| 10 September 2009
Time for another Lions Congregation roundtable, where Lions bloggers and media members answer questions posed by Reverend Spielman of The Church of Schwartz.
This latest roundtable covers a little bit of everything, from waiver wire pickups, to predicting Sunday's score.
1. What are your thoughts on the Lions waiver wire finds thus far?
Coming off a 0-16 season, another team’s trash can be the Lions’ treasure. At the very least, another team’s trash can be the Lions’ depth. But you can’t expect miracles, and the the players Detroit picked up were waived for a reason. Sure, there’s the occasional extenuating circumstance (contract, injury, attitude), but in the case of the Lions' pickups, they were available because they just weren’t good enough.
I really don’t expect any of the players picked up this week to contribute much, save for one. The only player with chance to immediately make an impact is return man Yamon Figurs. The Lions finally have a return man who is being asked to do more than just not put the ball on the turf. Looking back at the return game during the Marinelli era, we saw ham handed stiffs doing little more than hoping to make a fair catch. Figurs, an explosive returner in the past, looks like an All-Pro in comparison.
2. What's the most important matchup the Lions need to win on Sunday?
Matthew Stafford vs. rookie nerves, as this season is all about Stafford and his maturation as an NFL quarterback.
Stafford was selected as the starting QB by Jim Schwartz for two reasons. His bazooka-like arm, and his ability to use that bazooka-like arm to throw downfield and take advantage of the best player on the Superdome turf, Calvin Johnson.
As polished a rookie he may be, as strong an arm he may have, Stafford is still an early draft entry making his first NFL start at 21 years old. I doubt he’ll be shaking in his cleats, but you know the butterflies will be churning in Stafford’s stomach. The Saints’ defenders have already called the 1st overall draft pick “fresh meat.”
Stafford will need to control his emotions, especially after he makes his first mistake…and he will make mistakes. The calmer he is, the better off the Lions will be. If he lets nerves get the better of him, if he panics, or tries to do too much, hoping to make every play a big one, Stafford truly will be “fresh meat” to the Saints defense.
If Stafford can conquer his nerves, the talent is there to make good things happen.
3. What's your predicted score for New Orleans-Detroit?
It should closest thing to an offensive shootout we’ve seen from the Lions in quite some time. I do expect Matthew Stafford to turn the ball over at least once. Thanks to his aggressiveness in throwing the ball downfield, Stafford is bound to be suckered into making rookie mistakes. Despite the occasional Stafford turnover, Detroit will score points.
But let’s not forget the Lions can’t stop a soul. They definitely can’t stop a team with a good QB, and New Orleans’ Drew Brees is a very good QB. (By the way, if you have any Saints on your fantasy team, START THEM ALL!)
Make it 18 losses in a row, and 1 win out of the last 24.
New Orleans Saints 38 – Detroit Lions 24.
To see the what the rest of the Lions blogosphere has to say, you know where to go. The Church of Schwartz.
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