MichiganCardinal

Between ASB and Rodrigo, you have to tip your cap to Brad Holmes so far. Even if Levi and/or an early round pick this year turns out to be a bust, you can’t deny he and his team have a knack for finding the diamonds of day three.

If ASB can do what he’s doing through his career, his size won’t matter one bit. There are rules, and then there are freaky athletes that just plain defy them. I’m not ready to declare him the latter quite yet, but he’s not exactly a secret at this point, and he’s still driving defenses crazy.

Dan Miller deserves a winning product as much as any of us. He’s been there through it all. Cool to see behind the scenes.

I don't know if we need Goff to connect on 40+ yard passes to be successful. It would certainly help... If they successfully bottle up the run (which Washington tried to do) or start doubling ASB, and we can consistently connect on 10-15 yard patterns (which is something we saw)... that's still a recipe for success. So long as Goff can maintain a high level of accuracy with those throws, we'll be okay. The offense (to this point) has been too good to neuter by way of taking away a single element.

*saves quote to take out of context in a later game thread.

He was held to 6/48 against the Eagles. Can Okudah Island emerge? I think Okudah can rise to the challenge, but he might get gashed a couple of times.

It's a big game in the context of what's to come. Taking the season in quarters, a win would almost guarantee a winning first quarter (five games into the bye week), because I think at least one of Seattle and New England is a win. Minnesota is in an interesting spot, wedged between a short week from MNF and a trip to London. I think it should be a good game.

I tried something new with the pictures so that hopefully they haven't all vanished by mid-week. Lions by a billion.

vs. Setting: 09/25/2022 1:00pm EST on FOX Site: U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Vikings -7.5 All-Time Series Record: Vikings lead, 79-40-2 Last Meeting: 12/05/2021, Lions won 29-27 Minnesota Vikings (1-1) Head Coach: Kevin O'Connell (1st Season: 1-1) Projected Starting QB: Kirk Cousins (11th Season: 60-60-2) Last Week: 24-7 L @ Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) Looking Ahead to Week #4: Sunday v. New Orleans Saints (1-1) in London Your Detroit Lions (1-1) Head Coach: Dan Campbell (2nd Season: 4-14-1) Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (7th Season: 46-38-1) Last Week: 36-27 W v. Washington Commanders (1-1) Looking Ahead to Week #4: Sunday v. Seattle Seahawks (1-1) Elsewhere in the NFL Primetime: Steelers @ Browns (TNF), 49ers @ Broncos (SNF), Cowboys @ Giants (MNF) 1:00pm: Bills @ Dolphins, Bengals @ Jets, Raiders @ Titans, Saints @ Panthers, Ravens @ Patriots, Eagles @ Commanders, Chiefs @ Colts, Texans @ Bears 4:05/4:25pm: Jaguars @ Chargers, Rams @ Cardinals, Packers @ Buccaneers, Falcons @ Seahawks

Lots of good tape for the Lions. Vikings on a short week too. Careful of the trap though, the Vikings aren't bad.

The record is 5.5, set by the Ravens in 2020. Now get out of here with that negative energy and don't come back until we lose another game! 😉

You can see why LA wanted Stafford... you can also see how the right team could win a lot of games and go very far with Goff under center.

I would give equal credit to Ben Johnson for this.

As someone who said this team would go 9-8 and make the playoffs as a wildcard... I too would caution against getting too far ahead of ourselves. The NFL is a damn hard league to win in. You have to take it one game at a time. If our offense consistently plays like it has the first two games all season, and our defense consistently plays like it did in the first half yesterday, we will likely win the NFC North, and maybe even compete to win a playoff game. I don't think that's very likely though, at least this year. Could I envision a scenario right now where the stars align, the Lions start getting everyone back at the perfect time, a few breaks finally go our way, and they make a run similar to the Bengals last year? I could.... I could also envision a scenario where this injury bug that is plaguing our team continues to rear its head, to the point where we start to struggle at powering through. We have the youngest roster in the NFL. We are likely going to make some bone-headed mistakes, lose some games we could have won, and make us fans pull our hair out at times. That doesn't mean we aren't still trending in a really good direction. Right now, we have to focus on Minnesota. I don't think they're very good, and the -7.5 spread we are seeing is a complete overreaction based on their one victory over a Packers team that is still figuring things out offensively. If you can figure out a way to contain Jefferson while limiting the run, you'll neuter their offense. We should learn something about both them and us when they play Philadelphia tonight.

Love this. We ain't done yet.

If the ASU admin thought they were getting a coach any better than 26-20 plus an NCAA investigation, it’s about time they join the rest of the country.

Jimmy G should ask for his money back. 😂

How do you fumble the ball twice in an OT possession? it was a game of who wanted to lose more.

Raiders are Raidering despite Kliff doing everything possible to lose.

I’m also of the opinion that the cap shouldn’t stop you from making big name signings. The salary cap does seem to prevent any NY Yankees approach from appearing in the NFL though so that must mean it means something.

This is like the Arizona game with a real crowd….. Ford Field is INSANE. please keep this up and FINISH!!

Call it a lack of balls, but Michigan is in a better position heading into Week 4 to make the CFP than Sparty is. If Michigan loses one game from here to December, they’ll still have a fair shot to make the playoff. If MSU loses one more game from here to December, they won’t make the playoff. It won’t matter that Michigan scheduled Cupcake City College and MSU scheduled Washington. It will hopefully get better with an expanded playoff, because teams will want to set themselves apart for the six wildcard spots (where a two-loss team with one good non-con loss may look better than a two-loss team that played no one good non-con)… until then though, Michigan’s route this year is the way to do it.

I think a lot of what you said is fair and accurate. When I think of what my top ten would be, a lot do come within or following that 2007 season. The context is what provided the long-lasting shock, not as much the actual objective teams themselves.

Looking back upon that game, I feel much more weight was (and continues to be) put on it at a national level than it ever deserved. App State beat #6 Texas A&M last week and it’s out of the headlines by this week. Why is App State’s win at The Big House so revered as one of College Football’s greatest all time upsets? They came in as two-time defending FCS Champions, as good if not better than a large number of Power Five schools. In terms of sheer talent and expectations, there are a handful of games that immediately come to mind (Ohio State v Purdue in 2018, Stanford v USC in 2007, Pitt v WVU in 2007, and even Kansas v Texas last year) that I think are larger upsets. Further, in terms of objective point spreads, Michigan/App State doesn’t even crack the top 15 in the last thirty years. I think the gravity that loss seemed from the outside to bring to the Michigan program over the next decade (associated with Lloyd Carr stepping down, Rich Rod+Brady Hoke coming in) has truly elevated that game into a category it never really deserved as one of the greatest upsets of all time. People have pointed to it as some “turning point” for the program that devolved it into mediocrity, which is incredibly overly simplistic to the dynamics of the program in 2007 and beyond. It’s not as if had that field goal been good against App State, Lloyd Carr wouldn’t have resigned after losing to OSU again, or Rich Rod would have come in and gone significantly better than 3-9 in 2008. I think it was a meaningful and huge upset that no one saw coming. I don’t think it’s top five - maybe not even top ten - in NCAA history. It’s also another reason why there should be no ranking of teams until at least week four. Seeing “Appalachian State @ #5 Michigan” as if Michigan was ever actually a top five team that season is disingenuous to the actual talent level of that team, as could be seen the following week when they got smoked by Oregon. I’ll sit down now.

Syracuse would have been smart to onside kick this. Worst case it's still likely inside or around the 25, which is all that happened when they kicked it to the 30th row of the end zone seats.