is it next sunday yet?

did anyone see that Derek Anderson went 2 of 17 for 23 yds today in their WIN against the Bills? Good Lord. Can you imagine if a Lion’s QB had that kind of day? I think every fan at Ford Field would jump out of the stands and start stoning him (I know that CLE was on the road, but still). How does he stay in the game? I know that they don’t think Quinn is the answer either, but c’mon… how can you stay with Anderson?

BTW… nice write-up as usual, Sean. Clearly, stupid mistakes cost the Lions yet another chance for a nice win. But even so, we were in it till the end and that is once again progress in my book. Simply too much pressure for Culpepper to be successful.

I really thought you were going to send the game into overtime or at least be attempting a 2pt conversion to tie it up. Your team is a lot better than last year, and certainly not a “gimmie” or a “bye”.

The pressure you guys got today was really impressive, but I think the most impressive thing was your team’s composure on third down, specifically 3rd and long. I cursed many times today when you converted on several of these (10 for 19).

Anyway, with a few more tweaks at defense you guys should be a playoff-contender. Best of luck for the rest of the season. Good game.

The Lions did compete even though they lost, I can see improvement comapred to last years team. Without Calvin Johnson they still moved the ball good on 3rd down conversions. Lions are still a work in progress.

We have been pretty consistent…at making mistakes which end up costing us the game. But I’d rather lose 28-20 and give the Steelers a scare, than lose 35-7 and not even look any good at all. We are improving, and that’s all I’m asking from this year.

Culpepper had a sorta up and down game. He showed great mobility and made big plays at times, which is good. He did however look ugly at times, especially with that pick. I was surprised how effectively he could move the ball without CJ, but I thought guys like Northcutt and Williams stepped up in his absence.

Smith had trouble running again, but he did post a few stronger runs, all he needs is some good push up front.

The run defence struggled a bit, but they did keep Mendenhall under 100. A couple of his runs, especially his TD were just too easy.

Pass defence was poor, for the most part. 2 picks (I’m counting King’s) is pretty good, but Ben picked us apart. We did manage 3 sacks but the pressure didn’t seem to be sustained for enough of the game.

Special teams was better, but still needs work. We didn’t give up many long runs and Williams showed potential.

On the whole, not bad…could’ve been much worse, in fact, I expected much worse.

I really thought the Lions were going to get slaughtered. Both teams left ALOT of plays/points on the field. I think moral victories are usually crap, but I’ll take one here.

Why Culpepper isn’t starting.

highlights of the game that pissed me off…

• Dan Fouts is a retard… I swear I was going to throw my remote thru the TV after the 50th time of mentioning the lions not “atleast measure” for the first down, instead of taking the 3.

• Phantom call on Roslisburger… WTF? Weak call. Cohen had been blocked into him and just finished the job by rapping his arms around his legs.

• DAMN IT DANTE!!!…. came from my mouth around 9 times.

• 3 sacks in a row… come on!!

• I hope Stafford is back next week.

the Lions are better … to be that close to almost win even with the mistakes.. truly means we are getting there.. imagine in next years draft when we get “more talent” to make up for these short comings… We are closing the gap! this could have been 44 – 10…

eliminate the mistakes…. more talent… The Lionsof old are almost gone!

I will never understand why some people here, no matter the circumstances, just can not admit that Daunte Culpepper is a solid NFL starting quality QB. Give me a F-ing break!! The guy came in and completed over 62% of his passes (and yeah, he did not throw down field much, BUT HE KEPT US IN THE GAME AGAINST THE DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPS)!! He passed for damn near 300 yards (282) and was hit as he was trying to throw the ball away when he threw the INT! EVERYONE makes mistakes…..how can anybody expect Culpepper to come in and play perfect? Even Peyton Manning makes mistakes! Yes, Daunte also dropped the ball 3 times, but he also recovered all three times…..not to mention the bad exchange on the snap is not all his fault, and he would not have gotten stripped the other two times if someone actually blocked once in awhile! Jesus Christ…..Backus was unbelievably putrid AGAIN! I thought James Harrison was going to do his best Jared Allen against the Packers impersonation there for awhile.

