It’s week 7 and the 2-3 Lions are traveling to Solider Field in Chicago looking to finally reach the .500 mark.
So far this season Detroit has been a confusing football team that has left Lions Nation scratching their heads on many occasions. However with plenty of teams struggling this season just about everyone in the NFL has questions surrounding them. In terms of the the Lions though they have been all over the place from a stalling offense to being relatively unstoppable in the 4th quarter. This also includes a defense that has been bad to mediocre to dominant like we saw last week.
When it comes to this week though everything starts from the first offensive possession. The Lions need to establish tempo and show Chicago this game is going to be played their way. The Bears can be thrown on in which case the game against Dallas would of been a lot different if Romo and his receivers were on the same page (Romo had 300 yards but 5 INT’s). This is the game where Stafford to Megatron puts the NFL on notice that this connection is back on track. Detroit needs to set the pass early and often or will find themselves in a game where they aren’t able to have miracle comeback.
Detroit also did a good job in protecting Stafford against a top rush last week which will have to happen again this week going up against Peppers, Urlacher, and Briggs. With this protection the Lions showed me something last week and I hope Linehan saw it too, Stafford slinging the football at a high tempo in the shotgun works! After a lead I’d love to see the Lions go into that jumbo package with Reiff playing as an extra blocker and with Calvin, Pettigrew and Scheffler the Lions should be able to eat clock with a short passing game and tough yards with Leshoure.
As for Detroit on defense, last week was about as good as one could hope for. Outside of the 70 yard TD pass the defense was the best we’ve seen since last year on Monday Night against these Chicago Bears. With the addition of Delmas coming back and anchoring the safety spot the defense needs to stay aggressive with hard hits and QB pressure.
See the story line here? Get pressure on the opposing QB and your defense looks better.
Hmm that’s a thought.
Also this week it looks like Corey Williams may be back and that will help Suh as he regained some of the disruption we saw in his rookie year. Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham needs to have his team prepared as Chicago will look to run traps with Forte and expose the aggressiveness of Detroit. Watch for change of direction screen passes as well. Chicago’s Alshon Jeffery is out this week so Brandon Marshall will be more of a target this week I’m sure. The Bears haven’t thrown the football a lot in a game this year but I’d bet they look to attack the recent re-signed Alphonso Smith and safety Eric Coleman as he plays nickel back.
The Lions Special teams looks corrected after being torched earlier in the year and they will need to be on their game as they face one of the League’s most feared return men Devin Hester. With that said the Lions should just play keep away and kick the ball away. Furthermore Jason Hanson is quietly having a real nice year as the long time Lions placekicker continues to kick himself into the records and shows no signs that 50 yarders are a problem.
Match ups to watch: Backus vs. Peppers, Stafford vs. the Bears Secondary, Culter vs. Detroit’s defensive line Pressure, Forte vs. the Lions linebacking core.
Prediction: The Lions showed me something last week and I’m back on board. Lions win 24-20.
