NFC Divisional Round: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-8) @ Detroit Lions (13-5)

[RandyMarsh]

6 minutes ago, Longgone said:

 

8 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I don’t think he’s dirty. Dirty to me means trying to intentionally hurt guys. I don’t see that. He hits hard in an inherently violent sport.

But I would be pissed if I was a Rams or Viks fan. Two ACLs in four weeks doesn’t look good.

 

The 2 in 4 weeks definitely doesn't look good but has he caused any other injuries of note in his 2 year career? I genuinely don't know but if the answer is zero than I'm chalking it up to 2 random unlucky plays, if its like a half dozen or more than maybe at the very least theres something to his tackling technique or location of them.

But as I said before I think he does just like all players are taught and it wasnt anything malicious or anything. 

Agree about the artificial turf as well. His foot likely doesnt stay planted if it was natural grass.

Edited January 19, 2024 by RandyMarsh

[Motown Bombers]

McNeil has been really underrated this year. 

 

[Motown Bombers]

The Lions are on this graphic. 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RandyMarsh]

They were way off with Houston's initial diagnosis, that or he keeps having setbacks cause originally I think they said 6 to 8 wks, maybe 10 tops, with Thanksgiving being an optmistic return. Now we're in the middle of January and he still hasn't been back.

[MichiganCardinal]

1 minute ago, RandyMarsh said:

They were way off with Houston's initial diagnosis, that or he keeps having setbacks cause originally I think they said 6 to 8 wks, maybe 10 tops, with Thanksgiving being an optmistic return. Now we're in the middle of January and he still hasn't been back.

I think it's just to do with the difference between plain recovery and actually being back to "football shape". If you or I break an ankle, we can be back to 100% in 6-8 weeks. He was probably able to walk around normally after 6-8 weeks, but it's taking him another 6-8 weeks to get back to a place where he can play football at a high level to be an effective member of the team. Your body learns to compensate in those 6-8 weeks, and now it's got to unlearn that behavior and then re-learn how to play a violent sport.

It's probably especially true for a guy like Houston, who relies so heavily on getting low to the ground, being agile with his hips, and planting on a dime.

[MichiganCardinal]

30 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

It makes sense. Houston took J.Okwara's spot on the team, but J.Okwara was inactive against the Rams. He's still got to take somebody's spot on the active roster. Harris was inactive too on Sunday, they only dressed Hutch, Paschal, R.Okwara, and Cominsky at DE... R.Okwara seems like the inactive candidate, but he played 53% of defensive snaps against the Rams... Otherwise, you're maybe considering guys like Benito Jones or Levi to be inactive, or maybe a special teams player like Khalil Dorsey.

[Motown Bombers]

I would inactivate Levi. They added him to the 53 so they must plan on playing him soon. He could have went back to IR if they had no intention of playing him. 

[buddha]

didnt levi play against the rams?  not like we would notice...

julian okwara will be on someone else's practice squad next year.  neither him nor his brother are likely to be here unless its on a very small contract.

[Motown Bombers]

The interior of the Bucs OL is weaker so you may want to try to have another pass rushing type DT like Levi but I would still activate Houston over Levi. 

[Jason_R]

How many 2nd or 3rd and longs are we expecting? Maybe the guy is not in elite football shape but can he go ten snaps?

[Longgone]

8 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

How many 2nd or 3rd and longs are we expecting? Maybe the guy is not in elite football shape but can he go ten snaps?

It's not endurance, it's whether he has the bend, flexibility, explosiveness and strength to be effective.

[gehringer_2]

58 minutes ago, buddha said:

didnt levi play against the rams?  not like we would notice...

julian okwara will be on someone else's practice squad next year.  neither him nor his brother are likely to be here unless its on a very small contract.

So this made me wonder what the practice squad limits are and they turn out to be relatively narrow. The practice squad minimum and max for a 2 yr vet are $16,100/wk and $20,600/wk. That drops to 12k/wk for rookies. From there the jump to minimum roster salary is to $40k/wk ($750K season). So a vet elevated to a roster contract at least doubles his salary.

Edited January 19, 2024 by gehringer_2

[Motown Bombers]

This pass chart by Hurts against Tampa is wild. Nothing in the middle of the field. 

[Motor City Sonics]

30 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

This pass chart by Hurts against Tampa is wild. Nothing in the middle of the field. 

Haven't seen a collapse quite like the Eagles and Hurts, Individually.     I'll blame the bad defense getting worse on the worst defensive coach in modern history, but the offense fell off a cliff too.   Biden's fault? 

