The Weekend Spotlight - Week 12 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post

#30 Kevin Smith continued to be impressive against Green Bay.

Welcome back once again ladies and gentlemen, to another Weekend Spotlight Follow Up Post.  I am your host, KDawg.  Thanksgiving Day was not one that saw the Lions defeat their division rival Green Bay Packers, and that was just the beginning of things that I am NOT thankful for!  If you watched the game, you are well aware that the Lions lost the game 27-15.  The game was VERY close in the first half, and it took the Packers almost the entire first half to score.  Even then, that score was set up by yet another Matthew Stafford interception, giving the Packers the ball at the Detroit 13 yard line.  In Stafford's defense, the ball was tipped by Ryan Pickett and Clay Matthews just happened to be in the right place at the right time, intercepting the deflected pass and returning it 7 yards from the Detroit 20 to the Detroit 13.  On the very next play, Brandon McDonald was called for pass interference in the end zone, which gave GB a 1st and goal from the Detroit 1 yard line.  2 plays later, after John Kuhn was stuffed for a 2 yard loss, Aaron Rodgers found Greg Jennings in the endzone for a 3 yard TD pass, making the score 7-0 Green Bay with 4:54 left in the half.  The Lions would drive from their own 21, all the way to the Green Bay 29 where Jason Hanson MISSED a 47 yard FG wide left.  The Packers would go 3 and out on their next series, and the Lions would throw 2 short passes to end the first half on a conservative note, down 0-7.

Read more, after the jump:

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 12 Edition, 2011

The Lion's Captains walk onto the field vs the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the week 12 edition of your Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg.  This installment of your weekly WS will feature the one and only Detroit Lions, versus the Green Bay Packers, at home in Detroit, MI, at Ford Field, on TURKEY DAY!  The Lions are now 7-3 on the season, and they are about to face arguably the toughest matchup on their entire schedule.  As we all know, the Green Bay Packers are on fire, with an undefeated 10-0 record.  With just 6 games left in the regular season, I will once again reveal to you who my picks for key players are, on the Lion's offense and defense, for another Lion VICTORY!  As usual, I will provide you with the logic behind the reasoning for my picks, including stats and a prediction at the end.  The Packers are definitely the best overall team we have faced, but I still believe VICTORY can be ours, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W12E begins...after the jump.

No Weekend Spotlight this week

Hello everyone.  I am just posting to let you all know that I will not be writing my usual weekly post this week.  I am headed up north to be with my family, for an early Thanksgiving, and will be unable to write the post.  I will resume the WS next week.  Have a good weekend, and enjoy the game!  

Key Players - Kevin Smith (offense) and Cliff Avril (defense).

Lions win 42-10.

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 10 Edition - Follow Up Post

Cliff Avril forces a fumble on Jay Cutler, during an ugly game for the Lions.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the Weekend Spotlight, week 10 edition, follow up post.  As we all know, the Lions laid the proverbial egg in this one.  As such, it is with displeasure that I write this follow up post.  The Lions lost their 3rd game of the season, by the score of 37-13, as the Bears were able to create 6 turnovers and capitalize on every single one.  The Bear's offense was not even close to spectacular, and the Lion's defense was rather outstanding given the circumstances, but the Lion's offense just could not get on track.  There were a number of different issues that many fans (including myself) have discussed ad nauseum, including "the gloves", as to what happened and why the Lions lost to a team that they handled rather easily in the first matchup earlier in the season.  I'll talk about that a little bit, and then I will get down to recapping the short predictions that I made, prior to this game.  Of course, this is going to happen...after the jump...

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 10, 2011

Junior Dos Santos KOs UFC Heavyweight Champ Cain Velaquez earlier this evening.
I know, wrong sport right?  Well the Lions vs Bears game this week is also a big heavyweight matchup, which could end in a similar, but also different, fashion.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the week 10 addition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host KDawg.  This installment of your weekly WS will feature your Detroit Lions versus the Chicago Bears, on the road in Chicago, IL, at Soldier Field.  I know this is late again, but I figure as long as I have it up before game time then it shouldn't hurt anything.  It has been a hectic week for me, and there has been so much going on that I just could not find time to write up a post.  That said, I am REALLY going to shorten the WS this week so that I can get some sleep!  I'm going to make it quick and to the point, and you will see that after the jump...

Inside the Numbers - Week 10

Fresh off the bye, the Lions are once again on the road this week; traveling to Chicago to take on the Bears. Let's get to it...

Bears on offense:

Passing yards: 1,767 (220.9 ypg)
Rushing yards: 967 (120.9 ypg)
Total yards: 2,734 (341.8 ypg)

vs Lions on defense:

Passing yards allowed: 1,549 (193.6 ypg)
Rushing yards allowed: 1,101 (137.6 ypg)
Total yards allowed: 2,650 (331.25 ypg)

Lions on offense:

Passing yards: 2,085 (260.6 ypg)
Rushing yards: 762 (95.2 ypg)
Total yards: 2,847 (355.9 ypg)

vs Bears on defense:

Passing yards allowed: 2,114 (264.2 ypg)
Rushing yards allowed: 880 (110 ypg)
Total yards allowed: 2,994 (374.3 ypg)

Bottom line: this game will be much more difficult to pull out than the Monday night game in week 5. The Bears' defense is playing much better and Jay Cutler has looked very good the past few weeks. While a loss wouldn't be as devastating as a loss last week to Denver, a win would be huge and almost put the Lions in the drivers seat for a playoff spot.

Contain Forte and put consistent pressure on Cutler and it's another big "W". Prediction: Lions 27, Bears 24.

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 8 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post

Titus Young celebrates with a Mile High leap, after his first career TD catch against the Broncos!

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to another Weekend Spotlight follow up post!  As I am sure you are well aware, the Lions absolutely dismantled the Denver Broncos last Sunday, winning the game by the score of 45-10 and taking their record to 6-2 going into their bye week!  It was very refreshing and stimulating to see the Lions get back on track last week, and what better way to do it than in blowout fashion?  The Lions got after Tim Tebow all day long, and Tebow did what everyone thought he would do (except maybe Bronco fans).  He choked, and made mistake after mistake, and the Lions capitalized with explosive offense and big numbers throughout!  I was very happy with the performance of the Lions against Denver, and this follow up post will recap my pre-game predictions for the game.  I'll get right to the point, after the jump: