Week 16 – Chiefs v. LIONS

Hello, my name is Daniel Boney (you can call me Boney) and here is my first, of hopefully man, columns about the Detroit Lions.   Ahh yes, the loveable Lions…  Lately the laughingstock of the NFL, but they still hold a warm spot in my heart.  I will provide some thoughts on the season as a whole after Week 17, since I'm picking up this gig now I'll stick to a week to week matchup review.

The Lions come in to their final home game of the season on a 6 game losing streak.  Some of those games have been very winnable (Giants, Cowboys, etc), while some haven't (Vikings, Packers, etc).   The key to these losses has been the Lions' difficulty to force turnovers, and their inability to run the football.  All year the Lions' defense has been absolutely terrible, their defensive backs have sat short in their zone reads, their safeties have bit horribly on play action, and their linebackers have been unable to tackle anyone.   This is not the first season the Lions have had this "bend, but don't break" defense either, so turnovers are key if this team wants to win games.

Coming into this week's game the important matchup is going to be:

Larry Johnson vs. Lions front 7

Dwayne Bowe vs. Lions secondary

Tony Gonzalez vs. Lions linebackers

After Jason Witten lit up the middle of the field in the Lions "Tampa 2" in Week 14, I would look for more of the same from Tony Gonzalez this week.   Even Jason Dunn has shown flashes of ability in limited duty, so either Gonzo or Dunn could have a big day.

On offense for Detroit, the keys will be:

Running plays vs. Chiefs front 7

Damien Woody and Jeff Backus vs. Tamba Hali and Jared Allen

Calvin Johnson vs. Surtain or Ty Law

McDonald and Furrey vs. whoever isn't covering Johnson

The Chiefs will likely follow the script of other teams that have shown Mike Martz a "2 deep" look.  It started against the Redskins, and has continued about every week since.  If the defense falls back into a zone, Kitna will be hard pressed to find open receivers especially considering Pro Bowler Jared Allen will be rushing from one side and 2 ^nd year stud Tamba Hali will be chasing him from the other.

I hate picking against my boys, I really do but:

Chiefs 31

LIONS 21