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Lions Pulsetm
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Lions Come Down the Stretch |
With 3 games remaining to the season, the Lions are one win away from clinching a playoff berth and are still locked in a battle with the Bears for the NFC North Division Crown. What seemed like it was to be a re-building year for the Lions turned out to be quite the opposite from traditional re-building process. Despite only one returning starter on the offensive line and trading away Lance May and Dave Bronson, two of the most prolific offensive players in the TWR, the Lions have outperformed last season's improbable run to the Super Bowl. I guess you could say that the Lions are out to prove all the doubters wrong from the Pre-Season polls and predictions. Wintermute, Schoenberg, and Fernandez all predicted that the Lions would end up last in the division this season. After the first 3 weeks of the season, most would have said they nailed the prediction, but the Lions came back with a vengeance, going 9-1 since the 0-3 start and now sit one game out of a return trip to the playoffs.
This week the Bills host Detroit, bringing their fourth ranked passing offense to face a tough Lions' defense that has picked apart many good quarterbacks this year. The season wraps up for the Lions with two division games that could very well determine the seeding in the NFC playoff brackets. Week 16 the Bears host Detroit for a rematch from their first meeting in week 3, that saw the Bears win 23-20 in a very tightly played match. And week 17 the Packers host the Lions hoping to avenge a week 8 loss 14-9. All three games are on the road in stadiums with notorious bad late season weather. Anything can happen. |
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Forum Discussion
(by I_Coyle on 09/01/2009)
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Replies - 3 :: Views - 30 |
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Lions Third Quarter Report |
With 5 games remaining in the season, the Lions have shown dominance in the last 2 months. After starting the season 0-3, the Lions won 7 of the next 8 games including 6 in a row. The kindling that seems to have started the inferno was GM Coyle's decision to hand over the reigns to veteran Jabari Mullen. While his stats don't look spectacular on paper, 11 TD vs 7 INT and a 77.6 Passer Rating, he has been good enough to win some really tough games losing only to the Jets in week 11 by 8 points. The running game has been spotty at times this season, but HB Jorge Copeland continues to be a powerhouse. Through 12 weeks he has racked up almost 1200 yards at a 4.76 ypc average. What the offense hasn't done is make mistakes. The Lions lead the league in fewest turnovers at 11. This stat has probably had the biggest offensive impact on the success so far. The biggest bright spot has been the Lions' defense. The offense is near the bottom of the league in total offense and passing and merely middle of the pack in running and scoring. The defense hasn't been stellar, near the bottom in total yards allowed and passing yards and again middle of the pack against the run and points allowed, but they have been opportunistic at every turn. The Lions have a huge +19 turnover ratio and 5 defensive touchdowns. The next closest team in turnover ratio is only at +8. They are also among the league leaders in defensive redzone % at 54%, only allowing 8 touchdowns in 23 visits to the redzone and are holding opposing QB's to a 59.46 passer rating.
The remaining schedule seems to favor the Lions slightly, but there are still quite a few scary engagements. The Bears and Packers still are coming up on the road in the final two weeks in the season. Those two games could mean boon or bust in the playoffs for this season. And the Dolphins are always a tough matchup. |
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Forum Discussion
(by I_Coyle on 08/20/2009)
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Replies - 1 :: Views - 19 |
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Lions First Quarter Report |
Detroit- The defending NFC Champ Lions have looked more like kittens so far this season. New GM Coyle came into a tough situation with a team that had made the Super Bowl™ the previous year while the front office was in turmoil. The tough choice was whether to stick with the group of good, but very old, offensive talent, or to shake things up and start to re-build a year early. Coyle made the decision to start the rebuilding process, facilitating trades moving QB May and WR Bronson to bring in draft picks and younger talent. Now with a mix of vets and youngsters on the roster, results are always going to be a bit precarious. Thus far the offense hasn't been able to click. Whether it's the new gameplan or just the fact that the offense has only had 5 games to work together remains to be seen, but the fact is the offense has been plainly bad. The Lions' two wins have come on the back of some very strong defensive play. The roster shake-up left the Lions' deadly defensive backfield mostly untouched and they are playing their brains out with Keith Hixon already at 6 interceptions, one for a touchdown, and 33 tackles through 5 games. His backfield mate, Shawn Irving has 3 interceptions and 2 touchdowns to his credit already as well. The defense has maintained a +8 turnover ratio, thanks in part to the offensive being fairly conservative with only 6 turnovers. The rest is all defense, with 14 turnovers forced through 5 games, good for second place in the league.
