reflection

This semester while writing these blogs I learned a lot about what really make writing fun. I always hated to do any sort of writing, assignment or not. I always pictured it as work and didn't think about what I could do to make it enjoyable. When we were able to pick our topic I decided to go with the Detroit Lions, a sports team I knew a lot about and enjoyed talking about. I was surprised at how much I was able to enjoy writing about the Lions each week, recapping the games and giving previews for upcoming ones. I learned a lot about myself too in this experience. I learned that I actually don't hate writing as much as I thought. Writing this blog also increased my knowledge of the NFL as a whole. I started paying more attention to stats and looking at who was contributing most for both the Lions and their opponents. This blog also gave me the freedom to write in more of a way that I talk in real life instead of putting on a fake scholarly sound. Also having the idea that anyone around the world has the ability to read my stuff made me want to do a better job and make it enjoyable and not hard to read. Despite being very enjoyable to write at first, I dad have some blogs I deeply dreaded to write. Times when the Lions lost a big game, or most of all when they traded Golden Tate. Tate had been my favorite player since Calvin Johnson retired and seeing him get traded upset me a bit, especially since we didn't get much in return. Writing the blog a few days later was a pain, as I didn't really want to think about the Lions and the fact that they were giving up on the season. That being said, I had some fun blogs to write as well. The blog after beating the patriots was fun for me. We had just come off the biggest win of the year and had our first 100 yard rusher in years. That blog I would have been able to write a five page essay on almost. Overall this assignment was one of the best writing assignments I've ever done and I learned a lot about me and my writing skills. It was fun to keep up this blog, but I am sorry (kinda) to say this is the last blog, and I am announcing my retirement from the blogging world. If your curious what happens to the Lions season for the next 3-4 weeks just google it.

Thanksgiving Football

Thanksgiving is a fun time in my house hold. Spending time with family, eating good food. But my favorite part of the Holiday is watching Football. We always go to my grandmas for Thanksgiving and eat a turkey lunch at around noon. After we gorge with food we move, or my grandpa calls it rolls, to the living room to turn on the Lions game. Thanksgiving game is always different than every other week. Instead of watching the game with my dad and I, I get to watch it and cheer with my grandparents and uncles. The Lions game of course finds a lot of hype around it. People call it the Detroit Superbowl because its the biggest game of the year for Detroit due to the fact they cant get to the real Superbowl. After watching the Lions, who usually lose, we watch the Dallas game which is always right after. This game is always more of a background noise as we do more talking and desert eating than paying attention to the game. We usually head home around 6, while the Dallas game is in the 3rd quarter. Then we get home, watch Thursday night football, and prepare to not eat again for another few days to recover. Thanksgiving truly is a great holiday and is ranked as one of my favorites. Then when Sunday came around, since Lions didn't play, I had no game to watch and be too interested in. Also the games that were being played on local TV were petty games, good teams playing bad teams or even worse 2 bad teams. There was not many good games that excited me to see. The best game of the week might have to have been Denver Vs Pittsburgh. The game went back and forth and I honestly was just waiting for the time when Pittsburgh would pull away. The only problem was that never happened. The game stayed close, each team scoring back and forth. eventually Denver was up by 7 and Pittsburgh had the ball, 1st and Goal, ready to punch it in and send the game to OT. Big Ben came out and bade a bad throw that got picked off ending the game. An ending that really spoiled the quality of the game for me. Next Sunday leads a nice slate for the NFL though. Lions will have the hardest game of the year, playing the one loss Rams. The Rams have a star young QB in Goff and will look to continue their win streak.

