Monday Notes: Bengals Game Observations

by Sean Yuille on Aug 18, 2008 1:54 PM EDT in Notes Comment 12 comments

Before getting into last night's game, it should be noted that training camp is officially over. The Lions are off today and will start having only one practice a day when they return to Allen Park.
Calvin Johnson is a beast. He towered over Leon Hall to make a catch to start the game and then got into the endzone by outrunning the Bengals' secondary later on. I'm starting to realize why Roy Williams picked Johnson for his fantasy team.
Through two preseason games, Jon Kitna's quarterback rating is a perfect 158.3. He has only thrown one incompletion so far this preseason (it was against the Giants) and has 2 touchdowns to go along with 182 yards. The best pair of stats is that he has 0 interceptions and hasn't been sacked yet, either.
Drew Stanton definitely played better than Dan Orlovsky. Stanton made a great TD pass and then executed a perfect naked bootleg that also resulted in a TD. Orlovsky didn't play awful, but he certainly could have done better. Many of his passes were thrown right into coverage, and he just couldn't catch a break when he tried to run a bootleg. All three times (that I remember) Orlovsky ran a bootleg there was a defender immediately in his face. He did a nice job of throwing the ball away, at least, as he didn't get a single intentional grounding penalty.
Punter Nick Harris has always been an asset for the Lions, and last night he showed us why he is so important. One of his punts actually rolled out of bounds at the 1-yard line, leaving the Bengals with little room to work with. Although the punt was outstanding, the defense did let Cincinnati go 99 yards down the field to score a touchdown. Earlier in the game, Harris had a punt downed at the 2-yard line by Mike Furrey, but Cincy got to start on their own 20 due to Furrey getting a penalty for being the first player to touch the ball after stepping out of bounds.
Rookies Kevin Smith and Jerome Felton started last night. Smith is already looking like the Lions' best running back, and Felton stepped in for an injured Jon Bradley, who didn't play at all against the Bengals. I guess that means I'll have to revise my next roster prediction as it appears Felton will make the team as the second FB.
Tatum Bell has really been disappointing so far this preseason. He hasn't looked all that impressive, and honestly, Artose Pinner has outperformed him. I would be surprised if Bell ended up getting cut, but then again, when others are playing better than you, your roster spot shouldn't be locked up.
The running game as a whole still isn't coming off as something that will be a strength this season, but it was much better against the Bengals. Rather than getting stuffed for only a short gain like they did against the Giants, the Lions did move the ball on the ground at some points in last night's game. Kevin Smith and Artose Pinner played well, and as I said, Tatum Bell still didn't look all that good. Brian Calhoun didn't do horrible, but he did put the ball on the ground, although Dan Orlovsky did recover the fumble.
Rookie Gosder Cherilus played both right and left tackle against the Bengals.
Wide receiver Ron Bellamy got a concussion during the game.
Although it was assumed that Devale Ellis would be the Lions' 5th wide receiver if they take that many on the 53-man roster, he is getting challenged by Brandon Middleton. Middleton had a 50-yard TD reception against Cincinnati and tried returning a kickoff. The very fact that he was back there means that he could take Ellis' spot on the roster as he has versatility. I don't think it will happen, but a lot could change in the next couple of weeks.
Speaking of wide receivers, John Standeford really played well. He is a big long shot to make the team, but he is making his case on the field.
Chad Johnson strained his left shoulder when Brian Kelly ripped the ball out of his hands for an interception. Johnson left the game and went into the locker room to get x-rays and an MRI (both turned out to be negative).

0 recs | Comment 12 comments

Comments

Drew vs. Dan

Do you think Drew Stanton will be No.2 on the depth chart after this game or do you think his much better performance was a result of playing against players that probably won’t make Cincy’s team?

by LVLionfan on Aug 18, 2008 2:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’d like Stanton to come in 2nd in the next game. That’s really the only way we’ll get a true look at him. If he can limit his scrambling to when he only has to, then I’d say it’s only a matter of time until he becomes the backup. Then again, he has been very inconsistent, so maybe the Cincy game was a fluke.

Check out Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on Aug 18, 2008 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd like to see him play a series or two with the first team.

He could be the starter in a couple years, might as well see what he can do.

When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.
~Ty Cobb

by Jettero2112 on Aug 18, 2008 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very Inconsistent

How has Stanton been very inconsistent. Last time I checked he has only played two games for the lions, both in the preseason and both where he looked pretty decent. Now, I realize he’s been playing against scrubs but to say he’s been very inconsistent when he’s only played twice, that just doesn’t make sense to me. He was on injured reserve last year so you can’t hold that against him. Calling him very inconsistent tells me that your stubborn elitist Michigan bias is showing through.

by sparty on Aug 18, 2008 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hardly

If you read any of the reports on him from practice there were very few positive reviews. Granted, it takes time to improve, but that is where the inconsistency comes from.

Check out Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on Aug 18, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Quotes from you about stanton in practice

Kitna ran the first-team offense and Dan Orlovsky ran the second-team. Drew Stanton didn’t get on the field at all until towards the end of practice, but he did look surprisingly good when he did play.
Specifically, Stanton threw a couple TD passes and was hitting his targets. The same sadly can’t be said for Jon Kitna. Although he had a couple TD passes as well, there were moments when I just shook my head as his throws went sailing by in the wrong direction. Dan Orlovsky looked pretty good as well.

Check this out too, from a week ago, from kowalski

<http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2008/08/stanton_making_strides_as_lion.html>

haven’t found anything much else from kowalski but heres this quote too, nothing negative

• Quarterback Drew Stanton had his best throw of camp — a long bomb to receiver Taye Biddle up the left sideline. The pass was a tight spiral and hit Biddle right in stride for the touchdown.

by sparty on Aug 18, 2008 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

heres some more

from kowalski

Sherwood: Do you feel that Stanton will make it as a NFL quarterback?

Tom Kowalski: A lot of people think I’m really down on Stanton because I keep saying he doesn’t look sharp in practice and is well behind Dan Orlovsky in the battle for the backup spot. I’m actually eager to see Stanton in preseason games because I think he’s one of those guys who will always look better in games than in practice. I think it’s way too soon to write him off, but he’s got to show a little sizzle when he gets in those preseason games.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2008/05/scouting_report_drew_stanton_1.html

check this out as well, shows that they didn’t even draft him to drop jaws in practice

show me some negative reports, I haven’t foud any

by sparty on Aug 18, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A coulpe weeks ago when Karsch and Anderson...

…went to a practice they devoted a good hour of their show to how bad Stanton looked. Like I said, it takes time to improve and it looks like he has. That being said, for the first few weeks of camp the reports varied greatly depending on the day. That’s what I meant by my comment. Some days he sounded like a great QB and others he was not worthy of being in the NFL. Hopefully the former is what we hear more of, and with the improvement he has made it appears that we will.

Check out Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on Aug 18, 2008 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahh yes

I’ll take anything I hear from Karsch and Anderson with a grain of salt. There not exactly educated observers if you ask me. Also, for a guy that has an 1130am radio ad on your page, doesn’t make sense that you should be listening to 97.1….

by sparty on Aug 18, 2008 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lol

Yeah, because I have an ad for someone, that means I can’t listen to anyone else.

I agree that Karsch and Anderson aren’t NFL scouts or anything like that, but they were pretty set that Stanton looked bad on that day. On the flipside, the one time I was able to watch a practice I thought Stanton played pretty well. Obviously it would be nice if we got a specific report on Stanton every day, but what I meant by inconsistent is that some days we would hear great things about him and other days it’s be the complete opposite.

Check out Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on Aug 18, 2008 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs