D-Town Greetings.

We need to get those Colts threads out of the rec’d section lol

Is relatively decent in coverage, I guess. I mean, he’s not terrible, so that’s going for him. In regards to run support, blitzing, and tackling? Guy’s a young beast with a chip on his shoulder, he hits hard. There’s a reason he’s a fan favorite. “Levy on the play” is commonly heard, let’s put it that way.

I wouldn’t say it’s almost certain they’ll draft an OL, but it’s almost certain some moves will be made. We have some young OL in grooming, and there’s a notable FA or two we might pick up. That, coupled with the slim talent pool of offensive lineman this year and the Lion’s tendency to pick best player available, could mean a declined focus on the OL in the draft. I will say this, I would love for us to get Carimi or Wisnieszkisfasb.

I wonder who was more raw power.

Let’s see here:

1. After the Browns game, no. Our gimme is done for the year. Sorry.
2. Yes. He has a stronger arm than Hill does which would spread the field more. Hill is good but he’s a bit inconsistent on the deep ball which will allow Merriweather, our ballhawking safety, to play closer to the line. Hopefully it keeps Mayo and Spikes centered in the middle of the field too.
3. Aww.. no Turducken? :) Given your defense and offense, I rather expect Pettigrew to do well against us. Our run D is pretty stout but delayed passes to tight ends could work well. As far as the pats, I see this as a big game for our D so I’m gonna go with McCourty or Wilfork.

Return questions:

1. Is C.C. Brown going to start? I want to see what all the negative fuss is about.
2. You’re D-line is pretty solid but do you think they can handle the Patriots running game.. or find Woodhead for that matter? Btw, great pickup with Vanden Bosch.
3. Who’s the best coverage linebacker you have? I imagine it’ll be important giving the use of the tight ends, slant routes and stopping Law Firm and Woodhead out of the back field.

Again, welcome and I hope the game goes well.. be sure to have a sell out will ya? :P

Suh and Ngata are both great at what they do but we didn’t have Mankins that game and the Ravens linebackers are lethal. There’s some talent in the Lions linebacking corps but nothing I’d put on the same scale as Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs. I’d also point out that they pretty much negated Casey Hampton recently, who is no slouch.

For question number two, I used the word “new” because I didn’t want to hear Tom Brady for everyone’s answer. :P But no big deal.

The big difference, and I think the one that shines in the d-line matchup versus your o-line, is Ngata is an NT. We have two DTs, and despite Suh’s immediate stellar fame, Corey Williams is our 4-3 NT and every bit the man that Suh is – they are plain and simple the best DT combo in the league, bar none. Our LBs leave something to be desired though.

Thanks for the answers.

It’d also be nice for the Pats to get a win where the injuries get credit instead of the talent on the Patriots part. Not saying we’ll win, just getting tired of hearing “oh if X was out, we’d of won” from Steelers and Colts fans.

And it was hard t think that if they had Brady back they would’ve had another crack at a 18+ win season.

By that, I mean BJGE and Woodhead. That was their positions in training camp.. well.. BJGE. Woodhead wasn’t even with the team.

I’m picturing something on the 34-21 route, Pats win. It’ll be close for a while though.

They don’t have the proven guaranteed home-run hitter like Moss any more (although Tate’s taken a 65 yard reception in for a TD), and their RBs, while solid, probably aren’t going to bust 80-yard Chris Johnson-like TDs very often, if ever. BenJarvus Green-Ellis has the right kind of size to bust tackles, but he’s slow-ish, and Danny Woodhead is very quick, but he’s slightly smaller and the like him as a change-of-pace back with limited touches.

The caveat on that is if the Lions throw a few pick-6s or lose fumbles in their own 20, then the Pats could score quickly and repetitively. That’s what happened to the ’Phins – a Patriot kick return for a TD, a pair of Interceptions that gave short field, a pick-6, a blocked kick for a TD and another blocked kick that gained possession mean the Pats racked up a lot of points in the second half.

I just noticed too. I gave myself this handle completely seperate of that movie, and I never live it down.

Ugh, Top Gun should never have been made. Screw Tom Cruise and his mutant children.

