WANTED & UNWANTED » Stafford was staring at

Remember back when the Detroit Lions had rushed for 249 yards against the Miami Dolphins for their first decisive road win of the year? A couple days later Youth Jahlani Tavai Jersey , the Lions would trade for arguably the best run-stuffer in the entire NFL for just a fifth-round pick. The Lions were riding a two-game winning streak and sat just a game out of first place in an extremely competitive NFC North. Man, that must’ve been a good two months ago. No? That was just two weeks ago? Did I time travel? What year is this? Who’s president? Wait, don’t answer that last one. Yes, the sky was blue, the weather was warm White Jahlani Tavai Jersey , and the Lions were good. All of that is gone now. After two consecutive blowout losses and the trade of Golden Tate, Lions fans have pretty much lost all confidence in the team. Currently Lions fans are at a 20 percent confidence rate according to our weekly FanPulse survey, good for eighth lowest in the league. However, there’s one NFC North fanbase that’s feeling even worse in Week 10:[*extremely Nelson from The Simpsons voice*] Ha-ha! But while the Packers have been on a steady decline since the beginning of the season, Lions fans have been tormented by the ups and downs from this team. That peak of confidence from two weeks ago sat at 86 percent. Their 66 percentage point decline over just two weeks is by far the biggest drop of any fanbase over that timespan. The only teams that come close are the Ravens (-60%)—who have lost three straight—and the Jets (-44%).And while those two fanbases have certainly had it rough this year Jahlani Tavai Jersey Mens , they haven’t had to deal with the week-to-week variance that Lions fans have been tortured with since Week 1. It’s not just the gameday results that are disorienting for fans. One week the team is making a move that appears to be a “win-now” trade. The next week they’re sending away the centerpiece of its offensive weaponry. One week, we’re reminded that general manager Bob Quinn has made some pretty good draft picks in Kerryon Johnson, Da’Shawn Hand and maybe even Michael Roberts and A’Shawn Robinson. The next week, Teez Tabor and Jarrad Davis remind us of his limitations as a personnel evaluator. It has never been easy for Lions fans, but this season feels particularly tortuous. The Lions’ offense has been decried as too predictable throughout the season Kenny Golladay Jersey , starting with a Week One loss in which the Jets’ defense said it knew what was coming from Detroit’s offense. Peyton Manning has now identified one of the problems the Lions are having.In one of his regular videos analyzing quarterback play, Manning points to a pass Matthew Stafford threw that got knocked down at the line of scrimmage by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso. Manning said that Stafford was staring at his first option from the start, and Alonso read Stafford’s eyes, saw that Stafford wanted to throw a quick pass to his right, and jumped into Stafford’s throwing lane just as Stafford was releasing the ball.“As a quarterback Michael Roberts Jersey , believe it or not, we need to use our eyes to look off defensive linemen and pass rushers,” Manning said. “Don’t stare at the receiver because then the pass rushers know where you’re going to go. So look off. Even though if you know you’re gonna throw it out there to the right and to the flat, look left to start, or look down the middle. Don’t let those defensive linemen know where you’re going.”Lions head coach Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter have bristled at suggestions that opposing defenses know what the Lions are doing. But the Lions would be wise to do some self-scouting to see if Manning has a point that Stafford can do a better job of keeping opposing defenses from reading his eyes.