Week 1 Lions Grades for Lions-Rams Game

MLive's JRog's Lions grades:   http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2012/09/grading_the_detroit_lions_defe_2.html#incart_river

Free Press' Birkett's Lions grades:   http://www.freep.com/article/20120909/SPORTS01/120909033/detroit-lions-st-louis-rams-grades?

CBS Lions grades (The Lions get a C+):   http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/20127312/2012-nfl-grades-week-1-hail-to-the-redskins-fail-to-many-good-teams

Detroit Scout grades the defense:   http://det.scout.com/2/1219945.html

BVO's Lions Grades for week 1:   http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x764813359/-The-Huge-Show-s-Brian-VanOchten-grades-Detroit-Lions-win-over-St-Louis

Another Lions report card:   http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/20143778/strategy-and-personnel

My Lions Grades:

QB:  Stafford did not have a good game, but he came through in the end.   He made some bad decisions and poor throws.   He needs to find a way to get the ball to CJ more.   Grade - C

RB:   The running game was pretty good for the most part.   Way better than I expected.   Kevin Smith had a couple drops, but he ran better than I expected.    Nice to see Bell get his first TD at home.   Wasn't impressed with the Logan plays.   He needs to keep going and not stop.   Every time he stops he loses yards on both the rushing plays and returns.   Grade - B+

WRs/TEs:   CJ is still the man.   That 50 yd reception was a thing of beauty.   Burleson was outstanding.   Even Titus Young made some nice plays, however, he can't be taking stupid penalties like that.   Our TEs dropped a few too many passes for my liking.   Pettigrew did make up for it in the end, but he needs to do a better job of hanging onto the ball.   Scheffler made some nice catches, but he needed to catch that long one.   Grade - B

O-Line:   Much better than I expected.   Even Raiola and Backus looked pretty good out there.   I believe Stafford was only sacked once.   Grade - A-

D-Line:   The d-line was very impressive.   Suh looked like the rookie Suh and even Fairley looked good out there.   Nice to see them not take stupid penalties.   Grade - A

Secondary:   They were better than expected.   Bentley made a nice play to break up a big pass.   It's a shame he got injured.    Green allowed the TD.    Grade - B

Special Teams:   They were also better than expected.   No big returns for the Rams, good kicking by Hanson and Graham.   The Lions return game was pretty good other than the run bad return by Logan where he ran backwards.   Other than that I can't complain.   Grade - A

Coaching:   I guess the Lions offense was too predictable because the Rams said the interceptions were a result of watching film.   I also didn't like that CJ didn't get the ball much in the second half.   Nice to see the team play more disciplined.   Grade - B-

Overall:   I was really impressed with the defense.   They stood on their heads and played lights out.   They kept the Lions in this game.   The offense moved the ball pretty good, but Stafford needs to be more accurate and get the ball to CJ more.    The running game was a pleasant surprise.   Can't wait to see Leshoure.   Special teams was very good.   I really like that the Lions didn't take too many penalties.   Overall Grade - B-