The Lions Den | JHB's Detroit Lions

[Icy4me]

Quote: Originally Posted by JHeyBraves

Haha no doubt. Stafford is playing like he doesn't want to get benched again. Making me, I mean Schwartz, look like an idiot. Stafford-to-Johnson connection looking rejuvenated, not to say that it ever died out.

Thanks you Madden Gods!

[JHeyBraves]

Nov. 16, 2014
Ford Field
8:20 PM

Opposite Day?
Stafford Replaces Injured McCoy, Johnson's Catch
in Final Minute Sends Fans Home Happy, 23-20

Colt McCoy lasted all of one play before leaving with a shoulder injury.

Stafford looked driven by Schwartz's decision to go with McCoy. He and Megatron got reacquainted on the opening drive as Johnson caught four passes, including a busted fade route when he came back to the ball and made the play in Tillman's face for a TD.

Xavier Slaughter was running well, but again, had a case of fumble-itis by putting it on the ground twice. Despite a 36-yard TD run, he was pulled for Leshoure. Leshoure wasn't great, but held on to the ball and picked up a few 3rd & short plays.

Everything was going well until Brandon Pettigrew became the second ex-Lion to exact revenge in as many weeks (Justin Durant last week). Cutler, who was great all day, began looking to his safety blanket often in the second half. They hooked up for a TD and were on the same page for another field goal drive to cut the lead to 17-13.

Tim Jennings didn't fare as well against his old team. Brandon Marshall took him to school several times with 100 yards on 5 catches.

"Jennings ain't got nothin' on me," said Marshall after the game. "I [used to] beat him in practice every day. I know him. Nobody on that defense can cover me." Marshall was chirping all day.

Davarius Bullock left in the 3rd quarter with an injury. Keith Rivers took his place for two drives before he was hurt…again…and it looked to be serious…again.

Cutler was all over the seemingly clueless pass coverage in the fourth. Earl Bennett beat Thomas on a short slant with 3:23 remaining to tie it up at 20-20.

Stafford and the offense held the ball at their own 45-yard line with 20 seconds on the clock. It was 3rd & Long and looked destined for an overtime finish. The team used a timeout to consider their options.

"Give me the ball," demanded Calvin Johnson on the sideline. "Just put it up. I don't care who is there."

The offense took the field in a 4-receiver look, Johnson with the right side to himself. As Stafford dropped back, the safety doubled Johnson, but the All-Pro receiver put his hand up - signaling Stafford to throw it anyway.

The pass hung in the air as Tillman, Wright and Johnson jostled for positioning at the goal line. Using his freakish abilities, Megatron located and outjumped the defenders to secure the pass just short of a TD. Bears players looked on stunned for seconds before calling a timeout.

Justin Tucker came on to kick the "extra point" field goal to win the game.

One player who shouldn't be overlooked is DE T.J. Blake. Of all the new faces this season - Bullock, Slaughter, Kruger and others - Blake could wind up being the best of all. He got his 10th sack of the year and trails only Tulloch, Bullock and Suh for the team lead in tackles.

The team travels to Green Bay next week to face Rodgers and the underperforming Packers for the last time.

"I can't believe they [Lions] ever considered starting anyone else, especially McCoy. Stafford showed how stupid those idiots are," criticized one studio analyst after the game.

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
Nov 16, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Chicago Bears (4-5)	0	3	10	7	20
Detroit Lions (6-3)	7	10	0	6	23

Team Stats Comparison
	CHI	DET
Total Offense	294	311
Rushing Yards	40	85
Passing Yards	254	226
First Downs	15	13
Punt Return Yards	14	4
Kick Return Yards	16	65
Total Yards	324	380
Turnovers	1	1
3rd Down Converstion	4-13 (30%)	6-13 (46%)
4th Down Conversion	1-1 (100%)	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/2 (100%)	1/2 (100%)
Penalties	4-35	3-25
Posession Time	33:37	26:23

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		CHI	DET
6:14	(DET) C. Johnson 3 yd pass from M. Stafford	0	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CHI	DET
14:56	(CHI) R. Gould 27 yd FG	3	7
11:39	(DET) X. Slaughter 36 yd run	3	14
5:29	(DET) J. Tucker 24 yd FG	3	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		CHI	DET
11:24	(CHI) B. Pettigrew 15 yd pass from J. Cutler	10	17
9:09	(CHI) R. Gould 45 yd FG	13	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CHI	DET
9:29	(DET) J. Tucker 53 yd FG	13	20
3:23	(CHI) E. Bennett 7 yd pass from J. Cutler	20	20
0:05	(DET) J. Tucker 17 yd FG	20	23

Chicago Bears PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jay Cutler 26/34 (76%) 304 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Matt Forte 18 38 2.1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Brandon Pettigrew 7 97 13.9 1 Brandon Marshall 5 100 20.0 0 Earl Bennett 4 44 11.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brian Urlacher (2 FF) 7 0 0 0 Tyson Jackson 7 1 0 0 Major Wright (1 FF) 5 0 0 0 Nick Roach (1 FR) 5 0 0 0 Kendrick Lewis 5 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Robbie Gould 2/2 45

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Matthew Stafford 22/31 (70%) 231 1 0 Colt McCoy 1/1 (100%) 3 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Mikel Leshoure 13 33 2.5 0 Xavier Slaughter 10 52 5.2 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Calvin Johnson 10 150 15.0 1 Glenn Banks 5 35 7.0 0 Dexter McCluster 4 30 7.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Stephen Tulloch 9 0 0 0 DeAndre Levy 6 1 0 0 T.J. Blake 5 3 0 0 Ndamukong Suh (1 FR) 5 0 0 0 Louis Delmas 4 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Tucker 3/3 53

Left: LOL - It wasn't McCoy's time | Right: Johnson saves the Lions again

*Minor update to first post (slider related)

[Icy4me]

So, Stafford is now the starter again? Instead of "Noodle Arm" McCoy?

[JHeyBraves]

Quote: Originally Posted by Icy4me

So, Stafford is now the starter again? Instead of "Noodle Arm" McCoy?

Hahaha, noodle arm..

Yes, it will be Stafford until the season ends. McCoy getting hurt on the first play felt like a sign.

He can't get the ball into certain windows, which did cut down my playbook a little bit whenever he was in there.

[KBLover]

Yeah, I put McCoy as my #3 because now that I want a little more vertical offense (just a bit, mainly take some shots and hit 15-20 yd passes when there), I got Osweiler for #2. He's dumb as a rock, but his arm is very strong.

McCoy CAN be successful if you're gameplanning around a shorter passing game. He can kill you with 1000 paper cuts when he's on.

[JHeyBraves]

News from Around the League
(Week 10)

NFL Players of the Week:

B. Tate, GB: 13 att, 150 yds, TD; 3 rec, 66, yds, TD
M. Owens, JAC: 8 att, 114 yds, 3 TD
T. Blake, DET: 5 tackles, 3 sacks
O. Schofield, NYJ: 8 tackles, sack, FF, FR, TD


League News:

Lovie Smith handling the pressure in NY, Giants are 8-1
Josh Cribbs took two kickoffs back for TD's in 31-27 win over Chiefs
Cardinals (8-1) lose QB Matt Ryan for 4 weeks to dislocated knee
Vikings (8-1) have won 8 straight games, but lose Adrian Peterson for 4 weeks with broken thumb
Reggie Wayne moves to 6th on all-time receptions AND receiving yards lists


Team News

Injury News:

Keith Rivers' abdominal tear will keep him out for a month. The injury report feels incomplete when he's not on it.


Coach's Corner:

No surprising news here - Stafford will be the guy from here on out.

Xavier Slaughter now has seven fumbles in nine games. Seven. SEVEN. He is a great talent, but will ball security ultimately be his downfall?

Schwartz on Slaughter: "We want him holding it high and tight. We made X-Man [Xavier] carry a football around at all times this week - to team meetings, to dinner, to anywhere he went. We told him that if he dropped it, he would be watching the game. All coaches and players were encouraged to take it from him. I'm happy to say he didn't lose it once."


Progression

DT Ndamukong Suh
AWR: up from 86 to 87

WR Ryan Broyles
CTH: up from 84 to 85

WR Calvin Johnson
TRK: up from 81 to 82

DE T.J. Blake
AWR: up from 75 to 76

OLB DeAndre Levy
ZCV: up from 74 to 75

DT Nick Fairley
AWR: up from 72 to 73
PRC: up from 60 to 62

[JHeyBraves]

Matchup Preview *|* November 23, 2014
	@
Detroit Lions (6-3, Away)		Green Bay Packers (4-5, Home)
Injury Report WR Nate Burleson Torn Bicep (2 weeks) OG Josh Sitton Pectoral Tear (IR) OLB Keith Rivers Abdominal Tear (4 weeks) Game Notes Unless they meet in the Playoffs again, this will be the final meeting of the year. The Packers are having a nightmare season by their standards, but have picked it up in the last few weeks. The pass defense confused Rodgers last time. With more film for him to study, expect that to change. Last Meeting: 10-19-14 - Lions 20, Packers 13

Division Standings
NFC NORTH	W	L	T	PF	PA
Minnesota Vikings	8	1		330	247
Detroit Lions	6	3		207	173
Chicago Bears	4	5		238	234
Green Bay Packers	4	5		265	211

[JHeyBraves]

Nov. 23, 2014
Lambeau Field
4:15 PM

Rodgers Does It Again
MVP Leads Game-Winning Drive,
Desperate Packers Defend Home Field, 23-21

Usually the gameplan might be feed Slaughter to run clock and keep Rodgers off the field. This time it was more about continuing to keep Stafford's confidence going by letting him sling the rock.

