Monday, November 15, 2004

Failure to Take Buffalo Advice Stops Lions Again...

Eddie Drummond remains only Lion worth the oxygen it takes to keep him alive


God, was that awful. Let's start with the obvious...the offense. Now, I have been a Joey backer. I have felt that he has never had a fair chance, and that his line stunk and he had no running game and no receivers. Let's not kid ourselves, he's not running around with the '72 Dolphins out there today, but the cast is there to compete.

Furthermore, Jones was respectable running the ball. Joey was simply dreadful. Receivers got open, and he couldn't get the ball anywhere near them. This was a winnable game, and the loss falls solely on his shoulders. He hits some receivers (completions % was about 1/3), and we win the game.

As I mentioned, I have always believed Joey was going to be in the Pro Bowl. Originally, I wanted to pick Roy Williams (the other one), but we went QB, and that's fine. I thought he would mature into a West Coast QB. I still haven't given up on him, but yesterday the needle moved from confidence to undecided. Its three years in, and he wasn't any better yesterday than he was in his first season. And he had Jones and Williams healthy, Swinton is a nice surprise. He had some tools. All the errors were squarely on him.

Its pretty bad when your best hope in OT is to force a punt and get another miracle from Drummond.

The defense didn't play badly. Now, the Jags without Leftwich are hobbled, but the D played pretty well. Yes, they marched right over our butt in OT, but they only gave up 17 points in regulation. That's a passable effort from a D on the field way too much. Dick Jauron is a good coach, because this team is better than its talent.

Eddie....what can we say. The new Mel Grey. Love him. Plays great. That first TD was inspired, and the second was clutch football all the way.

Scary thing is, we're only one game out. Don't have a high level of optimism against the Vikes on the road, but who knows. At this rate, 6 wins is a ceiling. I am beginning to wonder if we shouldn't look QB in the draft next year. Its a blow, because we should have been able to think defense, but we may not have that luxury.

No comments :