Dog, dog, dog eat dog; Dog, dog, dog eat dog

No my Lionettes, I am not advocating eating man’s best friend. Although I am a cat person I’m not a dog abuser. I figured the title for this entry in my blog would reference a song by the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent. I got the idea from seeing a clip of the Cleveland Brown fan base getting silly and causing all sorts of shenanigans and that song was playing in the background. There is your ten cent trivia for the day on how I come up with this particular wacky title for this entry.

Anyhoo I trust that all of my very loyal readers are doing well. By the way I do not write this thing for my own edification. I do it for all of you my Lionettes! Yes I am talking to those of you who could care less about the NFL and especially the Lions. That and I’m bucking for a guest columnist spot with the Detroit News. It can happen! But you see this where I am doing a service for the Lions organization, by spreading the glad tidings of joy that are coming our way with a winning team.

You might be saying “it’s only pre-season and we fall into this trap every season”. Well true and true. However, unlike the Matt Millen years of darkness; the team is headed in the right direction and building a strong foundation for the future. We have a legitimate Quarterback in Matt Stafford as well as an offensive arsenal that would but the USS Ronald Reagan’s to shame.

Well my Lionettes our most beloved NFL franchise team the Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns by a score of 35-27. I was in attendance personally and I felt it was my cheerleading that helped bring us a win at home. Just joking! I am not that conceited! It was an enjoyable game and a lot of fun. Since this is my first year buying season tickets I hope I will be witness to our march to the Super Bowl. Hey dreams are free ya know!

There were a lot of good plays on offense and some not so good plays on defense. Although I wish I could dissect every facet of this game I will post a story from Tom Kowalski from MLive which has his recap of the game. It’s a bit lengthy but well worth the time to read.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b5BfR

The major concern I have after watching the game is the playmaking of the linebackers and the secondary. There were too many missed tackles, penalties, a fumble from RB Kevin Smith that cost us 6 points. Offensively they are clicking quite well. Matt Stafford is spreading the ball around and was solid on the day with 13/17, 141 yards, no touchdowns but more importantly no interceptions. He seems to be very focused and cutting down on the mistakes.

I really believe that if we can sustain offensive drives and keep our defense off the field for as long as possible then hopefully we can get through this season with a sub-par linebacking corp and secondary. If we have CBs Wade and Houston back healthy, I think they are serviceable. Maybe not the greatest CB tandem but certainly not the worst! Who knows maybe the secondary won’t be as bad as we might think. Both of them have been injured and have not had a chance to gel together as a unit.

I do have a dreadful feeling that like the OLine from last year the Secondary is going to be this season’s problem child. The obvious key is staying healthy, if we do that we will be all right but if Wade or Houston goes down at any point in the season, it could be serious trouble.

There is the possibility of getting some decent depth guys fro our linebacker and secondary units by waiting to see who gets cut from other teams. That is a most definite. Tomorrow is the first round of cuts where teams have to cut their rosters to 75 players. This does not include those players on Injure Reserve. If you are interested here is the current batch of Lions who are on IR.

Reserve Lists

94 Copeland Bryan DE (IR)
72 Trevor Canfield G (IR)
60 Joe Cohen DT (IR)
95 Jared DeVries DE (IR)
46 Richard Dickson TE (IR)
57 Jordon Dizon OLB (IR)
47 Jake Nordin FB (Waived/Injured)
25 David Roach SS (Waived/Injured)
31 Jack Williams CB (Active/PUP)
33 Jahi Word-Daniels FS (IR)

Here is an updated Linebacker and Defensive Back list.

Linebackers

-- Rocky Boiman ILB
97 Korey Bosworth OLB
53 Caleb Campbell OLB
52 Vinny Ciurciu OLB
50 Isaiah Ekejiuba ILB
49 Zack Follett OLB
55 Landon Johnson OLB
54 DeAndre Levy ILB
58 Ashlee Palmer OLB
59 Julian Peterson OLB

Defensive Backs

40 Aaron Berry CB
32 Dre' Bly CB
39 C. C. Brown SS
26 Louis Delmas FS
33 Jonathan Hefney CB
23 Chris Houston CB
29 Eric King CB
43 Randy Phillips FS
36 Paul Pratt CB
38 T. J. Rushing CB
30 Ko Simpson SS
42 Amari Spievey FS
24 Jonathan Wade CB
35 John Wendling SS
41 Dante Wesley CB

So tomorrow we’ll be down to 75 players and then on September 4th we will have the cut to 53. Most people tend to forget that there is also the 8-man practice squad to consider but the danger in that is players can be plucked by other teams. The last pre-season game will be this Thursday September 2nd at 6:30 p.m. it will be blacked out in all probability like the Cleveland game. Especially when the starters will barely play the first quarter to prevent a major injury before they open up the regular season on the road against Chicago on September 12th.

