Week #3: Green Bay Packers

[racosun]

The match-up everybody's been waiting for, the NFC North's cream of the crop. Yep, it's the Vikings versus the Bears. And in other news, this is also the week the Lions play the Packers, who both sit on an 0-2 record. Green Bay is in year 2 of the rebuilding process, so they have a legit excuse to suck. The Lions, on the other hand, are in year 6 of the rebuilding process, so to lose this game would really be terribly bad. This is one of those games that you look at on the schedule and say "there's a win." Of couse, with Matt Millen driving the ship, we're obviously heading towards the rocks, so I would't be all that surprised to see Green Bay come into Ford Field and "upset" the Lions. We'll see. It might be a really ugly game to watch, so if you're not a Lions or Packers fan, you may want to see what else is on.

[racosun]

He's done it again. After his proclamation that the Lions would beat the Bears last Sunday didn't even come close to happening, Roy Williams went out and guaranteed another victory, this time against the much-weaker Packers. I guess he plans on doing it until he's right. Here's the latest Williams quote:

"You can all run with this: We will win the game. I don't care who it's against. We will win the game as long as we do what we're supposed to do. That's my comment for the whole week."

Unfortunately for us Lions fans, it wasn't his only comment for the week. On top of those idiotic shenanigans, he proved just how selfish of a player he is by telling the Detroit Free Press' Mitch Albom that the score doesn't matter to him. In a post-game interview with Albom, Roy was asked why he was celebrating a couple first-down receptions against the Bears, even though the team was losing badly. His response:

"I celebrate first downs all the time. I'm not gonna stop that. I'm an exciting player. If I do something exciting, I'm gonna show my actions."

Mitch Albom then said: "But you were losing, 10-0." To which Williams replied:

"What does that mean? That means nothing to me. The score means nothing."

If the score means so little to Williams, than why does he keep guaranteeing victories? Wouldn't it be better if he just guaranteed personal success? You know, hold up his own end of the bargain? I find it funny that Roy thinks of himself as an exciting player. What's so exciting about a #1 reciever consistently dropping passes, than smiling all the way back to the sidelines? I think to qualify as being an exciting player, you have to do exciting things on the field. Chad Johnson is an exciting player. Even Terrell Owens is an exciting player. Heck, Mike Furrey has been much more of an exciting player than Williams has. I don't see how Coach Marinelli thinks this is okay behavior from one of his players, than constantly preaches discipline. He needs to sit Roy down, chew him out really good, than hope he can become that exciting player Williams seems to think he is.

Enough is enough. Shut up, Roy. Just shut up and play. You didn't do anything to help your team win. This is just more proof that Matt Millen has no grasp on this team whatsoever. With Charles Rogers already cut, and Mike Williams destined to be a bench-warmer the entire season, Millen needs Roy Williams to step up and be a professional leader for this team. Instead, he comes off as a whiney diva who's too full of himself to be of any use to the team.

I can't believe Millen can completely screw up four years of top-ten draft positions in a row so badly and keep his job. Joey Harrington with the #3 overall pick, our future franchise QB and face of the team. Charles Rogers, the perfect compliment to the up-and-coming passing game, taken with the #2 overall pick. Roy Williams, #7 overall, an excellent side-kick to Rogers, and the final weapon for Harrington to use to dominate the NFL for years to come. Mike Williams, the best player available at #10, the big strong over-the-middle slot guy with the hands of glue. That all worked out perfectly, didn't it? So good, in fact, that we are still drafting in the top-ten every year, and still cannot improve. It's looking like another top-ten (maybe even top-five) pick next summer, and guess what our biggest weakness is? Yep, wide reciever. Good thing we have the keen eye of Matt Millen to do what's best for the team.

[football junkie]

It's a shame there's not some way that both teams, the Packers and the Lions, could lose their Week 3 match up. Why spoil imperfection?

Look on the bright side, if the Lions lose enough games this year maybe they'll be able to draft Ted Ginn Jr. in 2007 -- surely they couldn't mess that up. :D

By the way, I'm not sure I agree with your analysis of the Lions' most glaring weakness: wide outs. I think they'd be better off drafting a running back: Peterson or Pittman. It's becoming abundantly clear that Kevin Jones is not going to cut it as an NFL tailback.

[tigers527]

Tigers vs Royals.....That said I might see what's going on between innings, pitchers etc....

I was never so happy to be at Comerica Park watching a Tigers loss, as I was this past sunday. Everytime I went into the lounge to get another beer, the score kept looking more and more lopsided, as the Lions were on one of the 5 TVs in the place. My TV and my neighbors thank the Tigers for distracting me, and taking me away from the potential thrown objects, and hurled obscenities.

[racosun]

Tigers vs Royals.....That said I might see what's going on between innings, pitchers etc....

I was never so happy to be at Comerica Park watching a Tigers loss, as I was this past sunday. Everytime I went into the lounge to get another beer, the score kept looking more and more lopsided, as the Lions were on one of the 5 TVs in the place. My TV and my neighbors thank the Tigers for distracting me, and taking me away from the potential thrown objects, and hurled obscenities.