[Motown Bombers]

It's funny, everyone says blitz Goff and he'll get rattled despite being excellent against the blitz. Hurts is bad against the blitz. He's also reverted to his 2021 self and not the 2022 self. He took a safety when the line of scrimmage was the 8 yard line. He drifted so far back and then try to roll out of it and took a safety. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

On 1/18/2024 at 12:48 PM, Motown Bombers said:

The Vikings also were good against the run and blitzed a lot and the Lions hung 30 on them in back to back games. The Rams defense also isn't far behind Tampa in run defense. Tampa actually gives up more passing yards per game than the Lions. We already saw Goff carve up this defense. He's good against the blitz. The blitz needs to get home. 

It isn't just blitzing necessarily that disrupts Goff, but rather the pressures and hurries actually getting into the backfield with a collapsing pocket. We took care of the Brian Flores led defense and what he threw at us, so I'd like to think we could be equally successful against Todd Bowles.

[Motown Bombers]

"Kelly Stafford says her 5-year-old daughter “started crying on the field” over the treatment their family received from some fans at Ford Field before the Rams-Lions wild-card playoff game Sunday night.

On Tuesday’s edition of her weekly podcast, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said she and their four daughters — ages 3 to 6 — were subjected to loud boos from the stands as they tried to navigate their way between sidelines on the field before the game.

“I had to explain to two of my daughters. Hunter started crying on the field,” Kelly Stafford said. “Listen, this is not everybody. This is the fans that are the loudest. ... But that’s sports.

 

“But I will say one thing — we’re not playing the game. My girls and I are not playing the game. And I know my girls are not getting booed. I am. And I can handle it. But when I have my girls next to me there’s something to be said about maybe not.”

 

I don't think she is able to handle it. 

[Motown Bombers]

Goff has one of the lowest pressure to sack rates in the NFL. Only Allen and Mahomes are lower. That is absolutely crazy considering Goff has no mobility at all. He has scrambled a total of 7 times all year. That's right, 7. His ability to hang in the pocket and not take sacks is really underrated. 

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

"Kelly Stafford says her 5-year-old daughter “started crying on the field” over the treatment their family received from some fans at Ford Field before the Rams-Lions wild-card playoff game Sunday night.

On Tuesday’s edition of her weekly podcast, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said she and their four daughters — ages 3 to 6 — were subjected to loud boos from the stands as they tried to navigate their way between sidelines on the field before the game.

“I had to explain to two of my daughters. Hunter started crying on the field,” Kelly Stafford said. “Listen, this is not everybody. This is the fans that are the loudest. ... But that’s sports.

 

“But I will say one thing — we’re not playing the game. My girls and I are not playing the game. And I know my girls are not getting booed. I am. And I can handle it. But when I have my girls next to me there’s something to be said about maybe not.”

 

I don't think she is able to handle it. 

A world full of drama queens and Kelly is running for class prez.

[MichiganCardinal]

18 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

"Kelly Stafford says her 5-year-old daughter “started crying on the field” over the treatment their family received from some fans at Ford Field before the Rams-Lions wild-card playoff game Sunday night.

On Tuesday’s edition of her weekly podcast, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said she and their four daughters — ages 3 to 6 — were subjected to loud boos from the stands as they tried to navigate their way between sidelines on the field before the game.

“I had to explain to two of my daughters. Hunter started crying on the field,” Kelly Stafford said. “Listen, this is not everybody. This is the fans that are the loudest. ... But that’s sports.

 

“But I will say one thing — we’re not playing the game. My girls and I are not playing the game. And I know my girls are not getting booed. I am. And I can handle it. But when I have my girls next to me there’s something to be said about maybe not.”

 

I don't think she is able to handle it. 

Season To-Do List:

- NFC North ☑️

- Playoff Win ☑️

- Make Little Girls Cry ☑️

- NFC Championship

- Super Bowl

[Motown Bombers]

6 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Season To-Do List:

- NFC North ☑️

- Playoff Win ☑️

- Make Little Girls Cry ☑️

- NFC Championship

- Super Bowl

It's what they do.

[RandyMarsh]

Kelly has nobody to blame but herself, I mean why would you bring your 4 little kids on to the field to a rowdy environment like that? Like there was no reason they couldn't have just stayed in the back and watched the game. Like I'm sure there are a ton of players on both teams that have wives and children and you didn't see them all out on the field almost right before kickoff. 

[Motown Bombers]

I just can't with the pearl clutching from someone who expected a hero's welcome after saying living in Michigan was like living under a dictatorship.