This is perfectly said...

The Lions are built for bursts of promise, not sustained success, not yet.

From The Detroit News: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This was how Wojo put it to start his column. It's what I've been trying to say for a long time. There are a few others here and on other boards who have seen this over the past few years of Mayhew building this team and Schwartz leading this team. A vital flaw in the plan needs to be fixed.

In my opinion being able to sustain success comes from being able to do something better than the other team and imposing that will on that team. The Lions seem to have chosen passing on offense and rushing the passer on defense. I see two problems here:

1. The Lions don't do "their thing" well when the game is on the line. THey put up huge numbers passing but most of them go to one or maybe two guys. Yet when the pressure mounts, even the "stars" of that passing game, Stafford, CJ and Pettigrew misfire far too often. Misses, drops and fumbles from these three have directly resulted in losses.

Now I'm not saying I blame these three...I blame coaching. I also blame Mayhew for not fixing the interior OL and leaving Cherilus as a starter.

Even worse, the coaching goes away from this strength at the crucial times thinking they need to run the ball to run out the clock. Pinheads! If you want to control the clock and you don't have the OL to run the ball, go with the short passes as long handoff strategy. Works just the same and utilizes the weapons you do have on offense.

Defensively the Lions seem to focus on the front four and pass rush. Nice strategy and works pretty well during the time of the game when there are many five and seven step drops, downfield attempts and you are playing more man and press coverage. Not so good when you try to rush four with a soft zone behind you. How about adding a blitzer when the pressure is on the opponents offense with 3:30 left and down 12???? Three straight games going to a softer more passive defense when you have the lead only to see the offense move like a hot knife through butter. How many times does it have to happen for Cunningham and Schwartz to see that as a bad strategy. When you don't have LBs or DBs who can cover worth a crap you don't put the pressure on them to win the game for you.

So...in short...Mayhew builds the team with passing and pressure as the strength so what do the mental midgets on the sidelines do in crunch time? Rely on the running and coverage...the weakest units on the team!!!

2. I contend that this is a stupid, stupid strategy. I have no problems with a strong DL but how about a strong all-purpose DL. I'll give up some of the pressure from the front four to get some better run defense. I can add a blitzer to a play to get a little more pressure but when I have to consistently count on my LBs to make tackles in the run game I lose coverage and put more pressure on the weak secondary. To the contrary...if I'm Mayhew I look for guys who can rush the passer but can read quickly and make tackles. I then hire a coach who plays with more of a balance attack and goes away from the wide nine which opens up huge holes and puts the pressure on LBs to fill these huge gaps.

Offensively start with the darn OL. Some pretty mediocre running backs can do good things behind a strong running OL and a QB who doesn't have to run for his life all the time can be pretty accurate. With more time even mediocre WRs can get open. This ain't rocket science. Those high profile skill players aren't worth much on 3rd and 4 when you try to run the ball and control the clock.

This team is truly not build for sustained success and that is the fault of Mayhew and Schwartz.

SharBar57 wrote:I already posted the same article on another thread...if you would read all the posts then you would have seen it...but never mind, I know you don't read my posts anymore. You came to the game with your "bat" and didn't like what was transpiring so you took your "bat" and went home like a cry baby! So be it......I couldn't care less about you and what you have to say about the Lions. All you do is repeat what is already written in the Detroit papers.

Wow...Sharon...

Nobody here has mentioned the election in a long time my guess is Mi, like the rest of the world has accepted the results and wish Obama well but is ready to call him out when he disagrees.

BTW, I lost the election and I'm fine with it...On each coast and in a few states in between, there are cars with bumper stickers supporting me for president. They are people that are tired of saying "What the Hell?" and want to say "Hell Yes!" ( My motto ) I have a few friends and family say they voted for me and I know I did so everyone can say the have the ear of a presidential candidate.

My son posted my concession on Facebook and has a lot of likes from it, he's 17 and will vote next presidential election as will my middle son. I got a check from a sister for my 2016 campaign the other day and I have a website, though it admittedly needs to be upgraded. Like the Lions I'm further along than the Lions were 4 years ago. Don't count the Lions out and don't count me out!

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