The Lions have decided to bring back WR/KR Adam Jennings.  The 26-year old Jennings played in 14 games for the Falcons and Lions last season and he returned 24 punts for 151 yards (6.3 avg).  In his three year NFL career, Jennings has played in 45 games in which he has caught 6 passes for 62 yards (10.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Jennings has also returned 54 punts for 337 yards (6.2 avg) and 24 kickoffs for 551 yards (23.0 avg) in his career.  The Lions will no doubt use Jennings to return kickoffs and punts as they are not satisfied with those units right now.

The Lions have released WR Yamon Figurs.  He only caught 1 pass for 7 yards for the Lions this season and he also carried the ball 1 time for -2 yards.  The Lions got rid of Figurs to make room on the roster for Adam Jennings.  It will be interesting to see if Figurs hooks on with any team this season.

The Lions snapped a 19-game losing streak yesterday against the Redskins.  They did it with a ball hogging offense that protected the defense.  The Lions had possession of the football for 36:48 in this game.  The Lions had a 19-7 lead in the 4th quarter but then they had to hold on for dear life to hold off the Redskins.  Matt Stafford had the best game of his NFL career completing 21 of 36 passes for 241 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Kevin Smith did his part before leaving the game with a injury as he carried the ball 16 times for 101 yards (6.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 18 yards.  The Redskins were all over Calvin Johnson who caught 5 passes for 49 yards (9.8 avg).  With that in mind Stafford turned to Bryant Johnson when he needed a big play.  He finished up with 4 catches for 73 yards (18.3 avg) with a TD.  The Lions finished up with a surprising 381 total yards of offense (154 rushing, 227 passing) in this game.

The defense was in a bend but don’t break mode.  LB Larry Foote led the way for the Lions’ D with 9 tackles in this game.  Still, the Redskins rolled up 390 total yards (65 rushing, 325 passing) in this game despite only having the ball for 23:12!  The Lions are now 1-2 on the season.

The Lions have played two of the best teams in the NFL so far this season and now they have to deal with the very physical Washington Redskins who come to town.  The Lions should give the ball to Kevin Smith as much as possible in this football game.  Sure, the Redskins have MLB London Fletcher and DT Albert Haynesworth but that hasn’t stopped opposing teams from averaging 114.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this season.  If the Lions can get the running game going that would set up some play action passing for Matt Stafford who can pound the ball downfield to Calvin Johnson who the Redskins will no doubt be double covering.  The Lions must control the clock with their running game and short passing game if they want to win this Sunday.

The Redskins were in a tooth and nail battle last week with the terrible St. Louis Rams winning only 9-7 at home.  That is bad news for the Lions as they will not overlook them this week.  The Redskins like to run the football and Clinton Portis (141 yards rushing) and Ladell Betts will likely run all over the Lions’ D which is allowing 134.5 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry so far this season.  The Redskins could decide to pass to get the lead and then grind the game with the running game.  The Lions are allowing 255.5 yards passing per game this season and opposing QBs have a 134.9 rating against them this year. 

PREDICTION:  WASHINGTON REDSKINS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10

The best way to take pressure off of a rookie QB is to run the ball well.  That means that Kevin Smith needs to step up for the Lions.  Smith has carried the ball 39 times for 103 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 9 passes for 62 yards (6.9 avg) out of the backfield.  Teams are ganging up on Smith to force Stafford to pass the ball and that has hurt the Lions’ O.  They need Smith to get the running game going and they might have some success this week against the Redskins but they have to stick with the running game and not abandon it if they fall behind.

The Lions might wish that they didn’t throw rookie QB Matt Stafford to the wolves.  The Lions got behind the Saints early and he had to try to play catch up and last week Stafford had to deal with one of the best defenses in the NFL against the Vikings.  This week the Redskins come to town and they also had a solid D.  Stafford has completed 34 of 67 passes (50.7%) for 357 yards with 1 TD pass and 5 interceptions (40.5 QB Rating).  The Lions do have solid receivers but they can’t afford to keep falling behind or teams will send everyone after Stafford.

The Lions have lost starting linebacker Ernie Sims indefinately with a significant shoulder injury.  This will hurt the Lions’ D as Sims is a heat seeking missile with 14 tackles already this season.  He often hits players so hard that he hurts himself.  Jordon Dizon (5 tackles) and DeAndre Levy (2 tackles) will battle for Sims’ starting spot until he is ready to return to action.  This makes the Lions’ D even worse if that is even possible.

The Detroit Lions (0-2) took a 10-0 lead in their game at home against the Minnesota Vikings (2-0) today, but then gave up 27 straight points.  Twenty of those points came in the second half as the Lions lost 27-13.  The Lions are showing improvement, but they have now lost an NFL record-tying 19 straight games.  Mathew Stafford continued to struggle going 18/30 (60%) and throwing two interceptions, gaining only 152 yards through the air.  He did show some bright spots though as he had one touchdown and threw some bullets to receiver Calvin Johnson, showing why the Lions took him at number one in last year’s NFL draft.  He played poorly overall though, but head coach Jim Schwartz stated they are going to stick with Stafford as their starting quarterback.

Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback Brett Favre made his 271st consecutive start, an NFL record, and threw for 155 yards.  He did have two touchdowns through the air and consistently led the Vikings down field with great accuracy, going 23/27 (85%).  The Lions defense was worn down by the Vikings and running back Adrian Peterson.  Although Peterson failed to rush for 100 yards (he had 92 yards on 15 carries), he put the Vikings ahead for good in the 3rd quarter when he ran 27 yards for a touchdown.

The Lions need to continue to improve week by week, but just competing is not good enough.  The Lions look like they are in jeopardy of reaching Tampa Bay’s record of 26 straight losses back in 1976-77 season.  The Lions better hope Stafford stops throwing interceptions, as he now has five picks in his first two games.

FINAL SCORE:  Vikings 27, Lions 13

The Detroit Lions are taking on the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field Sunday and will have a mighty task in trying to contain the explosive Adrian Peterson.  Peterson rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings win last week and is probably the best player in the NFL.  The Lions hope that rookie quarterback Mathew Stafford can rebound from his three interception outing he had last week.  Stafford did look very good on some drives, most notably a 71-yard 3rd quarter drive which Stafford finished off with a one-yard touchdown run.  Stafford hooked up with the young and talented receiver Calvin Johnson only three times, but those three receptions accounted for 90 yards.

I think the Vikings have too much for the Lions to handle, with Adrian Peterson being too much for almost every team to handle.  Although the Vikings do have the future hall of famer in Brett Favre at quarterback, it looks like he is more of a game-manager than a play-maker for the Vikings.  All Favre will really have to do against the Lions is hand it off to Adrian Peterson and let him carry the team to victory.  Favre will be setting an NFL record with 271 straight starts.  The Lions have improved this year, but it is a rebuilding year and this game will probably be an easy win for the Vikings.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Vikings 42, Lions 24

It was hard to find any positives from the game against the Saints but the special teams stood out.  Rookie RB Aaron Brown (6th round, TCU) returned 5 kickoffs for 180 yards (36.0 avg) often setting up the Lions with good field position.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 9 yards in this game.  31-year old Dennis Northcutt also had a solid game returning 2 punts for 55 yards (27.5 avg).  Northcutt will be a good weapon for the Lions if they can force punts.