Detroit Lions’ Win Reassures Motown Faithful
Admit it: no matter what your commitment level is to the Honolulu Blue, you had some doubt about what was going to happen Sunday against the Denver Broncos following two straight losses. If you’re a long-time Lion supporter, more than a decade of let-downs preceded your expectations, while newer fans might have questioned their durability or been afraid of this guy name Tebow whose been glorified in the media.
Either way, I don’t think there were too many people outside the organization that expected THAT kind of beat-down(all of the predictions here at SLR were within 7 points of Denver’s point total, but none of us expected the offensive explosion that occurred).
I think I heard a collective sigh of relief from Detroit fans everywhere when this game turned into a snoozer towards the end of the third quarter. This results put a lot of things at ease in my mind, at least for now.
What a game on both sides of the ball. The guys who needed to get involved and make plays did so and thensome. I don’t remember the last time Matthew Stafford has thrown that accurately, and he was fighting through an injury(he might not be made of glass, phew). In case anyone has any interest in the new Total QBR, Stafford, barring near-perfect performances by Matt Cassell or Philip Rivers tonight, had the best rating this week (94.6). Subsequently, Tim Tebow had the lowest (3.4). That, of course, was a direct result of the front seven getting to the quarterback, as well as the secondary playing solid football (we are capable of dominating a moblie quarterback, phew).
This is what we’ve been waiting for from the D-line: the ability to take over the game. Cliff Avril had arguably the best
game of his career, Corey Williams, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Lawrence Jackson, yes, perhaps the least recognized Detroit lineman LoJack, all got in the statsbook with sacks (hey, I KNEW we had letitimate depth, phew).
The run game was, yet again, solid in Jahvid Best’s absence. Maurice Morris had 58 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Matt Stafford even got in on the fun with a 21-yard rush of his own. They didn’t rely on the run, but it was there when they needed it (we can win without a legitimate run/screen threat, phew).
How about Titus Young, though? Hauling in four receptions (out of five targets), he was Stafford’s second option and benefitted from some broken coverage for the Lions’ first score (maybe our 2011 draft isn’t a complete bust, phew). In addition to Young, Tony Scheffler and Nate Burleson were there for Stafford to dump off to all day (role players…do I even have to say it?)
As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, the win was vital to their bye-week morale. Ending the first half of the season with a win is great because it gives the team a sense of urgency for the second half. They should look at their 6-2 record and realize that they’re right in it to make that wild-card bid come December, but also that their two losses were both winable, thus improvements need to be made.