It will be up to Maurice Morris to replace Kevin Smith as the featured back in the offense the rest of the year.  Morris has carried the ball 42 times for 156 yards (3.7 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  He has also caught 12 passes for 105 yards (8.8 avg) this year.   Morris has never been the main man for a offense so rookie Aaron Brown will also likely see a increase in playing time.  Brown has carried the ball 21 times for 100 yards (4.8 ypc) and he also has caught 6 passes for 65 yards (10.8 avg) with a TD grab.  The Lions’ running game shouldn’t suffer too much as Kevin Smith wasn’t exactly tearing it up this season.

The Lions have lost starting RB Kevin Smith for the season due to a torn ACL.  Smith carried the ball 217 times for 747 yards (3.4  ypc) with 4 TD runs and he caught 41 passes for 415 yards (10.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Lions expected much more than they got out of Smith this year but he’s still a very young guy who could bounce back in 2010.

The Lions were pathetic today as they looked like they didn’t belong in the NFL.  Daunte Culpepper got the start and he was terrible completing 16 of 34 passes for 135 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 7 times for only 11 yards (1.6 ypc) today.  Kevin Smith carried the ball 21 times for 69 yards (3.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg) today.  Dennis Northcutt (3 rec, 39 yards) and Calvin Johnson (4 rec, 37 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Lions today.  The Lions finished up with 229 total yards on offense (103 rushing, 126 passing) in this game. 

CB William James (9 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and S Marvin White (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed) led a pathetic effort by the Lions on D today.  The Ravens finished up with 548 total yards on offense (308 rushing, 240 passing) in this game.  The Lions are now 2-11 on the season.

This is not a good match-up for the Lions as the Ravens will likely be looking to clobber someone this weekend.  The Lions should just come out throwing the ball against the Ravens who are allowing 215.0 yards through the air so far this season.  That will be easier said than done with Daunte Culpepper starting at QB this week.  Still, Calvin Johnson has to scare the you know what out of the Ravens’ corners who have been poor this year.  Kevin Smith will have to give the Lions some balance in the offense or the Ravens will bring the blitz against Culpepper to attempt to rattle him.

The Ravens will likely get back to their running game this week as they will try to bully the Lions.  With that in mind maybe the Lions should bring more players into the box because Joe Flacco has been struggling lately.  The Lions must stop Ray Rice first and worry about Flacco’s passing game later as he has been making a lot of bad decisions with the football.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, LIONS 6

The Lions will start Daunte Culpepper at QB this week instead of rookie Matt Stafford who re-aggravated his dislocated shoulder last week against the Bengals.  Culpepper has played in 4 games this season and he has completed 37 of 65 passes (56.9%) for 433 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  He has also carried the ball 4 times for 51 yards (12.8 ypc) this year.  If the Lions give him time to throw the ball he could have some success against the Ravens’ secondary which is having issues this season.  It’s a smart move of the Lions to rest Stafford before he really gets hurt.  He has played in 10 games this season and he has completed 201 of 377 passes (53.3%) for 2,267 yards with 13 TD passes and 20 INTs (61.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 20 times for 108 yards (5.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far this season.  Stafford is the Lions’ QB of the future without a doubt but they can’t keep running him out on the field to take a beating every single week. 

The Lions have signed 24-year old OT Corey Hilliard off the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad.  He has not played in a game this year yet.  Hilliard has played in only 5 games (0 starts) in his NFL career so don’t expect miracles out of him.  After all, he wasn’t good enough to be on the Browns’ active roster.  The Lions have waived 33-year old OT Ephraim Salaam to make room on the roster for Hilliard.  Salaam played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Lions this year.

Detroit Lions’ (2-10) Mathew Stafford re-aggravated his injured shoulder and did not return as the Lions fell to the Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) on Sunday.  Stafford wasn’t playing very well anyway, leaving the game with 143 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions on 11/26 passes.  Daunte Culpepper came in for some garbage time and did lead the Lions to a touchdown.  The Lions should have given Kevin Smith more carries, who did some damage with 75 yards on 16 carries.  They were down most of the game though, so they had to air it out more.

The Lions defense did not have an answer for Chad Ochocinco in this one.  Ochocinco caught 9 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.  They did do a good job getting two interceptions off Carson Palmer, but they could not stop the running game.  In Cedric Benson’s first return after missing two games (hip), he rushed for 110 yards and ate up the clock with 36 carries.  The Lions could not stop the Bengals simple game-plan, and the season continues with disappointment for the Lions.

The Detroit Lions (2-9) have a tough opponent this week in the Cincinnati Bengals (8-3).  The Bengals have a good all-around football team and have been finding ways to win close games all year.  This game may not be close for the Lions though, as the Bengals have an elite quarterback in Carson Palmer and the Lions are giving up 281 passing yards per game.  The Lions are giving up too much on the ground too (113 yards per game) and the Bengals have their star running back, Cedric Benson, returning.  Benson was the NFL’s leading rusher before missing the last 2 games with a hip injury.  If Benson is back in form, then it might get ugly for the Lions.

The Lions offense has been struggling all year with their rookie quarterback Mathew Stafford going through the ups and downs most rookies go through.  The only problem is that Stafford is being asked to do more than any other rookie in the league, as he has no defense or running game supporting him.  Even more is on Staffords’ plate now as he is going to play hurt with a shoulder injury.  The Lions are really going to need to get a lot out of their running game if they want a chance, but I don’t see that happening against a Bengals’ defense that only gives up 82 rushing yards per game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Detroit Lions 10, Cincinnati Bengals 35