Well my Lionettes it has been a very long day I am exhausted and I think I am going to go home now. Again I never get tired of saying this. Stay positive and encouraged. Things are improving. Still a long ways to go but it will happen someday. We have been far too patient for it not too. I’ll have another post out on Friday after the Bills game with a recap of that game as well as my prediction for the 53-man roster. Take care everyone and God bless you all. Until next time my Lionettes GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've Got High Hopes

But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes; He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes! No my Lionettes I am not preparing to rejoin the MSU Glee Club, well not yet at least. That song by Frank Sinatra is appropriate for the hope our beloved Lions continue to instill in us. Well my Lionettes we got our first win of the pre-season with a 25-20 win over the Denver Broncos.

Yes I know it's only pre-season and we must not fall into the same trap we seem to every season by reading too much into meaningless pre-season games. However, this time I see a real change happening! I believe Matt Stafford will lead us to the promised land someday!

By the way this photo is of Denver Broncos Quarterback Kyle Orton who loves to drink as you can tell. I got this photo from http://drunkathlete.com/ Pretty funny although it wasn't quite the one I was looking for.

I hope you all get a good laugh from it like I have.

Well let's recap the game and I am feeling particularly cocky because we got a win so we can talk a little smack.

Well let's look at the highs from this past Saturday. The First Team offense led by Matt Stafford was solid including a touchdown pass to Calvin Megatron Johnson. The lowlight of the Lions offensive drives were points left off the board and the 25-20 score made it look closer than what it really was. The Lions opted for field goals when two touchdown passes by Stafford were dropped from TEs Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler. Our Red Zone offense has got to be better than that. 3 out of 4 possessions ended in field goals when we should of gotten TDs.

By the way here is a pretty good interesting recap from the Bleacher Report that you all should enjoy.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/441198-detroit-lions-monday-morning-quarterback-preseason-week-two?utm_source=newsletter

RB Jahvid Best had a solid game averaging 6.1 yards a carry and amassing 59 yards of total offense. He would of have had 100 yards rushing had he played the entire game. I think we have a solid one-two punch in our run-game with Jahvid Best and Kevin Smith. By the way I met Jahvid Best at a Lions practice for season ticket holders and yes my Lionettes I am REALLY chugging the kool-aid this time when I bought season tickets. Anyways I got his autograph and I told him to run the ball down Green Bay's throats this year and I believe he will!

Filling in place of injured Kicker Jason Hanson, Steven Hauschka was perfect making all four of his field goals and putting all six kick-offs in the end zone. If Hanson is ever injured again I believe we have a competent kicker in him to fill in providing no other team picks him up.

The Defense did not disappoint except when it came to the play of the Secondary. The starting defensive line only allowed 20 yards although Denver was without their top two running backs. The first-team defense did get to Orton sacking him once. It's refreshing to see our DLine get pressure they have in the games against Pittsburgh and Denver.

Now the bad news. With our DLine having a suspect secondary to complement it; it has created a blueprint for opposing team offenses to look at this game and avoid the pass-rush by using a three-step back drop and using a quick release to get rid of the ball. Without Safety Louis Delmas and CB Jonathan Wade out there, Kyle Orton picked our defense apart and unfortunately without a solid secondary teams will further exploit this weakness. Again we can blame Matt Millen for leaving almost next to nothing in the tank when GM Martin Mayhew and Coach Jim Schwartz took over.

I know we were not going to fix this team with just two drafts. We'll need at least two more before we can begin to serious contend for the NFC North. Like I mentioned in my last posting, my wish list for next year's draft is at least one Linebacker, two Cornerbacks and one Safety.

