Clawing To Respectability - krulmichael's Detroit Lions

[krulmichael]

Week 3 Recap

Brady Out For The Season


Brady helped off the field after re-injuring left leg

Foxborough, Massachusetts (AP) - A day after the Patriots overcome an AFC East division rival Bills by 1 point (20-19), you'd swear Patriots fans felt like they just lost the Superbowl...and they may have. Future Hall of Famer QB Tom Brady was helped off the field in yesterdays game in a similar fashion that he was in 2008 at Kansas City. MRI's were taken today and Brady has completely torn his left achilles.

In 2008 Brady had torn his left ACL in the season opener against the Chiefs and fast forward to 2011, 3 games into the season his left achilles is now torn. Earlier today in a press conference New England Head Coach Bill Belichick stated, "We received the MRI results this morning and Tom (Brady) has a torn achilles. He'll probably be placed on IR within the next day or so after we get some second opinions, that's all we know at this point."

When asked who the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season would be, Belichick simply said, "Ryan (Mallett) will be the starting quarterback at Oakland next week and we'll go from there."

The rookie from Arkansas (interesting to note he did play at the University of Michigan his freshman season before transferring the following season) was selected in the 3rd round this past NFL Draft and actually finished the Bills game in great fashion scoring all 3 of the Patriots touchdowns, going 13/23 for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Scores

Patriots 20 at Bills 19
Giants 40 at Eagles 35
Jaguars 27 at Panthers 17
49ers 3 at Bengals 23
Texans 13 at Saints 30
Dolphins 27 at Browns 17
Broncos 26 at Titans 21
Chiefs 20 at Chargers 14 - OVERTIME
Ravens 10 at Rams 13
Jets 20 at Raiders 21
Packers 29 at Bears 39
Falcons 29 at Buccaneers 23
Cardinals 8 at Seahawks 31
Steelers 21 at Colts 10
Redskins 15 at Cowboys 29


Players Of The Week

Offense:



HB#44 Ahmad Bradshaw (4 Year Pro) - 23 Carries, 151 Yards, 3 Touchdowns, 6.5 AVG, 1 Reception, 9 Yards, 2 YAC

Defense:



DT#99 Corey Williams (7 Year Pro) - 5 TAK, 4 TFL, 4 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 Safety

Injury Report



Roberto Garza (C) - Broken Fibula (IR)



Andre Smith (OT) - Dislocated Hip (7 Weeks)



Shaun Phillips (OLB) - Fractured Shoulder Blade (IR)



Philip Wheeler (OLB) - Partial ACL Tear (3 Weeks)
Gary Brackett (MLB) - Broken Collarbone (6 Weeks)
Ryan Diem (OG) - Dislocated Hip (5 Weeks)
Jamie Stark (OG) - Complete Achilles Tear (IR)



Koa Misi (OLB) - Fractured Elbow (IR)



Tom Brady (QB) - Complete Achilles Tear (IR)



Marques Colston (WR) - Partial ACL Tear (10 Weeks)

Transactions

None to note.

[krulmichael]

Week 4 - Game Preview

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011, 1:00 PM (EST)
National Broadcast

Berman's Pick



Dallas Cowboys



Team Stats

Points Per Game: 32.3 (1st)
Total Offense: 1157 (1st)
Rush Offense: 507 (1st)
Pass Offense: 650 (15th)
Total Defense: 896 (13th)
Rush Defense: 346 (25th)
Pass Defense: 550 (10th)
Turnover Diff: +5 (T-2nd)

Key Player

QB#9 Matthew Stafford (2 Year Pro) - 86 Overall - 85.5 QB Rating, 58/106, 762 Yards, 5 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions, 54% Completion, 7.1 AVG Per Attempt, 254.0 AVG Per Game, 2 Fumbles

What To Watch For

The electrifying offense everyone thought we'd see from Detroit we still are seeing, but not from their passing game, it's their rushing attack headed by Jahvid Best that's winning them football games (did you know they're 1st in the league in rushing after 3 games?). Although facing an exceptional offense in Dallas, look for the Lions passing attack play the biggest role in keeping them in the game.

