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.