Tired of gutting through preseason football to get your fix? Face it Lions fans, you have a problem. Here’s one more tease to tickle your football addiction. The good news is the Detroit Lions actually have a product worth coming back for.
Lions fans though deserve to be skeptical. The franchise has put two decades in the history books since they last went to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, witnessed a heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs last year, and they saw All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh leave town with a brief case full of money from the Miami Dolphins.
So I’m not going lie to you Lions fans. In 2015 it’s going to be, well, OK!
Here’s why…
The Lions featured the No. 2 defense in football last season and sure, the loss of Suh will be a huge hole to fill but Haloti Ngata isn’t anyone to sleep on. The former Raven is 31-years old and should still have a couple of seasons left in his legs. The former All Pro is also coming to a situation where he will no longer be asked to anchor a 3-4 defense which should help the 89th ranked player in ESPN’s top 100.
The Lions also return nine of 11 starters on defense and everyone in the secondary. Yeah the same secondary that had 20 interceptions with a little help from outside linebacker and resident tackling machine DeAndre Levy.
All good reasons the defense will be just fine in which case we should expect a tune up with more aggressive blitz packages to offset the loss at defensive tackle and to help create quarterback pressures. The defense will likely take a step back from their No. 2 total defensive ranking last year, but I wouldn’t expect them to fall out of the top 10. Levy, Glover Quin, the return of Stephen Tulloch, Ziggy Ansah and Ngata will all have a lot to say about that.
Honestly don’t expect the defensive tackle position to be as big of problem as most pundits think. I see a lot of guys pointing out the loss of Nick Fairley, and if you are pointing that out as a loss you probably aren’t watching Lions football a lot anyway. Fairley spent more time hurt or on the bench than he did on the field and truthfully a steady tackle next to Ngata should be a plus. Tyrunn Walker has had a solid camp and Detroit is going to see how strong and fast he is.
I’m not on the Caraun Reid hype train just because he worked out with Suh. Frankly the guy couldn’t get off the bench last year so he had nowhere to go but up or get cut. However I am buying the newly drafted Gabe Wright to be in the rotation sometime later in the year.
To help Detroit’s 16 game trip to returning the playoffs is the offense.
Led by quarterback Matthew Stafford and the best receiving duo in football the Lions will simply look to improve on their 19th ranked offense in the NFL last season.
Outside of Golden Tate who had a breakout season with 99 receptions and 1331 yards the 2014 version of the Lions offense was a complete bust. But much like last season Detroit has too much talent on offense to not at least be in the top half of the league.
The passing game was serviceable considering Stafford was sacked 45 times, but the 22/12 touchdown to interception ratio has to improve.
The biggest issue though was Detroit’s failure to put up points which was further hindered by an anemic rushing attack. Essentially the downfall of the offense led by running game was saved by the defense.
Now it’s the offense’s turn to help the defense out.
And when it comes to the offense in many ways it comes down to the revamped offensive line. Offensive These new additions in the revamp come with guard/center Manny Ramirez and first round pick Laken Tomlinson. In turn the Lions said good bye to long time center Dominic Raiola and guard Rob Sims.
Essentially the Lions’ remake on the o-line is bigger and faster while looking to instill more power blocking instead of the technical aspects employed last season.
When it comes to the backfield the Lions are moving on from the oft injured Reggie Bush and replaced him with one of the most dynamic running backs in the preseason in Ameer Abdullah. I loved Reggie’s attitude and skill set when he was healthy. The problem was he was always banged up and while hitting the wrong side of 30 is really a death sentence for backs in the NFL.
When it comes to Abdullah the Lions drafted the jitterbug like runner to catch passes and make would be tacklers miss. On paper Abdullah isn’t winning many 60 yard dashes to the end zone but the Lions didn’t need a track star. What Abdullah features is the best three cone time at the combine and an ability to start and stop at an elite level, allowing for missed tackles to become 1st downs and plenty of 10 and 20 yard gains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWfy_W0f9Gg
Rounding out Detroit’s running backs are Joique Bell, Theo Riddick, and Zac Zenner.
Bell is a 29 year old power back coming off an Achilles injury and some kind of injury each of the past two seasons. Bell is a tough runner and hometown favorite but should be looking over his shoulder at undrafted rookie Zac Zenner who had a strong preseason and eventually forced out George Winn. If Bell wears down I expect Abdullah and Zenner to get his carries. Riddick will pretty much be in the same role as last as a 3rd down back in pass catching downs.
As far as Matthew Stafford goes we have heard a lot on him from the fans this offseason which leads me to believe the Lions faithful have settled in on the incumbent quarterback.
Here’s the the thing though when it comes to Stafford… It’s now or never in 2015.
Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Eric Ebron, Tim Wright, Brandon Pettigrew, a revamped offensive line, and a 2nd round pick spent on a new running leaves the Detroit quarterback with zero excuses this upcoming season.
Essentially you have to ask yourself, what more can a quarterback ask for?
Draft Stafford in your fantasy league because this offense is set to blow up. Megatron is healthy, Tate is the best no. 2 receiver in football, and the Lions added another end zone threat at in Tim Wright (11 TD’s the past 2 seasons).
I fully see the Lions offense taking a step into that top five category with Stafford leading the way.
The Biggest key for Stafford though is finishing drives.
The ball needs to cross the plain 30 times at minimum if the Lions are going to offset the defense not being the second best in football again. Also you cannot count on having a +7 in giveaway/takeaways.
Lions fans should fully expect another playoff year for this team with the notion of same ol’ Lions being put away with the dark ages. Detroit has a talented roster with depth at multiple positions for first time in recent memory. This is their window in time to do something, even though this writer is still holding his breath. If the Lions make it out alive after the first four games which include games at San Diego, at Minnesota, Denver, and at Seattle this season should be a lock to see 10 or 11 wins. If they leave that stretch 1-3 or gulp… 0-4 and it’s over and you can begin to dust off the SOL barbs.
One game at a time and we’ll know what the Lions are after week four.
