The Detroit Lions

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Lions at Panthers preview:

The Detroit Lions, with a record of 5-4, find themselves at a crossroads yet again. One game up on the division lead, they let a golden opportunity slip away against a wounded team. It shows that two teams at opposite ends of their division are much closer than you'd think; although being 5-3, Jacksonville was hardly a "cellar dwelling" automatic win.

Now, at 5-4, the Lions are tied for first with the Packers, and once again face a division cellar dweller: The 2-7 Carolina Panthers. This time, however, the records of each team would appear to give Detroit an advantage.

Carolina, led by Jake Delhomme, are a shell of the team that went to the Super Bowl several years ago. Both leaders of the team, Delhomme on offense and Julius Peppers on defense, are in the last year of their contracts, and are getting older; potential victims of the dreaded "Team Rebuild".

Normally the wideouts would be 3-time Pro Bowler Steve Smith and 10,000 yard man Muhsin Muhammad, but Muhammad is injured so rookie Earl Bennett will start, and 2nd year man Dwayne Jarrett with be the 3rd wideout. Rookie Dorien Bryant is the 4th stringer there.

On defense, two rookies start opposite stalwarts Peppers and Kemeoatu: DE Buddy Jackson (injured, replaced by Stanley McClover) and DT Hank Smithers. Rookie Lionel Dotson also gets a lot of time at DT in pass rushing situations.

As for the Lions, they are healthy except for Bryant's injury. Coach Billick had nothing but praise for Peerless Price, saying that the veteran wideout had done everything they hoped for and more; picking up the playbook and learning his role as expected for an experienced wideout. It's crucial he's able to get up to speed quickly, having been unemployed all season to this point. This will allow Garrett Wolfe and James Hardy to stay in their roles and hopefully keep the offense gelling. Since Peerless is a skilled receiver with over 400 receptions to his credit, Coach Billick seems pretty confident he made the right call.

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Peerless Price made headlines after his 4-199-1td performance during Tennessee's victory for the National Championship after the 1998 season.

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So, I tried to get one more game in tonight before my super crazy week and concert next weekend. The game vs the Panthers was awesome - back and forth, some good excitement... The game was coming down to the wire:

Down 24-10, we drive down and Griese hits Sypniewski for 20 yards with 4 minutes left. We kick, stop them, drive down again but fail on 4th and inches from the goal line. Panthers take over but Ernie Sims tackles DeAngelo Williams in the end zone for a safety and it's 24-19... we take the free kick and start driving... it's 2nd and goal on the 12... 21 SECONDS LEFT!!! I called a quick slant and we broke the huddle...

AND THE GAME FROZE.

[insert 34 curses here]

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I don't know if I'll have the heart to go through it again, I might sim it... playing time is so limited for me anymore... well - we'll see how I feel after work tomorrow...

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Special Teams Miscues Trigger Rare NFL Tie

I decided to sim this one after my heartbreaking game-freeze. Wouldn't you know it, the first sim ended in a tie. Perfectly fitting considering we'll never know if my last second heroics were going to end in victory or defeat. A combined 4 missed field goals is pretty ugly. From a standings perspective, being 5-4-1 could be good, could be bad... all I know is that if we don't string together a few victories soon, it's not going to matter...

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers
Nov 16, 2008	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit Lions (5-4)	7	7	3	0	17
Carolina Panthers (2-7)	0	2	0	15	17

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		DET	CAR
05:55	(DET) Griese pass to Roy Williams 1 yd (Hanson PAT)	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		DET	CAR
11:01	(DET) Shaun Alexander 17yd run (Hanson PAT)	14	0
03:23	(CAR) SAFETY - Charles Johnson sack Griese	14	2
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		DET	CAR
07:09	(DET) Jason Hanson 32yd FG	17	2
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		DET	CAR
12:00	(CAR) Delhomme pass to Dorien Bryant 7yd (2pt succ)	17	10
06:30	(CAR) DeAngelo Williams 2yd run (Kasay PAT)	17	17

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Brian Griese 14/24 213 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Shaun Alexander 28 145 1 Ryan Torain 12 22 0 Brian Griese 3 11 0 Garrett Wolfe 2 7 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Roy Williams 5 75 1 Peerless Price 5 90 0 James Hardy 3 39 0 Quinn Sypniewski 1 9 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Ernie Sims 14-0 0 0 0 Mike Patterson 4-3 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jason Hanson 1/3 2/2 5 32

Carolina Panthers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jake Delhomme 16/33 262 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD DeAngelo Williams 37 93 1 Jake Delhomme 6 34 0 Leon Washington 3 14 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Steve Smith 6 94 0 Anthony Becht 5 90 0 Earl Bennett 2 28 0 Dante Rosario 1 11 0 Dwayne Jarrett 1 32 0 Dorien Bryant 1 7 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jon Beason 11-0 0 0 0 Charles Johnson 4-3 2 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG John Kasay 0/2 1/1 1 -

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WEEK ELEVEN MILESTONES:
MAKING THEIR MARK ON HISTORY

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Shaun Alexander has passed Walter Payton for #4 all-time rushing touchdowns. He has also passed Tiki Barber and Eddie George for #21 all-time rushing yardage.

Marvin Harrison has passed Cris Carter for #2 all-time in receptions. He has also passes Tim Brown for #2 all-time in receiving yardage. He passed Cris's mark by 2 catches and Tim's by a single yard! His legendary career is now up to 1,103 receptions for 14,935 yards! (he is #5 in receiving touchdowns too, with 127)

Jason Taylor has passed Simeon Rice and Clyde Simmons for #12 all-time in sacks. Jason is the #2 active sack leader, behind the Giants Michael Strahan.

