The Detroit Lions are coming off their first playoff appearance since 1999. The 10-6 Lions were led by their prolific, offensive weapons Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. Stafford threw for 5,081 yards, 3rd in the NFL and threw 41 touchdowns, also 3rd in the NFL. As for his number one guy, Johnson led all receivers with 1,681 yards and was 2nd in the NFL with 16 touchdowns. The Lions were the 5th best total offense in the NFL, averaging 396.1 yards per game and were 4th in the NFL, averaging 300.9 passing yards per game.

If the Lions could get a healthy run game going, their offense would be even more of a threat. No running back on the Lions has solidified themselves as the starter because of constant injuries. Jahvid Best, who missed extensive time last season because of a concussion, is on the unable to perform list and unable to play for the first six weeks.

As for running back Mikel Leshoure, he missed all of last season with a torn left Achilles tendon. Although healthy and looking great this preseason, Leshoure will not be playing until Week 3 because of his substance-abuse suspension. With all this being said, that leaves running back Kevin Smith as the primary ball carrier, although he suffered a minor ankle set back in their third preseason game against Oakland.

Detroit was able to put up points on the scoreboard; however, they gave them up just as easily. The Lions were ranked 23rd in the NFL, allowed 367.6 yards per game and 23rd in points per game giving up 24.2.

In addition, the Lions’ offseason troubles definitely didn’t help them progress. Expect Stafford and Johnson to still be team leaders, and expect a setback especially after Chicago’s additions this offseason. The Lions have struggled against division rival’s Green Bay and Chicago the last three seasons and only have recorded 2 victories. This upcoming season may result in another 4 losses against the Packers and the Bears.

Detroit could start the season off with a 3-1 record in September; however, as the season goes on, the Lions will have a difficult time getting easy wins and could finish this season 8-8.

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The Detroit Lions were able to pull off a come-from-behind win as they beat the Carolina Panthers 49-35. This game was a tale of two halves as the Lions struggled early in the first quarter, turning the ball over on their first three possessions of the game. Matthew Stafford accounted for two of those turnovers as he threw two interceptions, and left fans wondering if his injured throwing hand was going to be a problem.

The other turnover was committed by running back Keiland Williams, which eventually led to a Cam Newton touchdown pass to Steve Smith. On Lions turnovers the Panthers were able to jump out to a 10-0 lead after the 1^st quarter. In the 2^nd quarter, Stafford settled down, found his offensive groove and managed to score 14 points off two touchdown throws to recently reacquired Kevin Smith and wide out Titus Young.

The only problem was that Newton had the Panthers offense moving up and down the field just as effectively and extending the Panther lead to 13 going into halftime. That would be the last time the Panthers would have the lead as Stafford and the Lions put on a clinic and owned the second half. In the 3^rd quarter the Lions defense didn’t allow the Panthers to cross their own 40 yard line and when they did, linebacker DeAndre Levy came up with an interception that brought a productive Panthers drive to a screeching halt.

With the defense becoming stingy and providing favorable starting position for the offense, Stafford tacked on two more touchdowns to give the Lions their first lead of the game. Early in the fourth quarter the Lions extended their lead off a Smith rushing touchdown. Smith provided unexpected positive production; he was picked up by the Lions to fill the void left by Jahvid Best who has missed three games with lingering concussion symptoms.

Down eight points, Newton had no expectations of letting this game slip through his hands; he composed an 80 yard drive culminating in a touchdown and a two point conversion to Smith to tie the game at 35. However, the combination of Stafford and Smith proved to be too much as they both scored touchdowns on the next two Lion possessions.

Stafford ended the day with five touchdowns and hopefully laying to rest that his injured hand will affect his play. The Lion faithful can only hope that this is true with the undefeated Packers coming to town next week.

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The Chicago Bears displayed their defensive dominance as they defeated their division rival the Detroit Lions, 37-13. The Bears defense went to work immediately, forcing a fumble on the Lions first offensive possession of the game.

