Detroit Lions: We're Going to Bite a Kneecap Off
Larry Foote will be a Detroit Lion, ~100% chance of that.
Theres also talk between DET/KC that would involve Glen Dorsey coming here for our 2nd rd pick. Not sure I understand why Pioli wants to get rid of him but I'd gladly ship out our 2nd for him.
You add Dorsey/Foote and it makes our draft look that much better. Shaun Rogers also said he wants to come back to Detroit once he gets released from the Browns, which looks likely.
Biggest question going into the season is will Matt Stafford be the starter from weak 1.
Yeah AG has had a year to try to work Houston into a spot and get value and I'm starting to think he's not gonna get there, so at best he is a mediocre situational pass rusher and at worst he is clogging a roster spot from somebody that may actually offer DE help.
Lions have been using the LBs all over the field and for pass rush so I think its more important we have a DE that is not a liability in the run
Smith is coming off incredibly well in interviews. I like him more than Crosby.
Really feels like the SB is within reach. Lettuce fade unfortunate injuries going forward.
Hutch was the single worst injury that could've happened to this team and they just continue to crush. Pretty much no matter what happens there is no denying this is the best Lions team in the Super Bowl era.
Decker is out and IDGAF. They will slide penei to LT, Skip will step in, and the o line will barely miss a beat.
and I don't think it can be overstated how good Goff is playing. him and Ben Johnson are so in the zone together. to give it a poker analogy, have you ever run so good for so long you're starting to get afraid of the eventual downswing to come? it's honestly getting there with these two. they're either the best QB/OC combo in the league, or the timing of this heater could really break a lot of hearts.
also, the way the city and most every Detroit fan has embraced Goff and just rallied behind him. Ja-Red-Goff chants everywhere you go. maybe our boy just needed somebody to really believe in him to fully blossom? I'm at a loss with the current situation, lol, but he's doing stuff no current (or former) pocket passer has ever done.
I have a lot of thoughts on Goff, so I'll try to keep it as brief as I can. While the last 4 or 5 games he's been playing out of this world in terms of efficiency, it's not like he was *bad* before this. Even going back to the back half of his first season here, you could see this offense start to rise from the ashes. They've been playing reasonably good football for the last 45 games or so. So it doesn't feel like just a downswing. It feels like we're a steady 5bb/100 player that's on a 10bb/100 streak for a bad poker analogy.
For all the flashy highlight reel plays and hero ball we get from guys like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, the most successful offenses still tend to have a pocket pass first QB at the helm. The skillset is straightforward, read the defense, make the right read, get the ball out accurately. Jared Goff is among the best in the NFL at those two skillsets. The mental stuff is a bit hard to quantify, but he's up there with the best. He may also be the most accurate QB in the NFL when not pressured. I think he's always had that in him. So having an elite offensive line is a major part of this. All QBs perform worse under the rush, but Goff seems fall apart a bit quicker. It's why he was cast off, and why he might not make it if this line starts to crack. But even in this regard he's getting better.
I still consider him a game manager/system QB. He's not going to turn a bad situation into gold. But I don't mean that as a pejorative. With the right scheme that plays to his skillsets and good protection, his smarts and accuracy make him unstoppable.
I still consider him a game manager/system QB. He's not going to turn a bad situation into gold. But I don't mean that as a pejorative. With the right scheme that plays to his skillsets and good protection, his smarts and accuracy make him unstoppable.
Since there isn't an objective way to define game manager/system QB, it's not worth arguing the point, but I think that undersells Goff's abilities.
But, anyway, he's playing great and he's a critical piece of the best Lions offense of our lifetimes. Sorry Barry, Megatron, Herman, etc, you guys were great but this is a complete offense.
One of the greatest wins in lions history.
Took half a season to supplant Hanson as Lions best kicker 😀
Prediction: Lions 42 - Jaguars 10
52-6.
