The Detroit Lions lost their 5th straight game to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday by a score of 28 - 27. The Lions outplayed the Dallas Cowboys in this game, but have nothing to show for it. The game was theirs for the taking many times, but they failed to capitalize.

The Red Zone offense continued to plague the team. Three times they ventured into the Red Zone and did not score touchdowns. The offense was able to move the ball all day long against the Cowboys. While they did score three touchdowns, those other three failures were costly. On two of those drives, they actually go inside the 10 yard line. On the Red Zone drive where they didn’t score, Jason Hanson, normally the rock solid guy on the team, missed a chip shot 35 yarder in the fourth quarter that turned out to be the difference in the game.

There were numerous blunders in this game that cost em big time and several chances to win the game:

• TE McHugh failed to come down with a touchdown pass in the end zone on one Red Zone drive. While the pass was above his head, it went right through his hand. The Lions had to settle for a field goal.
• Jason Hanson’s missed 35 yard field goal. This was bound to happen with our failures this year in the Red Zone. Even the best kickers miss once in a while, but this one was the difference in the game.
• Late in the fourth quarter, the Lions stripped the ball from the Cowboys while they were driving for the win. With the ball on the ground, Paris Lenon bent over to try to scoop up the ball and instead kicked it right to a Cowboys player. The drive was kept alive. I still don’t understand why guys in the NFL don’t get one of the simplest concepts in football - fall on a loose ball, don’t try to pick it up and run. If Lenon just falls on the ball, the drive is dead and the Lions likely go on to win.
• Two blatant pass interference calls on the Cowboys that went uncalled. One on Cowboys Roy Williams that went uncalled in the End Zone John Owens would have resulted in 1st and goal at the one. Instead, they Lions had to settle for a field goal. Terrible no call. On the other one, the Lions were driving and Cowboys defender Patrick Watkins leveled Calvin Johnson well before the ball got there. It ended the drive. Both of these were obviously blown calls and hurt the Lions. I usually stick by officials as they have a tough job, but across the league this year, the refs have struggled with consistency. Still, the Lions had many other chances to win the game (see above) and shouldn’t get too hung up on these very bad calls. I hope the league at least mentions them, but they won’t.

So, for all the heart and good game play the Lions brought into this game, they got nothing out of it. Their losing streak was extended to five games. Kitna’s preseason proclamation of 10 wins cannot happen. It was a great job by the guys to put on the performance that they did. Frankly, I hadn’t expected it. Can they do it two weeks in a row and have a chance against San Diego?

About the only consolation is that the Arizona Cardinals also lost, so the Lions remain one game out of the playoff hunt. Minnesota has a better record than the Lions by one game, but we currently hold the tie breaker against them. We have the same record as the Cardinals, but they hold the tiebreaker against us. We are going to need to need some additional help along the way, plus a couple of wins.

I have a couple of game balls for the game this week:

• The offensive line gets one. They played their best game of the season. They opened some huge holes for Jones and Duckett. In addition, they generally gave Kitna the time he needed in the pocket. For the day, Kitna was not sacked once.
• Speaking of Kevin Jones and TJ Duckett, they get to share one. They combined for a total of 164 yards rushing. This is the one - two punch we had hoped for all year.
• The last game ball is for Greg Blue. Who? That’s right, Greg Blue, the 2nd year safety out of Georgia. He game into the game when Kennoy Kennedy hurt his knee and his impact was felt immediately. On the first play, Cowboy Marion Barber headed for the end zone, but Blue met him and knocked him backwards with a great hit. Same thing on the next play. On another key play, as the Cowboys were preparing to score, Blue was involved on the hit of Whitten when he fumbled at the goal line. Blue recovered the fumble. Here’s to hoping we see more of Greg Blue.

Next week, we play San Diego. At a minimum, to have any shot at the playoffs we have to win 2 of the last three. We need another performance like the one against the Cowboys, except they need to finish it off.

The Lions finally came into a Thanksgiving Day game with a matchup that meant something. The Lions are (maybe were) in the thick of the playoff hunt. They were playing the first place Green Bay Packers. The hype of the game was quite nice to follow. Unfortunately, the Lions didn’t live up to their end of the deal and came out with another defeat by a score of 37 - 26.

The Lions had plenty of chances in this game to be victorious. The game started well for the Lions. Behind a strong running attack, they swiftly moved the ball down the field on their opening possession. Inside the 10 on third down, Kitna completed a pass to Sean MacDonald at the one, good for a first down. Unfortunately, Dominic Raiola was guilty of a penalty, negating the first down. The next play was unsuccessful and the Lions had to settle for a field goal. It was a very disappointing end to a very good opening drive.

On the Packers opening drive, Brett Favre quickly fumbled on a botched handoff giving the Lions another possession in th red zone. The Lions weren’t able to move the ball and had to settle for another field goal. This became a recurring theme as Jason Hanson ended up kicking 4 field goals.

There were two primary reasons the Lions lost this game. One is their failings in the red zone. The other was the nonexistent pass rush from the front four. Brett Favre had all day to pick apart the Lions secondary and did so in fine fashion. The pocket protected Favre so well, the packers passed the ball 41 times and only ran it 17. There was no pressure whatsover and Favre’s uniform remained clean. Just about any QB, let alone Farve, will pick our secondary apart given the time the defensive line gave him. The Lions are missing Dewayne White much more than anyone anticipated. Shaun Rogers was once again a non-factor.

The Lions kept trying to come back, put they just couldn’t stop the Packers. Kevin Jones and the running game looked good. He ended up with 93 yards and TJ Duckett chipped in another 29. Kitna ended up with 224 yards but threw another costly interception. He was sacked four times. The receivers were the weak link in this game. Calvin Johnson dropped several easy passes in the first half, but rallied for a strong second half. Roy Williams didn’t figure in to the game as he only caught three passes. He clearly looked frustrated that he wasn’t being thrown to more.

The loss hurts the Lions playoff chances further. This game made three straight weak performances and losses. They will struggle to make the playoffs this which will be a disappointing end to a 6 - 2 start. It will be hard for them to do any better than 8 - 8 with their touch schedule remaining. That may not be good enough to make the playoffs. And there is no guarantee of another two wins. Then again, they could surprise and win more than two, but that would take beating the likes of Dallas, Green Bay and San Diego. With three straight losses, I don’t foresee that kind of turnaround. Unfortunately, I think our best bet is to beat Minnesota (no small feat in Minnesota for us) and Kansas City and see how the playoff chips fall.

It’s another tough week for game balls. I am going to give jointly to Kevin Jones and TJ Duckett. Their one two punch was very effective for the Lions. I might think about the line for opening the holes, but cant do it since they gave up four sacks and had several key penalties that killed drives.

The only other game ball from this week goes to Jason Hanson who was rock solid. He was four for four on his kicks including one over 50 yards. Unfortunately, we could have used touchdowns instead of field goals on three of those kicks when the drives ended in the red zone.

Hopefully, the team can pull it together and go to Minnesota and pull out a win. Another loss would certainly darken our playoff chances.