Game 1: Lions @ Bucs

Post #1 » by **ajaX82** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 4:47 pm

Let the fun begin gentlemen...the season, and road to the playoffs, begins Sunday!

This one should be fun, as we get a Freeman/Stafford clash. Anyone know if Fairley will play?

TSE · Post #2 » by **TSE** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 5:44 pm

I doubt Fairley would suit up for the first game, but maybe Alphonso Smith will play. He will at least have a better shot than Dan Gronkowski who we traded away for him as he was cut on Saturday. Just wish Mayhew could pull out some more trades like that now.

EDIT: Just saw a quote from Schwartz saying it could be a couple weeks before Alphonso is ready.

Let's guess the inactive list?

My guesses:

Keiland Williams
Drew Stanton
Jacques McClendon
Alphonso Smith
Doug Hogue
Nick Fairley
Rashied Davis or Jason Fox

Post #3 » by **Icness** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 7:04 pm

Better to catch Tampa now before their young DL gets healthy and learns to play together.

Last year the Lions could not cover Mike Williams and that figures to be a problem again. Gotta bring the heat on Freeman early and often.

Stafford should find a lot of room across the middle. Tampa starts a rookie MLB and some underwhelming other LBs and safeties. Could be a real big day for Pettigrew and Burleson. I also like the screen and draw game to Best.

TSE · Post #4 » by **TSE** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 7:40 pm

This game could be for the wild card berth!

kellmellus50 · Post #5 » by **kellmellus50** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 9:07 pm

T.B. is just a speed bump for the lions on the way to the superbowl.

Blkbrd671 · Post #6 » by **Blkbrd671** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 11:28 pm

kellmellus50 wrote:T.B. is just a speed bump for the lions on the way to the superbowl.

we're driving a low rider

kellmellus50 · Post #7 » by **kellmellus50** » Mon Sep 5, 2011 11:53 pm

Blkbrd671 wrote:
kellmellus50 wrote:T.B. is just a speed bump for the lions on the way to the superbowl.

we're driving a low rider

LOL

Lionlifer · Post #8 » by **Lionlifer** » Tue Sep 6, 2011 3:23 pm

I'm looking forward to the QB battle here, and to see if Freeman can carry the momentum from last season, and if Stafford can carry the momentum from the preseason.

Its a good thing Freeman is mobile, cause he's going to be running for his life. Here are my 5 predictions for the game:

1) Suh gets flagged for being too much of a physical beast, League fines him for hitting too hard (being dirty)
2) CJ proves that Chris Carter was very very wrong about that whole single coverage thing.
3) The announcers mention Staffords injury history after evey hit, he plays the whole game
4) That an inordinate amount of time will be wasted reviewing every touchdown
5) The the Lions stroll out of TB with a W

motorcity15 · Post #9 » by **motorcity15** » Wed Sep 7, 2011 7:38 pm

^ Hell yes to # 2 and 5

Man im excited about this game. We seriously need this W against TB as we're both wild card contenders. I can't wait to see Freeman vs. Stafford should be good.

My prediction - Lions 24 Bucs 17. Lions start out strong!!

motorcity15 · Post #10 » by **motorcity15** » Wed Sep 7, 2011 8:39 pm

Official injury report for both teams.

http://www.detroitlions.com/team/custom-injury-report.html

Lionlifer · Post #11 » by **Lionlifer** » Thu Sep 8, 2011 10:17 pm

According to ESPN both teams are playoff contenders, and Schlereth picked the Lions to win.

I must say, I love the hype we are getting, now we just need to live up to it.

TSE · Post #12 » by **TSE** » Fri Sep 9, 2011 1:07 am

motorcity15 wrote:^ Hell yes to # 2 and 5

Man im excited about this game. We seriously need this W against TB as we're both wild card contenders. I can't wait to see Freeman vs. Stafford should be good.

My prediction - Lions 24 Bucs 17. Lions start out strong!!

You could make an argument that it's our most important game of the season. If you felt the division was too unlikely to win with GB being in good shape with depth after winning the SB last season, then our division games might not be as important as the key wild card games, and TB is just about our best competition for that since a few teams we play aren't good enough to quite make it while others are too good that they will be division winners. This game is very special!

motorcity15 · Post #13 » by **motorcity15** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:10 pm

Yesss!!! Huge 4th down play .... Megatron 8-)

Post #14 » by **ajaX82** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:47 pm

Awesome first half! Completely dominated

Bartender · Post #15 » by **Bartender** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:30 pm

I never wanna see that conservative BS again. On defense, and offense.

TSE · Post #16 » by **TSE** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:41 pm

Man the Bucs suck compared to our team. I still don't care for our roster though, I see way too many areas that could still use improvement.

Blkbrd671 · Post #17 » by **Blkbrd671** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:08 pm

Hey guys i wasn't able to watch the game since i'm out of the country, any opinions on how we looked. Particularly our secondary and running game? did stafford get hit? was our defense scary?

Post #18 » by **ajaX82** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:02 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:Hey guys i wasn't able to watch the game since i'm out of the country, any opinions on how we looked. Particularly our secondary and running game? did stafford get hit? was our defense scary?

Stafford did get hit a few times but he looked fine. Cramped up a couple times was the only concern with him. Matt looked amazing though and the CJ/Stafford tandem looks unstoppable

Running game was surprisingly good. We got solid yardage on a lot of carries, especially first down early in the game. That was part of the reason the TB defense spent the entire first half on the field.

Secondary did a good job. Especially for a first game.

Blkbrd671 · Post #19 » by **Blkbrd671** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:12 am

Did our the front line look like it was pressuring Freeman?

Todd3 · Post #20 » by **Todd3** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:31 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:Did our the front line look like it was pressuring Freeman?

Sort of, but it wasn't any kind of dominating performance by the pass rush like the Pats game. It was more of a total defensive effort. But, I attribute that to them double-triple teaming Suh and the hot weather was tough on those big guys. The defense only gave up 10 pts though, realistically. 7 came from the offense on a pick-6, and 3 came from an 80 yd kick return that gave the Bucs the ball on the 20. But the defense immediately came in and forced a 3 and out, holding them to a FG. So that was more the special teams that gave up the 3, not the defense. The D-Line did dominate on run defense too. They got nothing on the ground. Until the end of the game when we went prevent, Tampa's offense was pretty much discombulated the whole game, but I'd it was the defense as a whole not just the D-Line that caused it.

I think we'll see the d-line dominate the QB more the next few games indoors w/o the heat bogging them down