Seasons Over

Lions have officially lost three strait games, which means chances at coming back and making the playoffs are very unlikely. Lions mood really changed after the trade of Golden Tate. The offense started to struggle much more and was missing his productiveness. So far Detroit is looking at getting a top 10 draft pick. They should use this pick and look into a major wide receiver. Only a few short weeks ago I thought that Detroit had one of the best Wide Out duos in the league. Now we are missing a key receiver with the quick YAC abilities that we lost after the trade of Tate. Guys like AJ Brown or  Kelvin Harmon. Adding another big target for Stafford could really improve the offense and take them to the next level. Key injuries have a lot hurt the Lions this year. Injuries to TJ Lang and Ziggy Ansah and Darius Slay had hurt the Defense and Offensive line majorly. TJ Lang had just been put on the IR therefore ending his season. It is very likely that this will mark the end of TJ Lang's career in Detroit. His last few years have been filled with injuries and struggles to stay active. Ansah had also struggled with injuries and hasn't been able to be productive since getting first hurt. As much as I hate seeing Detroit lose, I half want them to almost lose out at least giving them a good draft pick. If they can add a key player out of the draft, It could possibly move them to a playoff level. They also need to get some key additions this off season in free agency. Gaining maybe a cornerback or offense linemen who have been in the league for a wile and are experienced. Stafford has been sacked 16 times over the last two games, with 10 sacks against Minnesota. Lions need to desperately get out of the mediocre ways while Stafford is still young. Stafford is getting older and I cant help but think that Detroit is squandering a good QB and not surrounding him with the needed talent. Overall, Lions need to get out of the middle of the pack and create a team that can get out of the NFC North. The rest of the division is improving with young QB or star QB and Lions are staying put. Lions have I'd say 4 or 5 more years to get a good team around Stafford before it will go back to a full rebuild process.

Lost Cause?

It was a rough week for Detroit fans. Lions suffered a harsh loss to the Minnesota Vikings this past week, losing 24-9.  Lions offensive line, who had been doing a pretty decent job overall this season gave up 10 sacks. Anytime a team sacks your quarterback more times than you get points, your team is destined for the loss. The game was hard to watch. I watched through half time when the score was 17 to 6. After that I couldn't stay and watch the game got so ugly. Once in a while I pulled up the stream on my phone, only to see a big turnover or sack by Minnesota and shut my phone right back off. Overall, Lions are in a tough position. Facing a 3-5 record, and having to play the division leading Chicago Bears twice in their next 3 games. The last game against Chicago will take place at Ford Field In Detroit on Thanksgiving.

This week though, Lions Bears will take place in "Windy City" Chicago. Bears are currently having the best start to the season in years. They have one of the top defenses in the league while keeping a solid offense as well. Lions are to the point where every game is a must win if they want a chance to possibly sneak into the playoffs. Odds of a Detroit playoff appearance is very low unless they can win at least 7 of their last 8 games. The loss of Golden Tate was visible with Stafford having struggles with connecting to his receivers. Theo Riddick lined up a couple of times as a slot receiver, taking the role of Tate, but the targets weren't the same. If the Lions want to turn their season around, a key is the run game on both ends of the ball. On offense its been seen that once the run game begins, the pass game opens up and Lions can find a groove. On defense Lions have an amazing pass defense, but struggle on the run defense. Things have gotten better after acquiring "Snacks" Harrison, and the returning of Ziggy Ansah, but much improvement is still needed. Other news, Lions cut Ameer Abdulah, running back, who started for the team the last few years. After missing the first hand full of games, Kerryon Johnson had taken over as the clear number one guy in the backfield. Lions resign Zach Zenner to a contract as well as a wide receiver to try to help fill the void left by Tate's departure.

Trade Deadline Depression

The NFL trade deadline has come and passed for the 2018-2019 season. I wasn't worried going into this years deadline because the Lions were in a good spot. They weren't in any need to drop any major contracts, and if a trade were to be made, I thought it would be getting rid of a minor player who was under performing. All day I heard rumors of Lions trading Golden Tate, which started to worry me. Ever since Calvin Johnson retirement, Tate instantly became my favorite player. I also truly believed that Tate is a huge key to the offense, and without him we would lose a lot of consistency and leadership. Thinking it wouldn't make sense for a trade like that I thought the rumors weren't true and everything would be fine. That is until I sat in my calculus class and my phone vibrated. I slowly pulled out my phone to see the reason for the buzz. When I looked at my phone I couldn't believe my eyes. the ESPN notification read: Lions trade WR Tate to Eagles. Forgetting about the fact that I'm in class I let out a long, depressing "Noooooo" For the rest of class I continuously ranted to anyone who would listen. "Why only a 3rd round pick" and "Are we really giving up on the season already" were only a few things being said. Things only got worse when I checked Instagram after school. Everything in my feed was about the trade, which did nothing but frustrate me. The worst was when I saw a post from Golden Tate himself asking what number he should wear in Philly. Now, over 24 hours after the trade, from the time I'm writing this, I've begun to mentally accept the trade. I'm still not happy or agree with the decision, but I am still confident in the key pieces still involved in the current roster. After the trade, Kenny Golladay will now be the number two receiver on the depth chart. We were also able to free up 2.2 million dollars of cap space which could be used to bring in a key player next season. I'm also hoping in the back of my mind that Tate, who is a free agent next year, might come back to Detroit. The chance of that happening is very low, but I can hope. This Sunday, Lions play the Minnesota Vikings, a divisional game. This game is a must win for Detroit, and the losing of Tate doesn't help our situation. Either way the Lions have to be ready for what the Vikings will give them.

