The Lions did not play a good football game last night.  J.T. O’Sullivan was forced to play the entire game again due to injuries to Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky.  He completed 15 of 26 passes for 175 yards with 1 TD pass.  Neither T.J. Duckett (9 car, 29 yards) or Brian Calhoun (8 car, 25 yards) ran the ball too well.  2nd year WR Brandon Middleton had his night in the spotlight as he led all Lions’ receivers with 5 catches for 50 yards.  The Lions finished the game rushing for 73 yards on 22 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 15 of 26 passes for 164 yards.

The defense was good against the run despite allowing 112 yards as it took the Bills 39 carries (2.9 ypc) to get those yards.  The Bills did throw the ball well against the Lions however completing 26 of 35 passes for 254 yards.

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The Lions have lost starting safety Daniel Bullocks for the season with a torn ACL.  That is a shame for the Lions as he was playing well in the pre-season with 8 tackles plus he’s also one of the Lions’ best defenders on a weak overall defense.  Gerald Alexander (3 tackles) and Idrees Bashir (8 tackles) will duke it out the next two weeks to see who starts at safety in Bullocks’ spot.

The Lions were without Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky due to injury so J.T. O’Sullivan played the entire football game.  O’Sullivan completed 24 of 34 passes for 232 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  T.J. Duckett was the leading rusher for the Lions with only 16 yards on 5 carries (3.2 ypc).  RB Aveion Cason led the Lions with 6 grabs for 55 yards (9.2 avg).  Shaun McDonald (4 rec, 51 yards) and Troy Walters (3 rec, 28 yards, TD) both looked sharp again.  The Lions only rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries (2.3 ypc) and they completed 24 of 34 passes for 225 yards.

The Lions stuffed the Colts running game holding them to 48 yards on 19 carries (2.5 ypc).  The Colts destroyed the Lions thru the air however as they completed 39 of 50 passes for 360 yards.

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The Lions have released long-time special teams ace Eddie Drummond.  Drummond returned 2 punts for 13 yards (6.5 avg) and 5 kickoffs for 95 yards (19.0 avg) in the pre-season.  The coaching staff felt that they didn’t want to use a roster spot on a player that only returned kicks.

The Detroit Lions dominated the first three quarters of his game as they were leading 23-0 heading into the 4th quarter, but they had to hold off a furious comeback really behind Ken Dorsey and Brady Quinn of the Browns.  Jon Kitna looked sharp completing 12 of 16 passes for 137 yards and a TD.  J.T. O’Sullivan (3 of 7, 43 yards) and Dan Orlovsky (2 of 5, 34 yards) both found the 2nd week of the pre-season much harder than the first.  Tatum Bell led the Lions in rushing with 33 yards on 6 carries (5.5 ypc).  T.J. Duckett carried the football 9 times for 31 yards (3.4 ypc) with a TD and he also caught 2 passes for 37 yards (18.5 avg) as he was running the ball hard all night long.  Brian Calhoun carried the ball 9 times for 16 yards (1.8 ypc) on Saturday Night.  Troy Walters led the way for the Lions’ receivers with 4 grabs for 47 yards (11.8 avg).  Shaun McDonald continued his fine pre-season with 3 more grabs for 47 yards (15.7 avg) and a TD.  Overall the Lions offense looked o.k. Saturday Night as they carried the football 29 times for 101 yards (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 28 passes for 209 yards.

The defense was outstanding for three quarters but you would never know that by looking at the numbers.  The Browns only rushed for 77 yards on 23 carries (3.3 ypc) but they completed 31 of 47 passes for 317 yards. 

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The Lions have placed Alan Ricard on the Injured Reserve list with bad knees.  This leaves the competition for the starting fullback job down to two players…..Casey FitzSimmons vs. Sean McHugh who are both converted TEs.

The Lions like to spread the field with as many wideouts as they can so they rarely throw to the tight ends.  Dan Campbell is the likely starter and he played in 16 games (11 starts) last season for the Lions and he caught 21 passes for 308 yards (14.7 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He will see most of his work in short yardage situations and in the red zone.  Campbell has now played in 111 games (74 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 89 passes for 912 yards (10.2 avg) with 11 TD grabs.

