Green Bay game recap: WTF?!?

The final score was not reflective of how close the game really was yesterday.  The Lions only ended up losing 27-15, but the last 7 came in garbage time. 

The Lions held the Pack to 86 total yards in the first half (Rodgers only 65), and a bad turnover by Stafford and pass interference in th end zone set up the lone score.  The Lions defense could not be playing better, only giving up 7 points to the best offense in the NFL.  The offense had been letting them down.  We were outgaining the cheeseheads 218 to 86, but had 77 yards of penalties (mostly on the offensive line).  Stafford threw one bad interception, Hanson missed his second field goal, and one of our holding penalties took us out of field goal range on a separate drive. 

Then the 2nd half started (The Lions are a 2nd half team right? Most people were hopeful). Green Bay started with the ball and marched down our throats, looking like the team that is poised for back to back Super Bowl trophies.  But our redzone defense held them in check on 3rd and goal from the 3.  It will only be 10-0, in a game that should be 10-6.  Then, like you, I saw the little yellow block on the scoreboard indicating a penalty.  I immediately thought it was on us, and probably a roughing the passer on Suh.  But then I was OUTRAGED at what I saw on replay.  Our very own Ndamukong Suh stuffing the center's head into the turf, then stomping on his bicep as he tried to get up.  The ref immediately ejected Suh from the game, and the penalty gave the Pack a new set of downs inside the 2. The game was over then.  Yes, Stafford looked terrible again with 2 more interceptions, yes our secondary looked like swiss cheese because of injuries, yes our 15th running back of the season was also injured... this ended any hopes of the Lions coming back.  It broke any momentum we had from the 3rd down stop, and swung the game to Green Bay.  I haven't been vulgar in my posts yet, but I am sorry... what the hell was Suh thinking at that moment?  I mean come on, you can't stuff the dude's head into the ground then curb stomp his bicep and think I am just trying to get up.  If you know me, you know that Suh might be my favorite Lion of all time... and he is in his second year. You know that I will live with his angry demeanor, his violent hits, a stupid penalty here and there, the fines, the view of dirtiest player in the game, because he is "changing the view of the Detroit Lions as a team you cannot take lightly" But I cannot excuse yesterday.  It was a Sparty like infraction, one where I cannot overlook or reason why he did it. I have rarely seen a dumber play.  How stupid can you be?!? We stopped them on 3rd and goal, we were going to hold the Pack to a field goal.  We are still in the game.  I will not make any excuses for this moronic move, and I now fully agree that Suh is indeed the dirtiest (and dumbest) player in the NFL.  I cannot root for someone who does that crap.  It is criminal. The other thing that is so frustrating, is even though he was ejected from yesterday and screwed us over yesterday on a national stage, there is NO WAY that he sees the field this next week against the Saints, also on national tv.  The Monday night game was great for Detroit, and the Lion's image.  Yesterday it took a huge step backwards. I usually don't care this much about an NFL game, but I am still pissed at what I saw yesterday.  It was complete garbage, the same reason I was so pissed after watching Michigan fall victim to the felony acts of Sparty. Suh needs to sit in front of his teammates and apologize for his actions, and apologize for not being able to finish the game, and for not playing next week to help this team make the playoff push. I could go on and on about that crap, but I need to continue.

Outside of that monstrosity, the Lions might have had the worst luck possibly yesterday.  Already playing their 6th safety of the year, Delmas gets injured in the first half.  I have not heard any news on the severity of it.  Also, our best corner back of the group of average defensive backs goes out with a knee injury.  We had to settly with Rasheed Davis (a receiver) coming in to try to cover reg Jennings (only one of the best WR's in the league). Then the often injured Kevin Smith re-injures his knee early in the game when he was having a lot of success catching and running the ball out of the backfield.  I think in the 2nd half some lucky fans even got to play defensive back for us. What a joke.  On the long touchdown pass late in the game, our cornerback looked like JT Floyd of last year (not even in the same zip code on a standard 1 move route).  If the Lions are going to have a chance to have a winning season they are going to need to get these guys back on the field quickly.

The Lion's offense looked great in the first half when Stafford was able to check down to Kevin Smith, but after the Packers made adjustments at half time, he looked rattled and tried forcing a lot of throws. We need Kevin Smith back asap!

Also, I know Clay Matthews is incredible.  But he just overpowered anyone who tried to block him (except Morris the few times he actually picked up the blitz).  He lined up opposite of Cherilus and just blew him up.  Cherilus only outweighs him by 75 pounds.  Useless. The Manimal just blew around Pettigrew when he tried his luck.  Backus was called for a hold. It was the type of destruction you want to see from our defensive line.

All in all it was a terrible game to be a Lions fan, and I hope that The Game will be more enjoyable.

Only 20 hours! Go Blue!