Injuries

Mikel Leshoure (HB) - Complete Achilles Tear (IR)
Johnny Culbreath (OT) - Complete Achilles Tear (IR)



Team Stats

Points Per Game: 26.6 (4th)
Total Offense: 1053 (4th)
Rush Offense: 302 (15th)
Pass Offense: 751 (6th)
Total Defense: 792 (6th)
Rush Defense: 287 (15th)
Pass Defense: 505 (7th)
Turnover Diff: +2 (T-4th)

Key Player

QB#7 Tony Romo (8 Year Pro) - 88 Overall - 98.8 QB Rating, 77/119, 784 Yards, 8 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions, 64% Completion, 6.5 AVG Per Attempt, 261.3 AVG Per Game

What To Watch For

Tony Romo has been lights out 3 games into the season (as you can see from the stats above), but he hasn't faced the Lions front 7 thus far this year, a defense that's just terrorized quarterbacks in every game as Detroit leads the league in sacks with 20 (you read that right...that's 8 sacks ahead of the Vikes/Bucs!) in 3 games! That's an average of almost 7 sacks a game! Romo needs to be on his top form and make quick throws to keep his offense out of the turnover margin.

Injuries

Anthony Spencer (OLB) - Herniated Disk (2 Weeks)
Raymond Radway (WR) - Complete ACL Tear (IR)

[krulmichael]

Week 4 - Game Report

Detroit Lions (3-1) at Dallas Cowboys (4-0)

1st Half Big Plays Lead To Dramatic Finish

Tony Romo may have had 3 picks, but he led his team to his 10th 4th quarter comeback victory

Detroit, MI (AP) - Two undefeated teams clash in Arlington, Texas as the Cowboys look to wrangle up the surprising 3-0 Detroit Lions on a windy day in Arlington. In what always seems to be a good game when these two teams meet, this game looks to be no different as after 60 minutes, someone is walking out of Cowboys Stadium with their first loss.

38 points combined for both teams in the first half had fans around the country thinking it was going to be a college shootout of two explosive offenses. After the first 30 minutes, both teams defenses stepped up in the second half bringing the combined total to 13 points...all for Dallas.

Kicking off the game was a 78 yard touchdown pass from Stafford to the rookie WR Titus Young and later on in that quarter a 75 yard pass to Rashied Davis led to a quick 14-0 lead for Detroit. Both teams proceeded to trade interceptions with Dallas scoring their first touchdown of the game on a 62 yard pass to their exceptional sophomore WR Dez Bryant to bring them within 7 points at the end of the 1st quarter. After a quick 3 and out by the Lions, Dallas struck again, this time on a sensational 52 yard run by the speedster HB Felix Jones who even showed he had some power breaking a 2-man gangtackle and giving a little stutter step at the 5 to make a Lions defender look silly for the touchdown. All tied up 14-14 Dallas early in the 2nd quarter.

Stafford and co retaliated their next drive with a 5 yard slant to the man they call Megatron, Calvin Johnson who brushed off an arm tackled before having nothing but 86 yards of daylight in front of him for a touchdown. 21-14 Lions.

After all those huge plays, both defenses FINALLY settled in as no more points for the remainder of the half. The start of the 2nd half was all small, tough, hard ball where each offense all of a sudden couldn't rack up any big yaradage. Dallas kept pinning the Lions offense deep in their own territory not allowing anything, while the Cowboys offense kept teasing to score touchdowns, but settling for 2 field goals in the 3rd quarter. 24-20 Lions heading into the 4th quarter.

The 4th quarter consisted of more of the same as the 3rd quarter with both offenses struggling to do anything. Tony Romo ended up throwing 2 more interceptions (giving him 3 total on the game), but the Lions offense couldn't capitalize on those opportunities. The Cowboys got the ball on their own 20 after a touchback punt with 3:30 left in the game and drove down to the Lions 19 yard line before facing a 4th & 7 (after a costly false start). Romo said forget the first down, seeing busted coverage in the secondary and with time to throw launched up a 19 yard touchdown pass to WR Kevin Ogletree in the corner of the endzone as the safety got their a little too late, but still put in a good shot, but to no avail as the touchdown stood. 27-24 Dallas, their first lead of the game with only 1:11 remaining.