Once Safety Louis Delmas gets back healthy that will be a huge help to the Secondary. We need depth and someone to pair next to him which could be rookie safety Randy Phillips who is making quite a name for himself in training camp and in these two pre-season games. In this game he had a key tackle for a loss and had a team-high four tackles. I only see us carrying eight defensive backs on the roster. Louis Delmas, Randy Phillips, Ko Simpson most likely three out of the four Safeties. Dre Bly, Jonathan Wade and Amari Spievey will most likely be three out of the four Cornerbacks. The other Corner Back and Safety positions are up for grabs which could come later via trade or roster cuts from other teams. Speaking of Dre Bly he had an awesome interception taking away an impressive drive from the Broncos. So kudos to him.

It was nice seeing LB DeAndre Levy back in the lineup and was showing why he is the Quaterback of the Defense.

I watched the replay of the game the next day on the NFL Network and on the NFL Network replays they have the home team's local coverage so it was the Broncos broadcasters. Well during that first half, they were beside themselves when it came to the Lions defensive line having its way with the Denver offense. One thing annoyed me with their coverage of the game was that they were using the old Lions logo for their animation which of course was wrong.

Some of the rookies need to play a bit better like OT Jason Fox who had a holding and facemask penalty. WR Time Toone was okay on kick-returning games but the numbers were not that impressive. We can only hope that the rookies will develop in time.

Overall I was happy with their performance with the exception of getting field goals instead of touch downs. Well my Lionettes don't forget this coming Saturday's game against the Cleveland Browns has been moved from 5:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is possibly going to be blacked out so those of you in the blackout zones will not be able to see the game until it is repeated I believe at 8:30 p.m. laster that day. I will be attending in person rotting our Lions onto victory.

Well my ever faithful Lionettes it has been a really long day. I'll have another post next week after the Cleveland game. Until next time stay strong, believe that good things will come and we will be rewarded for our loyalty! I KNOW IT! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope We Truly Can Believe In!

Good morning/afternoon/evening to all of my Lionettes depending on where you are in your respective time zones. Anyways let's dive right in shall we? Since my last post we played our first pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and lost 23-7. There are a lot of positives we can take from that game. Our first team offense and defense played extremely well. Our pass rush led by DE's Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch was right on target. For once it was nice to see the other team's QB scramble for their lives like we have had to see time and time again of ours. Matt Stafford was awesome and connected with Calvin Johnson AKA Megatron for a nice end-zone touchdown pass. Like I mentioned in the last post I have learned not to take much stock in pre-season games. Hell I'd be okay with going 0-4 in the pre-season if that meant we go 16-0 in the regular season.

By the way if some of you are wondering about the title of this blog entry I figured it made sense since we are in election season. Unlike Obama's false hope, campaign promises this Detroit Lions team really does give us hope. That is what I saw in the Pittsburgh game, legitimate hope! Although I am concerned with the defensive play of the secondary and our depth for other positions is also a concern. Like Coach Schwartz says we don't want to say when were healthy were a good football team, we want to say when we get injured were a good football team.

That is why depth is important! Although it is not as bad as it was a couple of years ago depth is still a concern with the Linebacker Corp and Secondary. How do other players respond and step up their game if heaven forbid Delmas or Levy are out for the season. They have been very active in bringing in players to fill secondary positions. As of this post here is the current DB (Defensive Back) roster.

40 Aaron Berry CB
32 Dre' Bly CB
39 C. C. Brown SS
26 Louis Delmas FS
33 Jonathan Hefney CB
23 Chris Houston CB
29 Eric King CB
43 Randy Phillips S
36 Paul Pratt CB
25 David Roach FS
38 T. J. Rushing CB
30 Ko Simpson FS
42 Amari Spievey CB
24 Jonathan Wade CB
41 Dante Wesley FS

31 Jack Williams CB (Active/PUP)

As we get closer to the regular season I will give you all my prediction of projected starters and back-ups. I do apologize that my posts are as of late few and far between. As the seaon is upon us I should post more frequently although sometimes it may be tough because of the election season. I am also planning on doing a Mortal Kombat Bracket, NFL Mascot Edition pretty soon! Should be quite funny.

