MichiganCardinal Posted January 1 Author Posted January 1 42 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said: Not going to lie, when the Lions signed Anzalone, I did not expect him to be an important cog in a 14-2 Super Bowl contender. Right there with you. I was pretty upset when they gave him $6MM. Now, I think he’s worth twice that. Quote
MichiganCardinal Posted January 1 Author Posted January 1 9 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said: It was fun while it lasted. I’m sure he didn’t join to be a practice squad contributor…. But wasn’t good enough to be anything else. Quote
519superfan Posted January 1 Posted January 1 if we win Sunday we go to Superbowl. 2 Home wins after Sunday.... Soooooo close Quote
Jason_R Posted January 1 Posted January 1 If we are ever to get something out of Moseley, now would be the time. Quote
lordstanley Posted January 2 Posted January 2 (edited) 5 hours ago, 519superfan said: if we win Sunday we go to Superbowl. 2 Home wins after Sunday.... Soooooo close My rooting interest with the least imposing path possible, NOT a prediction: Week 18 Lions over Vikings Cowboys over Commanders (so they drop to #7 seed) Packers over Bears Wildcard Round Commanders over Eagles (so they knock out a major contender) Rams over Packers (indifferent on outcome) Buccaneers over Vikings (so they knock out another major contender) Divisional Round Lions over Commanders Buccaneers over Rams NFC Championship Lions over Buccaneers Super Bowl Lions over Chargers In conclusion, I'm saying that IF the Lions can get homefield advantage AND a week off AND avoid playoff games against the Eagles or Vikings AND the AFC champ is not Buffalo or KC or Baltimore, then the Lions can win the Super Bowl. Edited January 2 by lordstanley Quote
RandyMarsh Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Just thinking that we had a very similar situation to this 10 years ago in Lambeau. I don't think it was for the 1 seed but the winner did get the division and a bye, where as the loser was forced to go on the road for the 1st round and likely entire playoffs. We of course lost and had to go to Dallas. This time the game is at our place though so hopefully the results will be different. Quote
Motown Bombers Posted January 2 Posted January 2 The Lions also had Stafford then who doesn't beat good teams. Quote
RandyMarsh Posted January 2 Posted January 2 (edited) I went on a tp style rant that night except it was on the officials and not so much the Lions coaches or players. I know this cause it showed up on "memories" feed on Facebook the other day. There were like 10 posts I made ranting about the officiating with a couple aimed at the Lions. Reading it back the other day and I was like "damn can't believe I used to get this riled up." Edited January 2 by RandyMarsh 1 Quote
RatkoVarda Posted January 2 Posted January 2 18 hours ago, lordstanley said: By the way, am currently reading this book. Focused on Ford incompetence, not surprisingly, which isnt something we don’t already know, lol. About 1/3 of the way through, am up to 1968. Apparently coach Joe Schmidt and others wanted to draft Kenny Stabler but were overruled by Russ Thomas who chose Landry https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205885610-the-lions-finally-roar Not to defend any incompetent Lions executive, but I notice that no one ever leaks: "I was really hoping the Raiders took Calvin, because JaMarcus Russell is a HOF QB." The player they really wanted is always a HOF, not Ryan Leaf. Quote
Sports_Freak Posted January 2 Posted January 2 It's a big stage for the untested Darnold. My big hope is he chokes. Meanwhile, Goff has been battle tested and has mostly had success. That's my hope/story and I'm sticking to it. Quote
Sports_Freak Posted January 2 Posted January 2 3 hours ago, RandyMarsh said: I went on a tp style rant that night except it was on the officials and not so much the Lions coaches or players. I know this cause it showed up on "memories" feed on Facebook the other day. There were like 10 posts I made ranting about the officiating with a couple aimed at the Lions. Reading it back the other day and I was like "damn can't believe I used to get this riled up." But did you irritate several people while on your rant? If not, it's not the same. Quote
lordstanley Posted January 2 Posted January 2 This must mean Khalif will be in on Sunday for the kick returns. 1 Quote
Motown Bombers Posted January 2 Posted January 2 It's great to have Raymond back with all the punts this defense can force. 1 Quote
Jason_R Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Detroit’s defense these days has three true outcomes: give up a TD, force a FG attempt, Kerby Joseph gets a pick. 1 Quote
RandyMarsh Posted January 3 Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Jason_R said: Detroit’s defense these days has three true outcomes: give up a TD, force a FG attempt, Kerby Joseph gets a pick. Basically, it's just going to come down to their red zone defense. If they can hold teams to a 25% rate or less there is a good chance they win so long as the offense plays like it should. When you score 30+ a game and force teams to get 4+ TDs you can get by with a bad defense so long as you get fortunate in the red zone......and don't give up a long TD play. Make teams go all the way down the field and hope they either make a mistake or struggle once the field gets congested near the goal line. 2 Quote
