AGRI Biz

Next year, any players drafted by the Detroit Lions might do well to take out a hefty insurance policy. The 14 players on the LionsÆ injured reserve probably wish they had. First-round pick Brandon Pettigrew is the latest to hit IR, and he represents only the latest in a sordid history of unfortunate injuries for the Lions. Though the relationship between the two is arguable, an annual laundry list of injuries is as ...

Matthew Stafford has arrived, and his legend has begun. As of Monday, Nov. 23, that legend depicted Stafford as a child of the football gods, a immortal savior delivered unto the wretch of the Detroit Lions. After setting an NFL rookie record with five touchdown passes, including a game-winner after a play in which he separated his non-throwing shoulder, the consensus was to declare him a wildly successful draft choice, destined for ...

What else could possibly happen? Last Sunday, the Detroit Lions jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks, and still managed to lose by 12 points. And the beatings go on. The Lions have been shut out, lost late leads, fallen short in fourth-quarter comebacks, lost because of offense, defense, and special teams. And thatÆs just this season. The only good news this season is that the team ...

Jason Hanson is a victim. He was blessed with a golden leg and the raw talent and ability to break every professional kicking record on the books. Then he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1992 and has been there ever since. Now I love the Detroit Lions, and I always will, but I'm a football fan first, so even I recognize that Hanson's numbers are a shadow of what they would ...

Drew Stanton has caught the brunt of the Detroit LionsÆ recent woes. He was a second-round draft choice in 2007 to be to heir-apparent to Jon Kitna in a Mike Martz-led offensive system. He was shut down his rookie year, both to nurse a minor knee injury (not unlike the one he suffered a few months ago in the preseason) and so Martz could tinker with his throwing motion. Of course, Martz only ...

Does anybody know how bad Matthew Stafford's knee injury is? Does anybody know when anybody on the Detroit Lions' injury list will be available to play? Yes. The players, the training staff, and head coach Jim Schwartz. But nobody else. What started as a smart tactic of withholding all but the most essential injury information to cloud opponents' game-planning has become a behemoth of misinformation. It seems that Schwartz's philosophy with injury is that ...

There's no good news this week. As Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said, "You'll have a hard time finding the silver lining in this one." Wait, check that. The only good news is that the Lions didn't play the New England Patriots this week. Apparently shutouts come in much more humiliating packages. Still, that's little consolation in a game where the Lions were shut out for the first time since 2001, and against ...

This Sunday, the Detroit Lions will suit up to play the Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Lambeau Field is not a friend to the Lions. They haven't won a game there since 1991, chalking up 17 straight losses while surrounded by cheeseheads. This year, though, there's something extra going on. The Detroit Lions' final game of 2008 was an away game against the Packers. Do you remember what ...

The Detroit Lions' current injury report reads like a list of Lions impact starters. Matthew Stafford, Gosder Cherlius, Kevin Smith, Calvin Johnson, Grady Jackson, Sammie Lee Hill, Ernie Sims, and a handful of others populate the team's injured list, with various levels of practice participation between them. Some will play, some will not.á We likely won't know which until Sunday. This is the injured list heading into Sunday's game against the defending champion ...

If youÆre a Detroit Lions fan, SundayÆs game sure looked familiar. Just like the home opener against the Vikings, the Lions looked almost playoff-caliber in the first half. And then the second half rolled around, and they didnÆt. In the Vikings game, it was the defense that performed admirably in the first half, then let up and allowed 27 unanswered points. This week, it was the offense, which put up 21 first-half points ...