford's second interception, specifically. (click pictures to big-ify)

As you can see, Stafford is eyeing his target (Brandon Pettigrew) the entire time. The Rams linebacker, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, is already breaking on the route before Stafford has even begun his throwing motion. The aggressive play by the defender was typical of the first half of this game. An adjustment was needed.

In the second half of the game, Stafford started to use the Rams' aggressiveness against them. How did he do it? With his eyes.

Early in the fourth, facing a 3rd and 10, backed up near their own endzone, the Lions needed a big play, and they nearly got it thanks to Stafford's misdirection. Matthew eyes the receiver along the sideline, drawing the linebacker that way. Pettigrew is a running a route that will occupy the space that the linebacker is vacating. From another angle:

Here, you can clearly see the linebacker cheating right, so Stafford squares up and fires a bullet at the wide open Pettigrew. Unfortunately...

...he airmails it. The Lions are forced to punt, but have found a glaring defect in the Rams' defense.

And on the very last drive of the game, Stafford and the Lions took advantage of this new-found weakness and exploited it to perfection. 

Here, we see Stafford glancing to the right just for a split-second. The Rams defender (#58) is again trying to read Stafford's eyes. He hesitates, and even slightly drifts to the right. Behind him, Nate Burleson is cutting into the vacated space. There's not much room, but that is all a quarterback like Stafford needs. He fires a bullet just over the defender's hands leading to a big gain. 

First down. Six plays later, the Lions win the game. 

Next week, facing another aggressive defense in the Niners, Stafford will need to use his eyes again to keep the defenders guessing. However, with the 49ers' strong defensive line, Stafford will not be afforded the time to misdirect defenders that he had against the Rams. He will have to go through his progressions quicker, and make his misdirections more subtle. 

Same Old Lions

I wish I could come out and say "You know, I could get used to this." But the truth is, I can't. The Lions will be the death of me. Yet, it's what we have all come to expect from this team. Infuriatingly slow starts, followed by amazing comebacks. Of course, it is much better than the alternative. As long as the Lions come out on top, I guess it doesn't matter, but my developing ulcers are starting to think differently.

The Lions offense was particularly maddening. Matthew Stafford and company started off hot tallying over 150 yards in their first two drives. Yet they were down 13-10 at the break. They played a pretty awful second half, managing only 43 yards in their first four drives, yet finished with two near-perfect drives and got the win. Their inconsistencies are nothing new, as this was a common motif last year, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

The only difference from last year is most of the Lions' inconsistencies were the fault of Stafford on Sunday. Though Stafford was the victim of a couple of bad drops, the Lions completely avoided any harmful penalties (Titus Young's penalty, while extremely idiotic, was completely harmless). According to Jim Schwartz, most of Stafford's interceptions were the result of Matt trying to fit the ball in too tight of a window. And while Stafford has certainly been guilty of this in the past, I can't agree with Schwartz on this one. I'm going to break down some of these play more thoroughly later in the week, but I'm almost positive on one particular interception, Stafford read man-to-man when the Rams were actually in zone.

But in the end, I'm not all that concerned about Stafford. He's got a certain amount of gun-slingerness in him, and it's going to result in interceptions fairly often. I don't really expect that to ever change, and it probably shouldn't. Stafford will likely always be a quarterback who takes chances, and more often than not, it'll pay off.

But what DOES concern me is the way he came out in the second half. Stafford, clearly a little rattled from three first-half picks, was too careful and too inaccurate. He was making sure that his passes were out of the defender's reach, but in the process, he put it out of the receiver's reach. For maybe the first time ever, Stafford was cautious, and that's when the Lions offense looked its worst.

But, of course, Stafford eventually got comfortable, dialed in, and finished the game with two beautiful 80 yard drives to win the game. So in the end, does all that ugly stuff matter?

Well, yes and no. Obviously, it is not a good sign that Stafford had some trouble, then took a quarter and a half to fully recover. But on a per-play basis, the Lions offense was just as dominant as it was last year. Stafford's 7.4 yards per attempt was 0.2 off his 2011 average, and his 355 yards was his 7th most of his career. The Lions offense outgained their 2011 average, and overall looked just as dominant.

Even with the Lions traveling to San Francisco next week, where the Niners look like they haven't lost a step defensively, I wouldn't expect Stafford to make the same mistakes. He will take a long, hard look at those throws he made, learn his lesson and move on.

Oh, and speaking of defense, I guess I should briefly talk about the other side of the ball. The defense was kind of bend-don't-breaky, but it worked to perfection. The Lions waited for the Sam Bradford and the Rams to stall, and they usually complied. The Lions tackled solidly, the front four was dominant again, and in the end, despite the Lions offense giving them no favors, the defense held the Rams to just 16 points (10 of which were on drives that started in Lions territory).

The biggest question surrounding the Lions defense was not addressed this game. The Lions' depleted secondary was not really tested on Sunday. The Rams had maybe two deep passes in the game. One resulted in a touchdown (though Jonte Green had decent coverage, it was just an amazing play by the receiver to hold on), the other was an underthrown bomb to a wide-open receiver that Dreyton Florence was able to catch up to and knock away. With Bill Bentley suffering a concussion, and Houston's and Delmas' availability still unknown, I'd expect to learn more about this unit next week against the improving Niners offense.

But for now, we're 1-0, we're the exact same team as last year, and I guess I'm okay with that.