After opening the season with five consecutive wins, the Lions — Denver’s Week 8 opponent — have dropped back-to-back contests to enter Week 8 with a 5-2 record.
In Week 7 action, Detroit fell to Atlanta by a score of 23-16, marking the fifth time this season that the Lions have been involved in a game decided by seven points or fewer.
Calvin Johnson, who caught his league-leading 10th touchdown on Sunday, finished the game with five catches for 115 yards. The fourth-year wide receiver has found the end zone in six of the team’s first seven games and his 10 touchdowns are four more than the next closest NFL receiver (Wes Welker, N.E.). Running backs Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams each carried nine times for a combined 94 yards.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who ranks sixth in the NFL with a 95.5 passer rating, completed 15-of-32 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown. His status for Sunday’s game is uncertain after he suffered an ankle injury late in the loss to Atlanta.
“He went home in a boot for his ankle,” Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz said on Monday. “He is no more than day-to-day. We’ll see where he is on Wednesday and hopefully we can get him back on the practice field.”
Against the Falcons, the Lions defense came away with two interceptions, but the team was unable to convert the turnovers into touchdowns.
The Lions’ two-game losing streak has been coupled with a two-game winning streak by division-rival Chicago and the continued unbeaten start to the season by the Green Bay Packers. With a bye week following Sunday’s game vs. Denver, the Lions will be looking to regain momentum for a playoff push.
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: Detroit Lions, Opponent Rewind
Reminder:
Tebow ranks #10 overall in the NFL for passer rating (min 15 attempts).. Notice how everyone points out other qb’s passer ratings when giving praise, but the never mention Tebow’s? No worries, I will mention it for them.
I think our biggest worry this weekend will be our offense stopping their defense. If our offense gets back where they were just prior to the break, then we should be o.k.
The only thing they mention of Tebow is his completion % because that’s his biggest weakness right now. Memo to the Blind: David Carr lead the NFL in completion percentage his last year as a starter, and what is he doing right now? Lead the league in td to int %, and passer rating and the equates to keeping your job… It’s a fact……
This sure has been a funny day on the blogs … between the banter and the “teabagged his cheerios” line that literally made me fall out of my chair. Too funny, thats why I keep coming back to these blogs.
I Think Moreno does fine. Like many know I still back the kid and believe he can get it done. I was excited for him this year until he got injured. And since he has been back he has rarely run, everytime he is out there it is a pass play or a screen … pretty predictable if I am a DC. I think Moreno has 100 yards running against possibly the toughest defensive front we have seen in a while, and if not 100 running maybe 150 all purpose yards between the runs and catches. Thats highly optimistic … but i still believe he is capable. This will be the first year he is on a team that can run the ball with an oline that can block.
Doom is in a boot, stafford is in a boot … interesting … this game has loss written all over it but if the players can “Believe” … so can I. I would love if we could send the Lions into a bye week with 3 straight losses. Plus its OUR house … would love if Tebow can get his first home victory … I think both his victories have been on the road.
Later days, TRB
Also no disrespect to champ and the broncos but ill be starting megatron in my fantasy league … the guy is just plain spectacular but I don’t think he has faced a guy like champ this year.
Trb,
Starting a wr that is playing against your team is like riding a Vespa
it all good but don’t let your friends find out!
You should have kept that secret
lol, Its all good man go Broncos!!!!!!!!
Here is an opinion about Tebow against the Detroit D. Good reading.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Chad-Pennington-Tim-Tebow-Detroit-Lions-Denver-Broncos-Inside-the-Game-102611
Tebow doesn’t have as many passing attempts as other QBs in the league. Comparing QB ratings isn’t accurate when one QB has 200 more passing attempts. When tebow has as many passing attempts as romo does now, then see where that number is.