In The Heat of October

Lions and Dolphins faced off this week, both teams needing a win to stay relevant in the playoff race. The game took place in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium and the game time temperature was 105 degrees. Pregame I wasn't sure how Detroit would play. The Lions have a reputation of not playing very well in extreme conditions and I was worried that this wasn't going to be different, but luckily it was. Dolphins start with the ball and go 3 and out and punt to Detroit. On the first drive Lions march it in for a TD score. All game long Miami struggled to get the ball down the field and make plays. On the other hand, Detroit was hot. The rushing game was the best it had been in years and Stafford was also making the throws he needed to throw.

Lions rookie running back Kerryon Johnson had a crazy game. He had 21 reviving yards and a whopping 158 rushing yards. Before this season Detroit hadn't had a 100 yard rusher since 2013. This season alone Johnson has been able to give out 2, 100+ yard games in only 5 games. The run game will be key to the Lions as the season progresses. Mathew Stafford has already been able to prove himself as a worthy quarterback in the league and is seen as a threat. If the run game can continue to develop Detroit might be a serious contender. Next week the Lions will travel back home to Detroit to take on the Seahawks. Seattle, who is only a few years removed from a Superbowl, is struggling with a depleting team. They have lost many of there better players to trades, free agency, or injury. Despite all the lost players, they still have QB Russel Wilson, who keeps the team a playoff contender. Once again both teams are facing a must win situation this week as both teams will try to avoid going under .500 and will try to propel themselves into the playoff race. Wilson and Stafford are having similar seasons this year. Going into this week I predict the Lions will win the game 28- 17. It would be a different story if the game was played in Seattle. Seattle is known for its "12th man" which is what they call their crowd. Due to the shape of the stadium, it makes it one of the loudest crowds in the country. Home field advantage can have a huge key in a close game, which is why I'm choosing the Lions in Detroit.

Bye Week Comments

Lions have finally reached their bye week. This week is important for the players to try to recover from injuries and rest their sore bodies. They also are given the extra week to practice areas in which the team is struggling. In the Lions case they need players like Ziggy Ansah, Theo Riddick, and TJ Lang to get healthy and back on the field. Lions have been going almost all season without defencive linemen Ziggy Ansah. Getting Ansah back will lead to a lot of needed help rushing the quarterback and stopping the run. Detroit so far has one of the lowest ranking rush defences in the league, and getting a healthy defence will greatly help. Lions are also using this week to use extra time to prepare for the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins, who will be starting Brock Osweiler this week, is coming off of an overtime win against the Chicago Bears last week. From what I saw throughout that game Osweiler played a solid game. He threw for nearly 400 yards and threw 3 touchdowns. Despite the great game, there was still stints of old Osweiler from a season ago with his two picks. He struggled the last few years finding a team that would appreciate and use him. What hurt him majorly was the fact that he signed a major contract with the Texans, then under performed, which lead to the team trying to dump the contract. Before this year he signed with Miami, and with Ryan Tannehill injured he had been getting the start. If he plays like he did against Chicago, the Lions might be in for a tough game. I am hoping to see Osweiler play like he did last year and let our defence run all over him.

The other thing that is nearing at this point of the season is the trade deadline. This time of year rumors are always going crazy about who will trade who. There have been rumors that Detroit should trade receiver Golden Tate because people feel hes at his peek right now. I feel trading him would be a bad move due to the fact that he is a leader on the team and is a core piece in our receiving trio. I do feel on the other hand that we should look to trade Ameer Abdulah. Abdulah, running back, has struggled with injuries throughout the last few years. On top of that, when he is healthy, he isn't capable of putting up number like Johnson, Blount, and Riddick.