MichiganCardinal

This is such bad football.

Embarrassing output. If it’s a business trip, you’re going to be fired.

TCU isn’t going to roll over like Rutgers. Offense needs to keep cooking.

McCarthy needs to make the read on that and option into something else.

Realistically the Ohio State game would have been a score just like this had there not been two big plays for TDs. Here the two big plays were just short and they choked it away. It sounds absurd but I’m not worried. We will know within 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. If we see a good team, they should catch up quick. If we see what we saw against Illinois, it’s over.

Still very early. If they didn’t have their heads in their ass it would be 17-14. Boys need to settle down.

Every large university in the country is perverted in one way or another.

The idea I heard floated around was that NIL money could be tied into bowl games, as a sort of bonus. $10k or whatever probably wouldn’t stop an NFL bound player from opting out, but it might make a transfer portal player wait until after their bowl game.

Yeah the line will likely fluctuate quite a bit depending on tomorrow, no matter what the matchup is. I would have expected more of a pick, but silly as it sounds, think being a line underdog would give Michigan something of a psychological motivation (if winning a natty isn’t enough)

That OSU line on Michigan should be printed and posted in the M locker room all week if that game happens.

Michigan may be regretting not parting ways after the Wisconsin debacle

I still feel the same way about both of the games. I do think Max Duggan will be a problem for the Michigan defense. They haven’t seen a mobile QB this year, and Duggan is one of the best. RE Ohio State, I think they have the most offensive talent of any team in the country, and I think they’ll be playing pissed off after hearing nothing but how bad they are since late November. Michigan 37 TCU 26 Ohio State 45 Georgia 42

After seeing Stafford show what the addition of the right QB can do to a team last year, we’ve been treated to quite a bit of “grass isn’t greener” this year. Broncos, Cardinals, and Raiders may be wishing they didn’t have that “QB of the future” they thought they had. Browns are probably sweating too, though falling on their face without Watson gives his something of a pass. The Lions are pretty fortunate to have Goff until the right next QB presents themselves.

I expect them to make at least one defensive splash in free agency this offseason too. Last year was full of prove-it deals and re-signing their own guys. I think they’ll be ready to find at least one starter this time around. Jamel Dean (TB CB), Marcus Davenport (NO EDGE), and James Bradberry (PHI CB) are all possibilities that would be immediate plug-and-play options. If you can address one layer of the defense in free agency, I would be perfectly okay with taking a stud running back and another layer in the first round, and then another defender or two in the second round. If you leave the off-season with four upgrades on the defense, I think you’re in really good shape to compete for the North. Offense is what wins championships in the 2022 NFL. If you see Bijan Robinson as the Kamara to your Saints or McCaffery to you, I think you take him even if it’s with the first pick. With the comps I’ve seen for him, I don’t think he makes it past #10.

I definitely wouldn’t say it’s likely. He probably stays at Michigan. I think the NFL left a bad taste in his mouth after the Vikings debacle last year though and I don’t think he entertains going to a job like the Broncos or Colts. I don’t think he’ll be a head coach for the sake of being an NFL head coach (like it seemed he wanted last year). I could see politics too. He’s just not like any other coach, and it’s why the NFL beat guys are always so wrong about him. He’s an independent thinker and doer, for better or worse.

The organization might have historically but I don’t think there is any indication that the front office we have now has any interest in taking a tight end that high, unless it’s a freak of nature like Kyle Pitts. I think we’ve seen with the success of guys like Wright and Zylstra in Hockenson’s absence that this offense doesn’t need some dynamic threat at the TE position to be successful. They need a quality blocker who can get open on a designed route. Those grow on trees.

The four-week break before playoffs is one of the weirdest and dumbest things in sports.

Those are exactly the issues the NFL is faced with. When (not whether) to face the litigation, and whether this (concussions) is the road they want to die on. I could see them putting up something of a fight if their doctors say no more, because it helps them in the litigation long run, to point at and say “hey we didn’t think they should play either after all these concussions but we weren’t given a choice!” - ultimately though, I agree that this is a can of worms that the NFL is cautious to open.

Ultimately I guess it’s on their supposedly independent doctors. At some point will they refuse to clear a QB with X number of past concussions? Their license is on the line after all, though I’m sure the NFL pays them handsomely to do this instead of practice. That would be a practically forced retirement if he can’t play based on the NFL’s protocols.

I stand by almost everything. I think Staley keeps his job. I don’t think McVay retires anymore. Less opportunities for the Lions coordinators to be stolen.

At what point does the NFL force a retirement? They’ve been sued to Timbuktu by the estates of deceased NFL players with CTE. Can they justify allowing a player to continue to play with three concussions in the span of a season? However many in the course of a career? At some point a physician will recommend Tua not to continue to play football. Will he just doctor shop like Mike White did, hoping to find a doctor willing to clear him?

I think they’re competitive when given the opportunity. Like when they’re against each other in the Super Bowl. They’ve been in different levels for a while now. I would guess it would be something like an “analyst” position where they work together, more so than Jim working “under” John. I also don’t think he would do it unless Michigan won the National Championship, and I don’t think it would be permanent. The itch would come back.

I don’t think he goes this year. I think there is a higher chance that he retires and goes to have fun with John in Baltimore than that he takes a job of his own.

I'll give you the Packers game, because there was certainly a degree of turnover luck that helped us get that win... The Bears have lost 8 in a row though. They've gone two months without a win while the Lions have beaten multiple playoff contenders in that time. The Lions shut down the likes of Dalvin Cook and Saquon Barkley, and contained Devin Singletary, before being lit up by the Panthers on a short week with questionable field conditions. I get some recency bias, but a return to the mean seems much more likely than the sky falling on the Lions run defense. The Lions took about ten steps forward in the last two months and a couple steps back on Saturday. I don't think we should ignore the net gain.

I guess it helps to preface my response by saying that I thought preseason this would be a 9-8 team that could win a playoff game. So generally I think they’re a pretty good team, or have the capacity to be one. If someone else thinks they should be a 5-win team or a 7-win team, I can understand being more pessimistic about these last two games. That said, when they started 1-6 I’m not going to pretend like I still thought they would finish 9-8. I just think they’re a very young team that is going to have a few clunkers along the way. They got away with playing poorly against the Jets and they’ve had two real clunkers - the Patriots and the Panthers. Any given Sunday, I think they’re a better team than either the Bears or the Packers. They did beat each of those teams earlier in the season. I still wouldn’t say it’s likely they win them both, but I give them an 80% chance to beat the Bears and a 50% chance to beat the Packers in Lambeau. Together that’s 40% to win both. Which is about the same I would put at them making the playoffs because I think it’s even less likely either the Seahawks or Commies go 2-0.