After my rousing success last week predicting the Michigan vs Utah game I thought I might as well try with the Detroit Lions too. I have been a long time Lions fan in fact just about as long as I can remember. I'm not one of these people who lived in the state of Michigan and for some ungodly reason roots for some other team. I'm also not one of those people that left the state and turned into a fan of the local team. Nope, I am a fan of the Lions through thick and thin and believe me there has been a lot of thin since I have been watching them.
Since I have been a fan of the Lions I have endured through Wayne Fonts "Deer in the headlight" comment and Daryl Rogers "What does someone have to do to get fired around here?" There have been so many quarterbacks it's hard to keep track of them all. The first quarterback I can remember for the Lions is Bill Munson and the latest Jon Kitna.
But the Lions have had their bright spots too. How about Lem Barney? He was a great cornerback and my favorite Lion along with Charlie Sanders when I was a kid. I got to see these favorites of mine along with Altie Taylor when they used to tour the state in the winter playing basketball in the local high school gyms. There have been others since like Barry Sanders, Robert Porche, and Chris Spielman.
I know the last few years have not been kind to Lions fans but one of these years, one of these years they will surprise everyone and turn it around. I am hoping it will be this year as I do every year.
I was thinking about doing a week by week prediction on the Lions season in one posting but I think I will do a prediction every week instead. My predictions will not be based on emotions, at least I will try not to let it, but I will try to honestly give my assessment of the upcoming game as best I can. I will warn you however I don't have the time to research the other team so most of my predictions will be based on how I think the Lions are playing at the moment, what they have done in the past, and the 3 win and lose rule. What is the 3 win and lose rule? Well for some reason most NFL teams won't win 3 games in a row or loose 3 games in row. It happens but more often and then not the 3 win or lose rule works.
Let's get on with this weeks game. This week the Lions go down to the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons. If there is one team in worse shape then the Lions it is the Falcons. The Falcons bring in a rookie quarterback and a new coach. The Lions finished the preseason 4-0 but that doesn't mean a thing right now because everyone starts over when the real season starts. But one thing I did see during the preseason games I was able to watch was a defense that is tackling better than I have seen them tackle in years. They led the entire NFL in defense in preseason and when is the last time this happened? It is the defense that gives me some hope this season. They revamped the secondary and if they can get a little pressure on the quarterback this year the defense will be just fine. That's why I think the Lions defense will handle the offense of the Falcons.
The offensive of the Lions will be interesting this year. I don't think they are as good as they looked during preseason because after all Jon Kitna is still their quarterback. I have never been a Kitna fan but with the two receivers he has all he has to do is throw the football up in the air and let someone run under it. This is the recipe the Minnesota Vikings used years ago when they had Randy Moss and Cris Carter playing receiver for them. But we are talking about Kitna here and who knows what we will get from week to week from him. There are reasons he has been let go by other teams and if you watch him you can see why. He doesn't always make the right decision and sometimes he can't make a decision. That is one reason he takes so many sacks during a game. Which brings me to the main problem the Lions may have this year. The same problem they have had in prior years, they just don't have a good offensive line. Oh they will be fine this week against Atlanta and people will be persuaded into thinking the Lions have finally turned the corner but as the season mounts and injuries start to take their toll on the thin offensive line the offense will start to sputter.
Just not this week. The Lions will play a great defensive game and the offense will look like a bonafide NFL offense. The Lions receivers will have great games and the running game will get their yards this week. I also think the Falcons will struggle on offense with their rookie quarterback. Final prediction Lions 24 Atlanta 13. Lions 1-0.
3 comments:
please, no, don't let me down lions.
hey I'm a U of M guy, a Detroit Tigers guy, and a Hockeytown guy. I've just never been a lions guy. the first game i ever remember watching as a kid was the Superbowl when Favre and the Packers beat the Patriots in New Orleans. ever since then i was a Reggie White, Brett Favre, and most of all...Green Bay Packers fan.
In the end the Lions won't let you down. They will be in the playoff hunt right up to the last game of the season and all they will need is a field goal to win the game. Kitna will drop back to pass to get them in field goal position and he will get chased out of the pocket. Instead of throwing the ball away he will try to force it down field to a double covered McDonald and get intercepted. Game over.
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