Lions mum on Stafford’s status

By: Michael Niziolek

In Play! Magazine

Matthew Stafford (knee injury) missed practice for the third time in four days on Thursday. Head Coach Jim Schwartz said the quarterback was improving on Wednesday, but he didn’t have much to say about the situation on Thursday.

“I’m just going to let our injury report handle where we are with the quarterback,” was all Schwartz said.

He talked generally on how the coaching staff handles balancing a player’s injury and the need to win every week, but kept away from talking about Stafford specifically. Schwartz said in order for a player to play with an injury that player needs to be able to effective…

“I think the thing that you need to balance with any player, and I assume you’re talking about the quarterback, but any player, when you talk about an injury, you balance their ability to play, their ability to be effective on the field, their potential to make an injury worse, you balance all of those things,” Schwartz explained. “If a player is out there and he can get through but he can’t be effective in his role then it doesn’t make any sense to play him. It pertains to every single position.”

Last week the Lions waited until Sunday to reveal who would start against Pittsburgh and with only one day to go until they travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers they likely follow a similar strategy. Although with Daunte Culpepper taking most of the snaps this week at practice and a bye week next week it seems unlikely Stafford would get the call.

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Steeler Nation gets it done in Detroit

By: Michael Niziolek

In Play! Magazine

The Detroit Lions sold out Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field, but it was evident from all the terrible towels that many of those tickets were purchased by Steeler fans.

With three minutes and 30-yards to go the Lions looked like they had a golden opportunity to get a touchdown and send the game into overtime – a situation that should have the home crowd’s fans on their feet.

It wasn’t.

Thousands of Pittsburgh fans rallied and made Ford Field anything but enemy territory for the visiting Steelers helping them hold on to their lead and win 28-20.

“They traveled awesome today,” Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said. “It's spectacular to stand on the visiting sideline and see the fan support we had in this building today."

Hines Ward said the crowd definitely made a difference for the team, but wasn’t surprised at how many fans made the trip.

"We're Steeler nation,” Ward explained. “Wherever we travel, we travel well. Playing in the Super Bowl here brought back a lot of memories. We had just as many fans as we did back then, so that's what we love about playing for this organization.”

Daunte Culpepper started in place of the injured Matthew Stafford at quarterback and had problems with the Steelers defensive pressure. Culpepper was sacked seven times, four of those coming during the Lions critical final possession.

After the game Jim Schwartz talked about the offense not picking up the blitz in the final series…

“We didn't recognize it and ended up taking those sacks,” he explained. “In that situation where you got it right there, we've got to be able to throw that ball away, protect that, whatever we've got to do to avoid a sack right there. We can't give up a sack like that because that took us out of the chance that we had at the end of the game."

Losing Calvin Johnson in the first quarter to a leg injury hampered the Lions offense as well. It was the second consecutive game that the big play receiver was taken out with a leg problem, against Chicago Johnson injured his hamstring and left the game in the third quarter.

Derrick Williams and Dennis Northcutt stepped in and made some nice plays, but the 6’5’’ playmaker could have made a difference for Culpepper as he dealt with the heavy pressure from the Steelers defense.

The Lions will travel to Green Bay next week as they look to get a win before the bye week.

Detroit Lions Coach PO'ed After Lose To Bears

Anybody that watched the Lions game yesterday was probably as dumb founded as the next guy/gal.

How could the Lions start out at such a good clip and just lose it after the first half?

It looked as though it would be a good match up as the Lions matched the Bears point for point, that is until half time when something happens?

Is Schwartz's half time pep rally derailing the team? Is the team out of gas?

Head Coach Jim Schwartz says he's as PO'ed as that next guy."A couple of you astutely observed that I seemed a little ticked off after the game and I’m here to say that after 24 hours I’m probably more ticked off now than I was right after the game."

Did the Lions have fighting chance to win the game or at least stay in it? Schwartz says, “We never gave ourselves a chance to win that game. There were way too many errors in all phases of the game, but particularly in special teams. You can’t win a game when you continually put the defense backed up the way that we did and we allowed scores on special teams.”

One is left to wonder if it's a good idea to come down on such a fragile team outside of the locker room?

As for Lions QB Matthew Stafford, Schwartz says, “Matthew is day-to-day with a knee and we’ll see what he does on Wednesday”

And as far as this weeks upcoming game. Schwartz says it’s possible but he's not giving away any secrets. “I’m not going to comment on (injuries). You know my philosophy on injures as far as commenting on specifics and things like that. He has a knee, he’s day-to-day and we’ll know more on Wednesday."

Photo courtesy Detroit Lions

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Lions lose more than game to Bears...

The Detroit Lions dropped Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears 48-24, but injuries were the bigger story coming out of Chicago for Jim Schwartz's squad. Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson both left the game in the fourth quarter because of injuries.

Stafford's injury appears the more serious of the two.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that the Lions quarterback suffered a dislocation of his right knee. The knee popped right back into place, but he will undergo further tests when the team returns home to Detroit to see if he suffered any damage to the cartilage around his knee cap.

Sources on the team told Mortensen that Stafford could be back on the field next week, possibly with a brace, depending on how the test results turn out.

Johnson left the game in the fourth as well because of tightness in his legs, but the problem doesn't appear to be serious.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4531166

WELL, WELL WELL! LIONS WIN.

Hey! Ho! The wicked witch is dead. The Detroit Lions win 19-14.
How does that saying go about the sun shining on a dog?

The Lions are now 1-2, not 0-20!

This is probably the first game in the last two years that the Lions have played where they looked like a complete team. Offence, Defense and Special teams all played like a cohesive professional football team. It’s a real treat to watch a good football game for a change.

I only have one criticism and that would be Matthew Stafford’s accuracy.

He really threw some zingers today making it hard for his receivers. This may be due to an over correction as he tries to minimize the interceptions he has been throwing. It looks like he was trying too hard, but this is something that CAN be fixed. Other than that I would say the Lions really looked pretty good today.

Ford Field had many empty seats today but the fans that were actually there witnessed a 19 game losing streak come to an end. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a longer skid with 26 games back in the late 70’s.

I wonder if the team including many of the players, coaches and floor sweepers who were not here last year, have the monkey off their back? Can they start wining now? They have had the taste of victory; now will they continue to sip the magic potion?

Let’s hope so. GO LIONS!

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Detroit Lions Injury Report Sept 23

The following players have been listed on the Detroit Lions' Injury Report.

DID NOT PRACTICE:
DE Cliff Avril (hamstring)
LB Ernie Sims (shoulder)

LIMITED PRACTICE:
CB Phillip Buchanon (neck)
DE Andre Fluellen (knee)
DT Sammie Hill (neck)
DT Grady Jackson (knee)
CB Eric King (shoulder)
QB Drew Stanton (knee)


FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE:
FB Jerome Felton (ankle)
G Daniel Loper (knee)
S Marquand Manuel (knee)

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Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz Addresses The Media After Game 2 Lose.

Jim Schwartz held his weekly press conference today and spoke briefly about Sunday's lose.

Anybody who watched the game has their own opinons but let's see what Head Coach Schwartz has to say.

“There are a lot of different ways that you can look at this game. As a player, as a coach, as a fan – you can look at a lot of different things. Are we the team that jumped up 10-0 and played really well and was on a roll? Are we the team that finished 3 and 27 and didn’t finish the game very well, particularly those first couple of drives after the half?"

Schwartz continues, “If you look at the game, you can find a lot of positives. If you look at the game you can find a lot of negatives. In other words, the answer is, we’re somewhere in between. We’re not yet the team that started 10-0. We’re not the team that finished 27-3. We’re somewhere in between and until we learn to play with a lead, when we get a 10-0 lead and all of a sudden extend into 17-0 and keep on driving and keep expecting good things to happen, we’re not going to be the team that we want to be. We need to learn to play with a lead. We need to have that instinct to go ahead and finish it and not wait for something bad to happen. "

Schwartz comments on the Lions Defense by saying, “Defensively, it’s the same thing. We can’t start off and then – you look at Adrian Peterson’s runs, we bottled him up really well at times and, particularly on our backside, and in contain we would lose some edges with him and we had some long runs that came out: 57 yards on two carries, that’s unacceptable also."

So now what? What's on tap for game three? Schwartz says, "Really the answer, as we look at things: we need to learn to play with a lead, we need to finish what we start and we need the confidence to be able to do that.”

As far as Ernie Sims' injury goes, it's not good. The Head Coach says, “Ernie’s got a fairly significant shoulder (injury) the extent of which is still being tested. There’s a good chance that he’ll miss some time.”

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DETROIT LIONS REACH SELLOUT FOR SUNDAY'S GAME VS. MINNESOTA

Allen Park, Mich. - The Detroit Lions have reached a sellout for Sunday's home-opener against NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings. By reaching a sellout by today's 1 p.m. deadline, Sunday's game will air live in the local television markets (Metro Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw/Flint and Toledo markets), including WJBK-TV FOX 2.

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FORMER LIONS' LINEMAN BOB KOWALKOWSKI DIES

Allen Park, Mich. - An ironman along the offensive line for the Detroit Lions from 1966-76 and a pillar in the community has died. Bob Kowalkowski, 65, died last night at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield (Mich.) after a brief illness.

Kowalkowski was a Lions' starting guard through most of his 11 seasons in Detroit after he was drafted as a future pick in the seventh round from Virginia in 1965. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound lineman immediately stepped into a starting slot at left guard as a rookie in 1966 and was switched to right guard in 1968. He started every game for the Lions for five straight seasons (1972-1976) before being traded to Cleveland in 1977. He finished his career playing four games for Coach Bart Starr and the Green Bay Packers in '77.

Kowalkowski played in 138 games during his Lions' career.

"Bob exemplified the tough, physical player you had to be to succeed in the NFL," praised Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders who played nine seasons with Kowalkowski. "When you played with him you knew he had your back, and if he was your friend he was your friend for life."

Quarterback Greg Landry counted Kowalkowski as among the leaders on his offensive line.

"Bob was a little undersized compared to most offensive linemen, but he made up for it with hard work and always going the extra measure in the weight room, film room or during practices," recalled Landry. "Also, I will always remember how much Bob loved to hunt and fish. He and teammates Larry Hand and Ed Flanagan took every chance they could to enjoy the Michigan outdoors."

Tackle Jim Yarbrough was another standout on the Lions' offensive line from 1969-1977 and fondly remembers Kowalkowski as "determined to outwork everyone. Bob left everything on the field each Sunday. When I came in as a rookie he told me to be very thankful we had line coach Chuck Knox. Bob told me to keep my mouth shut and learn to do things the right way.

He was always a leader by example and a great role model for the work ethic required to be a real professional."

For 44 years, the Kowalkowski family has been closely associated with the Lions. Kowalkowski was drafted by the Lions in 1965 and, since 1990, Bob's wife Judy has worked in the Lions' front office and is the Lions' manager of accounting operations.

Another football Kowalkowski, son Scott, was signed as a free agent by the Lions in 1994 and was a standout on special teams and at linebacker for Detroit through 2001. Daughter Robin owns her own business in Chicago.

"The entire Kowalkowski family means a great deal to our organization," said Tom Lewand, president of the Lions. "Obviously, the football side of their contributions is well known but, off the field, the family contributes enormously to the Lions and to our entire community. Bob was a special leader on the field and off."

Community involvement is another Kowalkowski family tradition.

Bob Kowalkowski founded the "Kowalkowski Open" golf tournament in 1973 with friends from the Gladwin (Mich.) Lions Club to support Leader Dogs for the Blind. He also was active with the Danny Thomas March and co-chairman for the St. Jude's Children's Hospital Radiothon during his Lions' career. His Bob Kowalkowski Scholarship Award helped enable students with financial needs and high academic achievements attend college. He was voted the Lions' "Man of the Year" for his community involvement in 1975.

In 1991, the Kowalkowski Open grew into what is now known as Kolo Charities, which has helped raise thousands of dollars for a variety of charities in Michigan. Included among them is the Detroit Lions Courage House which benefits the child abuse prevention and treatment program at HAVEN in Oakland County.

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