In week 1 we all know what happened there so I’m not even going to explain that one. In week two against the Eagles I will go ahead and give that one to Philadelphia since they basically fell asleep and let the Lions scratch and claw their way back. This is pretty much the case too for week 3 against the Vikings where it was just a bad day all around for the Honolulu blue and silver. In week 4 however is when things start to get really frustrating (if things couldn’t get any MORE frustrating for Lions fans). By this point it was becoming more clear that something wasn’t quite right with the Green Bay Packers, yet Detroit couldn’t take advantage. Why? Because Detroit was too busy trying to overcome a day that saw them take over 100 yards in penalties. 13 to be exact for 102 total yards. This was in contrast to Green Bay’s 3 total penalties for 31 yards.
In week 5 we saw something that Lions fans haven’t seen in a long time, a game that saw the Lions blow out their opponent. In this game against the Rams the Lions played great on offense, on defense and on special teams that led them to a 44 to 6 victory. The large margin of victory however was able to mask another bad day in penalties that saw the Lions take 11 total for 78 yards.
This all leads us to this weeks game against the Giants.
Finally the Lions were going into a game where they had a win and maybe a little momentum. This certainly seemed like it could be the case when the Lions recovered a fumbled punt return by the Giants and were able to capitalize on a 14 yard TD pass from Shaun Hill to Nate Burleson. Even though the Giants were able to score on the following possession and didn’t relinquish the lead from there on out, the Lions stayed toe-to-toe with the G-Men relatively throughout the entire game.
We should feel good about this right? Wrong.
Once again the Lions took themselves out of the game by committing 11 penalties for 91 total yards. Two of these penalties proved to be very costly for the team. The first of these two took place when Gosder Cherilus got called for illegal formation that negated a 30 yard reception from Drew Stanton to Nate Burleson that seemingly brought the Lions down to the Giants 4 yard line. The Lions could have taken the lead here but because of the penalty they were backed up and on the following play Stanton was sacked, fumbled the ball and the Giants recovered. Did I mention the score at this time was 14 to 10 Giants? Drive over.
The second very costly penalty happened when the Giants were driving and getting down to the Lions 3 yard line and stalling after being stopped on a brilliant Lions defensive stand. This could have been huge for the team but after the play Lions’ end Cliff Avril got tangled up with right tackle Kareem McKenzie. Avril took a swing at McKenzie and as a result Avril was flagged for a 15 yard personal foul and the Giants scored on the next play increasing their lead 21 to 10.
“Cliff had a guy who wouldn’t let him go and unwisely took a swing to get the guy’s hands off of him. We need to play smarter than that. They’re going to get the second guy in that situation,” Schwartz said. “It hurt our team.”
“It’s just costly mistakes at bad times,” said Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch. “The encouraging thing is that we’re playing well enough to win games and those are things we can fix. You can’t just throw your hands up and say it’s hopeless. We’re close and we’re beating ourselves.”
When are you guys going to fix them Vanden Bosch? Week after week we see the Lions taking almost 100 total yards in penalties and the players and coaches constantly talking about the correctable mistakes.
Frankly Lions us fans are sick of the penalties, we are sick of the correctable mistakes that simply aren’t being corrected and we are sick of those so called moral victories. If moral victories accounted for actual victories the Lions would have had a modern dynasty rivaling that of the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Enough is enough. It is time that players start being made accountable for these costly and stupid mistakes and it’s time that the coaches see that this gets done.
I think most Lions fans can agree that there is improvement with this team. They are finally getting a good core group of young talented players and are being complimented with a small group of quality veterans. Penalties are getting them nowhere though and will continue to cost them games until there is player accountability.
ZACK FOLLETT AND SHAUN HILL UPDATE
Lions QB Shaun Hill left the game late in the second quarter with what appeared to be a left hand injury. X-Rays however revealed that Hill suffered a broken left forearm that should sideline him anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. The good news however for the Lions is they do have a bye week next and by all indication Matthew Stafford should be ready to go the following week when the Lions take on the Washington Red Skins.
In one of the more scary incidents, Lions LB Zack Follett was carted off the field on a stretcher early in the fourth quarter after suffering a helmet to helmet collision during a kick off. He laid motionless on the field for several minutes as players for both teams took to a knee with great concern. Follett was taken to a local hospital where they did release a statement on his condition…
“There is no evidence at this point of a fracture of the cervical spine. He has movement in all four extremities. Zack will remain here tonight and will continue to undergo extensive tests and evaluation.”
This is certainly good news and we will continue to keep you updated as more news becomes available in the coming days.
