| 08 September 2010
I originally thought Sunday's season opener with the Chicago Bears was a winnable game for the Lions. Really!
Despite the Lions' recent history, all bad, it's not exactly a courageous prediction. The Bears aren’t a good team. Some experts are even picking the Bears to finish last in the NFC North. Even with the Lions having a questionable, at best, defensive back seven, the fact Jay Cutler doesn't know where the ball is going much of the time should be enough to keep Detroit in the game...as long as some of their best defensive players are on the field, rather than the sidelines.
About that on the sidelines thing...
Both (Louis) Delmas and (Deandre) Levy were held out of practice today. Delmas practiced on Monday and the players had the day off on Tuesday. Levy suffered his injury in the third preseason game and hasn't practiced since.
The Lions NEED Delmas and Levy on the field. I can't envision a road victory without their playing, and playing well.
So much for "winnable".
Winnable, Hell. I just hope the Lions can get their legitimately promising offense on the field with that damned, depth lacking, defense not being able to get off it.
Anyone else getting the feeling these injuries are worse than anyone is letting on? I have this sinking feeling Delmas, as PFT warned during training camp, isn't going to make through the season with his gimpy groin. I'm almost as concerned for Levy. From personal experience, I know how long back injuries can linger, and how truly painful they can be.
Bad as that news is on the defensive side of the ball, the injury news is even better on offense...and by better, I mean not good.
It appears to be a given Kevin Smith will be scratched this Sunday.
The News' Chris McCoskey has Jim Schwartz's not at all encouraging take on Smith:
"He's had a great rehab and his knee is strong," Schwartz said. "He hasn't had any unexpected problems as far as being sore or anything like that. He just needs to be -- I don't want to say at full speed -- but he just needs to be back and when he is, he will be right back in there."
Let's read between the lines, shall we? Here's what Schwartz is really saying:
In most cases, it takes a full year to recover from an ACL tear and the resulting surgery. Smith rushed his rehab in a futile attempt to be ready for training camp. Truthfully, he shouldn't have played in any exhibitions. Unfortunately, we didn't hold Smith back, and now we're paying the price. Let's hope Jahvid Best can carry most of the rushing load...or we're in for a big bag of hurt.
Beatable though the Bears appear to be, a win may be asking for too much from a team without it's best veteran running back (that's best "veteran", not best, period), while trying to find 11 healthy defenders.
Injuries or not, if something is to be salvaged from a killer early schedule, Sunday should be considered a must-win game. If the Lions don’t beat the Bears, they could very easily start the season 0-4...their season blown to Hell in the first month.
After playing the Bears, the Lions' next three games are against 2009 playoff teams; the Eagles, Vikings, and Packers, with the Eagles being only one of two home games before the bye. The Lions should be a much improved team (and I believe they are, especially on offense), but could easily be 1-5 or 0-6 by the time they reach their week seven bye.
On paper, there's just two winnable games pre-bye week, the opener with the Bears and week five, at home playing the Rams. Remember, that's on paper. Things change quickly in the NFL...and for the Lions' sake, I hope they do.
Regardless, the NFL did the Lions absolutely no favors when it came to scheduling. The football Gods are doing the Lions even less of a favor when it comes to injuries.
Through no fault of their own, before the season has even started, the Lions find themselves in a deep hole. We may have to wait till the second half of the season before the Lions begin to turn the proverbial corner, and we see improvement where it really matters...on the scoreboard.
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