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Against Green Bay, the Detroit Lions looked for all the world to be a team staggering to the bye. But there were three reasons they looked punch drunk.
- Injuries.
- Injuries.
- Daunte Culpepper.
When a team lacks depth, then add in injuries to most of the defensive line, the starting quarterback and their best player who's also the only play maker and top wide receiver, the game is going to get beyond ugly.
And that's what happened. The loss was beyond ugly, this side of disgusting, and well past shameful. But we should have seen it coming. It's going to happen with you lack talent, and what talent you do have are inactive thanks to injuries,
I'm going to give Jim Schwartz a bit of a pass right now, just because of the injuries (even if the fake punt/so-called trick play was an utter disaster...FIRE KWAN!). This was the first game of the season where the Lions looked totally, and without question, outclassed in all phases of the game.
I hope to NEVER see a punter under center EVER again.
What gives me pause though, is the Packers were putrid, yet still dominated.
Green Bay had 13 penalties for 130 yards, yet not one of those yards made a difference in winning or losing. It only kept the Packers from winning by 50+. Packers fans should be bitterly disappointed their team only won 26-0. It shouldn't have been that close...
I said in the running diary the Lions showed up for a gun fight with a knife. Thinking about it, the Lions didn't even have a knife. They arrived empty handed. There were no weapons, period, especially on offense.
If one thing was obvious today, it's that Daunte Culpepper is done as an effective player. (Well, two things. The second being Stafford is the Lions' best QB...and it's not even close) Not that Drew Stanton was great when he entered the game, far from it. But Culpepper was signed this season to be a veteran stopgap, to run the team if Matthew Stafford couldn't. He was supposed to offer veteran stability when called upon. Unfortunately, the past two weeks Culpepper has been unstable, and done nothing more than run the Lions' offense into the ground the past two weeks. He's slow to git rid of the ball, and inaccurate when he does. Let alone the former Viking/Dolphin/Raider/hopefully Lion threw his second moronic interception in two weeks (this one right into the hands of a Packers defensive lineman).
Watching Culpepper leave the game early in the 2nd half after "tweaking" his hamstring actually gave me a glimmer of hope. It didn't last long, but it was there.
It's more clear now than ever. If Stafford can't go against the Rams in two weeks (God forbid), then it should be Stanton who gets the call. The Lions did move the ball...somewhat...with Sparty's finest under center. Some of that could be attributed to the Packers easing up with a big lead, and committing stupid penalty after stupid penalty. But Stanton brought a spark Culpepper lost long ago. Stanton is also going to be in Detroit next year, Culpepper is counting the days, and the cash, till he leaves at the end of the season.
So where do the Lions stand after the first six weeks? They are better coached, and there has been an upgrade in talent at some positions. But there is no depth whatsoever, and the defensive line is the worst in the NFL. The defensive backfield isn't much better, and you literally need a program to figure out who's playing corner this week. This franchise remains a godforsaken mess that wasn't going to be fixed in one season, or two, probably even three.
Again, we knew most of this going into today, but it's worth remembering when the Lions, once again, get pounded into submission.
This season was a lost cause before it even began. The Lions' "talent" was good for 4 or 5 wins, best case. There are going to be weeks like this one. And we're going to see more before this team is finally flushed of what remains of the Millen era by Martin Mayhew and Schwartz.
The frustrating part is the Packers were so damn beatable today. A more capable team would have taken advantage of the Pack continually shooting themselves in one foot, then the other, over and over again.
A capable team the Lions are not. Not by a long shot.
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Unfortunately, Stanton wasn't much better. I really had some hope for him after the preseason, but both these guys made Dan Orlorvsky look like John Elway.
Does anyone know if Bob Galgliano is available? He's gotta be under 50, right?