The Detroit Lions are struggling. The team is coming off a big loss to the New England Patriots and looking more and more inconsistent on offense as the season progresses. Matthew Stafford is not connecting with his wide receivers and the run game is nearly non-existent through 12 weeks. This is leaving everyone defending their play while injuries continue to hamper the Lions heading into a Thanksgiving matchup against the Chicago Bears.
Head coach Jim Caldwell is concerned that the Lions' offense cannot find their rhythm right now. The unit is inconsistent having not scored an offensive touchdown in two weeks. They have not rushed for a touchdown since Week 7 and Stafford is coming off his worst completion percentage of his career after only completing 39.1 percent of his passes against the Patriots. Caldwell says that no one looks comfortable on the field.
"We have no comfort zone," Caldwell said, via ESPN.com. "We have no area that we are comfortable with at this point in time with our offense."
The head coach is zeroing in on the run game struggles something that is keeping the unit from remaining balanced. That might not get better against the Bears as Reggie Bush is questionable for the game. The running back has been dealing with an ankle injury all season, but intends to try and play on Thursday. Bush has been limited in practice all week, but is optimistic that he will be able to provide a spark for the offense. If fantasy owners need a running back, Joique Bell is the better pick up as Bush has been ineffective all season.
"I don't think it's only that, but I do think obviously the running game is important," Caldwell said. "... A couple of things you need to be able to do is that you have to be able to stop the run and you have to be able to run the ball. Those are two very, very important areas. We've been able to do one reasonably well in terms of stopping the run. We haven't been able to run the ball consistently."
Everyone on the Lions' offense is admitting their struggles including Calvin Johnson who is currently not the leading wide receiver for Detroit. Golden Tate is currently the best receiver on the team leaving the veteran to defend his abilities. Johnson told reporters that he is still the "same guy" as Stafford notes that chemistry appears to be an issue.
"I think defenses obviously are keying in on him," Stafford said, via the Detroit Free Press. "He's the best receiver in the league and they know that, but it's on me to just throw him better balls and make sure we're on the same page."
