A Motor City Meltdown

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The Detroit Lions teased their fan base with a trip to the playoffs this past January. And when the Lions suffered a controversial loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Game, it was a harbinger of things to come for them in 2015. Last year the Lions had the second best defense in the National Football League as they were led by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh who had a very menacing presence. But the Lions allowed Suh to leave Detroit in free agency as he went on to sign with the Miami Dolphins and their defense has lost its edge. Coming into the 2015 NFL season, the Lions also had questions in regards to their offensive line as they lost key veterans from the group such as center Dominic Raiola and guard Rob Sims. And what you’ve gotten in 2015 from the Lions is a group that isn’t as tough in the trenches which is magnified by the team’s 1-7 record.

The highlight of the Lions season came in their Week 1 loss to the San Diego Chargers. The Lions raced to a 21-3 lead in the first half before the wheels fell off and they lost 33-28. In Week 4, it was the same old song for the Lions as they trailed the Seattle Seahawks 13-10 late in the contest. The Lions were driving for the potential game-winning score when Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor stripped wide receiver Calvin Johnson of the football. The ball bounced around in the end zone before it was batted out of play by Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright. The officials would give the ball the Seahawks at the 20-yard line as they deemed it a touch back. But in actuality, the Lions should have been rewarded the football at the 1-yard line due to Wright’s illegal bat. And unfortunately for the Lions, they would go on to lose to the Seahawks 13-10.

Matthew Stafford

In the Lions, Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the boo birds reigned down at Ford Field with the 42-17 beat down resulting in quarterback Matthew Stafford being benched. Stafford would return to the Lions starting lineup in the following week as he threw for 405 yards in helping Detroit get its only victory of the season so far which was a 37-34 nail biter in overtime against the Chicago Bears. The Lions held a 17-3 lead over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7, but they were unable to hang as they lost 28-19. And last Sunday, the Lions made the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean to London, England where they were taken behind the woodshed by a depleted Kansas City Chiefs team as they lost 45-10.

Jim Caldwell

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell has dug deep into his bag of tricks to light a fire under his team and nothing has worked. Last week the Lions fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and in Detroit’s first game without him, they only managed to score a touchdown and a field goal. A team such as the Lions can fire assistant coaches and attempt to make all of the adjustments that they want to, but this a team that is merely lacking leadership. And it is not helping Caldwell that he referred to the media room at the Lions headquarters as the “dungeon of doom” as whether or not he is right or wrong about this matter, he is fighting a losing battle with the media; especially since now is not the time for anyone that is associated with the Lions to be pointing fingers at anyone. And to make matters worse, the Lions fired their general manager Martin Mayhew along with team president Tom Lewand this week as this is an organization that is searching for answers.

Good franchises will use losses such as the one that the Lions suffered in January to the Cowboys as motivation as far as attempting to get better, but Detroit has failed to get over that as they are suffering from a playoff hangover. And when things like that happen, it screams for a culture change. When things are going good for Caldwell, they are really good, and the same can be said for him when the situation gets bad. From 2009-2011, Caldwell was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and in his first year there, he came out of the chute and won his first 14 games. The Colts would win the AFC Championship that season before losing to the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl, and by 2011, Caldwell had seen Indianapolis go 2-14 as once quarterback Peyton Manning was injured, he didn’t have an answer to rally that team.

Caldwell was a breath of fresh air for the Lions last year as he replaced Jim Schwartz who had lost the locker room. And as this current Lions team has faced adversity all season long which included having their first two games of the National Football League campaign on the road, they’ve never been able to overcome that and thus their confidence appears to have waned.

Stafford is in his seventh season as the Lions starting quarterback and he is true definition of the term “gunslinger”. Stafford will attempt to fit the football into tight spots which is evident by the 11 interceptions that he has already thrown this season. And although wide receiver Calvin Johnson is still a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, it hasn’t prevented the Lions offense from being stagnant.

This season the Lions are 26th in the National Football League in total offense while they are last in rushing and 24th in third down conversions. The lack of a running game falls on the Lions offensive line as does the 22 sacks that Stafford has suffered this season as only three quarterbacks in the National Football League have been sacked more than him.

Defensively the Lions are 27th in the National Football League and unlike the past few years, they don’t have that difference maker on that side of the football which doesn’t appear to be coming down the pike this season.

The Lions are in the midst of their bye week, but don’t expect things to get any better for this team anytime soon. In Week 10, the Lions will travel to face the Green Bay Packers who are one of the best teams in the NFC in their first of two meetings which will be followed by meeting the resurgent Oakland Raiders who are no longer a pushover. And whereas the Lions had the look of a team that could win the Super Bowl last year, this team will most likely be picking in the top five of the National Football League next spring which should symbolize the end of the Caldwell era in Detroit.

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By | 2015-11-07T07:54:46+00:00 November 7th, 2015|Categories: National Football League|Tags: , , |0 Comments

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