Stafford and the Lions offense picked up a quick first down, but then a huge 10 yard sack by Jay Ratliff (his 3rd of the game) got them out of rythym enough to force a 4th and 20 after 2 incompletions. Stafford dropped back, and with more pressure threw it to Rashied Davis who caught the ball but was immediately brought down after 17 yards, just 3 yards short of the first down. Cowboys ball.

Romo and the Boys came out in the victory formation as the Dallas Cowboys move on to 4-0 and Detroit drops their first game of the 2011 season going to 3-1. Exciting game for sure with "D" standing for drama in this one.

Special Notes - Starting FS Louis Delmas went down with dislocated ankle midway through 2nd quarter after having a teammate fall on leg/foot awkwardly. Detroit's offensive line continues to struggle giving up 5 sacks in the game. The Lions run game (1st in the league) was also held to only 53 yards.

Play of the Game

EA Sports: Madden NFL 12 Video Highlight

Box Score
- 14 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 24
- 7 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 27

Player Of The Game


DT#90 Jay Ratliff - 5 TAK, 3 TFL, 3 Sacks

Team Stats

Total Offense: 420
Rushing Yards: 53
Passing Yards: 367
First Downs: 12
PR Yards: 24
KR Yards: 65
Total Yards: 509
Turnovers: 1 (+2)
3rd Down Conversion: 7-17 (41%)
4th Down Conversion: 0-1 (0%)
2-Point Conversion: 0-0 (0%)
Red Zone %: 1-1 (100%)
Red Zone TD: 0
Red Zone FG: 1
Penalties: 4-35
Possession Time: 26:17


Total Offense: 466
Rushing Yards: 177
Passing Yards: 289
First Downs: 19
PR Yards: 20
KR Yards: 56
Total Yards: 532
Turnovers: 3 (-2)
3rd Down Conversion: 2-11 (18%)
4th Down Conversion: 1-1 (100%)
2-Point Conversion: 0-0 (0%)
Red Zone %: 1-1 (100%)
Red Zone TD: 1
Red Zone FG: 0
Penalties: 5-55
Possession Time: 25:43


Player Stats

QB#9 Matthew Stafford - 106.5 QB Rating, 24/41, 408 Yds, 3 TD, 1 INT, 1 ATT, 10 Yds
HB#44 Jahvid Best - 12 ATT, 32 Yds, 2.6 AVG, 4 REC, 46 Yds, 11.5 AVG, 48 YAC
WR#81 Calvin Johnson - 6 REC, 139 Yds, 1 TD, 23.1 AVG, 93 YAC
WR#16 Titus Young - 4 REC, 94 Yds, 1 TD, 23.5 AVG, 56 YAC
WR#82 Rashied Davis - 4 REC, 99 Yds, 1 TD, 24.7 AVG, 64 YAC
FS#29 John Wendling - 4 TAK, 1 INT
CB#23 Chris Houston - 5 TAK, 1 INT, 1 DEF
OLB#54 DeAndre Levy - 9 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 DEF
DE#93 Kyle Vanden Bosch - 2 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
K#4 Jason Hanson - 1/1 FG, 3/3 XP, 33 Long


QB#9 Tony Romo - 63.9 QB Rating, 22/40, 294 Yds, 2 TD, 3 INT, 1 ATT, -2 Yds,
HB#28 Felix Jones - 17 ATT, 148 Yds, 1 TD, 8.7 AVG, 2 REC, 26 Yds, 33 YAC
WR#85 Kevin Ogletree - 3 REC, 36 Yds, 1 TD, 12.0 AVG, 2 YAC
WR#88 Dez Bryant - 2 REC, 82 Yds, 1 TD, 70 YAC
DT#90 Jay Ratliff - 5 TAK, 3 TFL, 3 Sacks
DE#99 Kenyon Coleman] - 8 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
OLB#57 Victor Butler - 6 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 DEF
CB#41 Terence Newman - 7 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 DEF
K#5 Dan Bailey - 2/2 FG, 3/3 XP, 44 Long

[Jmiles]

Tough loss. Just caught a glimpse, ended up reading it all. Very cool