MichiganCardinal

The Aaron Glenn magic may be wearing off. That drive was all tape for the Seahawks. Bootleg bootleg bootleg.

Lions are 0-4 on the coin flip this year. One way to avoid anti-Campbell hate is to not allow yourself the choice.

“Doing well” in that position there means a lot more than winning games, but winning games does mean something, and he’s not doing it. The pure sports fans of the area and alumni base wanted him gone last year. Administration adores Shaw (he excels at everything about the job that isn’t winning games), and if you think NIL is behind at Michigan, it’s pre-historic at Stanford, so there is that explanation (though whose fault it is for being so behind is more nuanced and Shaw is definitely not blameless). I think it’s likely they “promote” him this offseason to a cushy Athletic Department gig and find someone who they think can win games for the sideline.

And Missouri Missouried. Managing to pull defeat from the jaws of victory in a way that would make the Lions proud.

Georgia on upset alert against Missouri midway through the 4th quarter.

I would still probably put money on Michigan or Ohio State -10

This game may be the 2022 Toilet Bowl. No playmakers left on offense for Detroit, and Seattle when healthy is probably a bottom three team in the league. I’ll say Detroit 27 Seattle 26 in a game no one will ultimately deserve to win.

Sums it up…

10 point lead on Iowa? Time to take care of the football and run out the clock.

In fairness to Flores, they added one of the most dynamic playmakers in all of football this past offseason, and were already coming off a 9-8 season. It would take a lot to convince me otherwise that this wasn't the case of two back-to-back concussions that the NFL could have prevented. If it came out that Tua lied to doctors on Sunday to get back in the game, that's one thing. I wouldn't blame the protocol at that point but rather Tua himself and the NFL culture. And would consider advocating for Tua himself to be suspended.

Dolphins have not looked good ever since firing Flores. I’d expect a massive investigation now, with a pre-determined outcome.

I don’t think the “ownership team” (Sheila/Rod Wood/Speilman) even plans to substantially begin evaluating Holmes and Campbell until following the 2023 season. Of course there are exceptions out there (a PR disaster, a grossly inadequate season) but in-game decisions are one thing to be evaluated at a point in time you can substantially review a body of work with a fair amount of talent, not knee-jerk in the week after questionable decisions were made. That’s not to say they don’t talk and review seasons. And it wouldn’t surprise me, particularly if in-game mismanagement “costs us a game” again this year, if it’s addressed by ownership with Campbell heading into 2023. I think there is a lot of faith in this regime though, and for good reason.

The injuries are what is driving this line. If we are missing ASB in addition to Swift, we may struggle to move the ball downfield.

Hackett was brought into Denver to court Aaron Rodgers. That didn’t work out, but they got the next best thing. They won’t put up with Hackett for long now that they’ve got the next best thing. “Russ, who do YOU want as your head coach?”

If you have a Hanson, Prater, et al., you are probably up 6 in that situation (not having hit the post on the field goal in the 1st quarter). In such a situation, a field goal becomes a much better option, because it puts you up two scores. If there is an Evan McPherson type they like - who they think can be the kicker for the next 15 years - in the 5th or 6th round, I wouldn’t be opposed to picking up one. It’s such a variable that can turn games like this one in either direction, and I think it’s slightly more valuable than more late round depth somewhere else.

I feel like if we have this type of game next year, I will be livid. We need to be getting to the point where we are the better team for 60 minutes. Not 40-50. Do I wish we hadn’t completely shat our pants? Of course. It’s a game we should have won. But I also understand that in full context, we are likely not going to be competing for championships this year. I’d rather we have the mistakes we experienced on Sunday happen this year than next, when I think (with some improvements) we can be competing for the NFC North, and beyond. This year, we still have a little time to learn and grow.

Fun things are prohibited from being discussed until 36 hours has passed after a loss. It’s in the bylaws.

I want to see a statement win here. It should be a win, but I want a win by double digits. I don’t want to see a team that comes out flat after the heart breaker, I want to see a team that comes out pissed. Seattle is really bad. Geno Smith behind a Swiss cheese offensive line and a defense that is middling at best. Make a statement win and give yourself a shot to go into the bye week above 0.500.

