Random NFL comments/thoughts

[Cruzer1]

3 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Robbie Gould retired earlier this month but would probably answer if called by a playoff team. He was 84% on FGs and only missed one extra point last year, long of 51... Brett Maher is available, the Rams cut him in October after he missed an extra point and from 53 and 51 against the Steelers. That was his only extra point miss and he was perfect from inside 40 on field goals, but 10/16 from 40+.... Ryan Succop is available, he was 29/31 inside 50 but 2/7 from 50+ in 2022, missed one extra point. The way the practice squad works too is that the Lions could re-sign Patterson from the Browns practice squad. If the Browns offered him a spot on the 53-man though, I suspect he would take their offer, depending on Dustin Hopkins' injury.

Zane Gonzalez might be my pick for a tryout. He was on the Lions' practice squad when Campbell and Holmes took over and had a great year with the Panthers in 2021. Was perfect inside 50, 3/5 from 50+ with a long of 57 and one missed extra point. He got injured in the 2022 preseason, was re-injured in the 2023 preseason, and hasn't kicked in the regular season since.  If you need a guy for three postseason games, with Badgley on the practice squad in case of injury, Gonzalez might be your guy.

All told though I think they probably just ride with Badgley.

The Lions already regurgitated Zane Gonzalez. Get over it!

[Motown Bombers]

 

[MichiganCardinal]

7 minutes ago, Cruzer1 said:

The Lions already regurgitated Zane Gonzalez. Get over it!

How can you say no to a man who turns Holden Fortunato into "Zane"??

[CMRivdogs]

They need to target Joshua Karty (Stanford) in the draft 

[lordstanley]

From ESPN.com's weekly game by game recaps, after Sunday's Chicago-Arizona game:

Stock up after the loss: K Matt Prater. The kicker took the NFL lead in 50-yard field goals this season with a 55-yarder in the third quarter, giving him nine (and only two misses).

[Mr.TaterSalad]

13 hours ago, buddha said:

tonight said more about baltimore than san francisco.  unfortunately.

Yes, Baltimore is the best team in the league. But they outclassed San Fran in all four quarters last night and made them look more than beatable. They put pressure on Purdy, sacked him twice, and had him hearing footsteps the rest of the night. He had a 42.6% QBR and threw 4 picks. Add onto that, their offensive line got banged up last night.

I know our defense is our weakest link, in particular our pass rush and CB's in man coverage. But if we get the 49'ers in the playoffs with James Houston and Cede Duce back, plus a surging Iffy Melifonwu, things could look a whole lot different. Just the mere fact that we wouldn't have to play Jerry Jacobs on an island, in man coverage, ever again this season, is a plus WAR factor. One thing we do well too is stop the run. If we can get any amount of pressure on Purdy and limit his use of McCaffery (I wouldn't expect us to take him out of the game) and make Purdy beat us with his arm, then why not us.

I was all scared of San Francisco after they bounced back strong from their 3 game losing streak earlier in the year and rattled off 6 straight wins, in dominating fashion. But Baltimore brought them way back down to Earth last night. I don't fear the 49'ers nearly like I did going into last night's game. Maybe Purdy and company just had a really off night or maybe Baltimore showed the playbook on how a good team can beat them, with the right pieces and circumstanes.

[Motown Bombers]

Mahomes with Bieniemy: 

67.1% completion, 5,250 yards, 41 TDs, 12 INT, 105.2 QB Rating, 79 QBR

Without Bieniemy:

66.9% completion, 3938 yards, 26 TDs, 14 INT, 91.7 QB Rating, 63.1 QBR

System QB.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Motown Bombers

[MichiganCardinal]

I've thought for a while now that the Lions matchup well against the 49ers. What we saw last night is what can happen when you limit McCaffrey's potency and force Purdy into spots where he is uncomfortable. The 49ers are 0-4 when CMC has 15 or fewer rush attempts in a game and 11-0 when he rushes the ball 16+ times... It's not an easy feat, they have a superb offensive line and CMC is as good a running back as you'll find in the NFL. But if you force Purdy to win the game with his arm, he will struggle.

By the numbers, the Lions have a better rush defense than any team the 49ers have played this season.

[Hongbit]

Eric Bieniemy was an OC in name only.  Andy Reid called the plays and set the gameplan.   No Bieniemy plays a very minor part,  if any, in their struggles this season.   They have the least reliable set of receivers the league has seen in a long time as witnessed by their astronomical dropped pass count.   That’s the biggest problem for the Chiefs offense. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Hongbit

[Motown Bombers]

I need to see Mahomes prove it without Bieniemy. Then I need to see him prove it without whatever OC he proves it with that I never heard of before. 

[MichiganCardinal]

I think the NFC Champion will be one of the 49ers, Eagles, or Lions. Whichever team gets hot at the right time and gets the breaks to go their way in the playoff matchups against each other will come out of it. All three of them are beatable and have their weaknesses to exploit, but I don't see any of the other NFC playoff teams (NFC South, Rams, Seahawks, Vikings, or Packers) pulling off three in a row against them to go to Vegas. I would put the Cowboys as a distant 4th because I think it's plausible it finally happens, but they are poorly coached, and I don't see them going on the road against any of those three teams and winning, let alone doing it twice. They might even lose to the NFC South Champion if they have to go to Tampa, Atlanta, or NOLA as a 5-seed.

I think the AFC playoffs are wide open. Baltimore has been the best team and has likely earned the #1 seed. But head-to-head any given Sunday? I think any of Baltimore, Miami, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, or Cincinnati could win three in a row and advance to the Super Bowl. And not all seven of those teams will even make the playoffs!

[MichiganCardinal]

11 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I need to see Mahomes prove it without Bieniemy. Then I need to see him prove it without whatever OC he proves it with that I never heard of before. 

Maybe if KC trades him to the Rams for Matt Stafford he can prove it there.

[Motown Bombers]

13 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Eric Bieniemy was an OC in name only.  Andy Reid called the plays and set the gameplan.   No Bieniemy plays a very minor part,  if any, in their struggles this season.   They have the least reliable set of receivers the league has seen in a long time as witnessed by their astronomical dropped pass count.   That’s the biggest problem for the Chiefs offense. 

He's not elite since he needs a great supporting cast. 

Chiefs are 1st in the NFL in dropped passes. Lions are 5th with only 6 fewer dropped passes. The Chiefs are also 2nd in the league in targets so their drop percentage is only 0.6% higher than the Lions. Hardly astronomical. 

[buddha]

18 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Eric Bieniemy was an OC in name only.  Andy Reid called the plays and set the gameplan.   No Bieniemy plays a very minor part,  if any, in their struggles this season.   They have the least reliable set of receivers the league has seen in a long time as witnessed by their astronomical dropped pass count.   That’s the biggest problem for the Chiefs offense. 

mahomes misses tyreek hill a lot more than eric bienemy.  mahomes' loss was tua's gain.

[Motown Bombers]

1 minute ago, buddha said:

mahomes misses tyreek hill a lot more than eric bienemy.  mahomes' loss was tua's gain.

If the situation is right and he has star players around him, he can be successful. 

[buddha]

Just now, Motown Bombers said:

If the situation is right and he has star players around him, he can be successful. 

do you think jared goff is better than patrick mahomes?

[Motown Bombers]

Lions #1 receiver is a 4th round draft pick. Mahomes has 3 second round draft picks and a 1st round draft pick at WR.

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, buddha said:

do you think jared goff is better than patrick mahomes?

In the right system with enough talent around him I think Mahomes can be better than Goff. 

[Jason_R]

2 hours ago, Longgone said:

It's kind of misleading to rate quarterbacks on what are basically team stats.

It is kind of misleading to say that since you can’t definitively rate players by using data that you shouldn’t use data. 

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

In the right system with enough talent around him I think Mahomes can be better than Goff. 

Mahomes certainly has more ability to extend a play than Goff, not much comparison there and that counts for a lot. OTOH, while his ability to move is limited, when Goff does move he still makes pretty good throws. He may be a little underestimated there. The conventional wisdom, which was vindicated in the Bears loss,  is that Goff gets worse faster when he doesn't have time, though the version of Mahomes that was playing yesterday looked a lot worse under pressure than he is usually thought to be!

[NYLion]

3 hours ago, buddha said:

according to dvoa, the ravens and niners are 2 of the top 5 teams of the last 40 years.  behind only the 07 pats, 91 skins, and 85 bears.

We know all too well how dominant the '91 Redskins were. I was too young to remember the '85 Bears but the '91 Redskins might have been the best NFL team I've ever seen, they were untouchable that year. I think the Niners are one of the most talented teams of the last 40 years but 11-4 is hardly a sign of dominance.

Edited December 26, 2023 by NYLion

[buddha]

2 minutes ago, NYLion said:

We know all too well how dominant the '91 Redskins were. I was too young to remember the '85 Bears but the '91 Redskins might have been the best NFL team I've ever seen, they were untouchable that year. I think the Niners are one of the most talented teams of the last 40 years but 11-4 is hardly a sign of dominance.

to me, the niners still have a qb problem.  purdy has put up amazing numbers, but when the stuff hits the fan, i'm not sold on him.

[NYLion]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

I think some people forget how impactful Houston was last year. This is just a 6 game reel of all sorts of different ways Houston impacted the game. Insert THIS guy into the lineup and the Lions can make a real run...

 

[buddha]

17 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Mahomes certainly has more ability to extend a play than Goff, not much comparison there and that counts for a lot. OTOH, while his ability to move is limited, when Goff does move he still makes pretty good throws. He may be a little underestimated there. The conventional wisdom, which was vindicated in the Bears loss,  is that Goff gets worse faster when he doesn't have time, though the version of Mahomes that was playing yesterday looked a lot worse under pressure than he is usually thought to be!

patrick mahomes is a much better qb than jared goff.  no offense to jared goff.  patrick mahomes is a much better qb than most qbs in the history of the nfl.

we had the same argument about lamar jackson for the entire offseason.  that argument seems to have quieted down a bit.

[Motown Bombers]

3 minutes ago, buddha said:

patrick mahomes is a much better qb than jared goff.  no offense to jared goff.  patrick mahomes is a much better qb than most qbs in the history of the nfl.

we had the same argument about lamar jackson for the entire offseason.  that argument seems to have quieted down a bit.

I said Goff was a more productive QB than Jackson which was factually correct. Jackson has about 100 more combined yards than Goff, fewer total TDs, lower passer rating and lower completion %.