WEEK 5.. Pittsburgh at Detroit thread..

[Lightningdan]

Have at it!

Pittsburgh has a lacking offense, only scoring 2 more pts than the Lions thus far.. But the Lions have allowed nearly twice as many as the Steelers. I'm thinking that unless Detroit can turn it around on special teams and defense its going to be 42 Pittsburgh, 24 Detroit.

[MiamiTreo3]

Pitt has the 3rd best rushing D and the 7th best overall. Detroit wont score 24 points. Rothlkjhgfer has a big game, this one is gonna be ugly. Pray for rain. This one is actually on TV here in Orlando so I wont need a link. Not sure if I wanna watch anyway.

[DanO]

Lions 27 Steelers 24.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[CGVT]

Steelers 42-Lions 27

[Fraquar]

There is no way in hell the Lions score 27 in this one - and besides they will probably need to score 40+ to win anyway.

[CGVT]

So what is your prediction, dickhead?

[Fraquar]

Steelers 41
Lions 10

Only way that 10 is higher is if the Lions defense or ST scores.

[Drew]

They performed well against a couple of good run defenses so far, but if KS's shoulder is still hurting him and he plans to favor it and fall on first contact, forget it. They need success in the running game, if they plan on having any time to throw. The Steeler pass rush will be on top of the QB within seconds, if they're allowed to pin their ears back.

[thewinlesslions]

It depends if Matt starts or not. Culpepper still doesn't seem to want to throw the ball downfield. Last week he didn't throw to calvin once.

If Mathew starts the lions win 27-21

If culpepper starts lions lose 34-9

[Fraquar]

Harrison is so overdue for a breakout game it isn't funny.

[Fraquar]

Originally Posted by thewinlesslions

It depends if Matt starts or not. Culpepper still doesn't seem to want to throw the ball downfield. Last week he didn't throw to calvin once.

If Mathew starts the lions win 27-21

If culpepper starts lions lose 34-9

So Stafford plays defense?

[SoCal]

Culpepper starts, Lions 17 - Steelers 132

[Mainevent]

Yeah, Harrison's probably licking his chops with regards to facing Backus.

[Russ Bolinger]

Originally Posted by thewinlesslions

It depends if Matt starts or not. Culpepper still doesn't seem to want to throw the ball downfield. Last week he didn't throw to calvin once.

Johnson was out of the game for most, if not all, from the time Culpepper entered the game.

[thewinlesslions]

Originally Posted by Fraquar

So Stafford plays defense?

Not that i know of but if cupepper makes the lions punt more, or throws ints, or has a lot of 3 and outs its quite possible he will give the steelers offense more opportunities.

I think the one thing Matt has proven in the past 4 weeks is he can sustain long time consuming drives. That has a direct relationship to the other team scoring. So no matt doesn't play defense, but he does aid the defense with his play.

[thewinlesslions]

Originally Posted by Russ Bolinger

Johnson was out of the game for most, if not all, from the time Culpepper entered the game.

i didn't notice if calvin was in or not, but neither would culpepper. It seemed that DC was using the check down alot more than matt. The lions need someone who can sling it.

[Russ Bolinger]

Originally Posted by thewinlesslions

i didn't notice if calvin was in or not, but neither would culpepper. It seemed that DC was using the check down alot more than matt. The lions need someone who can sling it.

The point is Johnson wasn't in the game, he was pulled and not in the game for most if not all of Culpepper's snaps so the criticism isn't warranted.....we'll see what happens on Sunday as I don't think Stafford will play, and IMO it would be foolish to put your 41 million dollar investment out there with a knee injury that needs more time to heal......the Steelers defense is a tough task for either QB...the Lions won't run effectively against them and whoever is playing QB is going to be under a lot of pressure.

[Fraquar]

Originally Posted by thewinlesslions

i didn't notice if calvin was in or not, but neither would culpepper. It seemed that DC was using the check down alot more than matt. The lions need someone who can sling it.

Actually, when a team has a 3 score lead with 6 minutes to play in the game, the LAST thing they are gonna do is let anyone get open deep.

FTR, you can count the number of deep balls Stafford threw in the entire 2nd half on one hand - 1 and that was the ball to Heller (TE). Everything else was short, because the Bears once they got the lead took away the deep ball. Even Pettigrew's 24 yard catch was virtually all YAC.

Stafford was checkdown charlie in the 2nd half - and it was because the Bears weren't giving him the deep ball anymore (anymore than they were giving it to Culpepper). When Stafford did try to look downfield, he got sacked - repeatedly.

[Mainevent]

I took the Steelers and the 10.5 points in my pool this week. Not a lot of confidance that they are going to be able to match up physically witht the Steelers.

[chex]

Originally Posted by Russ Bolinger

The point is Johnson wasn't in the game, he was pulled and not in the game for most if not all of Culpepper's snaps so the criticism isn't warranted.....we'll see what happens on Sunday as I don't think Stafford will play, and IMO it would be foolish to put your 41 million dollar investment out there with a knee injury that needs more time to heal......the Steelers defense is a tough task for either QB...the Lions won't run effectively against them and whoever is playing QB is going to be under a lot of pressure.

DC is playing pro football. Doesn't matter who is out there or not, criticism/accolades are well warranted. He looked the same as he did in the preseason. Not what we need.

If Stafford is injured then he shouldn't play. If he is hurt then he should. Going to be playing hurt the rest of his career so he should get used to it ASAP.