Sling it he did, finishing with 339 yards and one TD, but he did lose a fumble early on. What kept him from the end zone was Lamarr Houston, who had all five of his sacks when the offense was in Packer territory. Clay Matthews was another big reason. The Lions are hoping that this could be the last time they face the Claymaker as a member of the Packers because of the $129 million contract Rodgers just signed.

Stafford had a few new targets step up. Dexter McCluster's 81-yard TD reception in the 4th quarter contributed largely to his big day. Sound the alarm - there has been a Karl Kruger sighting. The rookie tight end ran some nice routes on his way to 7 catches for 81 yards. Xavier Slaughter didn't fumble once.

It should come as no surprise that the winner of three consecutive MVP awards was responsible for erasing what would've been an ego-boosting win for Stafford. Instead, Rodgers drove his team from their own 20-yard line to field goal range and he didn't even need the entire 1:50 on the clock to do it.

Rodgers went to Cobb twice and Nelson once with scattered incompletions in-between before finding tight end D.J. Williams for a 24-yard gain down along the sideline. That put the Packers inside the Detroit 30-yard line with 39 seconds left. Ben Tate ran the clock down and Mason Crosby finished it off for a 23-21 Packer win.

Justin Tucker was 5 for 5 on his field goal attempts, kicking all five from 40+ yards. Both kickers combined to go 8 for 8.

The team drops another game, to the Packers no less. They return home on a short week to play the Texans on Thanksgiving.

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
Nov 23, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit Lions (6-4)	3	6	3	9	21
Green Bay Packers (5-5)	7	3	3	10	23

Team Stats Comparison
	DET	GNB
Total Offense	354	322
Rushing Yards	77	68
Passing Yards	277	254
First Downs	18	17
Punt Return Yards	39	0
Kick Return Yards	31	45
Total Yards	424	367
Turnovers	1	0
3rd Down Converstion	8-17 (47%)	6-14 (42%)
4th Down Conversion	1-1 (100%)	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-1 (0%)	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	0/2 (100%)	2/2 (100%)
Penalties	3-11	3-25
Posession Time	36:06	23:54

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		DET	GNB
11:47	(DET) J. Tucker 51 yd FG	3	0
6:11	(GNB) J. Finley 4 yd pass from A. Rodgers	3	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		DET	GNB
13:30	(DET) J. Tucker 40 yd FG	6	7
1:48	(GNB) M. Crosby 38 yd FG	6	10
0:00	(DET) J. Tucker 51 yd FG	9	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		DET	GNB
10:55	(GNB) M. Crosby 35 yd FG	9	13
3:58	(DET) J.Tucker 42 yd FG	12	13
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		DET	GNB
10:47	(GNB) T. Mellon 12 yd pass from A. Rodgers	12	20
9:59	(DET) D. McCluster 81 yd pass from M. Stafford (2-pt failed)	18	20
1:51	(DET) J. Tucker 48 yd FG	21	20
0:01	(GNB) M. Crosby 42 yd FG	21	23

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Matthew Stafford 27/45 (60%) 339 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Xavier Slaughter 15 67 4.5 0 Mikel Leshoure 3 11 3.7 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Dexter McCluster 8 130 16.3 1 Calvin Johnson 7 89 12.7 0 Karl Kruger 7 81 11.6 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Heston Hill 7 0 0 0 Louis Delmas 6 0 0 0 Stephen Tulloch 5 0 0 0 Morgan Burnett 4 0 0 0 Cliff Avril 3 3 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Tucker 5/5 51

Green Bay Packers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Aaron Rodgers 23/38 (60%) 284 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Ben Tate 16 45 2.8 0 Aaron Rodgers 2 23 11.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Randall Cobb 5 67 13.4 0 Greg Jennings 4 61 15.3 0 Jordy Nelson 3 38 12.7 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Clay Matthews (1 FF) 9 2 0 0 Tramon Williams 7 0 0 0 Nick Perry 7 0 0 0 A.J. Hawk 7 0 0 0 Charles Woodson 6 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Mason Crosby 3/3 42

Rodgers found D.J. Williams for a 24-yard gain on 3rd down
with 39 second left. That play decided the outcome.