The Detroit Lions 2010 In Review

Before the season began, I looked at the Detroit Lions and decided they are still a very flawed team.  The linebackers looked suspect, and the secondary looked even worse.  But I couldn't help but to have some optimism going into the new season.  We had Stafford healthy again.  There were some promising new pieces added to the team.  But I wanted to keep my expectations reasonable.

I knew the Lions were not on a fast track to becoming a contender.  When Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz got the job, they were clear that they were taking a slower path toward turning around the Lions.  They were very clear that they had a big job ahead of them, having taken over the worst team in NFL history.  They were also clear that patience would allow them to build a more consistent team.  They wanted to compete every year instead of having up and down results as other shooting stars like Miami and Atlanta had done.

Understanding the philosophy of Mayhew and Schwartz, I decided that it would be reasonable to give the Lions one more season before expecting them to compete for the playoffs.  So when I looked at the gap between the two wins of 2009, and the ten wins required to compete for the playoffs, it seemed that the Lions needed to win five or six games in 2010 to stay on track for making the playoffs in the 2011 season.

Now that we have seen the results of 2010, we can decide how the Lions performed.  As you would expect with any team, there was some good and some bad.  But the real measure for this season is whether the Lions met expectations.

It's All Good!

There were a lot of positive things to take from the 2010 season.  A whole lot.  The Lions met the expectations that I placed on them by reaching the five to six win plateau that was required in order to stay on track to compete for the playoffs in 2011.  No, five or six wins is not great.  But it is what we should have expected.  So meeting expectations is not a negative even if the expectations were not high.

You cannot say enough good about Ndamukong Suh.  I was one of the people that thought his contract was way too big before the season.  On principle, I still think his salary is too high.  I think most professional athletes are grossly overpaid.  But Suh did everything possible to earn his contract.  The "House of Spears"  poked some big holes through NFL offensive lines in 2010 and has a Pro Bowl start for his efforts.  Suh should also be the runaway Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In truth, the entire defensive line was excellent this season.  They put some real fear into opposing quarterbacks and helped to cover for a deficient back seven on defense.  The acquisition of Kyle Vanden Bosch added some attitude to the defensive line.  The young players learned from him and kept the motor running even after KVB went down to injury.

Despite a late start, Deandre Levy looked pretty good at middle linebacker.  He solidified his status as a relative steal in the NFL draft.  Levy should be good in the middle for many years, or the Lions can move him outside if they find another guy to play the middle.

Louis Delmas had another very good season.  He was steady and made plays.  If the Lions can get him more help in the secondary he can really be turned loose to create havoc in the opposing offense.

There were signs of promise from some other players on defense.  Chris Houston, Aaron Berry, Alphonso Smith, Bobby Carpenter, Ashlee Palmer, and a few others all showed that they can fill a role that helps the Lions win.  I can't say they are all starters, but some of them will be.  Others will end up being backups and provide depth.

Jahvid Best displayed early flashes of becoming a game breaking player.  Though injury limited his effectiveness, Best looks like the real deal.  He led all rookies in overall yardage gained going into the final week of the season.  He has an outside chance of becoming Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The Lions offensive line showed us they really can pass block.  The Lions finished in the top six in the NFL in sacks allowed, quarterback hits allowed, and sacks per passing attempt.  Maybe now the fans will finally stop screaming about how much Jeff Backus sucks and concentrate on bigger problems with the Lions.  Rob Sims showed he is a solid all around left guard.

Calvin Johnson was a beast.  He performed at a consistently high level and generally improved as the year went on.  CJ made opposing defenses pay this season even when he was double covered.  That is the sign of a truly dominant receiver and Megatron has his first Pro Bowl to show for it.

Nate Burleson was a very effective #2 receiver alongside Calvin Johnson.  He was able to repeatedly step in and make teams pay for shifting coverage to CJ and not respecting him.  I expect that this will be even more pronounced next season now that they have had a season together and have developed some chemistry.

Brandon Pettigrew answered his critics this season.  He was the third best tight end in the NFL.  He an all-around tight end that can both block and catch passes.  He has enough speed to stretch the field a bit.  He can run well after a catch.  He broke Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders' team record for catches by a tight end in a season.  If that wasn't enough to convince you that he was a good draft pick then you aren't paying attention.

Special teams showed us they can be special again.  The Lions struck gold when they picked up Stefan Logan from waivers.  He was the best all-around return man in the NFL last season.  You can find a few guys that returned kickoffs better.  You can find a few guys that returned punts better.  But you won't find anybody that did both as well as Logan.  The coverage teams were also much improved and created some bog plays.  Dave Raynor showed he is a potential replacement for Jason Hanson if he decides to hang up the cleats.

