Could Ryan Grant be looking for holes to run through with the Lions? Raymond T. Rivard photograph

With the news that Jahvid Best, the Detroit Lions’ best bet for starting back, will not be uniform for the start of the 2012 regular season – he’s been relegated to the physically unable to perform list – is there a former Packer in the team’s future?

Throw in the fact that behind Best for the Lions are perpetual underachiever Kevin Smith and bad boy Mikel Leshoure and one might think that Ryan Grant might be a possibility.

You might remember that Grant had a visit to Detroit embedded into his GPS in May, but that trip was cancelled for inexplicable reasons. At the time, many thought it was because they believed he was headed back to Green Bay.

That didn’t happen either.

Instead, the Packers decided to go with two backs returning from serious knee injuries – Alex Green and James Starks, as well as second-year man Brandon Saine and rookie undrafted free agent Marc Tyler.

That was all well and good until the wheels in Green Bay started falling off. Saine went down to injury, Green wasn’t quite 100 percent and Starks hasn’t been all the Packers want. In their first preseason game, Tyler looked pretty good, but his stock dropped when he fumbled on the Packers’ final possession as they were attempting to score as the clock was winding down.

Immediately, the thought turned to Grant – he’s the back who knows the system and would be the perfect fit.

But not for Ted Thompson. Instead he went out and got Cedric Benson for a song, clearly looking to move in an entirely new direct, left Grant without a team.

Enter the Lions who have as bad of a situation in their backfield as the Packers. A logical choice for Detroit would be Grant, but no move has been made in that direction.

Could it still happen? Sure. There’s plenty of time to get him into camp and acclimated to their system. Obviously, that wouldn’t be something Packers fans would like to see.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Here’s what our fiends over at The Sidelion Report have to say today -

Chris Czar: Something tells me the Lions woke up in the second half of Sunday’s win against the Carolina Panthers. The Lions looked like the team we saw in first 5 weeks of season. Matt Stafford played his best game after a miserable start, Kevin Smith was excellent in his vindication and Ndamukong Suh finally looked like the player he was last year. I think it carries over this week. It’s not going to be easy, but Smith will run the ball effectively and the defensive line provides just enough pressure on Aaron Rodgers for the Lions to hold on in a very, very close game. Detroit Lions 31, Green Bay Packers 28

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Ndamukong Suh and the Detroit Lions await the arrival of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the North Division rivals' first encounter of the year Thanksgiving Day.

Zac Snyder, the editor over at the Fansided site, SideLion Report, took time out of his busy schedule this week to answer some questions thrown his way about the Packers vs. Lions throwdown in Detroit Thanksgiving Day.

Q. The Packers know their number one need is to neutralize Calvin “Megatron” Johnson. Everyone on the planet knows that Johnson has been a “Packer killer” since joining the league. The question is this: How have other teams slowed Johnson and do you feel the Packers have the manpower to do it?

A: The only way to slow Calvin Johnson is to slow Matthew Stafford. Those two, not coincidentally, had their worst game of the year against Chicago two weeks ago. Johnson has at least five catches in every game this season except for one.

While he had just three catches against Kansas City, two of them were for touchdowns. It’s possible to slow Calvin by rolling coverage his way but the Lions have a number of other options. What’s the point in slowing one player if you’re just going to get beat by others? Matthew Stafford threw five touchdown passes last week and they all went to different players and not one of them was named Calvin Johnson.

You can bet that the Panthers aren’t pointing to the fact that they held Johnson out of the end zone.

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(more…) ]]> http://lombardiave.com/2011/11/23/sidelion-report-sounds-off-on-thanksgiving-throwdown-in-detroit/feed/ 0 http://lombardiave.com/2009/07/24/michael-vick-nfc-north-bound/ http://lombardiave.com/2009/07/24/michael-vick-nfc-north-bound/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:20:24 +0000 djlombardi http://lombardiave.com/?p=683 With the release of Michael Vick and his possible reinstatement, where I believe he will be reinstated, it begs the question, where will he end up.  Are any of the NFC North teams a possibility? Chicago Bears The Bears brought in a franchise quarterback during the offseason in Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos in [...]

Michael Vick: NFC North Bound? - Lombardi Ave - Lombardi Ave - A Green Bay Packers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

First, in early May, running back Kevin Smith wrote that the Lions will be in the playoffs. Wow.

I won’t make a prediction about how many games we’re going to win, but I will say this: We will definitely make the playoffs this season.

Believe it or not we weren’t far off last year. Almost every game we could have won, we were one play or one player short. Except for Tennessee on Thanksgiving, they just came out and beat us to sleep. They manhandled us, but nobody else did.

Okay, now get all that laughter out.

I’m not totally sure what to think about this.  Part of me likes it.  It’s confidence and a little swagger on a team that had neither last season.  On the other hand, it is rather ridiculous to say that an 0-16 team that has an innumerable amount of weaknesses will turn around and be playing in January 2010.  I just don’t really see it happening.

There is hope for the Lions though.  The 2008 season saw the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens all get into the playoffs, showing extreme improvements from dismal 2007 seasons.  This leaves hope for the Lions, especially the fact that Miami came off of a 1-15 season.  However, I see that type of improvement coming more from the Kansas City Chiefs of Seattle Seahawks than the Detroit Lions.

Cliff Avril was a little more judicious in his prediction for the 2009 season.

As for us making the playoffs, I think that is very, very possible. I’m definitely right with Kevin, we have a good enough team. Now it’s all about getting out there and proving it.