I will add, however, that I agree with Drew…..Daunte does not pose a long term value for the Lions now that we have Matt Stafford. I agree that Stafford is the guy now. I agree that Stafford should start again immediately when he is able (hopefully next week). BUT, I do not agree that Daunte Culpepper did not do a fine damn job of trying to win against the Steelers, I do not agree that he did any worse than Matt Stafford would have done, and I will NEVER agree that he should be perfect or that he does not still have what it takes to be a starter in this league….period.

Does anyone know how serious the injury to Calvin Johnson is? I made a trade for him in my keeper fantasy league…..knowing that he was injured. If he is out for any amount of time, I will just keep him on my bench for next year.

The Lions had a shot at the end thanks to some defensive stops and some better play by the offence.

+ves – overall, the defence played mediocre. That is a big step up from last year. Controlled the Steelers run game [less than ninety yards] and made a few plays [a pick six and three sacks]. On offence, Daunte ran the team efficiently and D. Williams showed some flashes.

-ves – offensive line play…..again. Kevin Smith not running very decisively. And our pass defence is really getting shredded. Three TDs and almost 80% completions. I know I wanted to see major improvement against the run, and I have, but I guess I should be careful what I wish for. As far as the sacks go…..I expected better from Linehan and Daunte. Better play calling and quicker recognition may have reduced the sacks which were taken. Seven sacks plus a grounding and the INT was too much. Seems like the Lions were outcoached by Lebeau.

Overall, I can’t get too upset with performance of the Lions. The Steelers are the Super Bowl champs and they really needed this win. This game showed again that the Lions have to win the turnover battle and play smart, error free ball to win against a significantly superior team.

Culpepper scrambled to his left, had lots of room to throw it away (and like CLF said, a clear running lane to his left)……then he turned back to his right instead of throwing it away. At that point, before his arm ever went back to throw, I knew it was going to be intercepted…….sure enough, it was.

Culpepper did some good and some bad things that game, but I have to seriously question his judgement on that interception play. If Pep wants to reinvent himself as a smart, short-passing QB who doesn’t turn the ball over, he’ll have to do better than this.

Two other things bothered me about Culpepper. Like Simscity and Impulse said, he held the ball way too long, didn’t seem very aware of the rush, and didn’t react well to it. He also seemed indecisive, and usually ended up checking down until later in the game. The other thing that bothered me is Pep’s longer throws later in the game…..his heart didn’t seem in it. It almost seemed like he was being prodded at that point to get the ball downfield. Culpepper seemed to just put it up for grabs a little and let the receiver run under it…..not to the extent of “Danny Rainbow”, but he just didn’t seem to be throwing the ball deep with confidence.

And that may be the crux of my worries. We’ve seen QB’s here before who lacked confidence. Rookies like Joey, vets like Kitna, backups like Dan-O, and everything in between, going back for decades. Right now, it seems like Culpepper lacks confidence in his ability to throw an accurate deep ball. Does he lack confidence in his arm at this stage of his career? If so…..to what degree? Is his arm shot and he’s trying to hide it? Culpepper worked hard over the winter to lose weight, strengthen his legs, and increase his mobility…….but what about his arm? He didn’t seem to be throwing deep with authority. We don’t need a laser…….but his deep throws seemed tentative. Is it mental, is it physical, or a combination of both?

My suspicion is, for whatever reason, Culpepper no longer has the confidence that he can throw an accurate deep ball. Of course, Joey had the same problem from Day 1, and he worked out fine…….oh, wait.

So I’m not sure what we have here in Culpepper. It was an inconsistent, sometimes hesitant, performance from a veteran QB trying to reinvent himself as a safe, steady, smart, conservative veteran. Pretty good overall numbers, but not better than Stafford, and little upside……and way too many question marks in the way he played, especially for a veteran. In fact, maybe even more question marks than before the game. Even on the last drive, before the 3 sacks, I didn’t feel that Culpepper could win it.

