What has been the Lions’ biggest weakness lately? Scrape that. What has been the Lions’ biggest weakness of the last 10 years? Is it defense? No. Is it coaching? Maybe. What is it? It’s the Lions’ inability to put the dagger in the opponent’s back and twist. It is that the Lions do not capitalize when they are ahead and put the game away.
One of the main complaints Lions fans have had about the team in recent decades is that they seem to be going full conservative after gaining an advantage. We’ve seen them all save on their leaves and bring out the defenses and try to run the clock on the ground on offense. If that’s their version to put the dagger in, then let me demonstrate what happens to the Lions almost every time they do. I posted a video today for the class to watch. Take it away, boys.
They make them shy. This is a team that since 1998 has not been higher than 17th in rushing yard. Why are you trying to run the ball? It will not work, and everyone knows it. Why is the prevention of defense there? It has never happened before. Bend down, to scream loudly.
Sorry, I let my emotions get the best of it. It’s pretty crazy, and it’s not something one iteration of the team like the coaching did. Sure Jim Caldwell led the league in conservatism, but Matt Patricia took the same approach. At least Jim Schwartz, who could not, let a young Matthew Stafford throw the ball late into the field.
It’s a counterproductive thing I’m sure fans of every football team complain about. Why would a team ever go away from what works? If your quarterback has a day, let him have another day. The same goes for everything else. If your defense is working on an aggressive game plan, they should not put them back in the fourth quarter.
The good news is that it seems the Lions might be aware of this issue. On Monday, Lions near-end TJ Hockenson was made available to the media and he spoke about what the team’s new mantra is going to be in the 2020 season.
‘Everyone says’ finish’, but I think we wanted it. We have heard that the whole upbringing is ‘finish, finish, finish’. ” Hockenson said. ‘We wanted to put it on our own little spin. That was what Stafford came up with. I think we all just try to buy it in, dive time. Red zone, finish, it’s the name of the game. These are just things we want to improve. It’s just a small spin we have as an offense and team that we have adopted. ”
That is a step in the right direction. Maybe it’s not right to say “finish” anymore. We’ve seen the Lions finish a lot of games. We have seen in the last minute all the arrival from behind victories. They are a lot of fun. But the idea, now, would have to be to never be in that situation in the first place.
Sure the aspect of ‘finish’ is still there. The Lions need to complete drives instead of falling short. There should be a focus on completing discs with touchdowns and not field goals. And for God’s sake convert on your third-and-1’s.
But the bigger goal should be, if the Lions play well, they should continue to play well. This new attitude could potentially keep the Lions out of situations like the ones they had last season in Arizona and Green Bay – going out for big, early leads, but not putting the dagger in.
It remains to be seen what the Lions mean exactly by “dagger time”, but if it’s a little less than putting the pedal on the floor and keeping it there, this team will remain in trouble.
