The Weekend Spotlight - Week 8 Edition, 2011

#28 Maurice Morris will be the #1 RB for the Lions again this week.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the week 8 edition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg.  This installment of your weekly WS will feature your Detroit Lions versus the Denver Broncos, on the road in Denver, CO, at Mile High Stadium.  Coming off of their second loss in a row, the Lions are now 5-2 on the season.  There is a lot of hope among the fanbase that this will be the week that we see the Lions get back on track.  I am personally going to remain cautiously optimistic, as there are a number of ways that Detroit could bungle it up and lose this game.  That said, I am still excited about this team and their potential to be a playoff team this year.  As I've said before, you can't win them all.  The last two weeks have been rather disappointing for all of us, yet there is still hope that our young QB will break out of his recent funk and that the offense will come back to life.  This is the last game for the Lions before their bye week, so it would be very good if they could get a win and carry that momentum with them into the break.  With 7 weeks of the season under our belts, I will once again reveal to you who I believe the key players will be, 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 Broncos are definitely not the best team we have faced, let alone beaten, and I such I certainly believe VICTORY can be ours, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W8E begins...after the jump.

Inside the Numbers Week 8

This week the Lions head to Denver to take on Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Let's go inside the numbers...

Denver on Offense:

Passing yards: 1,140 (190 ypg)
Rushing yards: 686 (114.3 ypg)
Total yards: 1826 (304.3 ypg)

vs Lions on Defense

Passing yards allowed: 1,432 (204.6 ypg)
Rushing yards allowed: 906 (129.4 ypg)
Total yards allowed: 2338 (334 ypg)

Lions on Offense:

Passing yards: 1,822 (260.3 ypg)
Rushing yards: 649 (92.7 ypg)
Total yards: 2,471 (353 ypg)

vs Denver on Defense:

Passing yards allowed: 1,485 (247.5 ypg)
Rushing yards allowed: 711 (118.5 ypg)
Total yards allowed: 2,196 (366 ypg)

Ever the optimist, as long as Stafford is back to form I believe this should be another one in the "W" column. The Schwartz won't call it a must win, but I will. A third straight loss would seriously diminish the luster of a 5-0 start. A clutch 100 yard game on the ground from Maurice Morris and this game is in the bag, if it's a major struggle on the ground it will be much closer.

Prediction: Lions 27, Tebows(Broncos) 17

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 7 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post

Alphonso Smith, back in action, makes a good tackle on Eric Weems.

Welcome back to another Weekend Spotlight follow up post.  Sadly, I have nothing good to report.  I was in attendance for the Lions vs Falcons game last Sunday, and while I had a good time with my friends before and during the game, the Lions lost and put a damper on it all.  To top it all off, the result of the game made me look rather foolish in my weekly predictions, once again.  Because of the fact that I lack the motivation to state anything exciting or clever here, I am just going to get right down to the business of recapping my weekly post, after the jump...

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 7 Edition

#93 Kyle Vanden Bosch performs a strip sack on Alex Smith last Sunday.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the week 7 edition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg.  I want to apologize, again, to my readers for a lack of content this week on the blog.  My co-administrator/author, TCLion, has departed for a 6 week tour of duty (non military) in Australia, and I have been quite under the weather for the last 4 days.  I will admit, I was procrastinating on my follow up post at first, knowing full well that I was wrong in a number of areas, but I did have intentions of writing the post anyway.  However, I fell ill and just could not find the energy to do it.  So here I am, on Friday night, writing my weekly post that was supposed to be posted yesterday.  As you are all certainly aware, the Lions suffered their first loss of the season last weekend, against the San Francisco 49ers.  A ton of drama has occurred since then, and as such there is a lot more subject matter to write about than I can possibly cover in this post.  Nevertheless I will touch briefly on what I predicted last week, before I launch into this weeks predictions, and I will rely on the idea that most of you (if not all) will already have read about the other major news pertaining to the Lions over the course of the week.

First of all, I want to congratulate Dr. Doom...I mean TCLion...on the relative accuracy of his foreboding predictions before the last game.  He stated that the 49ers would win.  They did.  He stated that Gore would rip off a few runs with 1 TD.  He did (141 yards on 15 carries, including a 47 yarder, a 55 yarder, and 1 rushing TD).  He stated that the 49ers would do just enough to win, nothing spectacular, and that in the end the Lions would beat themselves.  These statements were; true, mostly true if you don't count Gore's 2 big runs, and VERY true.  He went further and said there would be more penalties, another first half hole, and this time the clock would run out on the Lions before a comeback for the win could happen.  More penalties?  How about 15 for 120 yards.  Another first half hole?  Check...the Lions were down 10-12 at the half.  And lastly, the Lions could not manage to come back and win this time.  Right again.  In fact, the only statements TCLion made that were not nearly 100% accurate were; 1) Alex Smith will throw for 220 yards and 2 TDs, one to Davis and one to Morgan, and 2) They (SF) will win by a score of 27-24.  Alex Smith threw for just 125 yards and 1 TD, and that TD was to Delanie Walker.  San Francisco won by a score of 25-19.  Overall though, TCLion was damn near spot on...much to my chagrin.

In fact, I was adamant about the very idea that ANYONE would dare predict the 49ers to beat the Lions last week.  In a sense, I was justifiably angry and my stubborn unwillingness to yield to any argument contrary to my logic was also justified.  The 49ers did not beat the Lions.  The Lions beat the Lions.  Right?  Well, my key player picks, for a Lion victory, were seemingly off the mark as well.  But Calvin Johnson and Bobby Carpenter's performances WERE key...but they were key to the Lion's LOSS instead of the key to victory.  Had they done as expected then I believe I would have been right, but alas the 49ers bracketed Megatron in all day long, not allowing him to score, even though he had 7 catches for 113 yards, and Bobby Carpenter made the wrong read near the end of the game, which allowed the game winning TD pass to Delanie Walker.  Had he made the play there, by either breaking up the pass or at least stopping Walker short of the goal line, then undoubtedly the Lions WOULD have won.  Alright...so the 49ers won the game.  I'll eat my plate of crow now, and move on.

This installment of your weekly WS will feature the impending collision between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons, at home in Detroit, MI, at Ford Field.  The Lions are now 5-1 on the season, and even though they are coming off of the loss I am still very excited and confident that they will win this week!  Perhaps even more exciting for me is the fact that I will be attending this game in person, with my friends and brethren over at the Pride of Detroit.  It's the annual POD outing, and it is going to be a GREAT one!  With 6 weeks of the regular season already behind us, I will once again reveal to you who I believe the key players will be, on the Lion's offense and defense, for another Lion VICTORY!  As usual, I will provide you with the logic for the reasoning behind my picks, including stats, and I will give you my prediction for the game at the end.  The Falcons are 3-3 on the season, and even though 2 of their 3 losses have come against teams that we have already beaten (Chicago and Tampa Bay), they are not a team that should be overlooked.  I am sure that the Lions are not looking past Atlanta, and I am sure they will be ready on Sunday.  I believe VICTORY will once again be ours this week, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W7E begins...after the jump.

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 6 Edition, 2011

#55 Stephen Tulloch celebrates after making a big play on Monday Night Football last week.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the week 6 edition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg.  I apologize for the late nature of this post, but life happened and I got busy.  That said, at least I will be able to provide you with up to date information related to injuries etc.  This installment of your weekly WS will preview the matchup between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, which will be played at home, in Detroit, MI, at Ford Field tomorrow.  Coming off of their 9th regular season win in a row, the Lions are now 5-0!  I know one thing is certain, these Lions have me very excited, and judging by the awesome display of vocal noise by the fans last Monday night, which proved to be an excellent advantage for the Lion's defense, I think most Lion's fans would agree.  With 5 weeks of the regular season already under our belts, I will once again reveal to you who I believe the key players will be, 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.  Unlike many people out there that are talking about how the 49ers are the team that will hand the Lions their first loss of the season, I do not believe they are any better than Dallas, or even Minnesota and Chicago.  The 49ers are a team that plays relatively mistake free football however, and as such the Lions will need to also be on their best behavior on Sunday.  That said, I believe that VICTORY can still be ours this week, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W6E begins...after the jump.

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 5 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post #3

Jahvid Best takes off on an 88 yard TD, enroute to a career day, against the Bears on Monday Night Football!

Welcome back to another Weekend Spotlight follow up post!  I can't help myself this time...you win some, and you lose some, but sometimes you win BIG!  The win for the Lions on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears, taking their record to 5-0 while also beating a division rival, is nothing short of BIG.  In fact, it is HUGE!  Not only did the Lions take it to the Bears on national TV, but they also proved undeniably that they are FOR REAL.  Nobody can question this fact now, and I get the distinct feeling that nobody want to face the RED HOT Detroit Lions!

I am still nearly speechless, 24 hours after the fact, and the game just keeps replaying over and over in my mind.  I never claimed to be any sort of football expert, a guru, or anything of the sort...just an avid Lion's fanatic who has a passion for writing about his favorite team.  However, I have to say that I hit the nail on the head on multiple key points in my weekly series post, which also makes me pretty happy.  The Lions have extended their winning streak to an NFL leading 9 regular season games in a row!  Some of you Lion fans were probably worried at halftime of the Monday night game, perhaps even justifiably so, but the overwhelming thoughts running through my mind at that point were; 1) At least it's not down 20, 2) These Lions never give up, and 3) We're going to win this game.

Please recall, if you will, what I said in last weeks follow up post.  "They never give up, and even if we had lost the game yesterday we could have been proud of this fact.  This is one thing each and every team they face will know...THESE Detroit Lions WILL play a full 60 minutes, and if we let up they will make us pay!"  What did we see happen last night?  The Lions never gave up, they played a full 60 minutes of football, and even though the Bears dominated the time of possession they made the mistake of letting up...and the Lions made them pay!  With the way this team has played through the first 5 weeks of the regular season, I don't think anyone can say that they are ever out of a game.  I also STILL believe that these Detroit Lions can win against ANY team in the NFL at this point, not to mention the rest of the teams they will face on their schedule.  Being a life long Lion's fan, I have never felt so rewarded and so confident as I do right now.  That said, I am here once again to recap my weekly post and talk about the things that I predicted before the game.  I hereby present you with the WS W5E follow-up, which begins after the jump...

LIONS WIN ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!

This says it all for now.  More to come soon!

Pre-Game Chat with BSS

The BSS - Bazzett, Stevens, and Strom.  Cute huh?

Welcome to our new weekly segment, Pre-Game chat with BSS. This is where kdawg, Pete, and myself just kick back and have a casual chat about the coming game. No editing and anything goes.

Week 5 Injury Update

Yesterday, the Lions and Bears released their full injury reports for the week.  Here they are:

Detroit Lions Week 5 Injury Report
POS.	NAME	INJURY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	STATUS
S	Erik Coleman	Ankle	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
WR	Rashied Davis	Foot	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
LB	Justin Durant	Concussion	DNP	LP	FP	Probable
T	Jason Fox	Foot	DNP	LP	LP	Out
S	Amari Spievey	Hamstring	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
CB	Aaron Berry	Groin	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
S	Louis Delmas	Abdomen	LP	LP	LP	Probable
DT	Nick Fairley	Foot	LP	LP	FP	Questionable
DE	Lawrence Jackson	Hamstring	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
WR	Calvin Johnson	Ankle	FP	FP	FP	Probable
LB	DeAndre Levy	Knee	FP	FP	FP	Probable
WR	Maurice Stovall	Hand	FP	FP	FP	Probable
CB	Eric Wright	Groin	FP	FP	FP	Probable

Chicago Bears Week 5 Injury Report
POS.	NAME	INJURY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	STATUS
WR	Earl Bennett	Chest	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
T	Gabe Carimi	Knee	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
S	Chris Harris	Hamstring	LP	LP	FP	Probable
TE	Matt Spaeth	Calf	LP	LP	FP	Probable
G/C	Chris Spencer	Hand	LP	LP	FP	Probable
CB	Charles Tillman	Hip	LP	LP	FP	Probable
DE	Corey Wootton	Hand	Not Listed	DNP	FP	Probable

Well, looking back at my statements regarding the earlier injury reports, it is now clear that the Lions will be without Erik Coleman, Rashied Davis, and Jason Fox.  Davis had hoped to play this week, and I also thought he would, but alas he could not practice and will not play on MNF.  The Bears will be without Earl Bennett and Gabe Carimi, as suggested earlier, however they will have the services of Corey Wootton after all.  In all honesty, the injury report is clearly in favor of the Bears this week, as Amari Spievey, Aaron Berry, Nick Fairley, and Lawrence Jackson are all listed as questionable, whereas the players on the Bear's injury report are all probable with the exception of Bennett and Carimi.  My hope is that all of the guys, not listed as out on the Lion's injury list, will play on Monday.  Spievey would seem to be the most important of the players listed as questionable, but he was also listed as questionable last week and he managed to play.  I expect more of the same this week.

Behind the Numbers - Chicago Bears

Welcome to the Mane's new weekly segment, Behind the Numbers. Each week we will break down the Lions next opponent and take you one step further, behind the numbers.

The Chicago Bears - A worthy Opponent

Don't let the Bears 2-2 record lead to overconfidence. The two losses have been to the last two Super Bowl winners. the New Orleans Saints and the Green Packers. Their two victories have been against the loser of last years NFC Championship game, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Cam Newton led Carolina Panthers. Read more after the jump...

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 5 MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Edition, 2011

Calvin Johnson makes another spectacular TD grab...can you say SI cover?

Hello again ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the week 5, special Monday Night Football edition of the Weekend Spotlight!  I am your host, KDawg. This installment of your weekly WS has the Detroit Lions facing the Chicago Bears, at home in Detroit, MI, at Ford Field.   Coming off of their second consecutive come from behind victory versus the Cowboys, the Lions have now won their first 4 games of the season!  I challenge anyone out there to find a Lion's fan that is not absolutely pleased that the Lions will be playing under the national spotlight this week on MNF.  I know I am certainly PUMPED up for this game!  Overall, I am very happy with what the team has accomplished thus far, especially being undefeated going into week 5, but still I remain cautiously optimistic going forward.  The Lions have shown in the past two weeks that they DO NOT give up, and they have truly played with the heart of their namesake in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity.  However, they have also shown that they are definitely NOT perfect and that they have a lot of areas in which they can improve.  Even so, they still have me believing that they WILL take their record to 5-0 this week. With 4 weeks of the season under our belts, I will once again reveal to you who I believe the key players will be, 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.  I do not feel that the Chicago Bears are even close to as good as the Dallas Cowboys, and I believe that will be self evident in the number of times that we sack Jay Cutler, as well as the success that we should surely find offensively.  The Bears DO have a pretty solid defense though, and their offense CAN be explosive when Cutler has time to throw.   Regardless, VICTORY can still be ours, and I will tell you why and how as the WS W5E begins...after the jump.

WE WIN!

I'm not a Chrysler fan, nor do I advocate their product, but I LOVED this commercial and the message I am giving is this; "We are DETROIT. This is the MOTOR CITY. THIS is what we do. WE WIN!"

Chris Houston goes Primetime!

Chris Houston does his best impersonation of "Primetime" Deion Sanders, after taking a Tony Romo INT to the HOUSE last Sunday!

The Weekend Spotlight - Week 4 Edition, 2011 - Follow Up Post #2

#59 Bobby Carpenter plays hero for the Lions, as he returns a Tony Romo interception 34 yards for a TD in the 3rd quarter yesterday.  This was Romo's 1st INT of the day, and proved to be the momentum shift that the Lions needed.

I want to start off, once again, by stating the obvious; you win some, you lose some, and you always hope to win more than you lose.  This will be my second Weekend Spotlight follow-up post of the season, and I will be revisiting my pre-game predictions and comments for the Lions vs Cowboys game yesterday.  Once again, I am riding a big high still, as I write this, due to the fact that the Lions overcame a 24 point deficit in an amazing come from behind victory yesterday.  The Cowboys led the Lions by a score of 20-3 at halftime, and they quickly made it 27-3 on the first possession of the second half.  The Cowboys, much like the Vikings the week before, had completely dominated the Lions in every aspect up to that point.  Again however, as we all know, the Lions ROARED back for the second come from behind victory in as many weeks, taking their record to 4-0 with 3 of the 4 victories on the road, which is an NFL record.  It is also the first start 4-0 in Lion's franchise history which includes 3 wins on the road.

The Lions are now riding an NFL high 8 game winning streak, dating back to the last 4 games of the regular season last year, and they have also won 5 straight games on the road, which is also a franchise record.  Like I noted last week, it is obvious that the Lions still have a lot to work on if they hope not only to beat some of the remaining teams on their regular season schedule, but also if they have any hopes of advancing if they make the playoffs.  The biggest thing I took away from this game, much like last week, was the fact that this Lion's team is ALL heart and NO quit.  They never give up, and even if we had lost the game yesterday we could have been proud of this fact.  This is one thing each and every team they face will know...THESE Detroit Lions WILL play a full 60 minutes, and if we let up they will make us pay!

I believe in the idea that the 2011 Detroit Lions can beat any team they have left on their schedule, and the evident lack of quit, which they have clearly shown in the last two games, only stands as testament to that very possibility.  It is a very exciting time to be a Detroit Lion's fan, and it is sweet redemption for all of us who have never given up on them.  All of that aside, I am here to recap my weekly post and talk about the things that I predicted before the game, so without further adieu, I present you with the follow-up to my WS W4E, which will begin after the jump...

Breaking down the Chicago Bears

This can never be allowed to happen again.

You’ll have to forgive Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz should you happen to catch him gazing with naked desire across the field to the Lions sideline on Monday night. Over there will be everything Martz ever desired, and came so very close to having. In 2007, when Martz was offensive coordinator for the Lions, he used all the powers of persuasion he possessed to convince the Lions to draft WR Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech in the 07 draft. If you enjoy Calvin Johnson in the Silver and Blue today, you have Martz to thank for it.

   In many ways, this year for Martz may mark the most handcuffed he has even been in terms of offensive talent to work with. With mercurial QB Jay Cutler at the helm, Martz never knows from week to week what type of QB play he will get. One week, Cutler will look like the second coming of Dan Marino, and the next he will look like Joey Harrington with a fear and paranoia complex. A group of extremely under-achieving receivers gives him headaches, Roy Williams, Devin Hester, and Johnny Knox all take turns with medical cases of “the dropsies”, and under-talented Dane Sanzenbacher provides the steadiest hands at times sheerly by default. The lone consistently bright spot on the Bears offense is Running Back Matt Forte, who provides a Marshall Faulk-like presence in the backfield and seems to get better every year.

This is the man responsible

   Offensively, the Bears offense revolves around Forte. Forte provides both an elite running threat (see last week’s game vs. Panthers, 205 yards rushing), and elite receiving threat out of the backfield, that draws every defensive coordinator’s instant respect. This threat is greatly mollified by the Bears shaky pass protection and below average receivers. If the Lions can stop Forte, which will be one heck of a challenge given their sub-standard run defense thus far, they could cruise to an easy victory. In their only good team category, the Bears rushing offense ranks in the top half of the league, while the Lions rushing defense ranks in the bottom half. Look for the Bears to try and establish the running game early and often, try to set the table for their speed receivers, and try a few vertical pass plays down the field to the speedy Hester and Knox. Expect Martz to do, well, anything. There is a reason they call him the “mad scientist” after all, and his game plan could include anything.

This is the end result of that one play

   Defensively, you have to wonder what has happened to the Bears? Last year the team overcame Defensive Tackle Tommie Harris’s sudden and inexplicable decline to field a top 10 defense and win the division. This year though, it seems offensive coordinators have wised up to the fact that Harris is no longer plugging the middle for the Bears, and the team ranks in the bottom 10 in the league for both rush and pass defense. As the Bears have had to commit more men to “the Box” to help in rush defense, it has opened up favorable matchups for wide receivers on the outside. Although Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs continue to perform at a Pro-Bowl level, they are often put in bad positions by a turnover prone offense, as well as getting cleaned out by offensive linemen coming to the second level of the defense at a higher percentage than last year. Defensively look for the Bears to try and stay honest to the Lions passing game, and force the Lions to prove they can run the ball against their base defense before making any adjustments. If the Bears can check the Lions ground game to minimal gains, it will allow them to play their dominating defense of last year for the first time this season.

   When the Lions have the ball on offense, look for them to immediately begin testing the Bears run defense. The Lions would love to get their running game jump-started, and they may not have a more prime opportunity than against the Bears.  Establishing the game on the ground would have significant side-benefits for the Lions too, keeping All-Pro QB Killer Julius Peppers from pinning his ears back and going green light after Stafford on every down. When passing, anything goes for the Lions versus the Bears. Although the Bears have talent in their secondary, there isn’t a single one-on-one matchup that the Lions can’t win personnel wise against this group.

   Defensively for the Lions, I can only hope that last week served as a wake-up call for this unit. The Lions inability to get a stop on the Cowboys offense in the first half had more to do with their game woes than anything that happened for the Lions offense. The front four philosophy of “play the run on the way to the QB” clearly was not working last week, as the Lions were neither significantly stopping the run, nor getting pressure on Cowboys QB Tony Romo for much of the game. This week, the Lions MUST respect Forte and play smart defensively.

   On special teams, Devin Hester served notice last week that he still needs to be respected as an elite return man, returning a punt for an NFL record 11^th return touchdown. Rookie punter Ryan Donahue should watch some 2007 Lions game tapes and do his best to emulate Rod Marinelli’s “Kick it into Lake Michigan” strategy. Marinelli didn’t do much right, but playing keep-away from Hester was one of his shining moments of brilliance. Jason Hanson’s fading leg strength could give Hester some opportunities in the return game.

   The Monday Night effect – This will be the first Monday night game held in Detroit since, well, let’s just say a very, very, very long time and leave it at that. (Fine, October 8^th, 2001. A 35-0 blowout by the Rams in the Silverdome. Happy?) Let’s hope that the fans attending the game will be smart, give the Lions a home field advantage on defense AND offense, and the Lions should come out of this with a W. The Lions are 3-1 against the Bears on Monday night football, with the last meeting being a Lions win in 1995 at the Silverdome on December 4^th. Since 1990, the Lions own a 4-6 record on MNF.

This will be the latest the Lions have been undefeated since Bobby Layne led the 1956 squad to a 6-0 start 55 years ago.

Final score prediction – We all knew the magic carpet ride was going to end at some point, but not this week baby!!! The Lions crush the Bears this week. Lions 42 – Bears 20.

Lions win thriller! 4 & 0!!!!!!!!!!

Calvin Johnson, AKA MEGATRON, makes a leaping grab against the Cowboys during their big comeback today.

We've all heard the joke in some form or another - When the Lions reach the Superbowl, Hell will freeze over. Well, we're a long way from that yet, but for the first time in forever I'd bet there's a cool breeze winding its way through perdition at the moment. The Lions improbable 34-30 victory over the Cowboys matches their best start since 1980.

Now, for a little bit of history, get ready for this. When the Lions enter the Monday night game on October 10th, it will be the latest in the year they have been undefeated since the 1956 Lions started the season 6-0 under Bobby Layne. Feel the chills. There is no question that much has been made of the connection between Layne and Stafford attending the same high school, but this is amazing.

In this game the Lions certainly used up all the luck in their arsenal.

Looking more like roadkill until they were down 27-3 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the comeback began fittingly with Cowboy castoff Bobby Carpenter, filling in for the injured Justin Durant at Outside Linebacker, intercepting an errant Tony Romo pass and returning it all the way for a touchdown. On the following series, Chris Houston was next to turn the tables on Romo, with a spectacular one-handed interception he tightroped into the endzone for yet another Lions defensive touchdown.

With the score at 27-17, and finally showing signs of life, Suh committed a costly penalty to allow the Cowboys to continue a series that ultimately led to a field goal, making the score 30-17.

That's when the Lions offense came to life.

After being stymied for three quarters of futile play against a seemingly impenetrable Rob Ryan defense, the Lions suddenly began two scintillating drives which ended in touchdowns to Calvin Johnson.

The game ended in just as strange a fashion as it was played. With 11 seconds left on 4th and twenty, and the Cowboys looking to set up a hail mary try, Romo instead opted for a short throw to pick up the first down and get a little closer. However, the Cowboys receiver inexplicably ran out of bounds before the first down marker, turning the ball over to the Lions and effectively ending the game. Final score Lions 34 - Cowboys 30 in a stunner at Cowboys Stadium.

This was a record setting day for the NFL and the Lions. Calvin Johnson became the first player in NFL history with two touchdown receptions in each of his first four games of the regular season. The Lions became the first team in NFL history to come back from a 20 point deficit in back to back games in NFL history. The Dallas Cowboys also saw their largest meltdown in franchise history, allowing a game they led by 24 to slip through their fingers.

The Lions obviously have a lot of work to do, but in the meantime, I'll take the W while they work on the finer points of their game. Go Lions!!!!!!!!!!