Week Twelve: Green Bay Packers (4-6) @ Detroit Lions (8-2)

[MichiganCardinal]

The defense has to be better, but this loss is on the offense. Not going to win games turning the ball over like this. 

[Sports_Freak]

Just now, MichiganCardinal said:

The defense has to be better, but this loss is on the offense. Not going to win games turning the ball over like this. 

Coaching staff too. They win for us and lose for us. That fake punt wasn't the best idea at the time.

[MichiganCardinal]

Just now, Sports_Freak said:

Coaching staff too. They win for us and lose for us. That fake punt wasn't the best idea at the time.

Defense allowed 9 points after the first quarter and 6 of them came from that failed attempt.

[number20]

Just now, Sports_Freak said:

Coaching staff too. They win for us and lose for us. That fake punt wasn't the best idea at the time.

That call cost them the game

[Sports_Freak]

2 minutes ago, TP_Fan said:

Only one real takeaway. Glenn has to be fired or this is a lost season. There is no in between.  He goes or the season is over.  

We would be in our 15th defensive coach, 20th offensive coach and who knows how many head coaches if you had your way. Hell, you want to fire coaches even when we win. All the complaining gets old after a while.

[Tigerbomb13]

7 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

when did you take your shower.   I am blaming you again. 

At the gf’s parents house, but I should have excused myself. 

[Sports_Freak]

9 minutes ago, TP_Fan said:

What was last week?

A victory.

[Sports_Freak]

4 minutes ago, number20 said:

That call cost them the game

That and the Goff fumble that was returned for a TD. I still say it was an incomplete pass.

[MichiganCardinal]

7 minutes ago, number20 said:

That call cost them the game

I think the first quarter cost them the game.

[motownblues]

There's just too much history

To overcome.

[NYLion]

13 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

This team desperately needed a wakeup call. Got it.

I thought the Baltimore game was the wakeup call, or the Raiders game with all the errors, or the Bears game.

We might need to come to the realization that this could very well be a .500 team disguised as 8-3, like the Vikings last year.

[number20]

3 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I think the first quarter cost them the game.

Yeah that too. But if you could distill it down to a single turning point, that 4th down decision was it. They never recovered from it.

I love Campbell's aggressiveness, and I don't want him to change. But this was a time when he needed to put the game in greater context, and recognize the degree of harm it could've meant had it failed. Risk management in that moment was horrid

[Jason_R]

22 minutes ago, number20 said:

That call cost them the game

Well, the fumble returned for a TD lost the game. 

[Sports_Freak]

32 minutes ago, number20 said:

What an absolutely crushing loss. Lions had everything set up for them to win big today. Playing a losing team with multiple starters out, at home, national TV, Packers not that great offensively or defensively... couldn't have asked for a bigger cupcake 

Of the remaining schedule, this looked like the easiest win. In Chicago is our easiest looking win now. Unless there are injuries.

[Jason_R]

I just hope the Sorsdal experiment is over for this season. He looked awful again. OL was porous, Goff was running for his life and coughed up the ball three times in the process. Goff is like Jekyll and Hyde. When he is on schedule he plays like an MVP. When he is forced out of the pocket he is like Keystone Kops. 

Also the running game never got going in the first half. Less than 50 yards. They doubled that in the second half and actually started moving the all through the air too. 

Finally, I’m starting to side with the people who are running out of patience with AG. He got outcoached today. Johnson did too, to a lesser degree. They had this game circled on their calendar and Detroit didn’t. It showed. 

[MichiganCardinal]

What team is this?

Is it the one that went into Arrowhead and won, beat the Falcons and Panthers easily, and got the Packers booed off Lambeau?

Or is it the one that’s had 11 turnovers in the last five games? That couldn’t get a stop to save their lives against the Chargers or Bears for most of the day?

I’m not mad that we are 8-3 and I’m not mad we lost to the Packers. Going 6-0 in-division is almost as hard as going 17-0.

But I don’t think it’s unfair to ask for four complete quarters on offense and defense.

[MIguy]

Does nobody on the field not have control of things once the fake punt is called for?  Seems like whomever is responsible for calling for the ball to be snapped should have the option of checking out of the play if it's obvious the defense has it sniffed out.   If not, there's always the option of Campbell calling a TO to avoid disaster.  

[Jason_R]

They played horrible two weeks in a row. Won one, lost the other by a TD. They need to get Jackson healthy and hold out long enough that Houston and CJGJ can return. 

[MichiganCardinal]

22 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

They played horrible two weeks in a row. Won one, lost the other by a TD. They need to get Jackson healthy and hold out long enough that Houston and CJGJ can return. 

It’s not as if they played much better against the Chargers (at least on defense) or Raiders. That’s five weeks dating back to the Ravens. They’re lucky to be 3-2 in that stretch. Averaging 2.25 turnovers per week and giving up 27 points per game isn’t a recipe for success.

[Adullin]

Completely outplayed on both sides of the ball. Defense never stopped the packers. Offense 3 turnovers and multiple failed 4th downs. Team never showed up. 

[Jason_R]

17 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It’s not as if they played much better against the Chargers (at least on defense) or Raiders. That’s five weeks dating back to the Ravens. They’re lucky to be 3-2 in that stretch. Averaging 2.25 turnovers per week and giving up 27 points per game isn’t a recipe for success.

Of those games Jackson only played against LAC. (And they scored 41.) Maybe he is that important to the offense. 

The defense was a massive rebuild and with the catastrophic injuries they suffered you have to lower expectations. That said, AG must manufacture pressure. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

This team having ZERO pass rush caught up to them yet again. Their blitzes, when they bother sending more than four, never get home.  Their defensive line, outside of Hutch, gets no pressure on the opposing QB. They are in the bottom 10 in blitz rate, sacks, hurries, pressures. Their secondary was thin already and lacked top end talent, but this front 4 does then no favors. This is a disaster and the problems will keep mounting. 

The smartest guys in the room though, Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell, and Aaron Glenn apparently decided they were set on talent with who they had on the defensive side of the ball. No need to upgrade any personnel though. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Mr.TaterSalad

[MichiganCardinal]

43 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Of those games Jackson only played against LAC. (And they scored 41.) Maybe he is that important to the offense. 

The defense was a massive rebuild and with the catastrophic injuries they suffered you have to lower expectations. That said, AG must manufacture pressure. 

I don't think the offense can be said to run through the left guard, but I do think it speaks to how badly Jared Goff relies on having a healthy offensive line. If there is a single missing piece, he folds, which causes the entire offense to fold... When you're considering giving him an extension, you might as well sign the entire offensive line with him or you're screwed.

As for the defense, Glenn has to shoulder some of the blame (for the third straight season), but Holmes does too. It bears repeating that the defensive weaknesses that are prevalent are not some new problem. This board was clamoring three weeks ago at the deadline for a pass rusher across from Hutchinson and for secondary help and Holmes didn't address either. 8-3 isn't time to even approach the panic button, but 8-5 isn't inconceivable at this point with road games against New Orleans and Chicago upcoming. At that point, I would be worried.

[MichiganCardinal]

This was really the turning point last year. They lost a close one to the Bills to drop to 4-7 and got dramatically better from that point on, only losing one more game (the Panthers turf game).

If they can do the same thing and turn it on for the homestretch, we will have a fun next two months (or more!). If they keep looking like this though, I think they're heading straight for a first round exit, if not even a heartbreaking collapse to lose the division.

[MIguy]

Looking at the rest of the Lions schedule, I could see them slumping even worse, finishing the season at 9-8 and losing out on the final wildcard spot to the Seahawks.