And no dude, you’re perfectly fine. I’m happy to share the spotlight with another Lions fan, especially in enemy territory. We got eachother’s backs! :P

Fine in the turnovers dept. We tend to give away a lot of balls, but we’re one of the best teams for takeaways too. We make plays happen that yield turnovers.

Penalties… well, we’re the worst. Well, one of the worst at least. The main reason being accredited to us being 2-8 right now is penalties. Not injuries or depth or talent, but penalties. It’s unacceptable, but when you are devoid of depth it’s hard to bench players to make a point.

… sometimes it seems like we play two teams every week: whomever we’re playing and the guys in stripes. We had a horsecollar penalty called on Suh last week when he actually grabbed the guy by the dreads… (legal, btw) though, I must admit that I think the refs actually did make the right move, just called the wrong penalty – I am reasonably sure that Suh also grabbed the guy by the facemask as well as pulled him down by the hair. So the facemask penalty would’ve been the same anyway. It’s just seems like the refs could improve a bit in their performance as well as the Lions.

Nothing I can really say about Suh that hasn’t really all been said. All the rumors are true, he’s a beast who’s really hard to stop, and if you let him in space he’s going to get to whoever has the ball. He lacks a little finesse in run stopping, but he’s learning and getting better every game.

He’s got a FF and five picks, one of which was returned for a TD (guessing some of you guys have seen the Carlton dance by now). Right now he’s second on the depth chart after Chris Houston, though if you ask me he’s significantly better then Houston in coverage, though his size tends to make him pretty much a non-factor in run support. Still, he’s got great instincts and considering we pretty much gave up nothing to get him (we traded Dan Gronkowski, a seventh round pick who had literally zero chance of making the final roster) we’re pretty ecstatic that he’s turned out so well.

Have no idea why the Broncos gave up on the 37th overall pick after a single season, but I greatly appreciate it.

But he can tackle, and that’s just fine with us.

CC ironically had his best game against the Giants. He has been great in run support and in that game he had several pass deflections despite the comment above.

I’m glad he was available to step in for the games he did start as he had very few Gaffs.

Few penalties… started every game… A dream.

Peterman(RG) on the other hand….. oye!

Delmas is a beast. Period.

Suh has been outstanding, but Best has not actually done much besides one game. He’s limited because of turf toe on both of his feet though. Spievey has had a few good plays here and there but also has a big learning curve ahead of him.

‘Grew is an emerging young talent, although has had his drops this season. Stafford has obviously been injured for most of the games this year, you’ve had to have heard that, right?

Calvin could be the best receiver, he just sometimes disappears from a game for awhile, only to emerge at the end and make a big catch or create a big play. He should be the best for sure, and while I still think he’s top 3 in the NFL, he needs to step up his play and be consistently good game to game.

Delmas is an awesome guy, a great team player, and is performing well in his second year. He’s nothing perfect, but he’s a shining star on a defense that has seen at least a couple stars shine this year.

Our rookies this year have been Aaron Berry, Ndamukong Suh, Amari Spievey, and Jahvid Best. Among the four, there’s only one obvious standout, and that’s Suh. Jahvid Best has had an injury-burdened first year that has seen his play drop significantly, but when he’s healthy he’s a bad man. Amari Spievey got a starting job from C.C. Brown since his injury, and is learning well on the job in one of the more difficult football positions. He’s prone to make mistakes, but I’ve seen good things from Spievey enough to say he will be a competent NFL player.

Our one rookie, Aaron Berry, is on IR since the beginning of the second quarter in week 1. In the only NFL quarter he’s played, he recorded 3 tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception. Lord knows how well we’d be doing if a guy like Berry were still healthy, he’s a stud.

Pettigrew has suffered a case of dropitis, but seems to be recovering well. He’s a good, reliable guy, and can be counted on as a target regardless of QB. Plus he’s bigger than CJ, so he’s really hard to tangle with.

And CJ? Based on his performance this year, I’d say fifth, but there’s a lot of circumstances that lead to that. Given overall play and general talent level among NFL players overall, he’s either tied for 2nd or he’s 3rd, depending on who you ask.