Buffalo Bills Detroit Lions: Getting to know the enemy

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to take on the Detroit Lions, we go behind enemy lines

Buffalo Bills fans will be – quite rightly – mainly focused on their own team, when they take on the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, at Ford Field. At this point, the Bills just need to get to the start of the regular season, without suffering any more injuries!

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However, it still can’t hurt to know a little bit about the team you will be facing on the opposite side of the ball. As such, we sat down with SideLion Report editor Mike Payton, to ask a few questions about the Lions:

1) I’m sure you’ve already been asked this at least 50 times, but what impact will the loss of Ndamukong Suh have on a Lions defense, which was second best in the NFL last season?

You can’t replace Suh or his dominate play, but the Lions have done a heck of a job softening the blow. The Lions defense has performed quite well during the preseason despite missing Haloti Ngata and Jason Jones.

They’ve performed so well that their 2015 preseason stats are on par with their 2014 preseason numbers. Obviously Detroit must translate this into the regular season, but Getting Ngata and Jones back for week one will definitely help their efforts.

2) Preseason can be notoriously difficult to decipher, in terms of getting a read on a team. Regardless, what have you made of the Lions through their first three games?

The biggest thing that has stuck out to me is the Lions offensive play. Matthew Stafford has looked especially sharp in his decision making and maturity, and he currently has the highest QBR of any quarterback throughout the preseason.

Oct 5, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) drops back to pass during the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The other thing is the running game, with rookies Zach Zenner and Ameer Abdullah looking tremendous in the run game thus far. Each has ripped off multiple big plays through every game of the preseason.

Once again, this all has to translate into the regular season. However, the Lions have to feel good about their back field going into week one.

3) With the exception of your first round selection, which player or players are you most intrigued by from this year’s draft, and why?

I’d have to go back to Abdullah. The rookie running back out of Nebraska has captured the imagination of Lions fans everywhere with smooth running and unbelievable change of direction.

If Abdullah can indeed become the running back that most believe he can, the Lions may have pulled off an Al Capone-like heist in the 2015 NFL Draft. Considering the Lions have not ranked higher than 17th in rushing since Barry Sanders retired, the Lions need their running game to improve, maybe more than anything.

4) Despite already playing six season, Stafford is still only 27. How do you feel his Lions career has panned out so far? Has he reached his peak, or is there still more to come?

Stafford has not lived up to the expectations that many had for him after he was selected first overall in 2009. In my opinion, this falls on coaching just as much as it falls on Stafford.

Jim Caldwell is the key here as he’s managed to improve the careers of Joe Flacco, and most notably Peyton Manning. In fact, Manning credits Caldwell for taking him to the next level.

I believe I’m 2014 you saw a Matthew Stafford who had been taken apart and put back together with a microchip controlled by the coaching staff. Stafford took less chances and improved his decision making and it paid off, with him throwing a career low in interceptions and having the second best completion percentage of his career.

The handcuffs are slightly off in 2015, and we’ve already seen what he can do with the proper guidance. It’s up to Stafford now to make it all happen and I believe he can, but if not, then he will continue to be a good, but not great, quarterback.

5) Finally, save for the loss of Suh, what is the biggest challenge facing the Lions in their attempts to return to the playoffs this season?

The Lions must continue to follow the culture they’ve been living since Caldwell’s arrival, which means continuing to buy into the system and simply believing in themselves and the organization. One thing that’s hurt Detroit in the past, is resting on their laurels.

The offense must live up to they hype as well. They won’t be able to win games in the same manner as last year, so they must step up.

Next: Reasons for cutting Fred Jackson don't make sense

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