Making The Saints Look Like Fools In The D

I tried to tell myself that when writing this blog, I would not write about the same team until I was forced to by the way games are played each week. This is a special case because the Lions performance this past Sunday was astounding! A comeback win from being down 2 touchdowns, and the best defense statistically stopping a future Hall Of Fame quarterback. Have a day Detroit, have a day.

I winced every time the camera was put on Calvin Johnson that was not dressed to play in Sundays game against the New Orleans Saints. The Lions were praying that their group of talented wide receivers would show up to the game. That receiving core brought all of it's talents and impressed me to the point of almost smiling to see Calvin on the sideline. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that Johnson wouldn't have helped the cause against the Saints. Heck he probably would have added on another TD or a few hundred yards. I just loved seeing the other receivers doing work out there even though that big leader was standing arms crossed, and hoping for the W. Golden Tate and Corey Fuller were showing off their big hands and quick feet. Golden Tate with 10 receptions, 154 yards and his longest catch of 73 yards for the TD. Tate put up 87 of his career-high 154 receiving yards after the catch. Tate averaged 8.7 yards after the catch, which is the most of anyone with 10 receptions in a game this year. Corey Fuller also had 3 receptions for 44 yards averaging 14.7 yards a catch, with one huge winning touchdown topping the comeback for the Lions. Stafford was also on his game with 299 passing yards making 27 of his 40 pass attempts. His two interceptions were a sight for sore eyes. However he pushed his offense to the max in this comeback. Matthew Stafford also made a day for himself by a tie with Bobby Layne for Detroits career lead with 118 touchdown passes.

I would expect nothing less from the Lions to have some sort of setback with a great win on Sunday. Reggie Bush spent most of his time on the sideline into this game. It appeared that he may have tweaked his ankle but don't take my word for it. It could have been anything. Luckily Joique Bell like the Lions receiving core, was ready to take charge when a fellow teammate at his position was out. Joique did not see many yards with 48 on 18 carries, but he also scored a 1 yard run into the endzone on an 80 yard Detroit offensive drive. The Saints are obviously struggling losing their "Killer Instinct" as it was put in an ESPN article. Four injuries have been critical for the Saints play on game days. Tight End Jimmy Graham played with a shoulder injury but did not catch a pass all day. The Saints Center Jonathan Goodwin left in the second quarter with a leg injury. New Orleans lost Nose Tackle Brodrick Bunkley in the second half with a concussion, and his counterpart on the defensive line of Glenn Foster with a knee injury. Being 0-4 on the road, the Saints need to find a spark to get this 2-4 team into the playoff picture.


LIONS KICKER UPDATE:

YES! Prater put one through the uprights! Even though he barely made it in. With a loud BONG made the "Kickers Music" by placing a shot directly on the goal post. Making me more nervous about his future play. Maybe his teammates held him to only a few shots of whiskey before the game and not the whole fifth? Lets just hope he strays little by little from that.

Ravens 'Toss' Around Bucs in Tampa

The Ravens and Joe Flacco showed up to play in Tampa on Sunday. The Ravens were looking to get a shaky looking season back on Track. Baltimore could not have played any better to show that the whole team was all in for a better season. Flacco and the Ravens offense put on what had resembled a record setting performance in the first half. Their defense even showed up against the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Though losing a tough 48-17, the Bucs were not all terrible on the stat sheet. Besides the 1 win and 5 losses, 3 being at home. Tampa's offense wasn't awful, but no where near any good.

