Lions vs. Rams Preview

     The NFL season is finally here.  Many story lines have led up to this moment: replacement officials, Luck and RGIII, and Tim Tebow to the Jets.  But for Detroit fans there is only one story we want, getting back to Lions football.  The Lions enter the 2012 campaign coming off a 10-6 record and the first trip to the playoffs since 1999.  The road to the playoffs this year begin with a home game against the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams are coming off a season in which they ended 2-14, but this a team in a new direction that the Lions should not overlook.

Lions vs. Rams. Sunday at 1:00 eastern in Detroit.

     The Lions open at home to start the season for the first time since 2006.  This is also the first meeting between these two teams since 2010 when the Lions won 44-6 without Matthew Stafford.
     Both team are different from that meeting.  The Lions obviously have Stafford back with much talent around him on offense along with better pieces on defense.  The Rams have a new system with new head coach Jeff Fisher arriving and bringing in new talent to the team this offseason.  With all the changes going on with the Rams, they are on the upswing, but the Lions cannot afford a loss to a weaker team.  The Lions have the pieces to win on Sunday, and possibly win big.
     On offense, the Lions boast one of the best passing offenses in the NFL with weapons such as Calvin Johnson, Titus Young, Brandon Pettigrew and Nate Burleson, and they should have a good game even though the Rams invested very much into the secondary this season.
     The running game will be without Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure this week, but the running game might be absent this year anyways.  However, expect Kevin Smith to have a good game this week against a new look Rams defense that will probably play without first-round pick defensive tackle Micheal Brockers.  St. Louis does boast two good book ends in Chris Long and Robert Quinn that can rush the passer, so that will be key for the Lions on offense to protect Stafford.
     Defensively, the point of emphasis should be on what it has been when defending the Rams and that is to stop Steven Jackson.  Even though the Rams have begun building around Sam Bradford by drafting wide receiver Brian Quick and running back Isaiah Pead in the draft, but Jackson remains the Rams most powerful offensive weapon.

Matthew Stafford looks to lead the Lions to the playoffs
for the second straight year.

     Bradford is a good quarterback, but he had been hurt many times last season and was forced to miss six games.  Now, I am not saying hurt Bradford, but with the recent injury history and a suspect offensive line, the defensive line needs to do what they do best and get to the quarterback.  The front line must get Bradford gun shy and make him fear throwing the football over his own safety and make the Rams running game beat them.
     Overall, the Lions should win this game because they have more pieces in place to win.  The keys are protecting Matthew Stafford and stopping Steven Jackson.  If all those pieces come together, the Lions should win handily and Jim Schwartz should beat his former mentor Jeff Fisher.


     Prediction:  Lions 38-Rams 14

Lions management didn't address the secondary? Think again.

     The Detroit Lions came into the offseason with the glaring hole in the defensive secondary, particularly the cornerback position, after giving up over 1,000 yards the last two games last season against Green Bay and New Orleans.  Many names were thrown around on who they can acquire in the first two rounds of the draft and in free agency to address the secondary.
     Cortland Finnegan, Dre Kirkpatrick, Stephon Gilmore, Jannoris Jenkins were the bigger names mentioned on the wish list.  Who among these names did the Lions get aggressive to acquire?  None of them.    Detroit decided to not be aggressive in free agency and spend money on keeping their own players and select safer moves on more talented players in the draft with tackle Riley Reiff and receiver Ryan Broyles.
     So, does that mean general manager Martin Mayhew did not address the position? Not at all.  The Lions acquired six cornerbacks, two via free agency, three via the draft and one acquired via trade. The Lions actually addressed the cornerback more than any other position this offseason.
     The problems with the secondary was a lack of depth.  The complications in the defensive backfield were shown when key starters Chris Houston and Louis Delmas.  Their tends to be deficiencies on a football team when you are putting guys that are third on the depth chart and putting them in the starting lineups exposes the backfield.
     So to prevent exposure, Mayhew went out and acquired corners that could be very valuable depth and can make an impact.  Once free agency started, he signed Jacob Lacey away from the Colts.  Lacey started 15 games for Indianapolis, and his starting experience is valuable.

Third round pick Dwight Bentley has many expectations
this season for the Lions

     Even though there were no corners taken in the first two rounds of the draft, the Lions drafted three corners out of six remaining picks the rest of the way.  Third round pick Dwight "Bill" Bentley out of Louisiana-Lafayette is an athletic, physical corner that has raised eyebrows throughout training camp and the preseason.  Bentley has a certain chance to start opposite Houston.  Detroit traded up in the fifth round to select Albion College corner Chris Greenwood.  Greenwood is a 6'1" size-strength-speed prospect who is still raw at this point after playing in smaller level college football, but the Lions staff is very excited to have him and he will provide more depth once he comes off the PUP list.  New Mexico State's Jonte Green, who was selected in the sixth round, is another size-speed combinations who will be relied on to add to the depth.

Veteran cornerback Drayton Florence brings experience and
leadership to the Lions secondary

     Mayhew didn't stop making moves to improve the secondary after the draft.  The recent final week of the preseason has been a busy one for the front office, mostly with the roster cuts for the regular season, but also acquiring two more veteran corners.  The week started with a trade with the Washington Redskins to obtain Josh Morgan.  Morgan played both outside and nickel positions for the Redskins and his experience will be valuable.  Finally, after every NFL team set their 53-man roster, the Denver Broncos cut veteran Drayton Florence, whom the Lions immediately jumped on and signed.  Florence is another experienced veteran and will be the oldest player in the secondary at 31-years-old.

     Overall, the Lions had an excellent offseason and appear to have a young but better secondary after adding six new players to the cornerback position.  Cornerback is a position that teams don't ruin a team, but they are still a part of the team and was a need for the Lions this offseason.  But to say the Lions didn't address the position isn't a smart statement, and the secondary will be better.