Schedule
Almost 3 teams in the division went to the playoffs and two did. 9/16 were games against playoff teams. I'm not sold on the Vikings. The teams that aren't in the playoffs aren't very good teams minus the Bears. Clearly something with the Eagles wasn't working. Lost to two rookie qbs. The schedule wasn't easy, but it wasn't extreme. It certainly wasn't the reason for the collapse.
Offense
Our offense was a major factor to our losses. We were supposed to be a sub par defense and high potent offense. First of all the offense of line played fantastic. Ranked first in adjust sack rating and just above middle of the pack 15th in adjusted line yards (run blocking). The Lions passed the ball more then anyone in history and ranked only behind the Saints in pass yards. Now the Lions use the passing game as an extension of the running game which worked well. Clearly running out of the shotgun did not. Offense clearly did not wake up till the 4th quarter too many times. I don't know how to explain that. I do know what I watched. I watched several 3rd and shorts that weren't converted for simple reasons. So many games lost because of dropped balls. Calvin had too many. Pettigrew was the contributor of too many drops and too many fumbles. Good thing about Pettigrew in todays game it is rare to have a guy like Scheffler who is a pass catching TE and Heller who is a run blocking TE. Now to the running game. We were missing out on our home threat RB. We averaged 100.8 yards per game. For a team that throws the ball a lot I don't think that's bad. Mikel Leshoure is a good powerful back. Bell was a home run. Which unless it's an Adrian Petersen or a Calvin Johnson I think WR and RBs really are a dime of a dozen. It's just position I think it's a waste to draft early like we do every year. Our other 3rd down problem after two runs of a total of five yards, Stafford misses a wide open WR by a mile. For you that watched every game you know what I'm talking about. Good pocket wide open WR for the first and it was usually an air mail. I think that Stafford has to be lazy in practice and is lackadaisical in his throwing motion. I hate talking about throwing motions, but there are superior ways to throw the ball. Stafford made some great throws under pressure on the run, but he missed throws a third string QB in the NFL shouldn't miss. Stafford also threw 17 interceptions. I hate the TD to interception ratio. A team that can pound the ball in it really isn't fair. The Lions ran the ball better down in the redzone. Stafford clearly threw too many interceptions.
To sum things up. Turnovers, lack of third down conversions, and lack of consistency.
Defense
I thought the defense played well. Maybe it's expectations. I do think the anointed best front four played mediocre. 20th in sacks and 16th in run defense. On stats I'd almost say that the offense running game was better performers then the front four defense. This front four was suppose to be the best. Maybe the sacks were mediocre because of the patchwork secondary. I think the qb had time to throw it. Front four were undisciplined in their rushing lanes. Wide 9 is made for getting to the QB. They were offsides a lot. They had every advantage to get their individual sacks. One thing that we struggle with is blitzing. Which was rare, but our LBs and CBs didn't blitz well. The LBs overall were inconsistent. At times the play side LB would be selfish and try to make the play and worst part is they didn't turn the RB back inside towards the help and mainly Tulloch. The front seven were consistent tacklers. They missed a few, but it happens. It's nothing like it was a couple of years ago. I thought the CBs really overachieved. Houston had one game. Other then that he played 15 starting quality games. I said he was a number 2 guy and he may have proved me wrong. We need better play out of our safety. Considering how many points the offense simply gave up on turnovers the defense played great.
Special Teams
Absolutely awful. I don't even want to talk about it.
Injuries
This is everyone's excuse. Injuries are apart of the game. Deal with it.
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