Julius Peppers stripped the football from star receiver Calvin Johnson around midfield, and Brian Urlacher was there to scoop up the loose ball and give the Bears possession deep inside Lions territory. With the short field provided by the defense, Matt Forte was able to score the only offensive touchdown of the night for the Bears.

However, that single score would be more than enough as the Bears would go on to force a total of six turnovers and turn them into 24 points. The Bears secondary managed to pick off Matt Stafford four times, matching his season total in one game. Each interception was caused by a different defensive player, and both Major Wright and Charles Tillman returned theirs for touchdowns.

There was speculation by Fox commentator Brian Billick on what may have caused Stafford’s horrendous performance. For the first time in Stafford’s career, he had on gloves, a fact he attributed to the cold weather, but with the game time temperature around 55 degrees, another explanation seems likely.

In the Week 8 game against the Denver Broncos, Stafford’s hand collided with cornerback Champ Bailey’s helmet mid-throw. Stafford was noticeably bothered by the incident during that game, but no reports of an injury have surfaced from the Lions organization.

As Stafford reeled, the Lions tried to rely on the run game, but with Jahvid Best absent, still suffering from concussion-like symptoms, they only managed 80 yards on the ground. With the run game fairing even worse, the Lions went back to the passing attack. And just when the Lions offense would start to gain momentum, a Bears player would disrupt the play or cause a timely turnover.

The rout was on early in this game and, as is customary in divisional blowout wins, emotions started to run high. Players on both sides started to deliver hits after the whistle and, after a Stafford interception, all that hostility culminated into a team scuffle that will likely bring fines from the league office.

Between the Bears outstanding defense and team “fight” that lost in the shuffle was Devin Hesters’s 82 yard punt return for touchdown, usually the most exciting play of the game.

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The Detroit Lions stopped their two game skid, as they trampled the Denver Broncos on Sunday to get the 45-10 victory. The game was Denver Broncos newly starting quarterback Tim Tebow’s first home game of the season, and was supposed to be his coronation party. The Lions defense had other plans as they turned it into the hazing of Tebow.

Lions defenders managed to sack Tebow seven times, turning Tebow’s jersey into a grass stain and dirt collage. With a barrage of Lions defenders in Tebow’s face at all times, his completion percentage suffered mightily, hitting under 50 percent of his targets.

The Lions defenders also shut down operations for the Broncos run game, aside from a 34-yard run early in the first quarter; it was a tough day on the ground for Broncos running backs Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball. Each running back racked up over 60 yards, but the Lions made them hard-won yards, with little hope of a breaking free for a big gain.

Things on the other side of the ball weren’t as difficult as quarterback Matt Stafford showed little to no signs that his Week 7 injuries were going to be long term problems. Stafford lit up the Broncos secondary throwing for over 250 yards and three touchdowns and stayed interception free.

Behind Stafford’s strong play, the Lions offense looked like the team from earlier in the season. The usual culprits, Calvin Johnson and Titus Young, had major games, each pulling in a touchdown reception. Johnson’s 56-yard touchdown reception made him only the second receiver since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to have 11 touchdowns in the first eight games of a season.

Stafford played so well and with a Tebow comeback out of the picture, Stafford was benched in the 4th quarter, and replaced by back up Shaun Hill. Stafford’s early exit was also prevented him from further injuring his already tweaked knee and ankle, as well as his throwing hand, which seemed to be bothering him after his hand collided with Broncos cornerback, Champ Bailey, during a throw.

There are no reports yet on the seriousness of the injury. If Stafford does have to miss any time because of the hand injury, the Lions will have to rely on their run game, which is missing its star, Jahvid Best. The run game, while effective, is still missing the big-play ability of Best, who missed his second game in a row due to a concussion suffered in the Week 6 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The running back by committee again consisted of Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams, who rushed for a combined 83 yards and touchdown by Morris. While the Lions are thankful for the improved play of Morris and Williams, they will be hoping for a speedy recovery for Best when they return to football action in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears.