Our defense has a lot of new guys like Julian Peterson and Larry Foote, guys who have been in the playoffs and won Super Bowls and know how to win. Larry hasn’t brought out his Super Bowl ring yet, hopefully he’ll do it sometime during the season and we’ll get a few wins.

That sounds more like a guy who knows what’s up.  A “few wins” is a lot more realistic than the playoffs right now.  As for the Lions having a “good enough team,” I don’t think I can roll with that.  Daunte Culpepper is serviceable at best, and it’s hard to tell if he’s even serviceable anymore.  Matthew Stafford has all the potential and Mel Kiper, Jr. hair-grease all over him, but he’s a rookie quarterback, and rookie quarterbacks don’t typically come in and play well.  Some might point to Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan from last year, but they both had great situations.  Flacco had a great defense that didn’t make him do too much on offense and Ryan had a strong running game with Michael Turner, which took a lot of the pressure off of him as well.  Stafford has Smith.  Much work to be done.

It’s nice to see some swagger and confidence in Detroit after watching last year’s pitiful 0-16 season, but I’m still predicting a Packers sweep when the season gets started.

To quote Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend.”

I watched the highlights to the game and was absolutely horrified. In the fourth quarter, while sitting on a 24-9 lead, the Packers unraveled. First, Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson turned a quick slant route into a 38-yard touchdown, Packers punter Derrick Frost mishandled a punt, leading to a Lions safety.

It’s 24-18. Like BOOM.

Then deja vu struck again when Johnson turned a nearly identical pass from Jon Kitna into a touchdown, this time from 47-yards out.

25-24, Lions.

If I was watching this game, I would have been flipping out. But I was totally oblivious to this happening. So no harm, no foul. Keeps my stress levels down.

Then the Packers start working their magic. The retook the lead on the ensuing drive on a Mason Crosby field goal, 27-25. Then the fun began.

On the next Lions drive, Charles Woodson intercepted Kitna, setting up Brandon Jackson‘s best rush of the season, a 19-yarder for the score and a 34-25 lead. Woodson showed some skills AGAIN on the next drive, intercepting Kitna and taking the ball to the barn. 41-25, Packers. Kitna’s last six minutes at the office got even worse as on the next drive he was intercepted YET AGAIN, this time by Nick Collins, who followed to trend set by Woodson and took it to the house. 48-25, Packers.

Game, set, match.

The fact the Lions were able to get back into this one really scares me. Woodson and Al Harris need to be on top of their game with Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, and the rest of the Dallas Cowboys coming into town next Sunday.

In other news, Aaron Rodgers continued his development as a starting quarterback, absolutely owning up on the Lions defense (statistically, at least). Rodgers completed 24 of 38 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns, giving him his first 300-yard passing game and first three-touchdown game. The guy looks good. His first touchdown pass to James Jones was a great scramble, while his third touchdown pass to rookie Jordy Nelson was absolutely beautiful. Greg Jennings lead the receiving department with 167 yards on six catches, including two catches of more than 50 yards. Donald Driver had seven catches and one touchdown. In the rushing department, Jackson actually led the team, a 180-degree turn from Week 1, with 61 yards on seven carries including the touchdown. Ryan Grant was bottled up, partly by a hamstring injury, gaining only 20 yards on 15 carries. He will need to be at full strength for the Dallas game. On defense, A.J. Hawk is not showing any ill-effects of his chest injury, recording seven tackles and two sacks. The defense did a good job shutting down Kevin Smith‘s running game, but they were absolutely torched by Johnson, who had six receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. The disgruntled Roy Williams was held to three catches for 48 yards.

Dallas is next. This will be a tough one.

For this Week 2 matchup, the Packers, fresh off of an emotionally draining 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings, travel southeast to the grand city of Detroit to take on the Lions. In recent years, the Packers have somewhat dominated the Lions, but they have had some close games as well. This should be a close game, as the Lions are young and developing (except for the quarterback position) and are hungry. Jon Kitna does think the team can win 10 games.

Matchups To Watch

Packers defensive backs vs. Lions wide receivers: Offensive coordinator Mike Martz is gone, but that does not mean the Lions don’t have the potential to become the next greatest show on turf. Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson, Mike Furrey, and Shaun McDonald can put up big numbers with Kitna at the helm. Al Harris and Charles Woodson will have their hands full in this game, as will whoever wins the battle for the third-corner spot, most likely Tramon Williams. This game could be an early test to show if whoever won the job really deserves it. Atari Bigby and Nick Collins/Aaron Rouse will also have to show their cover jones.

Packers defensive line vs. Lions offensive line/running backs: A week after having their hands full against a fantastic offensive line and running game, the Packers get to see how they will do against a mediocre offensive line and running game. They could have the opportunity to feast on rookie Kevin Smith and product of the Denver Broncos system Tatum Bell and this could be a confidence booster, depending on how Week 1 against Minny goes.

Lions defensive backs vs. Packers wide receivers: The Lions have long been looking to revamp their secondary and now have three starting-caliber cornerbacks on their roster in Brian Kelly, Travis Fisher, and Leigh Bodden, acquired in the offseason from the Cleveland Browns as part of the Shaun Rogers trade. This gives the Lions three good corners to line up across from the Packers three good wide receivers, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones. The Packers wideouts can destroy on a good day, as evidenced by Driver’s Thanksgiving Day performance in 2007. The Lions have obviously worked hard in the offseason to try to combat this.

The Verdict: I’m taking the Packers again, 28-14. The Lions should keep it close at the beginning, but in the end, they are not quite up to the level of the Packers. Another 7-9 season for you, Kitna.

Packers record after Week 2: 2-0.