Alas, they don't give out W's for moral victories

October 26, 7:04 PMDetroit Lions ExaminerChris Morgan

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AP Photo: Santana Moss, Brian Kelly

First of all, I did a little preview interview with the Washington Redskins Examiner, and while the game may now be over, feel free to check it out, and my thanks to Mr. Newgent for the space on his page. Second, the scourge of all Lions fans, Matt Millen is back in the news as the Lions have yet to pay him the rest of his (ridiculously large) contract as they try and reach a settlement. This is, of course, where a joke is made about Millen not deserving the money and if anything he should be paying the Lions back, but for the sake of all Lions fans, I hope they settle this soon, and cut the Millen cord once and for all.

As for this week's Lions game against Washington, due to the black out I had to rely on the old antiquated relic known as "radio" to keep up with the action. Expecting a horror show akin to the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast, I got something much more in line with the "fireside chats" of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, something to assuage fears and get us through tough times, and it certainly is a tough time to be a Lions fan. Once again, they were game, even leading at halftime much to my shock, and in the end they were driving for a potential tying score, but it wasn't enough, as the boys in Honolulu Blue and Silver lost again, 25-17.

If you look at the numbers, it would not have appeared to be such a close game, with the Redskins gaining 439 total yards to Detroit's 274. I had expected Clinton Portis to run wild, and while he did have a very good game (24 carries for 126 yards) it was the passing game that did Detroit in. Jason Campbell is clearly coming along nicely as a quarterback, completing 23 of his 28 passes for 328 yards and a touchdown to Santana Moss, who was his primary target. It was Moss who ended up scoring what became the game winning touchdown as well on a 80 yard punt return. Once again, the Lions defense proved to be horrible. Sure, the Redskins offense is pretty good, and they did manage to keep them out of the end zone on a few drives than ended in field goals, but you cannot look at that yardage, or tape of previous games this year, and not come down to the conclusion the Lions defense needs a lot of help. There is already a lot of talk surrounding drafting a quarterback in the 2009 NFL draft, but I for one think what they really need to focus on is defense. Look at the Chicago Bears with Kyle Orton under quarterback, for a sterling example.

As for the Lions offense, I've got to hand it to Dan Orlovsky. He got off to an auspicious start with the safety that made him a punchline in sports circles, but he appeared to play pretty well in this game. Of course, when you have Calvin Johnson to throw too, it can make you look pretty good. Not being able to watch the game, I am not really sure how often Johnson was targeted, but he only finished with four catches, which does not seem like enough for a man that talented, who is also one of the building blocks of the future offense. Speaking of future building blocks, only giving Kevin Smith four carries is baffling to say the least. Granted, he caught seven passes for 50 yards, but this team is going nowhere this year, why is a washed up has been like Rudi Johnson getting twice as many carries? We need to see what we have, if anything, in Kevin Smith, he should be getting almost all the carries, with Rudi only coming in if Smith needs a breather. It is all about the future for the Lions now, they need to stop wasting their time with guys who clearly don't fit into that future.

All in all, while the Lions played well, unless my ears and the box score are deceiving me, a loss is a loss, and Detroit is still winless. However, after two good showings, I feel very confident the Lions won't go 0-16. Now, winning one or two is all well and good, but if they get any more than that and start jeopardizing draft positioning, I'll be a little disconcerted. The Lions are on the road next week against the Bears, so I'm looking forward to being able to see them on television again. The radio can't do the wonderful sport of football justice. As for now, I give the Lions an A for effort, but all that matters is the L on their schedule.