I turned my TV off at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Did I miss anything? Man, when the Lions lose ugly they don’t kid around. That was really hard to watch yesterday; it felt like 2008 all over again. You knew the Lions were in for a long day when they spotted the Bears 10 points in the first few minutes of the game. Give the Bears credit, that’s what they do.
The tone of the chippy game between the Norris division rivals was set at the very beginning of the game when Julius Peppers clothes-lined Calvin Johnson into fumbling the ball into the hands of Brian Urlacher. That was straight out of the movie ‘Longest Yard’–“I think I broke his freaking neck.” (I’m talking the old one with Burt Reynolds, not that Adam Sandler crap.) I would have bet all of what little money I have on the fact that if that had been a Lion doing the clothes-lining, that player would have been flagged and kicked out of the game, then driven straight to the airport.
The defense did a pretty decent job for the day. They kept Matt Forte from doing any real damage, and limited Jay Cutler to only 9 completions. But you aren’t going to win many games when your quarterback is giving the ball to those guys dressed like construction cones. As I said last week, the fortunes of this team rest on the gloved one’s shoulders. Matt Stafford didn’t start that mess, Megatron and Nate Burleson did, but he finished it with a flurry. I don’t know how much that finger was bothering him, he said the wind bothered him more, but he was all over the place with the ball.
I was hoping for more out of the running game with the addition of Kevin Smith, but he and Maurice Morris didn’t accomplish much. They couldn’t have if Stafford had 63 passing attempts, four of which ended up in the hands of the Chicago creamsicles. That matched the total the Lions quarterback had ALL year. That’s how bad it was.
Nothing cures the ills more than having the team that drafted first coming to town next week. Cam Newton has been a revelation, but the Lions should be able to take care of business when they square up against the Carolina Panthers. Yesterday was one of those games that the coaches burn the game film the minute they are done watching that disaster. Despite the fact they are 1-3 in their last four games, they are STILL a good team. After the Lions win next week, they will enter the huge showdown with the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving day with a 7-3 record. Not too shabby at all. Ask any fan at the beginning of the year if they’ll take 7 wins going into turkey day and I’ll bet 100% would say “you bet, and pass the gravy.”
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