If you are worried about the Lions draft position while they are outplaying and outcoaching what has been one of the NFC's best teams this season, you are doing it wrong
I know most Lions fans are hung up on draft position but reality is the Lions' future doesn't hinge on whether they pick 1, 2, 5, whatever in the 2022 NFL Draft. It hinges on whether or not the hires of Campbell and Holmes work out. Win or lose I want to see positive signs there.
I've mentioned this concept a couple times but here it is through week 1 - an opponent-for-opponent view of the NFC North race, listed in Lions schedule order with equivalent game listed for the division's other teams.
I'm a little surprised at what I'm seeing on my timeline. Thought all Lions fans would see Seattle winning as the preferred result. I know it delays the playoff clinching scenario, but the Eagles loss is more important in the big picture.
Why is Malik Willis getting seemingly singled out for accuracy issues in a draft class of QBs full of guys that were 62-64% passers? Willis, Pickett, Howell, Ridder; these guys are all in the same neighborhood.
I will never understand why any Lions fan would be against the team appearing on Hard Knocks. Why wouldn't you want a behind-the-scenes look at your favorite team?
These are the kind of players it makes sense to target in free agency. Glover Quin was the same when the Lions signed him from Houston and that was a great signing.
Jesse James is 24 turning 25. Justin Coleman is 25 turning 26. Trey Flowers is 25 turning 26. The Lions are not only getting good players that fit well on this team, but they're getting YOUNG players in their prime that could get even better.
What if Bob Quinn was able to trade Golden Tate in the final year of his deal for a third round pick then turn around in the offseason and deal that pick for Antonio Brown?
From
@NFLTotalAccess
: What can the
#Steelers
get for Antonio Brown? Maybe not as much as you think (AB for a 3rd-round pick anyone?) ... but it only takes one team to pony up.
@nflnetwork
Lost in the discussion about the Lions swapping out their RB tandem from a year ago is that they replaced guys with basically zero overlap in their skillset with two guys that while different, also can do some similar things. Jah and Monty are true complementary players.
Lions basically rotated drives between David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
Monty started, but Gibbs started 2nd half. Both had 2-min drill snaps & goal line opps. Gibbs' playing time was higher because Montgomery's drive was a 75-yard run.
Both had elite cutback runs.
Just so we're all clear, Dan Campbell said on the radio THIS MORNING that he didn't know the wave was happening at Ford Field, so this story is a joke.
I'm not sure how long Anthony Lynn will be for the Lions offensive coordinator job but there was a lot to like from him last night, especially if you could insert a dual-threat quarterback in there. Legit could see them building something that gives defenses fits.
I've seen some Debbie Downers saying the Lions got lucky with Kyler Murray. I'll fight back on that and say the Collins and Okudah picks were good coverage and the kind of playmaker plays the defense had been lacking.
@DetroitOnLion
@gmfb
Plus we also got a primetime game with a Lions-related animated graphic that did NOT feature a broken down car. That's the real measure of progress.
Have most Lions fans given up on Oruwariye? A year after widespread euphoria with getting him in the fifth round he feels like a forgotten man in the way the cornerback position is discussed.
As a fan of the Detroit Lions it would have been very convenient had Matthew Stafford actually been the problem but good on him for proving what many of us already knew
As pointed out by
@DetroitOnLion
on tonight's PODcast, here is a good article to read from the 49ers fan perspective if the Lions target Robert Saleh and how that could lead to a bigger raid of the 49ers:
Can't say I'd hate it.
The Pro Bowl has become a quarterback participation trophy.
Of the league's 32 starting quaterbacks 22 are "Pro Bowlers", 5 were rookies and only 5 others were not rookies who haven't been named to a Pro Bowl.
Every starter in NFC East, North, South has been to Pro Bowl.
@DetroitOnLion
I feel like I'm living in the tension between some fans wanting to crown Goff "the guy" and others for whom Goff could never do anything to be the guy. To me, Goff has so far this season has largely been the good kind of game manager. I think that is what he is and that can be OK
Updated NFC North opponent-for-opponent view through week three. I moved the Packers to the column next to the Lions based on the way the standings are taking shape.
A few thoughts/observations in thread to follow.
I just can't help but come to the conclusion that the biggest difference on offense and defense for the Lions is that Goff has been such an anchor. Both sides have talent deficiencies and injury issues. D rising above, O has sunk.
This offense is bad.
This offense simply cannot even exist when the running game doesn't work.
Bengals came into this game with the 8th best run defense by DVOA.
This is not a completely surprising result, unfortunately.
Two things I would like to see for the
#Lions
:
1. Matt Patricia as head coach
2. Jim Bob Cooter as OC uncoupled from Jim Caldwell
I can't honestly say I know how this would play out but both intrigue me enough to want to find out.
Something I wondered after today's
#Lions
win: are we past all the "they shouldn't have fired Caldwell" stuff?
Seems the last six weeks are at or better than where they were under Caldwell with a couple road wins and some wins over good teams.
After some CBA research, turns out there are a few quirks coming up that could explain why the Lions are doing more backloading than usual despite being in a relatively comfortable cap situation. It all has to do with some different rules that pertain to the final year of the CBA
The Falcons playing much better football since firing Dan Quinn suggests coaching was a bigger problem than the personnel. Of interest to Lions fans with Thomas Dimitroff a GM candidate.
@betblack16
@DetroitOnLion
Goff isn't going to pull rabbits out of a hat like Mahomes or extend plays with his legs like Hurts or do some of the things we saw from Stafford. But Goff has largely been very good at running the offense and executing how they need him to do it.
Perhaps a lost or underappreciated bit of analysis from last night's game is that the "meathead" made all the right situational and game management calls while the "wunderkind genius" did not.
MCDC and the Lions won that game being who they've been all along.
Just about every head coach and GM will tell you what they want their team to be but few can make it happen. Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes have gone out and done exactly what they said they would do and it's no coincidence the Lions won last night being exactly who they are.
You know what? Let's just get it out there since it seems the imitation version is still out there somewhere and that person doing it apparently now has inaccuracies.
With Bears in the books for week 5 with everyone else yet to play.