When the Lions weren't blocking...or being blocked...or missing open receivers or dropping passes, they were busy taking dumb penalties.

This was the kind of game that beckoned back to the inglorious days of "same old Lions."  The hallmark of "same old Lions" is this: Less than three minutes left, down by seven or eight and needing a touchdown to tie...never a field goal...which is exactly where the Lions were again yesterday.

The complaints this year about the Lions have routinely gone back to the teams inability to run...with the loss of Jahvid Best last week the Lions decided to prove the world right...they CANNOT run the ball.  Kieland Williams looked pretty good on a couple of carries...so they took him out.

But it really wasn't a problem with the running backs at all, although it may have been a problem with the coaches continually calling running plays when the team was showing so efficiently that they have less chance of being a running team as the Detroit Pride have of getting invitations to the Ford Family Christmas party.  The problem was the blocking or lack there of. 

Jim Schwartz may have had something last year when he said that Jeff Backus was the best tackle in the NFC North last season...this year....Backus has looked his age or worse....and the rest of the line isn't fairing any better.  There is no running game, because it looks as if the guys on the line don't believe that they can run the ball.

Oh...and the defense can't stop the run either.  The Lions may have the most fear inducing, dominating defensive line in the NFL.  It is a line that, at times, has looked like it simply cannot be blocked...which is something that opposing offenses have almost come to accept...so instead they trick the D-lineman into overrunning plays and filling wrong gaps.  The Lions are giving up way too much on the ground and are being skewered by the quick passing game.

During the 5-0 start, the defensive backs were playing up on opposing receivers, now, inexplicably they have started playing back more often than not.

Here is the argument I am going to raise....the Lions are looking an awful lot like the 2007 edition.  They started off 6-2....beating the living snot out of the Denver Broncos....then went on to lose the next 24 games...The Lions built the 5-0 record by beating some run of the mill teams and the majority of the remainder of this year's schedule is against the primo teams in the NFL. 

This week, they go to Denver and should come out 6-2...

This week we'll learn an awful lot about the character of this rendition of the Detroit Lions.  How will the team respond to it's first loss?  How will they handle being favored against another pretty good team? 

Will they bounce back and trounce the 3-3 Atlanta Falcons?  Or will they start to fall back into their old habits which lead to the long streak of losing seasons they are still a part of?

In 2008, Atlanta QB Matt Ryan's rookie season, the Falcons opened the season visiting Ford Field.  The Lions were coming off an a "momentum building" 4-0 preseason record....On the first offensive play of the year, on Matt Ryan's first pass of his career...the rookie QB in his first start ever against a team that was supposedly playoff worthy...was a lightning shot to Roddy White that went for 80+ yards and a touchdown..

The first step toward 0-16...

The Falcons, on the other hand, managed to make the playoffs behind that same rookie quarterback...

On Sunday, they'll return to the scene of the crime.  On Sunday, the Lions will have a chance to change the city's memories of that horrible day...or they have the chance to reinforce those memories.  That year, the Falcons showed the world that the Lions were less than real...that their 4-0 preseason record was a total farce...this year, they can do the same thing, they can show the world that the Lions 5-0 season opening streak was against BAD teams--Dallas Cowboys 2-3, Minnesota Vikings 1-5, Chicago Bears 1-3, Kansas City 2-3, Tampa Bay 4-2 (But beaten by 40+ points by the Niners...)

Of course if they manage to beat the Falcons...that may just add to that argument as Atlanta will fall to 3-4.

Falcons Offense vs Lions Defense

I think this is where all of the water boils away in this game....Can the Lions vaunted front four stop Micheal Turner like they couldn't stop Frank Gore?  Can they manage to get Matt Ryan down on the ground, instead of just rushed and flushed from the pocket, like they did against Alex Smith?

Personally, I really, really, really want to be wrong...but I don't think they can.

Advantage: Falcons

Falcons Defense vs Lions Offense

Even without a running game, I think the Lions have the advantage here.  The fact that the Lions can't run, actually plays into the game plan....the Falcons are ranked sixth against the run...if their strength is defending the run...the Lions weren't going to do much of that anyway.

Look for more throws to Pettigrew over the middle.  Look for Stafford to rebound, to throw more accurate passes to Titus Young, Nate Burleson and at least one more touchdown to Calvin Johnson.

Advantage: Lions

Prediction

I don't want to be the guy to jump off the bandwagon after a particularly ugly, albeit close, defeat.  So I'm not jumping off...but I am wondering where the Lions are going to pick up another five wins this year on their run to their first playoff appearance of the decade.  Yes, they have another game with each of Minnesota, Chicago, Denver and Carolina...but they also have two games against Green Bay, another against New Orleans, San Diego, and Oakland.

It is my humble opinion that the Lions really, really need this game...but Turner and Ryan may prove to be too much for the Lions defense.  This'll be close and I really, really want to be wrong but...

Falcons 24, Lions 20