For the Tebow-faithful, not a lot of good aspects could be found in this game. They can only hope that the next time he is on his knees during a football game, it’s on his own terms.

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Shades of last year are setting in as the Detroit Lions lost to the Atlanta Falcons 23-16, giving the Lions their second loss in as many weeks after five wins in a row. The Falcons abused the Lions’ defense behind the sturdy running of Michael Turner as he eclipsed the century mark for the fourth time this season.

Feeding Turner the ball has brought the Falcons great success as they are 13-3 when he rushes for more than 100 yards. The dominate play by Turner opened up the passing game for quarterback Matt Ryan who threw for 200+ yards, and had a touchdown toss to wide receiver Roddy White.

The Lions’ defense did manage to slow Ryan down at times, tallying two interceptions and three sacks. That defensive also pressured Ryan to leave the game momentarily. After Ryan was flushed out the pocket, offensive lineman Will Svitek was pushed backward, causing him to step on Ryan’s ankle. The incident looked worse than it actually was, and Ryan was able to return to the game.

The Lions’ defense also held the Falcons under 30 points, which should have been a recipe for a Lions win as the Falcons were 0-4 on the season when held to under 30 points. The Lions’ struggles were not due to the defense, but more so the high-powered offense that was held in check by the Falcons defense.

Lions star receiver, Calvin Johnson, put up his big numbers as usual, pulling in five balls for 115 yards and a touchdown, but the rest of the receiving core struggled mightily with 10 catches for only 68 yards. The Lions’ rushing attack also suffered with the absence of running back Jahvid Best who is out with concussion-like symptoms he got in last week’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

In his place, the Lions used a running back by committee system consisting of Maurice Morris, Keiland Williams, and Nate Burleson. The three backs filled in admirably for the injured Best, but were not as effective, forcing the Lions to rely on the arm of quarterback Matthew Stafford passing the ball almost 70 percent of the time.

Stafford was able to reel off 180 yards and a touchdown, but with the Falcons keying in on the pass, he only completed half of his throws. Stafford was hurt on the final drive by the Lions after Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton fell on Stafford’s leg, tweaking his ankle and knee. If Stafford has to miss any significant time, it will begin to look a lot more like last year, much to the chagrin of Lions fans everywhere.

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The Detroit Lions were dropped from the ranks of the unbeatens, as they lost 25-19 to the San Francisco 49ers yesterday. The Lions, coming off an emotional win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, got off to a great early start and looked as though they were going to use that momentum to propel themselves to a win.

The game seemed to be over before it started, as Detroit defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch forced a strip sack on 49ers first offense play from scrimmage which resulted in a Brandon Pettigrew TD reception for Detroit. Detroit jumped out to an early 10 nothing lead but was held scoreless for the rest of the half by a stout 49er defense.

The 49ers kept the Lions run game in check, rendering running backs Jahvid Best and Maurice Morris ineffective by only allowing 66 yards on the ground. After a Frank Gore touchdown, the defense racked up an 11 yard sack for safety on Matt Stafford that allowed the 49ers to gain some momentum and take a 12-10 lead into halftime.

From then on it was a back and forth game with a total of four lead changes. The final lead change came on an Alex Smith fourth-down, 6-yard pass touchdown pass to Delanie Walker to give the 49ers a 22-19 lead with 1:51 left in the 4^th quarter.  The Lions had a chance to drive for the winning touchdown but thanks to the pressure from the 49ers defense, they weren’t allowed a first down on the final drive.

However the fireworks were not over after the clock ticked down to zero. During the mandated head coach handshake on the field, Jim Harbaugh extended his right hand for Jim Schwartz and with his left slapped him on his back. Schwartz took offense to this and chased Harbaugh down the field yelling at him — the two had to be separated by players.

In a season full of unlikely events, and with two young hot shot coaches, I think we have the start of our most unlikely NFL rivalry.

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