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Detroit vs Tampa Bay Preview

Detroit comes into the game still shaking their head after their tie game last week vs. Carolina. The teams each missed two field goal attempts, and the Lions gave up a safety as well... It certainly wasn't the statement game they were planning on.

The good news is the team came out of the game healthy, save for reserve linebacker Teddy Lehman. He's dealing with a sore quad but should only miss a few days. He won't make the trip to Tampa, however.

As for Tampa, they are rolling through the NFL with a 9-1 record, their defense is only giving up an astounding 7.4 points per game. The team boasts great depth too, as even with starting running back Michael Turner and starting wide receiver Joey Galloway out, they have had little trouble dispatching their opponents. Free agent defensive tackle Rod Coleman leads the defense with 8 sacks, and HOFer Derrick Brooks is still an effective player and field general for the Bucs vaunted Tampa-2 defense.

The key for the Lions is the offensive line - those big guys up front need to open holes for powerhouse back Shaun Alexander, but also give Brian Griese enough time to find some holes in the Bucs zone coverage. Griese definitely wants this game, as he played for Tampa in 2004-2005. He won't label this a revenge game though, saying, "That's ancient history, no doubt. This is about the Lions catching up to the Packers, not about any one player. Trust me, that's all I'm focused on."

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Close but no cigar...

Detroit prepared to host the NFC-Leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday still trying to figure out how it was going to handle the top team in the conference when they could only muster a tie against one of the worst.

Coach Billick had the team pumped up for the game, however, and the Lions traded shots with the Bucs quarter after quarter. Despite a missed field goal and a fumble close to the goal line, Detroit was up at halftime, and again in the 4th quarter until the unbelievable Tampa defense stepped up and took over, intercepting Brian Griese as he drove the Lions to the Tampa 27 with 40 seconds left in the game.

While the team is reeling now at 5-5-1 after a couple losses and a tie; there was much good that came out of the game, including scoring 20 points on a defense that was only allowing 7.4 per game. Now, if the team could just cut out the simple mistakes and turnovers, perhaps a winning streak could turn the season around. With several tough games coming up, however, the window of opportunity is closing fast.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions
Nov 23, 2008	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-1)	0	14	3	7	24
Detroit Lions (5-4-1)	3	14	0	3	20

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		TAM	DET
12:47	(DET) Jason Hanson 41yd FG	0	3
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		TAM	DET
14:57	(TAM) Alex Smith 11yd reception (Bryant PAT)	7	3
08:02	(DET) Roy Williams 7yd reception (Hanson PAT)	7	10
03:29	(TAM) BJ Askew 2yd reception (Bryant PAT)	14	10
02:07	(DET) Quinn Sypniewski 68yd reception (Hanson PAT)	14	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		TAM	DET
09:54	(TAM) Matt Bryant 44yd FG	17	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		TAM	DET
06:29	(DET) Jason Hanson 24yd FG	17	20
02:50	(TAM) Ernest Graham 10yd run (Bryant PAT)	24	20

Tampa Bay Buccaneers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jeff Garcia 13/25 134 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Ernest Graham 22 120 1 Jeff Garcia 2 3 0 Cadillac Williams 1 1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Alge Crumpler 4 45 0 Maurice Stovall 3 32 0 Alex Smith 3 39 1 Chris Simms 1 7 0 BJ Askew 1 1 1 Ike Hilliard 1 10 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Rod Coleman 3-1 1 0 0 Gaines Adams 6-1 1 0 0 Barrett Ruud 2-0 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Matt Bryant 1/2 3/3 6 44

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Brian Griese 13/25 214 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Shaun Alexander 18 89 0 Ryan Torain 8 37 0 David Kirtman 3 11 0 Brian Calhoun 2 15 0 Garrett Wolfe 1 0 0 Brian Griese 1 0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Roy Williams 6 62 1 Quinn Sypniewski 4 103 1 James Hardy 1 14 0 Peerless Price 1 12 0 Garrett Wolfe 1 23 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Ernie Sims 8-4 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jason Hanson 2/3 2/2 8 41

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WEEK TWELVE MILESTONES:
MAKING THEIR MARK ON HISTORY

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Peyton Manning has passed Drew Bledsoe for 7th most passing yards all-time. He now has 44,794.

Hines Ward has passed Marshall Faulk for 23rd most receptions all-time with 770 receptions.

Randy Moss has passed Larry Centers for 15th most receptions all-time. He now has 834.

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A special shout out to Marvin Harrison as he becomes only the 2nd person in the history of the NFL to record over 15,000 receiving yards! He has 15,077 yards to date. (He still needs another 7,818 yards to tie #1, Jerry Rice. At his current rate he needs another 97 games, a game into a 7th additional season... Marvin would be just around 44 years old!)

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2008 THANKSGIVING PREVIEW!!!

Detroit, winless in it's last three games, prepares to face another division leading team this Thanskgiving when the 9-2 Titans head on down to Mo-Town.

Tennessee, led by the decorated and dangerous Vince Young, appear ready to challenge for the AFC Crown after they added two older, but all-pro, veterans: Warrick Dunn and Isaac Bruce. Adding the veteran presence to the young, budding stars such as LenDale White and rookie Limas Sweed appears to have given the Titans the right balance, something they need as they try to wrest the division away from the Colts.

Both teams are pretty healthy, which is a surprise this late into the season. The Titans will be without starting center Kevin Mawae and starting strong safety Calvin Lowry, but have capable backups in place.

The Lions are going to hold reserve linebacker Teddy Lehman out one more game, and Peerless Price is holding the spot of Bryant Johnson pretty well.

The Lions are always dangerous on Thanksgiving Day, and have busted out the classic Silvers for this crucial matchup...

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