TP_Fan Posted January 3 Posted January 3 On 12/31/2024 at 2:18 PM, Tenacious D said: I don’t understand how you can find fault in him. If anything, he should be praised for holding it together with a bunch of guys who were on practice squads a few weeks back. Healthy or not healthy he has had a poor defense for four years and only plays man defense. He is an awesome leader of men, but he is not good at scheming defense. There is no deception. No creativity. Blitzes at the wrong time. Guys love playing for him. He motivates well, he just does not scheme good defense. Hoping for the best. Quote
KnoxP Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Re: Glenn. Heard Aikman on Monday describing how Kirby got his second pick and the replay showed this. Something about coverage lining up showing man, then at the snap they fell back into 2 deep allowing Kirby to freelance and pick his spot, which he did by jumping the route getting that interception. That’s Glenn making a big time difference making call. He’s not perfect but he’s been dealt a crappy hand and these guys are still battling with all they can. That says good things for Glenn also. Quote
MichiganCardinal Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 I think it's really easy to just forget (1) how far this defense has come under Glenn, and (2) how good this defense was when the best 11, even the best 10, 9, or 8 players were out there this year. 2021, their defense was led by guys like 31-year-old Michael Brockers, the Okwaras, and Will Harris. It was bad... 2022, it really wasn't much better, but they gained traction with some of the young guys. 2023, they finally starting getting real contributions from the young guys, as well as with additions like Sutton and CJGJ (to a lesser extent). This year was the year where finally the young guys were well developed, you had the veteran additions like CDIII and Davenport, and all the pieces were in place for Glenn to make this a top tier defense in the league. And it was. This year, even after Hutch - who seemed poised to run away with DPOY - got knocked out, they went 12 quarters of football without allowing a touchdown. It has taken body blow after body blow to turn this into a defense that more resembles the 2022 squad, and yet even despite that, they've done enough to win 15/16 games so far this season (they did enough to win the Bucs game and the offense let them down). I don't want to lose either Glenn or Johnson, but I sincerely think losing Glenn would require the larger adjustment next season. He's the mastermind of what made this defense so good to start this year, and this defense is shaped in his vision. I worry that if we have to replace him with a guy with different vision and different scheme, there will be some guys who have been molded by Glenn into hard nosed physical square pegs being shoved into round holes. Whereas with Johnson, I think this offense is as much Campbell's identity as it is Johnson's. 1 1 Quote
gehringer_2 Posted January 3 Posted January 3 3 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said: Whereas with Johnson, I think this offense is as much Campbell's identity as it is Johnson's. and don't forget Goff. The way he's grown into the leadership of this team, on one level it should become his offense as much as any other input. 1 Quote
Jimbo Posted January 3 Posted January 3 I don't want to lose either of our coordinators. Consistency is very important to maintain high level of success. Although I am also understanding that when you have success, your going to lose talent along the way. This teams success isn't because of one coordinator or player. That has shown with all the injuries we have sustained and still managed at least 14 wins. Their teams success is because of talent and culture. I understand the fear Lions fans are going through because of the history, although this team is built to be successful for years to come. There are a lot of talented coordinators in this league and both Johnson and Glenn should get head coaching jobs although if you think the Lions success is based on their talent, your wrong. Talent and culture are the most important things for a teams success and that is do to upper management (specifically Campbell and Holmes). Holmes brings the talent and Campbell brings the culture and attitude. Enjoy this run and don't worry about who we might lose next year. Don't get me wrong, Johnson has been great with his play calls. Although I think the level success is just as much who is making the plays as who is calling them. Glen is a very talented DC. He has gotten a lot of grief over the last few years although it showed that once he got more talent, he is one of the best in the league. Then when he lost some of that talent, the defense has slowly struggled. When you have talent and success, you also attract the best coaches in the game because they know that it could lead to their success which will result in more $ and better jobs. I also think Detroit is starting to build a coaching tree where there is talent learning and can step in. If they move on with coordinators or aren't ready, there will be plenty of talent ready to take the jobs of the coaches we lost. Quote
Jason_R Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Something tells me Ben Johnson will open the bag of tricks, first to embarrass Flores for firing him, and second to get the leg up on him for the Chicago job. I also suspect Anzalone will play but only in likely passing situations. Brian Branch gets a late pick to prevent a Minnesota comeback, and Detroit wins 41-35. Quote
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