I noticed the play clock as well. It goes back to the style of play for me. Either you’re being aggressive, keeping the pedal to the metal and letting your offense win the game (in which case I’m okay not running the play clock down), or you’re getting conservative and saying “we have enough points and we need to run it out” (in which case it should be run down to below 3 seconds). I don’t like splitting the two how they did. Don’t get conservative with the play-calling while you’re not milking the clock.

I don't know about the psychology of it, but the second part I agree with. It felt like they had an offense that was scoring 35+ points a game, scoring a TD every quarter, clicking on all cylinders... and then midway through the 4th quarter yesterday they said "let's just milk this clock and try to escape". It's not just the 4th down decision, though that's an easy thing to point at. They wasted multiple downs by just running obvious up-the-middles to get Minny to spent timeouts, when their offensive game plan through three quarters had been very effective at moving the ball.

Eh. No one bats 1000 at the Draft. The only swing and miss I'm really close to being ready to call is Levi. He's been nothing short of disappointing. I know that's partially injury related, but he has to be better as a 2nd Round pick. He was supposed to be a run-stuffing body in the middle of that line and he's been nowhere to be found. I would not be shocked if he doesn't make the team next year. Alim is a starter, and while he may not be making a Pro Bowl anytime soon, he's a 3rd Round starter. I think he can still be a starter next year too if he's not drafted over. I can't be that upset there. It's way too early to pass judgement on Paschal, though I know we are inclined to think poorly because he's hurt and we have an awful track record with 2nd round picks. Same with Kerby, who was a comp pick 3rd Rounder. He's young and did show some flashes in the preseason. Not remotely concerned about him yet. On the other hand, I think Holmes has hit a 4th round pick out of the park in ASB, and has at least made solid contact on some 6th round nobody that goes by the name Rodrigo. Those make up for it for me by a lot. He also seemed to swindle the team that beat us today in a trade to pickup a potentially game-changing wide receiver who we haven't even seen hit the field yet. FWIW, Minnesota's end of that trade (Lewis Cine) was nowhere to be seen today, despite the starter at his position being out.

vs. Setting: 10/02/2022 1:00pm EST on FOX Site: Ford Field in Detroit, MI Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Lions -5.5 All-Time Series Record: Seahawks lead, 11-5 Last Meeting: 01/02/2022, Seahawks won 51-29 Seattle Seahawks (1-2) Head Coach: Pete Carroll (17th Season: 153-106-1) Projected Starting QB: Geno Smith (10th Season: 14-23) Last Week: 27-23 L v. Atlanta Falcons (1-2) Looking Ahead to Week #5: Sunday @ New Orleans Saints (1-2) Your Detroit Lions (1-2) Head Coach: Dan Campbell (2nd Season: 4-15-1) Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (7th Season: 46-39-1) Last Week: 28-24 L @ Minnesota Vikings (2-1) Looking Ahead to Week #5: Sunday @ New England Patriots (1-2) Elsewhere in the NFL Primetime: Dolphins @ Bengals (TNF), Chiefs @ Buccaneers (SNF), Rams @ 49ers (MNF) 1:00pm: Vikings @ Saints, Jets @ Steelers, Bears @ Giants, Titans @ Colts, Chargers @ Texans, Browns @ Falcons, Commanders @ Cowboys, Jaguars @ Eagles, Bills @ Ravens 4:05/4:25pm: Cardinals @ Panthers, Broncos @ Raiders, Patriots @ Packers

The Chiefs and Bills both lost this week in infuriating fashion. So basically we are just like them.

I said 9-8 coming into this year and I think they can certainly still get there. I was one of the more "out there" predictions too. This was one frustrating loss, no doubt about it. Let's not lose sight of the bigger picture though.

Simply put, if this is not Amani’s worst game of the season - or if he manages to replicate this performance this season - he cannot be a starter next season. He was great down the stretch last season, but that ain’t worth anything to me now. Figure it out or make way for a rookie.