We are now a few weeks removed from the Lions’ Wild Card loss to the New Orleans Saints and just a little over a week away from the Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.
For the Lions the 2011 season is largely going to be seen as successful given their 10-6 record and first trip to the playoffs since the 1999 season.
Furthermore the team made plenty of strides to gaining their respect.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford displayed that he was every bit worth the first overall pick the Lions used on him back in 2009 while wide receiver Calvin Johnson established himself as the best wide out in the league today.
But what about the other areas of the team? Was there much improvement from the mid-point of the season?
Lets take a look at the Lions’ final grades for the 2011 season.
OFFENSE
The offense was the highlight for the Lions this season as Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson led the a potent offensive attack while rookie Titus Young was a welcome addition as the teams third wide receiver. Aside from the wide receivers, Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Schefler also displayed that they could also be viable options for Stafford if need be.
The offensive line remains one of the biggest concerns though heading into the offseason. I’ve always been a big defender of the offensive line and thought guys like Jeff Backus and Dominic Raiola received a little too much criticism however the line has shown their age this season. Sure the front four did a pretty good job giving Stafford adequate protection in the pocket however like past seasons they failed to provide support to the running game.
Speaking of the running game, there nothing much you can say other than it has to improve and stay healthy in 2012. They were hindered out of training camp with the loss of Mikel Leshoure and were hindered even further when Jahvid Best was lost for the season with a concussion. Kevin Smith has a nice return to the team before suffering yet another injury late in the year.
QB Matthew Stafford: A-
Has shown the potential to be an elite QB in this league. With more seasoning he could be in the same discussion along with Brady, Brees and Rodgers.
WR Calvin Johnson: A+
Megatron had the 2011 we all knew he could have. Now the Lions need to do whatever they can to try to lock him up long-term.
WR Nate Burleson: B-
Could have shown more this season but I still think he’s a nice complement to Calvin Johnson on the other side.
WR Titus Young: B
Displayed nice potential to be the teams number two wide out this season and was far and away the teams best rookie. Needs to however do some maturing on the field.
TE Brandon Pettigrew: B
Displayed some pretty nice numbers through the air but still had a problem at times with the dropped passes.
TE Tony Schefler: B
Become a nice red zone option for Stafford this season. Like Burleson with Calvin Johnson, Schefler was a nice complement to Brandon Pettigrew.
Offensive Line: C
Like previously mentioned, the offensive line really started to show its age this season despite giving Matthew Stafford nice protection during the season. Again the run blocking is also a big concern and something that needs to be addressed during the offseason.
RB Javhid Best: Incomplete
Through six games this season Jahvid Best had 84 rushes for 390 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing yardage actually led the team. This is a perfect example has to how decimated the running game was for the Lions in 2011.
RB Kevin Smith: Incomplete
Made a nice return to the team after Jahvid Best was injured. But like Jahvid Best he didn’t play enough during the season to garner himself a grade. Not to mention was limited because of injury at the end of the year.
Offense Midterm Grade: B-
Offense Final Grade: B+
DEFENSE
Earlier on in the year it really looked as though the defense was going to actually be pretty decent despite not addressing some of the more glaring needs in the secondary.
This however wasn’t the case.
As we saw down the stretch of the year, the secondary became a huge problem for the Lions while the linebackers and defensive line continued to have problems stopping the run. In addition to this, the inability to wrap up the opposition was also a concern as the Lions finished up the year.
Aside from all of that though, the Lions still had a pretty good year on the pass rush even though defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh didn’t match the numbers from his rookie season.
DE Cliff Avril: A-
Led the team in sacks with 11 and was a huge threat to QB’s in a contract year. He has really turned himself into a top defensive end in the league and should be getting a nice payday next season.
DT Ndamukong Suh: C
He didn’t put up the numbers he did his rookie season but the potential is all still there. He also demanded a double team during a large portion of the season which really enabled other guys on the defensive line to get off the ball quick. Unfortunately the off the field stuff I believed hampered his game in 2011.
DT Corey Williams: B-
DE Kyle Vanden Bosch: B-
A decent season for the veteran defensive end. His age is becoming more apparent though.
LB Justin Durant: B-
I really liked the Lions adding Justin Durant last offseason and his play during the year justified it. Durant was very quick off the ball this year the question though is can he stay healthy for all of next season?
LB D’Andre Levy: B-
Levy was second on the team with total tackles (109), including one interception. Like the other linebackers though Levy was inconsistent which cost him even more tackles.
LB Stephen Tulloch: B+
Tulloch was a tackling machine and should get a nice contract from a team (hopefully the Lions) in the offseason. Again though like Levy Tulloch too was inconsistent this season. He could have been better.
CB Eric Wright: C
The corners had a huge drop off in the second half of the season. Wright like many of the other defensive backs didn’t make enough plays and were often beaten off the ball by the opposition.
CB Chris Houston: C+
Much of what was said about Eric Wright could also be said about Chris Houston. The problem though for Houston isn’t really his fault. He’s being treated as a number one corner when he’s really a number two. Again a problem that the Lions will need to address in the offseason.
SS Amari Spievey: C+
I was actually kind of impressed by Spievey this season. He’s done a nice job turning himself into a serviceable NFL player after having a very unimpressive rookie season. Still there is plenty of room for improvement.
FS Louis Delmas: C
Is Louis Delmas a good player? Yes. Are the Lions better with him playing? Yes. But he simply needs to initiate more of a presence on the field. Delmas had a very quiet year in which he did deal with some injuries down the stretch.
Defense Midterm Grade: B+
Defense Final Grade: C
After finishing things out with the defense, it seems like the biggest problem for the Lions was depth in the secondary. They have some good pieces back there whether it be Chris Houston or Louis Delmas but not nearly enough to sustain itself for an entire season.
