What has transpired on the field for the Lions and their opponents the past two weeks has been the stuff of legends. In Week 3, a 20-point halftime deficit was erased lickity-split by a defense awoken from its slumber and the unstoppable connection of Stafford-to-Johnson. The end result was the Lions first win in Minnesota since 1997. In what should have the been craziest comeback we'd see from Detroit this season, they upped it into another stratosphere with their performance Sunday afternoon against a very good, very polished Dallas Cowboys team. Up 27-3 with 10:00 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, the Lions again found themselves in the same position they found themselves in a week prior - except against a much better team with a much, much better coaching staff on the opposing sideline. Forgive me for saying this, but I was just hoping Calvin Johnson would end the game providing my Fantasy team with a good amount of points. I knew Detroit would remain competitive with Jim Schwartz prowling the sideline, but Dallas was clicking so well that practice squad fodder Laurent Robinson looked like Michael Irvin against our defense. And nothing was going right. At all.
That is, until former Cowboy Bobby Carpenter undercut a Tony Romo pass. Touchdown.
Then Chris Houston said "fuck this noise" and one-armed another Romo pass. Touchdown.
From there, the Lions settled in and the offense got its rhythm back. And by rhythm, we mean Linehan realized he had the MOST PHYSICALLY FUCKING GIFTED WIDE RECEIVER IN NFL HISTORY yearning to make Mike Jenkins and Terrance Newman his personal bitches. And that he did. Mixed with some solid running from Jahvid Best(47 yards on 11 carries) and checkdown passes to Brandon Pettigrew(6 catches for 64 yards and quietly playing his best football ever - his run blocking has been very good), the NFL's best connection since Montana-to-Rice took the game over. There really is no telling what the limit is for Calvin Johnson. You saw him catch the ball over 3(!!) defenders in the endzone like he was playing Jackpot for shits and giggles. You saw him catch the game-winning fade from Matt Stafford, reaching up so high into the heavens for the winning grab that he got the wind knocked out of him when he landed. You saw him box out defenders like Shaquille O'Neal on simple slant patterns. In short, you saw a guy who makes Cris Carter look like the dumbest fucking human being on the face of the planet.
One could wax poetic about so many aspects of this game - a game we will all remember for a very long time. I'll harp on just a few things. For starters - this is NOT a team of destiny or good fortune, as you will soon read from your idiot local writers. The Lions don't have some newfound DNA that enables them to ignore whatever deficit they encounter and win every game no matter what. This is a team that's oh-so-close to being great - but not quite, and they've ridden a little bit of luck to a 4-0 record. This is a very uneven outfit, one that reflects how far we've come from 0-16...and how impressive our front office has been at supplanting talent at most positions on the field. The offense is littered with playmakers - but they also have an Oline that has regressed with each passing week. The defensive line was held largely in check by the Cowboys, and opponents have run on our attacking front four 4 with relative ease through the seasons first 4 games. The much-maligned secondary had nowhere to hide this week as Romo and co. picked them apart again and again. However, the teams most unsung and improved group - the LB corps - bailed the team out in the second half with some timely plays in coverage and slowing down Felix Jones in the run game. Stephen Tulloch, in particular, should be well on his way to an All-Pro campaign. The steal of Free Agency, Tulloch was fantastic in run defense and proved to be a thorn in Jason Witten's side, coming through with a huge interception covering him late in the game and never letting his man gain extra yardage when they caught the ball. In a game in which Detroit's star-studded Dline needed help, Tulloch and Carpenter and Louis Delmas made the plays necessary to mask our shortcomings in other places.
So where does Detroit go from here? Catching their breath isn't an option - division rival Chicago comes into town Monday Night(!!!) for what should be the most anticipated game in recent Lions history. 3-1 San Francisco and 2-2 Atlanta await the next two weeks after that, and I honestly thinkin Harbaugh and the revived 49ers defense is the most likely loss heading into the week 9 bye(I've already chalked off the week 8 game at Denver as a bloodletting of epic proportions. Go ahead and jinx me, Kyle Orton). Detroit only needs to play .500 ball the rest of the way to go 10-6 and presumably make the playoffs - I think that's about where this team is headed as they continue to grow, mature, and fall victim to some of the mistakes they've benefited from against Minnesota and Dallas. Of course, we could just be throwing the ball to Calvin every play and go 16-0. Ya never know. The fact that the Lions are even in a position as lofty as this in the first place is a testament to the braintrust of this organization, and a reminder that Detroit's best days are still yet to come. It's been a long time coming.
Some quick hits from Sunday's action:
- Jim Schwartz yelping at Dez "I dont know what a catch is" Bryant as it became clear the trash-talking buffoon didn't realize his 'catch' was about to be ruled incomplete is high comedy. Between that and Schwartz's "LEARN THE FUCKING RULES, REF!" tirade at the end of the Minnesota game, he's quickly becoming my favorite figure in sports. His legend grows every day in Detroit, and there's no limit to his potential as a Detroit icon.
- I called out the Offensive line earlier in this post, but lets not get TOO down on the unit. They've played two of the top defensive front 7's in the league the past two weeks, and while they have Julius Peppers coming to town next week, I think we'll see much better performances from Backus and Cherilous once the All-Pro's move away from the schedule.
- By far my favorite play of the game, and one that I called prior to the snap: DE Willie Young running absolutely roughshod over rookie RT Tyron Smith and sacking Tony Romo on the last drive of the game. Look for it on youtube - it was the most embarrassingly one-sided matchup I've ever seen. The Lions need to use Willie Young and LoJack more and Kyle Vanden Bosch less. We all love KVB and what he represents, but he's porous against the run and all that intangible nonsense he possesses isn't getting him to the quarterback any quicker.
- Joe Buck is the worst announcer ever. Between not seeming to give a fuck about any play the Lions made nor did he realize Dallas turned it over on downs and thus completing a thrilling(allegedly, not in his world though) comeback - I'd be very, very thankful if Detroit(or any non-Dallas teams) fans never had to hear his stupid, monotonous voice ever again. My God. Imagine if Gus Johnson was the announcer for that game.
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