Coyle is committed to the rebuilding process this season and will continue to game-plan to get the most out of this offense. In the meantime the Lions look to do as much damage as possible to division and conference rivals while they look to find a way to sneak into the playoffs. |
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Forum Discussion
(by I_Coyle on 07/27/2009)
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Replies - 2 :: Views - 36 |
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Lions Post Season Report |
Well we did it we are back in the show. After last year's disappointing season the Mighty Lions are back in the post season. We have had incredible year tying our season high win record at 12. The toughest game of the season is just around the corner when the Cards make a return visit. In week 4 the Cards gave us a run for the money and I except this game to be just as tough.
We are proud to announce that QB May has been selected (in the game) as Madden's 2016 MVP and the NFC's starting QB for the Pro Bowl. May had one of his best years throwing 296 of 534 for 3753 yards, 31 TDs with only 16 INTs. He finished with an 84.4 QB Rating.
Lions Pro Bowl Selections:
We are very proud to announce 11 players will be attending the Pro Bowl this year with 8 of the 11 being starters.
The players are:
QB May - Madden's 2016 MVP s
FB "Sleepy" Norman s
TE Hudson s
WR Bronson s
WR Tyson
LT Martin s
LT (RT) Spielman s at RT
C K. Maddox s
DT Jackson s
CB Irving s
CB Hixon
(*s = starters)
4 of the 5 starting OL are Lions with a total of 7 of the starting 11 Pro Bowl offense will be Lions. This is a testament to the amazing offensive year we have had. I could not be any prouder of these guys.
I am very proud of this entire team. They played very well and with the Divisional round game against the Cards I am sure they will play up to their potential. We know that we can not give the Cards any slack so we will need to be 100% ready for every play. |
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Forum Discussion
(by T_Homman on 02/06/2009)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 16 |
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At A Glance
| NFC North |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #9 |
 Bears |
3-1-0 |
0.750 |
1-0 |
| #12 |
 Lions |
3-1-0 |
0.750 |
0-0 |
| #25 |
 Packers |
1-3-0 |
0.250 |
0-0 |
| #30 |
 Vikings |
1-3-0 |
0.250 |
0-1 |
| LIONS SCHEDULE |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME/RESULT |
| 1 |
Sun |
at  Eagles #6 |
|
| 2 |
Sun |
at  Cardinals #7 |
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| 4 |
Sun |
vs  Bills #13 |
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| 5 |
Sun |
vs  Patriots #10 |
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| 6 |
Sun |
at  Jets #4 |
1:00pm |
| 7 |
Sun |
at Vikings #30 |
1:00pm |
| 8 |
Sun |
vs  Panthers #21 |
4:15pm |
| 9 |
Sun |
vs Bears #9 |
1:00pm |
| 10 |
Sun |
at Packers #25 |
1:00pm |
| 11 |
Sun |
at  Dolphins #3 |
8:30pm |
| 12 |
Thu |
vs Vikings #30 |
12:30pm |
| 13 |
Sun |
at  Seahawks #24 |
8:30pm |
| 14 |
Sun |
at Bears #9 |
4:00pm |
| 15 |
Sun |
vs  49ers #17 |
4:00pm |
| 16 |
Sat |
vs Packers #25 |
1:00pm |
| 17 |
Sun |
vs  Rams #28 |
1:00pm |
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#12 Detroit Lions