The Lions, outside of their game in Jacksonville, have yet to put together a full game where their offense, defense, special teams, and coaching have all worked in synchronicity. It was eveident especially in Minnesota Sunday when the defense played well in the first half while the offense sputtered to get a first down or convert a third down (they finished 1-9 with all but two conversion attemps under 7-yards). Then in the second half, the offense caught fire while the defense stumbled, missing tackles and assignments. Slightly overlooked in the frustrattion of being swept by the Vikings and dropping to 0-3 in the division, was the wasted performance of Calvin Johnson, who caught 12-passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. It was his third regular season 200-yard receiving performance of his career-a franchise record and fourth overall-tied for fifth in NFL history (Lance Alworth owns the record with five). Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think this Lions club has too much talent to be 4-5 and winless in the NFC North. As good as we think the North is, remember Chicago has beaten one team with a winning record (Indy in week one), Green Bay has beaten two (Chicago and Houston) and Minnesota has beaten one (SF). Maybe the division isn't as strong as we thought. Where do we place the blame? That's a good question because the highly touted and highly paid defensive line has been disappointing; the linebackers have missed too many tackles and the running game/passing game doesn't seem to find any groove until they visit the locker room for a halftime speech (just one first quarter TD this season). Is that on the players or coaches. It's on both and all need to be held accountable. We shouldn't settle for injuries as an explanation because every team goes through it and the really good one's overcome it with depth. The Lions depth appears to be limited, but their starters haven't been good enough either and this season is quickly becoming a wasted season.
[PODCAST] Lions Lose to Vikings Pt 1
[PODCAST] Lions Lose to Vikings Pt 2