Darnell Sanders is the likely backup.  He played in 2 games last season with the Falcons but he didn’t catch a pass.  He has now played in 28 games (15 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 18 passes for 118 yards (6.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.

The Detroit Lions have three really good WRs and a bunch of might mites battling it out for the #4 and #5 WR jobs.   It’s amazing that GM Matt Millen has used another high draft choice on a WR but I have a feeling he got this one right.  Calvin Johnson is an elite athlete who has a very similar skill set to Roy Williams.  Johnson has great hands and speed which means he will fit right in on the new Greatest Show on Turf.  Look for Johnson to catch 70+ passes and gain over 1,000 yards as a rookie this season as he will likely have single coverage because of Williams on the other side.

Roy Williams will benefit greatly from having Johnson on the team this season in addition to slot man Mike Furrey.   Williams has an excellent blend of size, speed and hands.  He played in 16 games (all starts) last year for the Lions and he caught 82 passes for 1,310 yards (16.0 avg) with 7 TD grabs and he also carried the football 2 times for 2 yards.  Expect him to have similar numbers this season as the Lions will start throwing the football when they get off the bus in the stadium parking lot.   Williams has now played in 43 games (39 starts) and he has caught 181 passes for 2,814 yards (15.5 avg) with 23 TD grabs and he has also carried the football 3 times for 3 yards (1.0 ypc) in his career.

Mike Furrey was a receiver as a rookie with the Rams but they converted him to safety.  When Mike Martz took over as offensive co-ordinator of the Lions he suggested that they bring Furrey in and make him a receiver again and the results were staggering.  He played in 16 games (14 starts) with the Lions last season and he caught 98 passes for 1,086 yards (11.1 avg) with 6 TD grabs and he also returned 1 kickoff for 23 yards.   Look for Furrey to have another solid season but his numbers might not be quite as outstanding as they were last season with Johnson around.   He has now played in 53 career games (25 starts) and he has caught 119 passes for 1,283 yards (11.1 avg) with 6 TD grabs and he also has run the football 3 times for 5 yards (1.7 ypc).  Furrey also has returned 16 kickoffs for 320 yards (20.0 avg) and 15 punts for 147 yards (9.8 avg).   As a defender Furrey has racked up 59 tackles and has 4 interceptions in his career.

The newest Ram turned Lion is Shaun McDonald and he could also have a good season if he wins the #4 WR job.  He played in 16 games last year with the Rams and he caught 13 passes for 136 yards (10.5 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also returned 23 punts for 172 yards (7.5 avg).  McDonald will likely at least triple his receiving numbers on the Lions if he wins the job as #4 WR.   He has now played in 56 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 106 passes for 1,215 yards (11.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs and he also has run the ball 7 times for 14 yards (2.0 ypc).  McDonald has also returned 61 punts in his career for 348 yards (5.7 avg).

Free agent signee Troy Walters will also have a good chance of making the Lions this season.  He played in 15 games (3 starts) last season for the Cardinals and he caught 23 passes for 209 yards (9.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also returned 24 punts for 250 yards (10.4 avg).  Walters is the kind of little dude Martz likes to have around as an extra guy.  He has now played in 85 games (9 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 93 passes for 1,034 yards (11.1 avg) with 8 TD grabs and he also has carried the football 4 times for 42 yards (10.5 ypc).  Walters is also a decent return man as he has returned 109 kickoffs for 2,422 yards (22.2 avg) and 124 punts for 1,123 yards (9.1 avg).

