The Lions lose another game and guess why, penalties. Now I like that the Lions have gained an identity of being a nasty defense like the Steelers with Mean Joe Green or like the Raiders coached by the late Al Davis. However this team is taking things a little too far.
In their last two games the Lions have had over ten penalties that cost them a chance to stay in the game and win it. In the Green Bay game the Lions lost their composure which hurt them badly. Suh, one of the biggest reasons they lost, kicked a defenseless lineman and got ejected. Without him the team couldn’t get any pressure on Rodgers. Nick Fairley also had an unsportsmanlike penalty which kept the Packer’s drive alive and led to another touchdown.
In the Saints game on Sunday night the Lions hurt themselves with 11 penalties. Titus Young, Brandon Pettigrew, and Stefan Logan were all called for unsportsmanlike conduct. I personally thought that Pettigrew should have been ejected for pushing a ref because there is absolutely no place for that in the NFL. He didn’t but Schwartz gave him a serious lecture.
Bob Costas interviewed Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson before the game. Costas mentioned Suh’s ejection on Thanksgiving Day and asked if Stafford and Johnson if they had talked to him about his actions. They responded with “no, we haven’t talked to him.” That just shows that there is zero leadership on this team.
If this team wants to make it to the playoffs then the veterans need to start acting like leaders. Without that this team will be acting like this is backyard football. Hopefully this team turns it around and Schwarz takes command. Otherwise we might see the old losing Lions return yet again.
