Detroit Lions Strategy And Personnel 9-21-11
PLAYER NOTES
--QB Matthew Stafford has thrown seven touchdown passes in two games. The last Lions quarterback to throw seven touchdowns in the first two games of a season was Milt Plum in 1962. He has three four-touchdown games in his 15 starts. The only other quarterback in history to do that was Fran Tarkenton.
Stafford's passer rating through two games is 112 - fourth in the NFL. His seven touchdown tosses is tied for the most in the league. His 8.32 yards per reception ranks seventh and his completion percentage of 65.3 is 11th.
--RB Jahvid Best may not be the 1,000-yard rusher the Lions have lacked for several years, but he is becoming a multi-dimensional threat. He had 57 yards rushing and just missed breaking two long runs. More importantly, he thwarted Kansas City's defensive plan by catching six passes for 66 yards. He scored a rushing and a receiving touchdown.
--WR Calvin Johnson was double- and triple-teamed throughout the game - and he still managed to catch a pair of touchdown passes. He has 37 touchdown catches in his career, second in Lions' history to Herman Moore (62).
--WR Nate Burleson caught seven passes against six different defenders for 93 yards. He averaged 13.3 yards, doing a lot of damage after the catch.
--WR Titus Young showed why the Lions were so thrilled to draft him in the second round. He caught five passes for 89 yards, the best was a 43-yarder on a third-and-24 play. He not only made a strong move across the field to get open, he also outjumped the safety to make the catch.
--LT Jeff Backus appeared to injure a finger or two Sunday. He was X-rayed after the game and left the locker room with the hand wrapped. Coach Jim Schwartz, though, indicated the Backus wouldn't miss any time.
--TE Brandon Pettigrew fell awkwardly on his shoulder and missed a couple of plays Sunday. He did return and finished the game. His status will be revealed on Wednesday.
REPORT CARD VS. KANSAS CITY
PASSING OFFENSE
A -- It's not just the efficiency of the passing game (Stafford was 23-for-39, 294 yards and 4 touchdowns), it's the diversity. Case in point: WR Nate Burleson caught seven passes against six different defenders. Whether they go with two tight ends or three wide receivers, they will find and exploit a mismatch. Calvin Johnson was double teamed all game and he still caught two touchdown passes. But 20 completions for 265 yards went to other receivers.
RUSHING OFFENSE
C -- The Lions will again claim the run game was as good as they needed it to be. They ran 30 times for 89 yards (3.0), but the Chiefs still honored the play action throughout the game. Jahvid Best was productive, but mostly catching the ball. He had 57 yards rushing and 66 receiving.
PASS DEFENSE
A -- After a slow start, the Lions reduced the Chiefs to a one-dimensional attack. It was game over at that point. They intercepted QB Matt Cassell three times, sacked him twice, hit him three other times and pressured him throughout. His passer rating was just 44.5 (15 for 22, 133 yards with the three picks).
RUSH DEFENSE
B -- It was spotty at first. The Chiefs did a good job of trapping DT Ndamukong Suh and running through him. They burned DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and OLB DeAndre Levy twice on reverses for 36 yards. They had 65 yards rushing on their first series, and wound up with 151 for the game. The Lions were able to settle it down in the second quarter, thanks in a large degree to OLBs Justin Durant (11 tackles) and Levy (eight).
SPECIAL TEAMS
B -- The Lions are one of just two teams that haven't had a kick return yet. Teams continue to avoid the risk of a Stefan Logan return. But rookie punter Ryan Donahue is helping the Lions keep good field position. He had a net of 41 yards in five punts -- the second week his net was over 40. Jason Hanson still hasn't missed a field goal -- booting a 51-yarder and a 28-yarder.
COACHING
A -- Significant adjustments had to be made on both sides of the ball. On offense, the Chiefs gave the Lions a completely different look, tilting their defense heavily to Calvin Johnson. The Lions countered by using three wide receivers (instead of two tight ends), using RB Jahvid Best in the pass game and creating mismatches for Nate Burleson, Tony Scheffler and Titus Young. Defensively, the Lions had to curtail the aggression of the defensive front, which was getting burned by traps and misdirection plays. It took less than a quarter for those adjustments to take hold.
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