Eddie Drummond will also have a good chance of making the team as he is the Lions’ best special teams player.  He played in 14 games (0 starts) last season for the Lions and he caught 2 passes for 10 yards (5.0 avg) and he carried the ball 1 time for 4 yards.  Drummond earned his money returning kicks.  He returned 62 kickoffs for 1,349 yards (21.8 avg) and he also returned 28 punts for 296 yards (10.6 avg).   Drummond has now played in 52 games (1 start) in his NFL career and he has caught 4 passes for 7 yards (1.8 avg) and he has carried the football 8 times for 49 yards (6.1 ypc).  Drummond has returned 213 kickoffs in his NFL career for 5,026 yards (23.6 avg) with 2 TD returns and he also has returned 108 punts for 1,058 yards (9.8 avg) with 4 TD returns.

Edell Shepherd played in 7 games (0 starts) last season with the Texans and he caught 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg) and he also carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc).  Shepherd also returned 17 kickoffs for 395 yards (23.2 avg) and 3 punts for 24 yards (8.0 avg).   Shepherd will have a hard time making the Lions final roster because of how far down on it that he’s starting out.  He has now played in 25 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 13 passes for 163 yards (12.5 avg) with 1 TD grab and he has also carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc).   Shepherd has returned 37 career kickoffs for 809 yards (21.9 avg) and he also has returned 3 punts for 24 yards (8.0 avg).

Kevin Kasper is the longest shot of this bunch to make the final roster.  He played in 1 game last season for the Lions and he didn’t do a thing.  He has now played in 39 games (9 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 24 passes for 287 yards (12.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 7 times for 34 yards (4.9 ypc).  Kasper has also returned 77 kickoffs for 1,869 yards (24.3 avg) in his career.

The Detroit Lions will have two converted TE’s and a legit blocking fullback fighting for the starting job.  Casey FitzSimmons is the front-runner for the job as he is the best receiver of the bunch and the Lions will be a passing team again this season.  He played in 11 games (2 starts) last year and he caught 7 passes for 71 yards (10.1 avg).  For his career he has played in 57 games (18 starts) and he has caught 50 passes for 379 yards (7.6 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Sean McHugh is another converted tight end attempting to switch to fullback.  He played in 6 games (2 starts) last season and he caught 3 passes for 25 yards (8.3 avg).  He has now played in 10 games (2 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 3 passes for 25 yards (8.3 avg).  Alan Ricard is the legit fullback of this bunch.  He was often Jamal Lewis’ lead blocker when he rushed for over 2,000 yards in one season.  He played in 2 games (2 starts) for the Ravens last season and he caught 2 passes for 18 yards (9.0 avg).  Ricard does have some running skills to go along with his fine blocking.  He has played in 55 career NFL games (32 starts) and he has carried the ball 43 times for 173 yards (4.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 32 passes for 179 yards (5.6 avg).  It will be interesting to see who the Lions go with at fullback this season.

The Detroit Lions scored the last 17 points in the game last night to pull out a victory over the Bengals.  Jon Kitna made a short appearance at the start of the game and he looked sharp completing 3 of 5 passes for 52 yards.  When he left the game the fun really began for the Lions who have an opening for the 2nd string QB job with the competitors being J.T. O’Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky.  O’Sullivan was the first one in and he completed 12 of 19 passes for 225 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Dan Orlovsky then came in and lead the team on their big comeback to win the game.  He completed 15 of 23 passes for 220 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Tatum Bell carried the ball 6 times for 19 yards and T.J. Duckett carried the ball 5 times for 19 yards in their first appearances for the Lions.  Shaun McDonald had a monster game as he caught 5 passes for 146 yards (29.2 avg) with a TD (83 yarder).  Troy Walters was also busy with 8 grabs for 77 yards.  Kevin Kasper added 4 catches for 46 yards (11.5 avg) and a TD.  First round pick Calvin Johnson made his debut in Lions’ blue and he caught 2 passes for 45 yards.  The Lions didn’t run the ball well as they carried the ball 19 times for 59 yards (3.1 ypc) but they were awesome throwing the ball.  They completed 30 of 47 passes for 489 yards!

The Lions defense was stout against the run as they only allowed the Bengals to rush for 72 yards on 24 carries (3.0 ypc).  The Bengals were effective throwing the ball as they completed 23 of 37 passes for 272 yards.  The game didn’t count but the Lions didn’t look half bad last night.

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