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Another year of 32 in 31. Sports News on Tap takes the month of August to preview the National Football League. We spend every day of the month looking at a new team and how they will fare in 2013.
Fair to say, the Detroit Lions were a complete mess last year. Comparable to being drunk at 5 pm after day drinking since 9 am meaning you probably have stains of beer, burrito and drool on your shirt and probably made some unsuccessful passes at the opposite sex, this was the Lions last season.
They added some new pieces, gave Matthew Stafford a brand new contract and they are ready to make an attempt to return to the NFL Playoffs.
OFFENSEThey added some new pieces, gave Matthew Stafford a brand new contract and they are ready to make an attempt to return to the NFL Playoffs.
After receiving much criticism about his injury history, Stafford remained healthy for the second consecutive year. Yes, there is still a chance the injury bug rears its ugly head especially with Stafford throwing the ball 600+ times in 2012 and 700+ times in 2013 plus his weird motion does not help either. This leads to gaudy numbers, but let's be honest here, he is nowhere near a top ten quarterback in the National Football League. Stafford had nearly 5,000 yards, but had a quarterback rating of 79.8. He gets the numbers just based off doing it a bunch of times.The hope is Stafford's passing attempts should go down this year as they signed Reggie Bush from the Miami Dolphins. Bush gives the Lions their first running threat in the Stafford era. They had a revolving door of running backs that Detroit hopes will end this season with Bush. He had some great years in Miami and being in a closed stadium with field turf should only help Bush's year.
Calvin Johnson had another big season with the Lions which should surprise no one, but he will get some of his buddies back from injury lightening his load in terms of attention by opposing secondary. Nate Burleson and Ryan Broyles both figure to be factors for this team. The development of Brandon Pettigrew is crucial as well.
DEFENSE
The Lions defensive line has always been a talking point when people discuss this team, and they shaped a little differently this year although they will be just as dangerous. Detroit drafted Ziggy Ansah in the first-round making an absolute lethal combination with Ndamukong Suh in terms of speed and size once Ansah puts on a few pounds. So far, Nick Fairley has missed nine games in two years as a Lion, and he needs to find a way to stay on the field as the former Auburn defensive tackle can be a major player.
One of the biggest concerns with the Lions has always been their secondary. They tried to fix things with Glover Quinn from Houston and they get Louis Delmas back from injury last year giving them a legitimate tandem at safety for the first time since Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana. Their cornerbacks are decent with Chris Houston and probably Bill Bradley, a second-year player who started a couple games before getting hurt. The Lions should not be getting burned in the passing game as much as they have in the past couple of years.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sigh. Jason Hanson has finally retired, sad times. They added David Akers from San Francisco, but he did not have the greatest year with the Niners although playing in a controlled home atmosphere for the first time in his career should help him.
KEY ADDITIONS
RB Reggie Bush, S Glover Quin, DE Jason Jones, WR Devin Thomas - We talked about most of these players already, Thomas could be a returner for them.
KEY SUBTRACTIONS
K Jason Hanson, DE Cliff Avril, OT Jeff Backus, DE Kyle Vanden Bosch OT Gosder Cherlius, P Nick Harris, CB Jacob Lacey, KR Stefan Logan, OG Stephen Peterman, WR Titus Young Sr.
LIONS DRAFT PICKS
DE Ziggy Ansah, CB Darius Slay, OG Larry Warford, DE Devin Taylor, P Sam Martin, WR Corey Fuller, RB Theo Riddick, TE Michael Williams, LB Brandon Hepburn - Love the Riddick and Taylor picks, I feel both could make an impact this year.
GAME TO WATCH
Thursday November 28th vs. Green Bay 11:30 am - The Lions finish their year with only three games against division opponents in the last eight games. Two of those are on the road with one being at home on Thanksgiving against the Packers. This should be quite a significant Turkey Day game.
WIN TOTAL
7-9 - Could the Lions get to the playoffs? Yes, it is possible, but they face a pretty tough schedule even for finishing with only four wins. They have the talent, but it is still unknown if they have the chemistry to put it all together. If the Lions do not win seven games, the seat is very warm for Jim Schwartz.
Charlie.
