ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions gave Matthew Stafford the largest contract in history. They gave Rick Wagner the largest contract of any right tackle in the game. They gave top-five money to woo T.J. Lang home.

Five games into the season, that outfit ranks 30th in total offense, and the protection has been awful.

We chew all that over and then some in this week's mailbag. As always, my deepest appreciation to everyone who threw their hat into the ring with a question. The laws of physics make it impossible to get to everyone, for which I apologize, but there's always next week. (Yes, we'll do one of these bad boys during the bye week. Because I have no life. It's amazing I'm still single.)

Questions can be tweeted here, or emailed here. OK, enough jibber-jabbering.

Q: Biggest issue I see on offense (beside 1 yd runs on 1st behind makeshift o-line) is the lack of protection for #9. Is that fixed w/ Decker? -- @Carkis99

A: I agree with your assessment. We can talk about the playcalling until we're Honolulu blue in the face, but the fact of the matter is Matthew Stafford has gotten crushed more than any quarterback in the league the last two weeks. So how exactly is he supposed to hold onto the ball longer for those downfield plays to develop?

And that's saying nothing of what the protection is doing to the plays that are called. Stafford has been sacked 12 times the last two weeks, more than any quarterback in the league. Drew Brees has been sacked four times for the season. And negative plays like that kill drives. Throw in all the stuffed runs -- Detroit is failing to gain yardage 31 percent of the time, which is second worst in the league -- and it's no wonder at all why the Lions offense has tanked.

Now will Taylor Decker be a panacea for what ails them? I wouldn't go that far, but he's going to help in a big way too. Greg Robinson has already allowed 21 pressures this season, which is half of what Decker allowed all last year. That's a huge difference, and it gets even more stark when you consider Decker gave up a disproportionate number of his pressures in the first month.

In the final three months of the season, Decker was perhaps the best rookie offensive lineman in the game. He was certainly in that conversation, along with Jack Conklin. Now Robinson is ranked 68th at the position, according to ProFootballFocus -- out of 69 qualifying players.

So, yeah, Decker would make a huge difference. T.J. Lang has been one of the top guards in the game, and Rick Wagner has played well through injury. The right side of that line looks gnarly. And that's after playing two of the best defensive fronts they'll see all year the last two weeks.

You should see some natural improvement in the coming weeks, as the competition eases a bit -- and getting Decker back will give them the shot they sorely need. I'm optimistic about the line, actually, which is a weird thing to say after watching Stafford limp through practice all week because of how bad they've been. But I believe better days await them, perhaps sometime in November -- just in time for the stretch run.

Q: Kyle, are the Lions good or bad? -- @timbomersh

A: Call me crazy, but I still think they're good. I think they could still win the division. I know everyone is down on them because of the offense, but remember, those are two really good defenses they just faced, with two really good defensive fronts. Detroit won't always look that bad, and reinforcements should be on the way in the form of Taylor Decker.

The way I look at it is they are 3-2 and just one game out of first place, even though their best player has yet to play well, and their best offensive lineman has yet to play a down. And remember, the easiest part of the schedule still awaits.

They play in New Orleans this week, then get a bye before hosting the Steelers and traveling to the Packers in prime time. And then they get a bunch of winnable games in the Browns, Bears, Vikings, Ravens, Buccaneers, Bears and Bengals before closing at home against Green Bay. They could go on a serious run there, particularly if Stafford and the offense sort themselves out. And I believe they will once the protection improves.

Q: Who would win in a fight, you or Justin Rogers? -- @Jacob_A_Baumann

A: Justin is about 3 feet tall, which made him good at pole vaulting. He's also weirdly good at footgolf. And that's it. I, on the other hand, was captain of my basketball and baseball teams and founded my school's chess club and was a member of the state champion quiz bowl te...wait, I'm not helping myself am I? Truth is we're both dorks who are much more proficient with a buffet plate than a boxing glove.

With that said:

Q: What are the odds that Teez Tabor sees the field this year? Kareem Hunt sure would look good in our backfield -- @bri74pf

A: Kareem Hunt would look good in a Lions uniform, and I'm telling you, had he still been there 10 spots later, there's a pretty good chance he'd be wearing one. Then again, I'm not sure he would look as good as he does in a Chiefs uniform either.