Tomorrow night we are set to play our second pre-season game against Saint Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos although it is doubtful that Tebow sees the field due to sore ribs. It'll be a fun game to watch I am certain of. Not sure what the line is not that also matters but I'm hopeful to see more of our defense in action. Speaking of defense. DT Ndamukong Suh's debut was pretty solid. Although he did not have any tackles or sacks he was occupying two blockers. The Pittsburgh offensive line was obligating two Offensive Linemen to block him and that only frees up other DLine men to attack their QB. That is why we should feel encouraged with our revamped DLine we can finally get to the Quaterback and make them have a seat on the turf.

Next week I'll recap the Lions Broncos game and look at our Linebacker Corp. That is the only other area of major concern that we'll need to look at before the regular season begins. Well my Lionettes it has been a really long day and I am very tired. Enjoy the game tomorrow night remember kick-off is at 9:00 p.m. and should be carried on your local Fox Affiliate. Until next time keep the faith believe that there is hope on the horizon and last but certainly not least GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only In The Leap From The Lion’s Head Will He Prove His Worth!

Howdy to all of my bestest friends in the whole wide world! Yes I am talking directly to you my Lionettes! Your all probably wondering how I came up with the title of my latest and greatest entry to my Detroit Lions blog. Well I will answer your enquiring minds right now! There is a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where our hero Indiana Jones must retrieve the Holy Grail to save his father who was shot by the Nazis. He has to face three challenges in order to reach the Holy Grail and the third and most difficult of the challenges requires blind faith. You see Indiana Jones is staring over a chasm with no way across to the other side. He must cross but there is no way he can possibly jump that far. But then remembers that he must have faith and leap from the Lion statue at the edge. He closes his eyes and falls off the ledge and instead of falling to his death he lands on a ledge that was painted to perfection to make it look invisible.

So that is where we are with this new Detroit Lions team. We have to take that leap from the Lions head to prove our worth. I know we are long-suffering and the past few years have been particularly discouraging and disappointing. But I believe in my heart that our faith will be rewarded. Maybe sooner than we think? It has taken awhile to undo the Matt Millen damage and we still have a ways to go especially with the Secondary and Linebacker Corp as well as the Offensive Line. Speaking of which is it too early to think about next year’s draft wish list?

Here are my wants for the 2011 NFL Draft. Linebacker, Two Cornerbacks, Safety, Offensive Guard or Offensive Tackle, Quarterback (Depending on what happens with Quarterback Drew Stanton since this is his last contract year) and a Defensive End. Of course team needs and BPA (Best Player Available) will be taken into account and where we will be drafting. God willing we draft out of the Top Ten next time.

Some of you may have seen a YouTube video that is becoming a sensation with us Lions fans. It is a clip of the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl by beating the Indianapolis Colts in the latest edition of the Madden Football game for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. When I first saw it I am not afraid to admit I got misty eyed thinking of what will be someday. Here is the link check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjUh5GbqMxI

Tomorrow we kick-off the pre-season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I am indifferent to tomorrow’s game although I do hope for a victory; I have learned never to read anything into pre-season performances. Had the 2008 regular season been like their performance in the pre-season they would be erecting statues of Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli in front of Ford Field. In case some of you need a refresher we went 4-0 in the pre-season and 0-16 in the regular season. I will be looking at our new and improved 4-3 defense as well as how the Secondary performs.

All of our draft picks have been signed with the last being DT Ndamukong Suh who held out for four days. It was shorter than WR Calvin Johnson holding out for 8 days before he got his contract signed. I know he said he was going to be in on camp at time and wasn’t but I am willing to let bygones be bygones. I am looking forward to Suh smacking the heck out of opposing team’s QB’s which hopefully becomes a habit.

Here is the current Detroit Lions roster from Wikipedia as of today. I know you can take what Wikipedia says with a grain of salt but in this instance they are very accurate. I am not certain who maintains this particular page but whoever they are, they do a very good job of keeping it updated with the latest information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Detroit_Lions_roster

Lastly I mean for this last part in this entry to be to the team itself. Tomorrow (Saturday) you’ll be taking the field to do something very few people get the chance to do. No matter what happens to you after the pre-season always remember you carry the hopes and dreams of an entire city and state with you. Us fans believe in you guys and know you’ll do great things. Remember what the coaches have told you, do not over think the plays, relax and just execute. Do that and you’ll be just fine. God bless you all and I will be eagerly awaiting kick-off at 7:30 p.m. but whose counting :-)

Well until next time my Lionettes stay strong, be safe and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!