You were lucky you didn't have to subject yourself to that farce of a game. It was so bad, that by the time Kevin Jones fumbled the second time at the end of the game, I was laughing. I don't think any team could have TRIED to play any worse than the way the Lions did. The offense looked good, actually, but the run-blocking and penalties were insane. It takes effort to get to the 12-yard line and end up missing a 42-yard field goal. And that wasn't even the worst one. I think there was a fourth-and-40 or something near that in there too. We made it to mid-field, and ended up punting from near our own goal line. Let's hope it's better this week (it can't really get any worse).

[racosun]

OUT
Lions - S Kenoy Kennedy (foot); G Ross Verba (hamstring); WR Shaun Bodiford (knee); LB Alex Lewis (knee)
Packers - T Junius Coston (knee)

QUESTIONABLE
Lions - T Rex Tucker (knee); T Barry Stokes (hamstring)
Packers - RB Ahman Green (hamstring); TE David Martin (knee); CB Al Harris (shoulder); CB Will Blackmon (foot); G Jason Spitz (thigh)

PROBABLE
Lions - DT Shaun Rogers (knee); DE Cory Redding (ankle)
Packers - None

[racosun]

With as bad as these defenses are, it's no surprise that this game is turning out to be a shoot-out. Brett Favre threw his 400th career TD in the first quarter, a short out pass to yet another rookie WR. The end result was a long TD, but mainly because three Lions picked each other off, allowing the rookie to scoot all the way to the end zone. Dre Bly also blew an easy tackle on the play. On a good note, Jon Kitna has three TD passes so far, two of them to Lions players. Shawn Bryson took a quick inside slant all the way to paydirt, and Kitna floated what appeared to be a patented Jeff Garcia Moon Ball that fluttered to the end zone, and Roy Williams was there camping out underneath it. Kevin Jones looks good, amassing over 100 yards from scrimmage (70 rushing, 35 receiving). No fumbles yet.

The defense is turning out to be a first-game fluke. What they did to the Seahawks is nowhere to be found. It also cheapens the offensive output the Bears had last week. The Packers are not a good offensive team, yet they look like they're having an easy go of it against this Lions D. The D-line looks lazy. They're supposed to be the dominant part of the defense, yet they can't even get to an old QB through a very young and inexperienced O-line. Maybe Joe Cullen should have been canned after all. For one, his one-game suspension goes against Marinelli's "accountability" demands. Also, the line seemed to have played like they were on a mission with Marinelli hawking over them. They've put in six lazy quarters since game one.

The winner of this game may be the last team to score, and they probably will have at least 40 points.

[racosun]

Ol' Brett Favre found a way to win yet again, even though it was against the now officially hapless Lions. Sure, they've been hapless for some time now, but it's official that they're hapless for this season as well. Once again, all my lofty expectations and predictions have been dashed by a lazy, underachieving team of low-life losers.

Kevin Jones was shut down for the second half, for some odd reason. He really tore up Green Bay in the first half, but was nowhere near as effective in the second. Roy Williams had a good game, but still couldn't get a guarantee to come true. Oh well, Roy, try again next week. And was this it? Was this the offensive explosion they keep saying is on the verge of coming? That's pitiful. Kitna had a good game, once again, but he seemed sluggish this time. He had decent protection from his O-line, but he was either too indecisive or his WR's couldn't find an open space. Mike Williams finally got to play, but not until really late in the game. On the bright side for Mike, it was crunch time. Keep practicing hard, and you'll make some plays fairly soon.

All in all, this was yet another typical Lions game. Except this time, we were supposed to win. How much more of this is going to happen before Marinelli, Millen, and Martz all start fueding with each other? At some point, the players that they were able to sway into believing in the system will revolt, and it'll be just like last season. This was probably the easiest game on the schedule for the year, and we blew it. Not much else to say, 'cept: Get 'em, Rob Parker!

The Lions head over and up to Green Bay on December 17th, when the tundra is completely frozen. I guarantee a Kevin Jones fumble (and at least two Roy Williams drops) in that one.

[racosun]

Green Bay Packers 31, Detroit Lions 24
Passing:
Lions - Jon Kitna, 25-for-40, 342 yards, 2 TD's, 1 pick
Packers - Brett Favre, 25-for-36, 340 yards, 3 TD's, no picks

Rushing:
Lions - Kevin Jones, 17 rushes, 81 yards, 1 TD, no fumbles lost
Packers - Ahman Green, 22 rushes, 63 yards, 1 rec. TD, 1 fumble lost

Receiving:
Lions - Roy Williams, 7 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD
Packers - Greg Jennings, 3 catches, 101 yards, 1 TD

Kicking:
Lions - Jason Hanson, 1-for-1 FG's, 3-for-3 XP's
Packers - Dave Rayner, 1-for-1 FG's, 4-for-4 XP's