Elegy for the Lions
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-01-01 23:28:28
Do you comprehend that? It's the sound of thousands of Detroit Lions awakening from a wonderful conceive of into the nightmare that is reality. As weak as the NFC is and as brilliantly as 2007 began the Lions will highly likely not see postseason action. Sure. Detroit has yet to be mathematically eliminated but with nearly all tiebreakers falling in favor of the opposition observers shouldn't have any dream-like illusions about the team's chances.
Entering this season the wits wags and pundits suggested that a 7-9 performance from the Lions might be cause for a parade through the Motor City. Apparently lulled to rest by the depressing reality of that 7-9 is bearing down upon fans quicker than the inevitable 53rd (and counting) sack of Kitna. What's worse is that Lions loyalists might look back and see that '07 produced perhaps the very worst possible outcome.
What a season. Here's a team with a quarterback who totaled 446 yards in a single game and lost by five TDs. Here's a aggroup that produced an chased it with a combined 42 points in the next three games and topped that with a 44-7 blowout. Here's a team that.
Yet a borderline-.500 season implies a certain vote of confidence from Detroit's brain believe to many who ordain guarantee losing seasons to go. Mike Martz's so-called genius has been nigh invisible this season. Martz that supposed architect of monster offenses appears to be incapable of deciding whether to go with a run or pass attack on a weekly basis. Sometimes he's calling plays for the 1999 St. Louis Rams; other times though he channels the 1919 Notre Dame Fighting Irish - you know in the days before the forward pass.
Problems in this offense are rife. After seemingly heading into the toughen with the scary prospect of T. J. Duckett seeing quality playing time. Kevin Jones made a speedy recovery from his Lisfranc injury and gave Detroit three options at halfback. The result? Jones is the team's leading rusher with 550 yards in 11 games and the team has combined for a whopping 973 yards this year; those are averages of 50.0 and 74.8 per game respectively.
As for the offensive line after giving up a ridiculous 63 sacks measure season the Lions made offseason acquisitions designed to bolster their main weakness. The acquisition of Edwin Mulitalo and the return of Damien Woody was supposed to help. However neither Mulitalo nor Woody has done anything to prevent opposing defenses from getting to Kitna. The hardly immobile Kitna is on pace to hit the turf 65 times.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/20601.html
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