Flacco lead his Ravens in the first half scoring on six straight possessions. He was the first NFL quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in the first half since Tom Brady in 2009. He threw TDs to four different receivers and completed passes to 5 other Raven receivers. Torrey Smith caught the first 2 TD's in the first 6 minutes of the game. That was more than what he had in his previous 10 games combined! Kamar Aiken, Steve Smith and Michael Campanaro would follow for a lead early in the second quarter putting the score at 35-0. The Ravens running game also came to Tampa with Forsett rushing for 111 yards on 14 carries, with his longest being 52 yards. Pierce also rushed for 32 yards on 15 carries. Flacco's passing was a pretty outstanding stat on the post game sheets. However one of the more important in my eyes is the "Sacks-Yards Lost" going 0-0 on the day for the Ravens. Meaning their offensive line put a whooping on the Bucs defense. Being a retired Center myself, that always puts me in a good mood! I think it's safe to say that Flacco's arm was better Sunday than the Buccaneers Pirate Ship cannons in the North Endzone. Giving the Ravens the edge in this game.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the other hand were not up to the challenge on Sunday.  With Cornerback Alterrraun Verner and the Bucs shaky defense gave up a staggering 48 points. You can really only describe it as sloppy play and nothing else. The Bucs offense was riddled all game as well. The same stat of Sacks-Yards Lost that the Ravens did so well in, was the downfall of the Buccaneers. Tampa Bays offensive line gave up 5 sacks for a loss of 37 yards.The Bucs quarterback Glennon was sacked or put under duress on 26 of his 49 dropbacks. YUCK. If you do the math that's 53% of his drop backs that were disrupted. That is absolutely a garbage performance by the long time struggling Buccaneers. The only good stat that I can think of is Glennons performance despite being chased more than half the time of possession. Matt Glennon threw for 2 TDs, 314 yards completing 53% of his passes and only 1 interception. That is really all I have to say about the sad looking team. The Bucs are the first team in the last 14 seasons to be outscored by at least 35 points in a half, twice in single season.

NFC North Beat Down

Everyone in "Packer-Land" was told to relax by their great leading quarterback Aaron Rodgers after a shaky set of starts for Green Bay. Rodgers was right to calm everyone down. The Packers have started their roll in the NFC North. Since his most recent statement, Green Bay has put up 38 and 42 points in their last 2 games. Both games were also wins against teams in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears and the most recent Minnesota Vikings. I like the big scoring games so we'll stick to the whooping of Minnesota this past Thursday.

The Minnesota Vikings were without their new star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater this week. Relieving any chance of a win against the Packers. Last week Bridgewater had 317 yards, sparking a huge flame under the Vikings showing that they finally have someone to keep running the offense. It really shows how momentum of one player can lead to a victory or a loss. Many people think kickers in football are just headcases and cannot be coached out of their nerves. Honestly I believe every player on a team, professional or not, is a headcase at some point. It all wages on the performance of players. Not having the new quarterback and bringing in the old (Christian Ponder) would send their heads spinning into a 42-10 loss. Minnesota had given up 2 interceptions and a fumble, along with 9 penalties for 91 yards, and any chance of their offense to roll against the Pack'.

Eddie Lacy ran for a season high 105 yards and 2 touchdowns in the win against Minnesota. Lacy ran more balls up the middle in Thursdays game than he did in the first 4 games this season. The Packers averaged 37.3 rush yards before contact per game in the first 4 weeks. Through 2 drives against the Vikings, the Packers already had 39 rush yards before contact. A season high game and probably one of the best for a top running back like Lacy in the NFL.

Lacy was moving like a tank on the ground all night but that doesn't mean the offense didn't have some struggles. Rodgers and the Packer offense were not at their best performance. Rodgers only connected on 12 of his 17 passes for 156 yards on the night. There were several three-and-outs with a few touchdown drives.  Randall Cobb was the first to strike on Thursday night with an 8 yard pass from Rodgers for the touchdown. Cobb would finish his night with 2 other receptions for 26 yards. Jordy Nelson also had a 66 yard touchdown that would be his only reception on the night.

In all the scoring of the night for the Packers, even Linebacker Julius Peppers found himself crossing the goal line after a 49 yard interception. This also granted him his first Lambeau Leap that every Green Bay Packer takes after scoring on an opponent. Peppers with his Pick-6 would also put him over a major defensive feat. He became the first player in NFL history with 100 sacks and 10 interceptions.

LIONS KICKER UPDATE: I'm not getting into detail on this because it's so very frustrating to see. Can they just find someone to put the pigskin through the uprights?! Please and thank you! They will need it after seeing how Green Bay is stepping up their game in the NFC North. The Lions will need all the help they can get to defeat Green Bay and win the division this year,