Much of the 2012 season has been clockwork for the Detroit Lions.
It started with an ugly offseason that saw what seemed to be a monthly occurrence of off the field trouble for the players. This was followed by a season in which the Lions developed very innovative ways of losing football games from allowing a rookie quarterback to pick apart the secondary in the closing minutes of the fourth to a head coach actually being directly responsible for costing the team a touchdown.
But what would a Lions season be like if we didn’t have that weekly (or bi-weekly) accusation that the Lions were a dirty team? Well fear not Lions fans as the Bears have provided that weekly installment heading into the season finale this Sunday.
Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton recently told ESPNChicago that he expects to see a fair share of dirty play from the Lions during this weekend’s matchup between the two NFC North rivals.
“They’re dirty. They’ve always been a dirty team since I’ve been here. I don’t like them. We’ve just got to hold our composure and play the game we know,” Melton said, via ESPNChicago.com. “They just try to do all this extra stuff: talking, little cheap shots. If you look at the tape, they’ve always thrown cheap shots. We had a brawl I think last year. So it is what it is. I’m ready.”
Melton however wasn’t finished. In addition to labeling the Lions a “dirty team” the defensive tackle focused some of his attention to Lions center Dominic Raiola who of which he refers to as “old” and “just talks”.
Ahhh… but it doesn’t end there for the Bears.
Chicago safety Major Wright believes he knows the key to stopping the Lions which is providing pressure on Matthew Stafford.
“You put a little pressure on him, you close the pocket on him, and he hesitates,” Wright said Wednesday. “He doesn’t make that perfect throw. . . . He can make any throw on that field, so you have to be aware of putting pressure on him because you put a little pressure on him he kind of folds.”
Wright must be some kind of freakin genius since that’s pretty much the formula for any team looking to stop the oppositions passing game. No wonder he has a place in the NFL.
h/t: ESPN Chicago, Detroit News, ProFootballTalk.com
