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Published: July 27, 2010
It was another losing season for the Detroit Lions as they finished their 2009 regular season with a record of 2-14 and another last place finish in the NFC North.
The team finished poorly losing their final 6 games of the season and endured two 6 game losing streaks during the year.
The Lions have not had a winning season since 2000 when they won 9 games during the year when head coach Bobby Ross resigned during the season.
The 2009 first round pick Matthew Stafford faced an injury riddled season with knee cap and left shoulder problems that forced him to miss 6 games.
The team was bad on both sides of the ball ranking 26th in the league in total offense and 32nd in total defense. Detroit gave up the most points of all NFL teams in 2009.
Detroit had two first round picks and were able to land defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and former Cal running back Jahvid Best.
The team was also players in free agency with help coming on both sides of the ball.
The Odds:
Bodog sports book has set the 2010 season win total for the Detroit Lions at 5 wins with over favored at -140 with under bringing back -110.
Detroit has been set by Bodog sportsbook as 100-1 extreme long shots to win the 2010 Super Bowl.
Bodog has set the Lions at 50-1 odds to win the NFC Championship and +1800 extreme long shots to win the NFC South division.
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2010 Detroit Lions Regular Season Schedule:
The Lions compete in the NFC North division so that brings home and away games to the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.
The NFC North division will lock horns with every team from the NFC East and AFC East this season.
The Detroit Lions games against the NFC East will be home dates against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins with road games to the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
Detroit’s games against the AFC East will be home to the New York Jets and New England Patriots with road games against the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
The Lions last place finish in the NFC North in 2009 will match them up against the two other last place teams from the NFC so that will schedule a home game against the St Louis Rams and a road game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Detroit is featured in their traditional Thanksgiving Day game and will host New England. The team is featured in no prime time games and the rest of their 15 games in 2010 will be played on Sunday’s at 1PM Eastern Time.
Three of Detroit’s first four games this season will be played on the road against all three NFC North opponents.
The Thanksgiving Day game is not a good spot for the club. Prior to their Thursday game Detroit will be playing their second consecutive road game and will be at Dallas the Sunday before Thanksgiving and must travel and get ready for a quick turn around against New England.
The Lions also get smacked by the NFL schedule maker with three set of back to back road games.
Offense:
Matthew Stafford battled accuracy issues as the 2009 1st round draft pick completed 53.3% of his passes with 13 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. Four of his 10 games resulted in passing percentages of 46.5% or worse. Stafford is a strong armed quarterback but will have help from his running game and free agent acquisitions in the passing game.
Veteran Shaun Hill is Stafford’s backup. The 9 year veteran started 6 games with the San Francisco 49ers before being benched for good after 6 starts. He completed only 56.1% of his passes with only 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The knock on Hill is he lacks the necessary arm strength to stretch defenses.
Detroit upgraded their running game by acquiring speedy Jahvid Best. The Lions finally acquired a break away back and should benefit on the fast playing surface in the Detroit indoors. Best will vie incumbent Kevin Smith for the starting job.
Third year running back Kevin Smith is coming off a torn ACL he suffered late in the 2009 season. He had compiled only a 3.4 yards a carry average with 4 touchdowns in 13 games a season ago. Smith had some really bad performances in 2009 with 5 of his 13 games with a yards per carry averages of 2.7 yards or less.
The Lions receiving corps had been upgraded. They will line up with veterans Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson as the #1 and #2 with Bryant Johnson and Derrick Williams as the #3 and #4. Johnson is an elite receiver in this league and had 67 catches with a 14.7 yards a catch average and 5 touchdowns. Nate Burleson comes over in free agency from Seattle where he posted 63 receptions three touchdowns and a 12.9 yards a catch average. Tight end Tony Scheffler was received via trade from Denver. He had 31 catches for a very good 13.4 yards a catch average. He will most likely share time with second year starter Brandon Pettigrew who had 30 catches a year ago prior to being lost for the season in week 12 with a torn ACL.
The Lions allowed a very high 43 sacks a season ago. Their offensive line will feature Dominic Raiola at center with Rob Sims and Stephen Peterman at the guards with Jeff Backus and Gosder Cherilus at the tackle positions. Sims was acquired via trade from the Seahawks to try and provide better play at the left guard position where the Lions have had problems in recent seasons.
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Defense:
The Lions defense has been atrocious for several years now but the positive is they do have the most talent on this side of the ball in recent history. They will most likely improve on their 32nd and last ranking in the league in total defense, scoring defense and passing defense.
It all starts with the pass rush and the Lions will line up their 4-3 with Jason Hunter and Kyle Vanden Bosch on the outsides with Ndamukong Suh and Sammie Lee Hill as tackles.
Vanden Bosch was acquired in free agency from the Titans where he spent time under then Titans defensive coordinator and now Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz. The concern is Vanden Bosch’s production went really down when the Titans parted ways with Albert Haynesworth. The ten year veteran had just 3 sacks a season ago which is his lowest output in 5 seasons. He had very poor numbers when the played with a cellar dweller Arizona Cardinals in his first three seasons in the league totaling just 3 ½ sacks in three years.
Suh was dominant in college and quite possibly will demand double teams in the league which will open pass rushing lanes. He is a good run defender who opposing offenses may challenge to no success. For added depth the club drafted big 6’5” Willie Young from NC State in the 7th round and acquired defensive tackle Corey Williams via trade from the Cleveland Browns. The Lions should improve on their 26 sacks they had in 2009.
At linebacker the Lions will line up DeAndre Levy in the middle flanked by Landon Johnson and Julian Peterson to his outside. The Lions shake up this position going with 2009 reserves in Levy and Johnson as they rid themselves of starters Ernie Sims and Larry Foote. Cross your fingers here.
In the secondary position the Lions will line up with Chris Houston and Eric King at corners with Ko Simpson and Louis Delmas at the safety position. Houston comes over via a trade from a bad Atlanta secondary a year ago. Nine year pro Dante West provided depth as he was acquired from the Carolina Panthers in free agency. The Lions drafted cornerback Amari Speivey in third round from Iowa and he may vie for playing time at corner if Houston is not the answer.
And now to my Selection:
Detroit is on the way to recovery as the team is putting together some key pieces for success in the long term. There are still leaks on this ship at linebacker, the secondary position and with question marks on the offensive line which all need to be addressed in subsequent off seasons. The team is about 2 years away from contending if they can plug those leaks.
There are some positive signs on offense that indicates the club will be a high scoring team in 2010. They are faster and will put up points at home. The additions of Burleson and Scheffler will open the field up more for Calvin Johnson.
With the threat of the big play run from Jahvid Best it opens up play action opportunities for Stafford much like he had in Georgia where with s solid running game he was able to pick apart opposing SEC secondaries in single coverage.
The question for Detroit on their defensive line is how much does Kyle Vandon Bosch have left? His play was simply awful last season in Tennessee. He could not fight off blockers. Suh is going to be a force up the middle so the Lions defensive ends are going to be tested as opposing teams will run wide and away from Suh.
Another question is can the Lions generate enough pass rush to force opposing quarterbacks into quicker throws to help avoid those numerous big plays we have seen in recent seasons against Detroit secondaries?
The Lions will be involved in many shootouts in 2010. Facing the NFC East and AFC East will be challenging for this club and for this reason they will double their win total to 4 games in 2010 and not make it to the posted number of 5 wins.
Selection: Play Under 5 wins in 2010 Regular Season.
