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.

Kickers are People Too

When a team doesn't have the start they were hoping for to start out the season, they can always turn to divisional games to dig themselves out of a hole. The Lions found themselves in this position with a 1-3 record going into a home game against the rival Green Bay Packers. For years Packers have dominated in the series against Detroit. On many occasions, when it looked like Lions were going to come out with a dub, Aaron Rodgers would throw a crazy Hail Mary TD pass, or a long field goal kick, But this week, the result was different. Early game Detroit was moving the ball, and I'll admit, getting lucky. On the opening drive quarterback Mathew Stafford threw a long TD pass to Marvin Jones Jr before getting a holding call that brought the play back. Due to that they were forced to punt, and the luck started to set in. On the punt, a Packers player accidentally touched the ball, therefore making the ball live and giving possession to whoever gets it. Detroit recovers and gets the ball on about the 1 yard line. After only one play they were able to move those ten yard to make the score 7-0. This series of plays shows how the rest of the game went. Green Bay has always been known for being one of the better teams in the league. They very rarely come out and miss opportunities to score points, but that's exactly what they did this week. Lions defence was all over Rodgers, forcing him to get rid of the ball quickly or even taking the sack. Lions were also able to strip sack Rodgers not once but twice. On top of this Detroit was moving the ball on offence, making moves and scoring. Ultimately, the 3 turnovers by Green Bay isn't what lead to their loss, it was the missed field goals. Packers kicker, Mason Crosby lined up for 5 field goals and 1 extra point, but missed the point after as well as 4 of the 5 field goals. He finally made the only field goal of the game late in the game after the game was already out of reach.

 The NFL is a harsh place for kickers. Many easily can lose their jobs for missing one field goal because it may have been a big moment or chance to win the game. If Crosby would have been able to make all of his field goal kicks, the packers would have had the lead, assuming the Lions wouldn't have changed their play style with a closer game. I feel that many kickers in this league can easily be unappreciated because of the fact that their only job is to kick it through the uprights. They are expected to make those kicks consistently on a  weekly basis which is not easy to do. Detroit went through struggles with kickers after Jason Hanson retired. Hanson, who was one of the better kickers in the league, left Detroit with no one to immediately take his place. After a hand full of kickers who struggled, Lions finally sign Matt Prater, who has been able to hit crazy long field goals and isn't afraid to nail one to win the game.

 Overall this weeks win was big for Detroit, especially being against a division rival. Next week Lions have a bye week and will have time to practice get healed for the back stretch of the season.

Another "L" for the Collection

This past week Detroit found themselves in a must win decision against the Dallas Cowboys. Both of these teams cam into the week with a 1-2 record and each had their own batch of troubles. Before this week, the cowboys passing offence had struggled. They were ranked 31 of 32 teams in passing yards per game over the first three games of the season.Detroit also had problems going into this game, but theirs seemed less prevalent and I felt that we were the better team. The game stayed close the entire time, both teams taking comfortable leads at one point. At halftime Dallas held at 13 to 10 lead. For the first time this season, Lions had a 1 o'clock game on Sunday afternoon. My football season routine was finally able to be put into action after 3 weeks of different timed games. My grandpa came over after church and him along with my dad watched the game, especially excited as half time came to an end. Second half started and Dallas came out hot. Zeke Elliot, who already had been having a very good game, decided to completely go off. He was running seamlessly through the defence line for an easy ten yards on almost every attempt. He was also making plays as a receiver making giant gains. Despite Dallas' strong performance, Detroit found a way to not let the game slip from them. They kept the game close and continued to score. Late in the game, the Lions had an opportunity to take the lead and win the game. Down 6, the Lions march down the field while running the clock fairly low to score a touchdown pass to Golden Tate. When Tate received the ball and had the lane open to run into the end zone, he hold the ball out toward the defender taunting him.

If you have seen enough Lions games, you'd know, Tate likes to have fun when he scores, weather it doing a funny or cool celebration after, or waving a finger to the defender telling him not to try, hes not fast enough to catch him. After the TD, and made extra point, Lions had the lead 24-23 with a little more than 2 minutes to play. All Detroit had to do was play solid defence and mainly keep the ball away from Elliot. First few plays, our defence looks good, keeping them to minimal gains. Suddenly one of our defensive linemen strips the ball from Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott and the ball rolls backwards. All Detroit had to do was grab the ball before anyone else and the game would be over. Sadly that didn't happen and the Cowboys recovered. Next play Dallas made a huge reception to none other than Zeke Elliot for a huge gain. After the fumble the offence went crazy, keeping the ball moving up the field. Finally with only 3 seconds on the clock, Dallas lines up for a field goal. If they make it they win, if they miss they lose. Of course, due to the shortness of the kick it went through and once again the Lions lose 24-26. Things are beginning to get frustrating now being 1-3, especially with the fact that two of the losses were very winnable games. Looking ahead though, Lions play Green Bay nest week, their first divisional game. If the Lions can win most of those divisional games this year, they can be put in a solid position to still win the play offs. Check out next weeks blog to see if Lions can start a turn around by beating the Packers or not.