The special teams was largely a disappointment in 2011. Sure Jason Hanson further proved that he can be very effective place kicker even at his age, other areas of the special teams such as kick and punt returns, coverage and special teams defense was a let down.
K Jason Hanson: B
Jason Hanson for a large part of the season looked ageless yet he wasn’t perfect. He made 24 field goals on 29 attempts with his longest attempt coming from 55 yards out. Hanson really did a good job bouncing back after an injury riddled 2010 that left plenty of doubt as to whether or not he could return to form.
P Ryan Donahue: Incomplete
Donahue was placed on the injured reserve earlier in the season and didn’t do enough to get a grade. If he’s back with the team next season it will be interesting to see what he can do for an entire year after unseating veteran Nick Harris during training camp.
P Ben Graham: C+
Even though he wasn’t great, Ben Graham solidified the position after the injury to Ryan Donahue.
PR/KR Stefan Logan: C+
I like a lot of other Lions fans had high hopes for Logan after a very good 201o. Logan though for the most part was a non-factor in the special teams. He didn’t record a single touchdown on special teams with his longest kick off return being only for 42 yards. Logan also didn’t have a punt return longer than 28 yards.
Coverage: C+
Earlier in the season they would have gotten a C-. This time around they got a C+ since they did improve from letting other teams get good field position on kick and punt returns.
Special Teams Midterm Grade: B
Special Teams Final Grade: C+
The drop off here comes from Logan’s inability to turn his season around. I hate pinning most of the drop on one guy however Logan showed in 2010 that he’s capable of doing more.
BACKUPS
G Leonard Davis: Incomplete
G Dylan Gandy: Incomplete
OT Corey Hilliard: incomplete
Still has shown at times that he can give Gosder Cherilus a run for his money. I’m not sure if that’s a sign at true depth on the offensive line or how bad Cherilus may be.
QB Shaun Hill: Incomplete
Thankfully he didn’t see much action this year. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Hill is a very good backup I just don’t want to see Hill in there because that obviously means something is wrong with Matthew Stafford.
TE Will Heller: B-
WR Rashied Davis: Incomplete
RB Maurice Morris: Incomplete
DE Lawrence Jackson: B-
A nice backup to Cliff Avril this season. Still hasn’t quite lived up to his potential though.
After missing the almost the first half of the season Fairley has shown that he is probably going to be a very nice addition to the defensive line. In fact he may give the Lions an opportunity to package Corey Williams in a trade to address some other needs in the defense.
DT Sammie Hill: B-
Made the most of his time when given the opportunity. Another nice depth piece for the Lions.
DE Willie Young: B-
Like Sammie Hill, Willie Young made the most of his time when he got it recording 14 tackles and 3 sacks.
Bobby Carpenter: Incomplete
Ashlee Palmer: Incomplete
Doug Houge: Incomplete
CB Alphonso Smith: C
At times he has shown that he could be a decent backup to the starters. He is undersized though and got beat many times in 2011.
SS Chris Harris: C
A relative non-factor since coming over from Chicago. Spent some time on the special teams where he also had a quiet season.
FS John Wendling: B-
Still pretty good on the special teams.
CB Brandon McDonald: C
COACHING
One of the biggest conceived problems for the Lions this season was team discipline. The handshake incident between Jim Schwartz and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t help the bad boy image the Lions were given. Yet when you look back on the season there was only two games that the Lions were really undisciplined. Those two games were the Thanksgiving Suh stomp incident and the New Orleans game later on in the year in which the Lions were playing themselves more so than the Saints.
On the offensive side of the ball the Lions had a problem early on turning yardage into points which is something that Scott Linehan resolved as the season progressed. He also did a nice job with the passing game especially turning Calvin Johnson into the centerpiece. The offensive line though did struggle at times and he didn’t have much to work with when it came to the running game due to the amount of injuries the team suffered.
On defense Gunther Cunningham certainly had his hands full dealing with injuries and a lack of depth in the secondary. At the end of the year plenty of fans were calling for Cunningham’s head however it’s my belief that he deserves another shot with a healthy team and better pieces to work with.
HC Jim Schwartz: B+
OC Scott Linehan: B+
DC Gunther Cunningham: C
Coaching Midterm Grade: A-
Coaching Final Grade: B
The regression of the defense throughout the season was the contributing factor to the drop off from the teams midterm grade. Still the coaching staff had a strong season.
2011 DRAFT
Initial Final Grade: C-
During the 2011 Draft, many of the glaring needs were not addressed and it certainly showed throughout the year. Again the offensive line showed it age and failed to produce decent run blocking while the secondary suffered in large part to having zero depth.
Still Titus Young emerged as a legitimate threat through the air while Nick Fairley displayed plenty of potential on the defensive line.
Whether it’s luck or skill this past year’s draft could have had a more negative effect on the teams outcome in 2011.
Final Grade: C+
OVERALL
The Lions made tremendous strides in 2011 that not only established themselves as a team that couldn’t be overlooked but a team that could be a real threat in the coming seasons.
Another thing you really have to admire is the way the team came to play on a week to week basis. There was absolutely no quit in this team which was displayed especially earlier in the year coming back to win games after suffering early double-digit deficits.
Still there’s plenty of room for improvement.
The biggest needs going into next season rest on the defensive side of the ball. The team needs to address the depth issues in the secondary and work on becoming more effective tacklers. On the offensive side of the ball, the offensive line remains the biggest area of need given the age and relative ineffectiveness of the run block.
Despite all that though the teams expectations in 2012 will be higher as they’ve proved that they are now a playoff contender. Now is the time to take that next step.
Overall Grade: B
Ref: Getty (images)