I have not made many comments about this game this past weekend. Basically, I don’t wish to be labeled a Tebow Disciple, Orton Hater or any of those other names some have so graciously penned over the past month or so. But, now I do have a question. I openly confessed back at the beginning of the season that I do not know much about the game of football. I spent my entire life watching it, but never studied it. With this said, my question is…why did our offensive play caller continually call the same set of plays time and time again? I mean, a moron would know that we were running on the 1st 2 downs and passing on the 3rd. I didn’t take a genius to see or figure that out. And what was worse, it continued for 3 quarters plus 10 minutes of the 4th qtr. I was real happy to finally see a spread the last 5 minutes and us winning the game. Now, before I get the likes of carnage or others saying something about this statement, let me make it clear that I have listened to the Tebow’ post game interviews, along with the Fox post game interviews, listened to the scripted Elway Live program and read all of the blogs in between the game and now. Tebow made it real clear that the team won that game as a team. He also made it clear that he knew he had a lot of things to work and improve on and they were evident during the game. He made no excuses for his poor performance and gave all the credit for the win to the team. It ticks me off to listen to all of these so call analysts talking about Tebow winning this game and doing this or doing that when he contradicts it in his own interview. Maybe that isn’t why none of them are personally interviewing him because he will not make like he was the reason for the win. He was the man behind center…he was the one orchestrating the plays being given to him to play. So he, being part of the team, helped in his way to win this game. Is Tebow on a short leash? You bet your bottom dollar he is. Fox was basically asked in his post game if he thought about pulling Tebow, and he gave his usual lame answer and moved on. He would not directly answer that or the question of Tebow being on the short leash. That answer was something about “game to game”. I have spent a lot of time looking over the numbers of qb’s in the NFL in history, and of all the qb’s, there are just a very, very few that can proclaim a winning season there first year on any team. The biggest majority can’t do it their second season either. So, we are giving Tebow 11 games, hopefully, to prove him self. We are giving him 11 games to show he is winner in the NFL.
TRB
Tebow’s first win was last year at home, come from behind agains the Houston Texans.
Great game great energy from the crowd.
Plus it was fun to watch the Houston faithful start to leave early in the 4th quarter when you felt the shift.
Plus is was my now 11 year old boys first game!!
All good things
This will be another nail biter folks.
Denver 17
Detroit 14
Prater kicks a game winner in the final seconds of the game.
I would like to see Tebow take down Suh. Or Suh get blindsided and jacked up by Larsen in the back field.
I used to think that kid Suh would be a great player. Turns out he’s good but is not what I’d call great. All the bad stories you hear, if all are true this kid is something I’ve been known to flush down the toilet.
Thx HardHitting … u are right … houston was at home .. I thought so but wasnt sure. I thought chargers game last year was the first home game he played cuz I remembered I really wanted him to win it but now I rememebr why … it was because I wanted him to have his first divisional win.
Seweather, that is correct, many top QBs bombed earlier in thier careers because lets face it for the most part if u are a good QB drafted u were drafted high which means ur team sucks. This team kinda sucks. Dunno why with TT it has to be he either sucks or he is the savior after EVERY gam. Just wait and see. Not just Orton got benched but Moreno got his spot taken for a while, Haggan came in for miller, the whole miller and carter thing … anyone can get it. Anyone who knows TT knows to never bench him before the game is over cuz anything can happen … he is a gamer not a practice QB … I will say this … he made alot of poor throws but the play calling lacked imagination as well … run run pass and when it was a pass was either a deep ball or screen … we need more crossing routes and quick hits … my only thinking is that they dont trust a Tebow pass over the middle or he only knows a few crossing plays so they save em for later. TRB
orangemnm , Thanks for the link!!
I’m glad to read in these posts, that I’m not the only one the saw the complete lack of short, confidence boosting, blitz busting passing routes in the game sunday. I can only recall a handful of screens.
As an OC, you gotta know that the other teams D will be coming after your QB if he’s not that experienced, your team is run first (run blitzes just as effective to spotting weakness in the oline a pass blitzes) and plus it’s Mike Nolan, who’s known for agressive D. You gotta tailor the plays to your QB and players around him and take into account the Defense you are facing.
We have a similar D this week, let’s home some changes in the Offensive scheme and playcalling are made.
Dear Mr. Fox,
I want to first thank you for the strength to start Tebow. It has made the game fun to watch again.
As both of us being fathers, we know the best way to build one’s confidence is to tell them that you are 100% behind them. Everyone in football knows they are on a play by play game by game lease, so telling Tebow he is a week to week starter is not helping him at all. All you are doing is planting a seed of doubt in his head. A young Qb’s head is spinning due to the speed of the game, it is your job to lesser those seeds of doubt. Put in a game plan that he is comfortable with, help him to develop. If you want tebow to not be afraid of change you must first show that you are able to change. That is dump your lame mediorce offense and build one to our current groups strengths. I know it’s hard to change but a real leader leads by example. If you want to change the team, you first must change yourself.