Well, Maybe Not ALL Good

Despite all the positives the Lions showed, there were some significant negatives to be seen this season.  You can't expect an entire season to go by without some negatives so we shouldn't dwell on these like they are the harbinger of doom.  But these are things the Lions need to address in the off-season and into next season.

The linebacker play was spotty at best.  Although Levy was good, other players were not.  Julian Peterson was a non factor and for an eight million dollar salary, that is criminal.  In fact Peterson was actually a negative factor for the season since his mistakes were often significant factors toward losses.  Thankfully the Lions have already solved the Peterson problem.  They have also parted ways with Jordan Dizon it seems.  Now that they have gotten rid of the baggage, the Lions need to find at least two more starting caliber linebackers. 

Bobby Carpenter may prove to be one of the answers but he has some steps to take before that can be decided.  Carpenter has been good in pass coverage but he must be stronger against the run and at the point of attack.

The secondary has been a revolving door this season because of injuries and sloppy play.  While Chris Houston was acceptable as a shutdown cornerback, I am not convinced he can keep it up.  His past history seems to indicate he may be one of those guys that plays big on contract years and not so big the rest of the time.  The only other certain starter in the secondary at this point is Louis Delmas.  So the Lions have some work to do in order to solidify the secondary.

The offensive line was good at pass blocking, but equally bad at run blocking.  The problems in run blocking were mainly in the center and right side of the line.  You may have noticed that most of the big runs for the Lions were over the left side this season.  You can narrow down the run blocking problems to the center and right guard positions. 

Many fans want a big beast of a running back for next season, but I think the Lions problems with running are more about blocking than they are about running backs.  I won't complain if the Lions get a big beast of a running back.  But they need to address the blocking even more.

Dominic Raiola is a fiery player and popular among the players, but he got his backside run over repeatedly on run blocking this year.  I repeatedly watched him get pushed into the backfield where our running back got stuffed. 

Stephen Peterman had a bum ankle for most of the season and that severely hampered his ability to drive block effectively.  Since Peterman has been solid in the past I can buy that.  But Peterman really needs to stay healthy for once.

Now that we are on the subject of injuries, that is one of the biggest single problems with the Lions.  This team cannot seem to stay healthy.  The poster boy for injury is Matthew Stafford.  While I am able to understand that his injuries might be a fluke, he really needs to stay on the field.  You can say the same across much of the roster.  Stafford, Peterman, Deandre Levy, Jahvid Best, Kevin Smith, Shaun Hill, Drew Stanton, Gosder Cherilus, Aaron Berry, Zack Follet, Jason Hanson, Alphonso Smith, Kyle VandenBosch, Derrick Williams, and a host of others, suffered significant injuries this season.  That is just too much for a team to be expected to overcome every year.  The Lions need to take a good look at the training program, the facilities, the equipment, at everything, in order to cut down injuries.

Mistakes cost the Lions big time this season.  I can't say that some mistakes were not expected.  The Lions are a very young roster.  Young players (and coaches) make mistakes as they learn.  But some mistakes are not so excusable.  We had veterans that were getting personal fouls for hitting people out of bounds.  We had repeated offside and encroachment penalties when we were in critical game situations.  Many of those were from veterans too.

It is absolutely critical for the veterans on a team to set a good example for the younger players.  They need to step up and play with discipline and smarts.  They need to show the young pups how it is done.  Thankfully, this was much better later in the season.  It is not a coincidence that the Lions started winning when they cut down on the mistakes.  The Lions need to keep control of this from the start next season.  The young players will make enough mistakes already from learning how to play in the NFL.  The Lions are not so good that they can also make dumb mental mistakes like penalties and still win.

OK, Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

The Lions have definitely made progress in 2010.  They have learned to win and put some bad streaks behind them.  The young players are getting better and making fewer mistakes.  The coaches are learning too.

The progress that the Lions could have made this season was severely limited by injuries and mistakes.  It is always frustrating when you see a team that you feel can do more and then doesn't.  You sometimes dwell on what could have been and lose sight of the other positives.

In order to keep my perspective I always go back to what I expected at the beginning of the season.  The Lions got six wins to accomplish what I expected there.  The team improved greatly at several positions.  I did not see the Lions take a step back at any position, except for maybe at linebackers.  But the linebackers weren't all that great in 2009 either.  So overall the direction has been mostly positive.  For that. I go into next season with confidence that the Lions will keep going forward in 2011.