The ex-girlfriend of Detroit Lions wide receiver Dennis Northcutt has dropped a lawsuit claiming he arranged his cousin to beat her up at a Hollywood restaurant while she was pregnant. Sharri Henry filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday asking that the lawsuit against Northcutt be dismissed. The papers did not reveal reasons.

Every Lions fan knows the Lions had the opportunity to take a big step forward yesterday. A win shows progress and puts 0-16 one step further into the rearview mirror. A win keeps the attention on how bad the Rams are and the Lions move into the relative obscurity of 2-5. No more punch lines, no more 1st pick in the draft talk, no more references to last season, just progress. Instead, it’s all back.

The foundation of a winning team was being laid this year, with hopes of a .500 season next year. The 2009 Lions were supposed to be good enough to beat teams like the Rams and give a contender a scare or two, maybe even score an upset. We were supposed to be competitive and start to see signs of life. That foundation is crumbling and the construction site may be sitting on a sinkhole.

On the surface yesterday’s game was just another loss in a season expected to be full of them. On the surface, it was one bad team vs. another bad team. It was a desperate team vs. a not-so-desperate team. However, below the surface it was much more. Yesterday was a game that held hope for a well-played and decisive win over an inferior team. The Lions were supposed to be headed in the right direction working their way back up from rock bottom. The Rams are in a rebuilding mode too but they were still sinking towards rock bottom. The Lions were supposed to take advantage of a break in the schedule that saw them face teams with a combined 26-13 record until yesterday.

The Lions may still turn it around and win some games that they weren’t supposed to. Truth be told, any win they get this year will be one they weren’t supposed to win since they won’t be favored the rest of the year. All the talk of progress and moving forward was stopped yesterday, and it’s as if we were thrust back to 2008. Almost every Lions fan is thinking, “If we can’t beat the Rams, who can we beat?” Hope was supposed to be this year’s theme, not frustration and doubt. We’ve had heaping spoonfuls of that for eight and a half years.

It even seemed like the Lions were destined to win. Interception thrown in the end zone, resulted in a safety instead of an actual turnover. Dewayne White makes a huge play when it seemed like the game was about to get out of hand. The momentum shifts as Stafford marches down the field and scores to tie it up. Zack Follett blows Danny Amendola up on the ensuing kickoff and the whole stadium gets back into it. Louis Delmas breaks up a pass on 3rd and 3 and the Lions will get the ball back to drive for the win…then the little yellow flag appears on the screen and I knew the game was over.

I woke up yesterday morning expecting the Lions to play like a winner in a game they should have won. It was like the cartoons, a little angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. One saying, “It’s ok to get your hopes up, today is the first step towards having a real team again.” The other one saying, “This team has burned you every time you get your hopes up, don’t be a fool they will lose.”

The only difference was the angel was the one telling me not to believe, and the devil was selling hope. I listened to the little devil and got a pitchfork in the backside for it. I’m not giving up on this team, I will wake up next Sunday with high hopes for a win, but with each loss it sure is getting harder and harder to wake up on Sundays…

The Lions generously served up a plate of suck to the win-hungry Rams yesterday that not only allowed them to escape the fate of a winless season (and based on the Rams’ remaining schedule, this was the best chance they had), but also to remove them from the longest current losing streak list. Who says Detroit doesn’t have great hospitality?

There was only one part of the game in which Detroit did not look terrible, and that was the offensive ground attack. The Lions amassed 128 rushing yards and a respectable yard per carry average. The passing game, conversely, was dismal. Stafford was 14 for 33 for 168 yards and an interception. If he wasn’t wildly off target, the receivers were dropping the ball. Kevin Smith was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 49 yards. When your running back is your leading pass catcher, you have a problem on offense.

I am eager to see Anthony Kuehn’s take on Stafford’s performance, since he is better at breaking down quarterback mechanics and decision making than I. However, I cannot be the only one who saw ghosts of quarterbacks past in Stafford’s showing yesterday. And no, I’m not talking about Greg Landry.

Defensively, Detroit did as well as could be expected against a great running back like Stephen Jackson. They held Jackson in check for most of the game, but began to break down toward the end culminating in a 26 yard touchdown scamper to seal the loss. On paper, the pass defense looks respectable, but one has to wonder how bad it could have been if St. Louis had been able to field any decent receivers. The Detroit defense came up with zero sacks, zero forced fumbles, and one interception on an amazing play by defensive end Dwayne White. It should be noted that Cliff Avril was able to bat a couple balls down at the line of scrimmage, but aside from that, there was little bite to the Lions D.

Special teams? I think Anthony handled that already, but I’ll add a note in the spirit of Governor Schwarzenegger’s veto messages:

Frankly, it is hard to see how any team

In the NFL could fail to quickly

Replace a special teams coach who is

Entirely deficient in output.

Kindly owners notwithstanding,

When will management hold

A poor coach accountable for

Numerous failures in performance?

Because the Lions could use it, I’ll end this piece on a positive note. Louis Delmas looked great and is a huge reason the Lions run defense is improving. DeAndre Levy showed that he can do well against the run and the pass. Zack Follett put one of the nastiest hits I’ve seen all year on a hapless Rams kick returner. Aaron Brown may be the best pure runner the Lions have, and if he can master other aspects of the position, can be a great asset in the backfield. Gosder Cherilus and Kevin Smith, though not rookies, are up and coming young players. Calvin Johnson didn’t play yesterday, but the mere fact that so many pundits are saying he alone could have brought about a Detroit victory (not sure I agree with that, by the way) shows how impressive a player he is.