How embarrassing for Jacksonville. Lol.
loved seeing Bates given the chance to kick another long one
this season is turning into a circus
ROAR
It really is amazing. The NFL is supposed to be set up to make sure games like this don't happen. No one has had 3 blowouts of this proportion in the salary cap era. Normally to get a score like this you need a lot of weird **** to happen like turnovers, defensive TDs, and special teams plays (the Titans game). I have never seen an NFL game like this where one team just marches the field every drive and the other just goes near 3 and out every drive. That stuff only happens in the first week of college football.
I love keeping your foot on the gas too. You've got to be a bit careful and maybe more strategic against good teams, because behind every unprecedented comeback in NFL history there is an offense playing with a lead that doesn't milk the clock and is careless with the ball ("the comeback" and 28-3 come to mind). But the Lions natural offense is pretty risk averse. And they did this on the defensive side too. Late in the game with Jacksonville facing a 4th & 7 they could've easily just played a soft zone to try and get the stop a yard or 2 short. Nope, send 6. Mac Jones got wrecked. Earn it bitch.
I like that it was entertaining too. A 27-13 "taking care of business" easy win would've been boring and forgettable. But a complete demolition of a lesser team is very much worth watching and remembering. I've seen some other stats that put them up there all time in DVOA. I think 3rd all time at this point in the season. The other teams in the top 10 all either went to the superbowl, or lost in the playoffs to the eventual champ. I've seen enough. Best Lions season of the Super Bowl era regardless of what happens next. They've never been good like this. They are making a strong case for the best team in the NFL, and it's not a mirage like it was the other times they flirted with that title. Now lets just hope they finish it out.
Also holy **** Aiden Hutchinson is walking again. I'm assuming he's still quite a ways from playing football again but we are two months away from the playoffs so this seems like a very promising sign.
Fantastic post. A+ stuff.
Would read again!
There was the boring taking care of business win. Now here comes the fun part of the schedule.
11-1 bitches.
Yesterday was the Goff I was afraid of when we shelled out top-3 QB money for him - missed a lot of throws a top-3/5 QB in the league should make. I like him and cheer for him, but he's closer to the #10 QB in the league than #3.
That said, the Gibbs fumble was just an outstanding play by the CHI player, and 8 times out of 10 that drive ends with 7 more points for the Lions and it probably isn't close in the 2H if that's how it had played out.
Caleb made some outstanding plays in the 2H, including the one that made me say several inappropriate curse words in front of my kid when he looked like he was going to scramble for no-gain, then stopped at the last second to side arm it for a 10+ yard gain. CHI may have a very good one, which combined with Love has me grinding my teeth thinking we are going to be up against potentially very good QB play from those two teams for the next 1.5 decades.
Lastly, and obviously, at some point you can't keep winning if you lose multiple starting and rotational defenders each and every week. Do we have the worst injury luck in the league this year? Obviously you lose the DPOY-calibar player in Hutch, but what's the total tally on lost snaps from borderline pro-bowlers, above average and average players?
This article details it. They are down 6 starters and about 8 solid rotational players. Brutal.
At best they maybe get 3 or 4 of these guys back by the playoffs.
Yesterday was the Goff I was afraid of when we shelled out top-3 QB money for him - missed a lot of throws a top-3/5 QB in the league should make. ?
And tonight, other than that one (really horrific) pick, man he played good. Accurate as hell all night.
.... the sheer ****ing balls on Dan Campbell man. WTF. What a win.
Dan Campbell is my hero.
this ****ing team man!!!
That was insane. I liked the 4th down go for it when they were back at their own 30 I just didn't like the outside run play call.
The end of game one I'm less sure on. I think you need to be about 95+% sure you are converting for that to be the right move.
It's kind of fun being the insane team though. Those games are way more fun than blowouts or snooze fest.
not that it's gospel but on twitter there's a '4th down decision bot' account that gives their solution for every 4th. it agreed with all of them aside from the last one. according to it, the decision on their own 30 was a +5ish% win percentage decision. end of game decision was +3ish% in favor of field goal.