One quote keeps coming back to me. After the Lions beat the Redskins, Schwartz and Stafford rode down in the elevator together, and Schwartz said to Stafford, “Don’t you ever get conservative on me.” And yet Culpepper is doing exactly that. I don’t know if it’s because Pep thinks……..
……..that’s what vets should do, or
……..that’s what backups should do, or
……..his old style was too turnover prone, or
……..he needs to differentiate himself from Staff in some way, or
……..it’s a good way to showcase himself for other teams, or
……..his arm is shot, or
……..he lacks confidence in the accuracy of his deep throws now, or
……..he thinks it’s the best way to win, period.

Based on what Schwartz said to Stafford, I get the feeling that Schwartz doesn’t feel that it’s the best way to win, period. Culpepper’s not stupid……he’s gotta know how Schwartz feels on this. So why is Culpepper trying (with inconsistent results) to be so conservative? Why is this leopard trying so hard to change his spots? It would seem to be one or more of the other reasons……but which ones?

As for the WHAT, Al Beaton over at The Wayne Fontes Experience http://waynefontes.com/
(who I read after writing this) echoed how I felt about Culpepper’s decision-making and consistency in that game as a veteran QB:

Speaking of players the Lions can win with, I really do think the Lions can win with Matthew Stafford…in a couple of years. But they can’t win with Daunte Culpepper, and today we saw why.

Detroit needed veteran leadership from Culpepper. Instead, he made silly, stupid mistakes you might expect from a rookie, not an 11 year veteran. His late in the 3rd quarter interception deep in Pittsburgh territory was a screw up worthy of a benching, in my mind.

After you drop the snap, and have 300 pound linemen all up in your grille, he could have tried to run with the ball, throw the SOB into the turf, or even take a dive to the ground, and give Pittsburgh the damn sack, I really don’t care. Do anything but one thing, and that one thing is what Culpepper did…throw the ball up for fucking grabs. He deserved to get picked. It was an idiotic mistake, one you could argue ultimately cost the Lions a shot at winning the game.

One thing I’ve liked about Stafford is he plays aggressively, makes plays, and tries to win, rather than trying not to lose. Like Schwartz says, he takes smart chances. I haven’t seem too many Lions QB’s play like that over the years, if any (maybe Stanton?)…..which leads to another quote from Al Beaton:

As the Lions are playing for 2010 and beyond, if Stafford can’t go next Sunday, wouldn’t it make more sense to see Drew Stanton rather than more of Culpepper? The Lions need to know if Stanton can be effective as a backup. What better time than the present?

I agree.

These parts are mine:

One thing I’ve liked about Stafford is he plays aggressively, makes plays, and tries to win, rather than trying not to lose. Like Schwartz says, he takes smart chances. I haven’t seem too many Lions QB’s play like that over the years, if any (maybe Stanton?)…..which leads to another quote from Al Beaton:

I agree.

Come on guys, Daunte is our back up and overall did a credible job to help get the Lions in a position to possibly steal this game. I think a lot of this overreaction is the way this game ended. Driving to the Steeler 21 with just under two minutes to go, then …..disaster.

My take from this game is that the Lions have one of the best back ups in the league. He could lead this team to a win against lessor opponents, but is not the playmaker that can pull off the big upset. For that we will need Staff………and a healthy Calvin.

Summary of what I just said;

Daunte is a good solid back up QB who played well enough to give us a chance to steal this game. A lot of frustration here is over how the game ended, not with the overall effort.
He could lead this team to beat lessor opponents [than the Steelers] but to pull off the upset we need a QB to make plays, big plays, like Staff.

Any one else notice the beating we’re taking physically ? I know it’s a violent game, however, it seems we’re losing that injury battle big time. How many players will be on that list come Wednesday ? Glad to see the reserves playing good, but, who’s availble behind them ? Getting guys off the street sure is getting old. Be nice to see a healthy team for a change…