Ford Field, ( Detroit, Michigan)
When you look up the word roller coaster in a dictionary, the word is
defined by showing a picture of the Lions season.....One minute they
look like world beaters battling some of the best teams in the league
like the bengals to a photo finish and the next they're loosing games
to the likes of the 2-10 Dallas Cowboys or struggling to escape the
clutches of the 1-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions have either won
big looking unstoppable in the process or lost big in embarrassing
fashion looking like a lottery team in the process......They given up
300 yds rushing or more 3-4 times this season including 498 in one
game to Matt forte, but then they bounce back with a 8 td passing
performance to blow the doors off a possible playoff bound team in the
Philadelphia Eagles. Which Lions team shows up in the final 3 games of
the season is anyone's guess but Coach Ty is just happy to have a shot
at the playoffs considering the way the season has went so far.
Defense has always been the hallmark of any Coach Ty coached team and
this season has been an exception as this Lions teams has flat out
been run out of the stadium on some nights. Between pourous Defense
and inconsistency on both sides of the ball, this should be the time
the Lions are evaluating the team and coaching staff preparing for
next season but after heating up over the last 3 games, going 2-1 with
tweaks to both sides of the ball and new schemes, the 7-6 Lions now
find themselves tied with the 7-6 Eagles and the 7-6 cardinals for
that 6th and final playoff spot. On top of that the Lions hold wins
over both teams this season should it come down to A tie breaker.
....Said Coach Ty earlier today at the teams training
facility".........It's a bit of a switch to my coaching philosophy but
we cant cant slow other teams down we've got to flat out, out score
them, It's not exactly your daddy's kind of football but it's
obviously an offensive game and until we can contain teams,
particularly the running attack we've got to go into games with the
mindset of scoring on every possession, so far so good. Yeah it's ugly
but this aint no beauty pageant all we gotta do is get to the dance,
we do that and it's a new season and we're all 0-0 and I'll take my
chances and put my O up against anybodies in the league right now. "
.....Over the last 3 games, the lions are averaging 51.3 pts a
game...led by an all out aerial attack with Matthew Stafford at the
helm. Stafford is 69 of 96 for 1438 yds, 19 tds to only 4 int's in his
last three games including an amazing 8 td performance in the lions
last game against the eagles, the game that got the lions to this
place in the first place. .........................Stafford's main
target of late has been the resurgent Calvin Johnson Jr...who has 16
receptions for 392 yds and 6 tds in the last 3. Both Stafford and
Johnson have finally cracked both the top 5 in offensive league
leaders as well as cracked the pro bowl balloting for there efforts of
late. Although Im sure if you ask them they would trade in all the
stats and accolades for a trip to the playoffs. .....The Lions last 3
include games against sub 500 teams Baltimore and New York( Giants)
with a final game against the undefeated Vikings to close the season.
....How poetic that Coach Ty may have to beat his arch nemeis Coach
Kandy( who he has never beaten) if playoffs are in the picture this
season.
The biggest surprise so far during the 1st half of the MBL season has to be the Jacksonville Jaguars. Picked 32nd overall in the team selection draft, everyone knows what limited pieces this team truly has. Outside of MJD and maybe Blackmon; this team really does not have much to offer on paper. But throw in the multiple winning coach Phightinfillies and you have a recipe for success. Coach Phight led the Jaguars to a 4-0 start and the MBL was put on notice. Then rumors started flying around Jacksonville about their Coach and suddenly he vanished, but for good reason. Next man in line was Coach Nole-Fan, who also has a Super Bowl title to his name. Noley strung together 3 straight wins to move the team to 7-0 before finally losing to the San Francisco 49ers last evening. Nonetheless, this team has a bright future and appears to be locked in for the AFC South crown.
Next up is the Minnesota Vikings who sit at 7-0. Yet another MBL Super Bowl champ, Kandymann. Now, some may say, this shouldn’t surprise nobody, but outside of AP and Jared Allen, the Vikes really don’t have much to offer like the Jaguars. So it is impressive to see a coach with the kind of motivation to get these Vikes to 7-0. It’s no secret, it’s AP, ALL-DAY; but when you key in on him too long, here comes a play action pass to fool you. The Vikes are well on their way to a postseason birth.
The 3rd surprise team of the season at the midway point is the Washington Redskins. Coach Phillyincanada really has this team dialed in. On offense, you can expect a good deal of Al “BIG AL” Morris. But this isn’t even really what makes Coach Philly good. We all know how easy the running game is in this game. It’s the Skins D that has jump started this season. No team has been better than the Skins D in total yards given up. They rank 1st with a stunning 248.3 yards per game. They also hold their opponents to 17.3 points again and only 160.3 passing yards; and 88 yards rushing. The defense is led by Brian Orapko who has 5 sacks already on the young season. The Skins have several intriguing “playoff feel” games remaining with the Vikings and 49ers along with 2 games against the New York Giants. But as of this writing, the Redskins are also well on their way to a playoff birth.
Finally, the Oakland Raiders round out the top surprises so far in the early going. They sit at 4-3, and 2nd place in the AFC West. We can easily throw the KC Chiefs here, but I value their defense a lot higher than the Raiders. So for the Raiders to be sitting in a decent spot at the midway point says something. They already have a win under their belt against the division leading Chiefs, so the future on this season is still bright. The remaining schedule does not appear to be that scary outside of a game against the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. Pryor and DMC must continue to carry the load for this team to launch itself into the playoffs.
The most disappointing team so far in the MBL has to be the New York Giants. They currently sit at 1-6 and just can’t seem to catch any breaks. To their defense, they have had to face 4 of the top running backs in the MBL. Jamal Charles, LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte and Adrian Peterson have been the last 4 opponents that this Giants D has had to face. All resulting in losses. This team is pretty balanced, with David Wilson getting the ball 125 times already and Eli Manning chucking it up 158 times. Yet, the pieces just simply aren’t falling the Giants way. They have already gotten rid of Victor Cruz to try and spark their team. We shall see if it works.
The next disappointing team is the San Diego Chargers at 1-6 as well. Coach Da Koofy Smacka, hasn’t had a lot of smack to go around. In fact, it appears all has been quiet in the Koofy front. Is it because of late nights at the office studying film or because of the record? Nobody can say for sure, but what we do know, is Rivers must be wearing beer goggles. Rivers has an absurd 281 pass attempts through 7 games to go along with 29 picks! Somebody must have forgot to tell Koofy that this isn’t Madden 13 anymore! Things will not get easier for Koofy until he mixes in both run and pass well and Rivers disposes of those goggles!
Up next is the Chicago Bears at 2-5. The 2nd leading rusher in MBL, Matt Forte has compiled an insane 1255 yards on the ground. 500 of those yards came in one game against the Detroit Lions, so you can certainly put an asterisk by his name. The early schedule did not help either. Besides the game against the Vikings, the Bears games have all been within 7 points or less. This team could easily be 5-2 instead of 2-5, but that is something they can not change. The vaunted Bears Defense really needs to step up in the next few games to have any shot at a Wild Card game.
Finally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers round out this column. They currently are the only winless team remaining at 0-6. This team is not as bad as the record seems. I just don’t believe it. Outside of a 24 point loss to the Patriots, Coach Darkness has been in every single game. All his losses have been by 7 points or less, much like the Bears. Look for the Bucs to win a few games, but they are mainly looking forward to the draft where maybe they can shore up that LB’s core. LaVonte David is a stud in the making but the players around him are just not that great!
New Meadowlands Stadium - The Eagles invaded New York with the hopes of trying to hang with the NFC East leading Redskins as the etched out a narrow victory over the Gmen. It appears that the Eagles put a little pressure on Eli Manning during the game, and forced him into a safety which ended up being the deciding factor in this game. Both QB's were very efficient for their respective teams. Philadelphia, led by Mike Vick ended the day 10/14 229 passing yards; 1 TD and 1 INT. He couldn't quite get his legs moving as he was held to -11 yards on 6 carries. LeSean McCoy added 82 yards rushing on 12 carries and snuck in the endzone.Eli Manning came into this game looking to guide the Giants to their 2nd win of the season but could only mustard 1 TD pass to Victor Cruz. Manning ended his day 14/20 228 yards passing and 1 TD. The Giants were led in the backfield by David Wilson, who toted the rock 22 times for 115 yards and 2 TD's.
The Eagles will travel to Tampa Bay to face Darrell Revis and the Bucs as they try to get back to .500
The Giants will move on to the Windy City as they try to end their 3 game losing streak against the Chicago Bears in Week 6.