Respectly,
Bronco Fan
i just want to say i agree on play calling… uber predictable!! Of course in my opinion McCoy’s play calling has been nothing but predictable since he got here! The only time the play calling even comes close to imaginative is when we are way down and practically need a miracle to win!! I mean seriously, TT is supposed to be a QB, so LET HIM BE ONE!! I mean if all you want him in there for is a half dozen passes in a game, then you may as well just put some HB back there as QB and let him run all the time! Sheesh… Of course TT made bad throws last week. I imagine he had a lot of nerves going in to that game, not to mention rust! The rust and nerves should be mostly gone by now. Hopefully our coaches will open up the play book a bit this week! I still think our first play should be a play action and long pass just to see if we can kind of get the defense on their heels. I think, as many others do, that we need to bring back the roll outs and boots and see what happens. We should be doing lots of high percentage passes early on to get TT feeling good about things and then REALLY get after DET through the air!! So, this being a home game (and orange sunday at that), and all the “believing” going on in our locker room right now, im predicting a home win… 24-17 Broncos Baby!!
GET SOME, GET SOME UH UH UH!!!
THE BATTLE IS WON IN THE TRENCHES!
Orange, good article. Thanks for sharing. On another note, I really hope Knowshon succeeds. I haven’t given up on him, but I’m close. It’s too bad he makes what essentially becomes his debut against the Lions front 4. I guess we’ll see how it plays out. I know McGahee has been successful with our scheme, so Knowshon should be too.
Keys to victory this week:
1. Stop Megatron (which I think Champ can do)
2. Hit Stafford a lot (he’s made of glass)
3. Establish a “go to” guy with our recieving corp (Can Decker be that guy?, I love Eddie, but history would tell us he’s not it aside from his rookie year). D. Thomas can be that guy if he can finish out this season and be healthy.
4. Establish a run game so we don’t have to rely solely on an inexperienced young QB
5. Our defense needs to stop allowing points in “bunches.” It seems they never stop an opponent on their next possession after they score.
6. Don’t over-coach Tebow. A lot of his indecisive looking throws and drop backs are him over thinking, which is in large part to how one is coached.
I think point 1 and point 2 can be accomplished. Point 3, 4, 5, and 6 I’m worried about. The Lions have a good record, but have been winning close games. They could easily be a 3-3 or 2-4 team. They’re on the upswing, but haven’t established themselves as solid yet. They remind me of a step behind what the Falcons were
My optimistic prediction: Denver 23 Lions 18
That was a great article indeed orangemm … I liked how he debunked all the prevent defense talk. And he is right … key to winning is providing Tebow with as much protection as possible with 2 receivers and a 3rd options to run. Detroit loves to come after teh QB and TTs blindside is covered by a rookie. TRB
We haven’t had a practice blog in a while … looking forward to one. I always have to wait logner cuz im on the east coast lol. TRB
As for the short passing game.. it only works if the corners suck or are playing off the wide outs. They are only going to play off the wide outs if there is a deep pass threat. So that is why McCoy and the gang need to mix it up and have a couple different packages. But Tebow needs to make those down the field completions to create that threat.
We should bring in Clinton Portis… he is healthy now; I am not sure what shape he is in though.
This will be a fun game to watch. I hope Dumervil and Miller get their act right. Stafford is getting afraid of injury and is looking jumpy in the pocket.
Really, though, Tebow pulled out a miracle win on a bad team. He now has a real chance to look at tape, make changes and make a statement against a good team.
I am thinking that this may come down to the play of our O-line than Tebow.
McCoy, please start the first series with a play action bootleg over the middle deep to Decker!!! A confidence builder and redemption for last weeks miss.
cricket…cricket
They have to match up man for man in the offensive protection – DET is too big, too dominant to have our guys double teamed. That’s it – new blog.
I live in Michigan and I do love the Lions, always have. I watched them every year and was always disappointed. On the other hand, I am an even bigger Broncos fan. This is going to be a tough game to watch for me and although deep down I want the Broncos to come out with the W, I have never seen the Lions play this well in my lifetime. I think they might have a chance to do something special this year and I think we all know the Broncos probably won’t get to the playoffs this year, not to be negative. Maybe a good draft in 2012 and a few solid FA pickups and we’ll get there next year. Anyways, I read these blogs religiously so I figured I should start joining y’all.