Oct 6, 2013; Green Bay, WI, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) walks off the field after failing a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The Packers won 22-9. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Green Bay Packers are still the Packers, and the Detroit Lions are still the Lions. Despite the standings in the NFC North indicating that the Lions were in first place Sunday, the class of the division is still the Green Bay Packers and they showed the difference in the two teams by being in control of that contest from the opening whistle to the final whistle. I’m not going the SOL route because the Lions never had a chance to screw things up and lose the game. They were never in it once it was announced that Calvin Johnson was sidelined with a knee injury.
The fact that the Detroit Lions were only losing 6-3 at halftime and 9-3 towards the end of the third quarter was a testament to the Lions defense. They only sacked Aaron Rodgers once, but the D-line kept him moving around just enough to keep him from completely having his way with the defense’s back seven. There wasn’t much to complain about the defense, except for the two long passes they gave up and the runs up the middle. In fact, that side of the ball played well enough to win. Props to linebacker DeAndre Levy who is playing like a Pro Bowler this season. He seems to be wherever the ball is and makes huge plays all of the time.
When I first heard that the Lions were going to be without Megatron I became excited. That sounds weird but I really wanted to see what Matthew Stafford and the offense was going to look like without their All-Universe player. They both failed miserably.
I have longed for the day that I see the number one pick in the 2009 draft take over a game a look like that stud we thought we got that year. Yesterday was the perfect chance for Stafford to act like a Tom Brady and just take the damn game over. That chance to shut up the naysayers who say “without number 81 to throw to you’re average”. Stafford didn’t play up to the challenge. In his defense, nobody else on offense did either. Stafford looked nervous, like he was a rookie again. He was high and wide all day – thank goodness his receivers are all giants. He’s been in the same system for five years now and I would have thought he could do better than that. Stafford gained 262 yards in the air to Aaron Rodgers’s 274 yards. Watching them both playing on the same field left me thinking Stafford is a lot more behind Rodgers than 12 yards.
The season is still young, and we’ll get another shot at the Pack on Thanksgiving day. Now that the division games are over for awhile, it’s time for the Lions to get refocused on the upcoming games with the Browns, Bengals and Cowboys preceding the bye week at the end of October. If they can win two of those, then they just might be playoff bound.