Uncertainty surrounding Louis Delmas' groing injury casts a black cloud over the Lions defense (Photo: YardBarker.com)
…injuries threaten to make the defense even worse than expected.
The Lions’ defense was never going to be particularly good, but some preseason injuries have turned the situation into a scary one.
Louis Delmas’ lingering groin injury has severely limited his action in practice and in games. After starting the third preseason game, Delmas was scratched from the fourth for “precautionary reasons.” Not an encouraging sign. It now appears that he’ll have to play through the pain when the season begins; injuries don’t heal very quickly that way. The Lions’ lone “plus” player in the secondary is now just another question mark.
Detroit’s defense received another blow when second string linebacker Jordon Dizon was lost for the season with a knee injury in the very first preseason game. Dizon isn’t a particularly effective linebacker himself, but the team was already running out of options when it comes to NFL caliber linebackers.
The problems at linebacker were further complicated when starter DeAndre Levy pulled a groin muscle early in the preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Vinny Ciurciu and Rocky Boiman saw some time at middle linebacker to fill in for Levy but both players have since been cut. Landon Johnson and Isaiah Ekejiuba came to the Lions to play special teams, not middle linebacker.
The second and third levels of the defense were already thin when it came to playmakers, and if the groin injuries to Delmas and Levy limit their time and effectiveness the team could be without two of their top three guys.
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Tags: Ashlee Palmer, Calvin Johnson, Chris Houston, DeAndre Levy, Detroit Lions, Jahvid Best, Jordon Dizon, Louis Delmas, Matt Millen, Matthew Stafford, Tony Scheffler, Vinny Ciurciu, Zack Follett
Zac Snyder got hooked on the Lions after his dad took him to a Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Raiders in 1990. The show put on by Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson that night was only surpassed by what Zac could do with Barry in a game of Tecmo Super Bowl.
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In my humble opinion:
Games that should winnable: 1 of 2 from the Bears, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Tampa Bay
Games that we have a shot at winning if we play well: Philly, Giants, Redskins, Miami, 2nd game from the Bears
Games that you can file in the ‘L’ column: Minnesota x2, Green Bay x2, Jets, Cowboys, Patriots
Basically, if they win 4-5 games, I’ll be content. Less than that will be disappointing and more than that would be bliss.
Looks about right. As the Lions continue their march towards respectability we can look forward to filling in the traditional “Games the Lions should win but won’t” category.