The Lions are thin on talent, no question, but I cannot remember the last time I felt this good about a draft class from top to bottom. Obviously, Stafford needs to get better at throwing and Pettigrew needs to get better at catching. Overall, though, this draft class is in the “good, perhaps great” column, which is far better than the “bad, perhaps awful” drafts Detroit has had this century. Add that to a few building blocks left from the Millen era, and one can make an argument that the team is only a year or two away from coming out of the wilderness.

It’s not much, but at least it’s something!

Chuck Priefer retired in 2006 and turned the special teams coordinator position over to Stan Kwan. Kwan’s tenure can be easily described as abysmal. The specials teams units have been the Achilles heel of an already weak team. In 2007, the kick coverage was so bad against the Cowboys that the Lions resorted to squib kicking on every kickoff.

Stan Kwan has some great special teams players in Casey Fitzsimmons, Kalvin Pearson, Derrick Williams and Dennis Northcutt, not to mention Nick Harris and Jason Hanson. However, the coverage units are awful, the return units are worse and now he may have cemented the Lions’ place as league laughingstock for the second straight year.

How on Earth are you not prepared for a fake field goal against an 0-7 team riding a 17 game losing streak attempting to kick a 54 yard field goal with a terrible kicker from long range!? My wife couldn’t understand why I was upset when the Rams lined up for the kick instead of going for the first down. I said, “The Rams are going to fake the field goal and the Lions won’t be prepared for…” Before I finished the sentence, the Rams were already hoisting their hands in victory as Fells ran down the sideline.

Stan Kwan constantly puts a struggling team in a position to struggle further rather than helping the team with good field position offensively and defensively. He needs to go.

Still, its a gloomy bunch here at Ford Field as the Rams go into the locker room leading 10-2. The Boo Birds are in full flight in D-Town.

Stafford looks rusty. His throws longer than 5 yards are not on target, and he has left TE Pettigrew out to dry on two occasions (not that Pett shouldn’t have made a catch on one of them). The running game is decent, but you can see the Rams secondary creeping closer on every series as they lose respect for the deep ball.

As the Lions tried a half-hearted 2 minute drill, the natives got more and more restless calling for Stafford to throw more than 5 yards at a time. The trouble is that on the few times he has so far, he has been off target or the receivers have been unable to reel it in.

When Stafford’s end of half hail mary sailed 15 yards out bounds, the fan reaction was vocal and angry. My reaction is worry and trepidation. Stafford has not been this inaccurate all year, and I wonder if his wounded knee is affecting his throwing motion.
One thing it is certainly affecting is his ability to scramble. I imagine that he may be under orders to check it down, even when he has a running lane for a sure 1st down.

It may be heresy, but if the Lions’ O fails to produce in the 3rd quarter, Schwartz may be better off switching things up at the QB position. Stafford’s value is stretching the field, something he hasn’t been able to do today. Something needs to change, and I hope Coach Schwartz is able to find it.

I’m thrilled that Atogwe has fans out supporting him. I just hope they make the trip back to Canada in a sour mood.

The wide receivers are warming up now. No sign of Calvin Johnson. We were touring Ford Field and environs all morning, so if Megatron has been ruled out, we haven’t heard.

Matthew Stafford is expected to make his return under center, and even if he is without freak-of-nature Calvin Johnson, he should be able to make some things happen through the air. If Calvin Johnson’s knee keeps him on the bench Sunday, Detroit’s Bryant Johnson could end up having a very good day. Dennis Northcutt is also good sleeper pick in deeper leagues as his quickness and good hands make him a prime target on underneath routes.

On the other side of the ball, the Rams’ Marc Bulger is having a forgettable season so far. However, for the past few years, the best recipe for a struggling quarterback has been the Lions defense. While Detroit’s defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham is threatening to go “all blitz, all the time,” unless a completely different team shows up on Sunday, expect Bulger to put up pro-bowl numbers. Teams who have Tom Brady or Carson Palmer on a bye week should strongly consider Bulger as a plug in this week.

If Rams wide receiver Donnie Avery is able to play this week, he could have a big game. Similar to Calvin Johnson, it depends on whether his injuries will allow him to play, and if so, to be effective. The rest of the St. Louis receiving corps has been a revolving door due to injuries and ineffectiveness. Even with the Lions secondary giving up big yards through the air, the fantasy value of Rams receivers is a crapshoot at best.

One might have better luck with Rams tight ends Daniel Fells or Randy McMichael, but the trick there is picking which one to play. Similarly, Detroit’s starting tight end – rookie Brandon Pettigrew – has been a frequent target of the passing game, but he has not shown the route-running or pass-catching skills to take advantage. Lions backup tight ends Will Heller and Casey Fitzsimmons are just as likely to be targeted in the end zone as Pettigrew. One of these tight ends could have a big day – it’s just very hard to tell which one.

The real damage in this game will be done in the running game. The Rams Stephen Jackson is a must start this week. Detroit’s run defense has improved, but they are still susceptible to getting gashed, especially to a relentless power runner like Jackson. Additionally, he will not only be a threat on the ground, but also as a receiver – something that Detroit has struggled to defend against this year.

As bad as Detroit’s defense has been, at least one can say that they are improving. The Rams are going the opposite direction. Even though rookie linebacker James Laurinaitis is making an impact, the Rams are getting pounded week after week. Lions running back Kevin Smith is poised for a big day and should have success running the ball. Although the Lions use multiple running backs, Smith will get the bulk of the carries, especially the all-important red-zone touches.

In short, two bad defenses will make mediocre offenses look like Superbowl contenders this Sunday. Check the injury reports on Sunday morning, and then start your Lions and Rams offensive players with confidence!