Kansas City's offensive line is awesome, after all. They're fifth best in the run game, according to advanced analytics from Football Outsiders, and No. 1 in power sets. They're also No. 1 with their second-level blocks, and No. 1 in the open field.

The Lions' offensive line, on the other hand, is 31st in their run blocking. Only the Chargers are worse. And they get stuffed for no gain or lost yardage 31 percent of the time. That's nearly one out of every three!

That, too, is better than any only the Chargers.

Hunt is a good player, but no running back* is going anywhere without an offensive line to block for him. Kansas City has one of the best, which lets Hunt do his thing. Detroit has one of the worst, which makes life difficult for Ameer Abdullah and everyone behind him.

You're curious about Hunt in a Lions jersey? I'm curious about Abdullah in a Chiefs jersey. Because I still believe that guy has what it takes. But he's stuck in a system that couldn't run block its way out of a paper bag.

Oh, right, your question was about Teez Tabor. So allow me to quickly say: You probably won't see much of him this year, and you don't want to. He's not ready. But the thing is, most rookie corners aren't. Look at Darius Slay as a rookie. Now look at him. He's good. He wasn't as a rookie. It's just a tough position to play, and it takes time to figure it out -- and the Lions are actually fortunate to be in a spot where they can take a guy in the second round, and not have to play him. He can get better without having to go through the stuff Slay had to deal with in 2013.

* -- Forgive me Barry, for I have sinned.

Q: Do you think the lack of production from Ebron relates to missing the entire preseason and his general lack of interest in practice? -- @raycarson222

A: One of the great misnomers out there about Eric Ebron is he doesn't practice hard. Let's clear this up straight away: The man practices hard. He does everything coaches ask of him. Believe me when I say there are people in that building who have a whole lot to say about Ebron, positive and negative, but nobody ever speaks ill of his practice habits.

In fact, part of what makes Ebron such a vexing player is he looks so good on the practice field, but just has a hard time translating that to Sundays. The man can fly for his size, which makes him a tough matchup in the seam. That's why the Lions drafted him so highly, and how Jim Bob Cooter is trying to use him. But then the calendar flips to Sunday, and he disappears.

Even now, as he sits in a nadir unseen since at least his rookie year, Ebron is still getting open. Look at the drops he had Sunday. He found creases both times, including in the end zone. But he couldn't come up with those balls.

He's been targeted 23 times, which is fourth most on the team. But he's turned them into just 12 catches and 93 yards. He's averaging 4.0 yards per target, which is abysmal. He's dropping the ball more often than every tight end in the game except one, which kind of speaks for itself.

And that comes one season after he led the league's tight ends in drops.

That's the issue here. It's consistency and concentration. And it's in his head. Sorting out whatever is going on up there is the key to breaking this funk. It has nothing to do with practice, because he does everything the coaches ask of him and then some -- and looks mighty good doing it most days. Except Sundays.

Q: Any truth to the rumor that when @DanMillerFox2 walks into a room, all the lights go out except for the one directly above him? -- @Jacob_A_Baumann

A: You guys are never going to believe this, but MLive was able to obtain real Ford Field security footage of Dapper Dan entering the radio booth on Sunday.

Q: Does Ziggy still love the game? -- @MichaelPopiel

A: I included this question because I see versions of it a lot when players struggle. And it amuses me. Why are so many always so quick to question a player's motives when he's in a funk?

Does it happen? Do players fall out of love with the game? Yes.

Does it happen a lot? Hell no.

To get this good at a game so hard, you have to love everything about it, including the competition and the hardships and, yes, the game itself. And just because you lose your touch, doesn't mean it's because you're suddenly not trying hard or don't love it anymore. Sometimes guys lose it. Sometimes they get old. Sometimes they're going through personal problems. With Ansah, he's going through what causes so many of these dropoffs -- injuries.

He's had shoulder issues since the day he stepped foot into the pros. He barely looked like himself last year because of ankle injuries. He didn't practice at all in training camp because of a knee injury, and hit the field just three times before playing against the Cardinals on opening day. You really expect him to be at his best on a couple partial days of practice?

Even now, six weeks into the regular season, he still hasn't been able to put in a full day's work at practice.

Ansah keeps reporters at a distance, so I can't pretend to be inside his head and say with certainty where he's at mentally. But just because he doesn't look like himself, doesn't mean he's lost a love for the game. And given the protracted injury history, my money is on the knee and whatever else is ailing him. Perhaps the bye week will do him some good.