The Detroit Lions did all that they could to reach a new deal with their premier pass rusher, Cliff Avril, but they were unable to come to terms on a long term contract. The Lions were facing a hard deadline to get a deal done, or to use their Franchise Tag on Cliff Avril. The time had passed, and the Lions had yet to reach an agreement on their 25 year old defensive end, so they gave Avril the Franchise Tag to prevent him from hitting the open market on March 13th.
In 2011, Cliff Avril had 36 tackles and 11 sacks, but has also accumulated a total of 36 sacks during his first four years in the league. If they are unable to come to an agreement, he will be paid $10.6 next season for signing his Franchise Tag. But both sides remain hopeful that they can come to an agreement soon.
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Going into last week’s game the Lions had two goals. Get revenge on the Packers and win to ensure a friendlier match up with either the Cowboys or Giants. However neither happened in the 45-41 defeat at the hands of Matt Flynn and the Packers. This seesaw battle turned from stellar efforts into which team’s defense is worse. And last week that defense turned out to be the Detroit Lions, who allowed backup quarterback Matt Flynn to throw for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns, with only one interception.
The Detroit defense gave up four scoring plays of more than 30 yards, and two of those were more than 50 yards. In a game you expected the Lions defense to show up against a bunch of back ups, they failed to and paid for it. And now they must travel to New Orleans in a game that looks almost impossible to win. The Saints are 8-0 at home and have just dismantled the teams they have faced there.
The Lions will be travelling to New Orleans as 11 point underdogs, an extremely large spread for the playoffs. It is easy to assume after the last few performances by the teams that it will be a very high scoring game, but I expect the defenses to show up this week and force some punts, which were few and far between in Detroit’s last game. However the Lions will still fall short and end their long awaited reentry to the postseason on a sour note.
The Detroit Lions started this game fast, and never took their foot off of the accelerator, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the playoffs, for the first time since 1999. San Diego had been playing much better over the last few weeks, but they were no match for the dynamic attack displayed by the Detroit Lions.
The Lions started the game scoring on all four of their possessions in the first half, which included three touchdown passes by Matt Stafford. Leading 24-0 at halftime, Detroit could have ran their victory lap and went home before wasting another 30 minutes of everyone’s time, however to appease NFL regulations, the Lions continued to pour it on the Chargers with Kevin Smith picking up his second touchdown of the game and the defense adding another touchdown on a pick six.
Guaranteed to be in the playoffs they will be playing for either the fifth or sixth seed next week, with destiny in their hand. If the Lions can defeat the Packers next week they will clinch the fifth seed and face the winner of the Cowboys Giants game. However if they lose and the Atlanta Falcons win they will fall to the sixth seed and face either the 49rs or Saints in the first round of the playoffs. There is no doubt that facing the Giants or Cowboys would be a more favorable match up so expect Detroit to go all out next week to ensure the fifth seed.
The Lions, including their coach have no one to blame, but themselves for their 31-17 lost to the Saints. After a first quarter where the only points scored were a field goal by the Saints, the Lions were not ready for the explosion in the second quarter. New Orleans scored two fast touchdowns including a 67 yard pass to Robert Meachem, giving them a 17-0 lead.
Detroit tried to stem the tide with a touchdown of their own on a Kevin Smith run, but Brees continued to work his magic right before the half with another touchdown pass, this time to Lance Moore giving the Saints a commanding 24-7 lead. It did not look good for the Lions in the second half, but they came out in complete control.
To start the second half, Detroit put a nice drive together, but they had to settle for a 31 yard field goal by Hanson. After forcing the Saints to punt the Lions scored a touchdown this time on a Stafford pass to back Maurice Morris. Detroit forced the New Orleans to punt again, but Schwartz made a critical mistake on the ensuing drive. The Lions drive was stopped a little ways in to Saints territory, and instead of allowing the Lions defense to keep the momentum and field position, Schwartz attempted a 54 yard field goal, that went wide and set up Brees with a short field and which he turned into a touchdown.
The Lions ended the game with stupid personal foul penalties that extended Saints drives and prevented any chance of coming back. At (7-5) the Lions will need wins down the stretch here and it will not be easy with three division rivals on the schedule. It will be a battle to make the postseason and it starts next Sunday against the Vikings.
Over the years it has become tradition o watch the Lions lose to their opponents on Turkey Day, as it is to watch football on Thanksgiving. The only difference this year is that the Lions have been playing good football all year, but a loss to the Green Bay Packers always hurts. The most disappointing aspect of this game was the fact that the Lions had great opportunities to take a lead early on.
On the first drive for Detroit, the offense was moving the ball methodically and should have converted on a third down, but Stafford missed a wide open Calvin Johnson to force a punt. Much of the first half continued with missed opportunities for the Lions ending with the Packers finally taking advantage late in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to Greg Jennings.
Green Bay continued the dissection of the Detroit defense in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points before the Lions finally got on the board in the fourth quarter. Stafford who has cooled off dramatically after his hot start to the season is much to blame for the lack of scoring in the first half. He is banged up, but if you start there is no excuse for the lack of production and three interceptions.
Detroit must now travel to New Orleans, to face the red hot Saints, who had just dismantled the Giants on Monday Night. The Lions will be up to the task, and expect the Lions to win a close hard fought game.
After taking one on the chin last week at the hands of the Chicago Bears, Detroit needed to get a win, to go into the Thanksgiving battle against Green Bay with some momentum. Carolina jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter, with Cam Newton looking like he was on his game and hitting Steve Smith with a 15 yard strike for a touchdown right before the end of the first quarter.
The Lions answered with a touchdown of their own minutes later on a 28 yard pass from Stafford to Kevin Smith for a touchdown. However the good feeling from that touchdown drive did not last long when the ensuing kickoff was returned 101 yards by Kealoha Pilares for a touchdown. Newton added another minutes later on a 11 yard run, putting the Panthers on top 24-7. Stafford was able to put a drive together and hit Titus Young on a 3 yard touchdown pass to pull within 13. However the Lions were able to get a field goal from Olindo Mare as time expired, taking a 27-14 lead into the locker room.
The second half completely belonged to the Lions who passed the Panthers like they were standing still. After three touchdowns to start the second half, Carolina finally answered with one of their own, and converted on a two point conversion knotting the game at 35, however nothing could stop Stafford and the Lions in the second half. On the ensuing drive Stafford threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day to Pettigrew, which pretty much sealed the deal at 42-35. The Lions defense was very opportunistic in the second half as well forcing Cam Newton to throw three interceptions making it four on the day.
Detroit gets ready for their annual Thanksgiving game where they will be hosting the best team in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers. The Lions will be extremely motivated for this game, but the Green Bay offense may prove too much for the Detroit secondary to handle. Expect a high scoring affair Thursday.
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March 6, 2012 11:23 pm | 
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