Week One: Philadelphia Eagles (0-0) @ Detroit Lions (0-0)

[Motown Bombers]

Rodriguez had an 80 coverage rating. A lot of the secondary got decent grades. Okudah, Walker, Elliot, etc. Hurts was only 18/32 with no TDs. They got gashed on the run game. Hutchinson was mediocre. Had three pressures. I want to see this defense against a less mobile QB.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

37 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

As I figured local radio has been filled with people bitching about the on side kick all the while complaining how thy defense is terrible and couldn't get a stop.

The on side kick essentially cost them 25 yards of field position. Considering they had a 33% success rate on it last year I have no problem taking a 33% chance of getting the ball back vs. Giving up 25 yards of field position for a team that hadnt shown much ability to getting quick stops which is what they needed in that situation since time was their enemy. 

I think the onside kick was a bad call and Campbell does deserve some level of criticism for it. That said, there were many other things that ranked higher on the list of reasons why they lost than the decision to onsides it. Notable an inability to contain Jalen Hurts, contain AJ Brown, and allow plays to develop because they weren't getting any pass rush. On offense, Goff's rough first half and the dropped passes out rank the decision to onsides it.

Was it the right decision to take an onside kick there? No. Did it hurt them and allow for the Eagles to have an easier time scoring a TD. Yes, probably. I don't believe though that it cost them the came and they would have one were it not for that.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RandyMarsh]

21 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

I think the onside kick was a bad call and Campbell does deserve some level of criticism for it. That said, there were many other things that ranked higher on the list of reasons why they lost than the decision to onsides it. Notable an inability to contain Jalen Hurts, contain AJ Brown, and allow plays to develop because they weren't getting any pass rush. On offense, Goff's rough first half and the dropped passes out rank the decision to onsides it.

Was it the right decision to take an onside kick there? No. Did it hurt them and allow for the Eagles to have an easier time scoring a TD. Yes, probably. I don't believe though that it cost them the came and they would have one were it not for that.

I disagree,  in that situation field position wasn't as important as getting the ball back. Down two possessions and kicking away with under 10 mins left your odds of winning are very slim. Either way the only way you are likely going to win by kicking away is if you get a quick stop and in that case it doesn't matter  where the team gets the ball cause it's not about stopping them from scoring its about stopping them from killing time and getting the ball back yourself quickly as possible. 

Edited September 12, 2022 by RandyMarsh

[MichiganCardinal]

A day later, I'm really satisfied with the Lions performance. When you can score 35 points, all on offense, you're going to win more games than you lose, even with a below-average defense. I'm hopeful we see a defensive progression this year the way we did last year, whereby the defense is clearly better in the second half of the season than the first.

I have a hard time pointing fingers at the defense, when they played about how I expected (though I did hope for better contain of Hurts). I have a hard time pointing fingers at the offense, when they put up 35 points (though the second quarter stagnation certainly kept them from scoring even more). I have a hard time pointing fingers at coaching, when I want our coaching to be aggressive and they were (it just didn't work out).

I wouldn't be surprised to look back on this game in a month or two and see that these were really two pretty decent teams battling it out.

 

[Motown Bombers]

I think the defense was better than it looked. Accept for that big play to Brown in which Okudah was out of the game and Will Harris was in, they really didn't give up big plays in the passing game. The pressure was there, they just couldn't finish. The Eagles also have one of the best OL in the league and they were still getting Hurts to move his feet. If they have this same pressure against Wentz, it will be a lot different but mobile QBs kill this team. 

[Hongbit]

They were sloppy and left many plays out on the field but still scored 35 and were in it until the end against a probable playoff team.   That’s a huge plus that wouldn’t have happened in the past.  
 

What stood out differently for me was the OL.  We saw what everyone had hoped would happen with the team investing significant draft capital on OL.  They opened massive holes for the running game, gave Goff ample time to throw including picking up blitzes, and no drive killing dumb holding calls.  They were dominant at times and this is with a 3rd string backup and Ragnow nowhere near 100%.  A consistently dominant OL is something we haven’t had in decades and is something that will keep them in many games this year.  

[RedRamage]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Rodriguez had an 80 coverage rating. A lot of the secondary got decent grades. Okudah, Walker, Elliot, etc. Hurts was only 18/32 with no TDs. They got gashed on the run game. Hutchinson was mediocre. Had three pressures. I want to see this defense against a less mobile QB.

Isn't Philly supposed to be a dominate running team with "okay" passing?  Seems like it's pretty logical that the secondary would look better than normal while the front seven looked worse. 

[Motown Bombers]

3 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Isn't Philly supposed to be a dominate running team with "okay" passing?  Seems like it's pretty logical that the secondary would look better than normal while the front seven looked worse. 

They held Davonta Smith to 0 catches. Hurts only completed 56% of his passes. Outside of that 50 yard catch by Brown in which Will Harris was in coverage, Brown got his catches but no big plays. The secondary wasn't just better in relation to the rest of the defense, it was pretty decent. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I thought, sans Will Harris and a semi-boneheaded play by Tracy Walker, the secondary was not the problem on defense. I think the inability to contain Hurts and not get to the QB were the bigger defensive concerns. As Motown said, they got gashed on the AJ Brown play with Will Harris in on coverage. I think it is safe to say that Harris will not be around, much less starting, next year.

[Motown Bombers]

I'm not sure why they just don't run Chase Lucas out there instead of Harris. Tracy Walker was playing well until he got himself ejected. His replacement than gave up the other big play of the game. 

[RandyMarsh]

Gotta love the hypocrisy of so called fans on the radio, one guy calls in and says fans need to slow their roll on Rodrigo cause it was only one game but then proceeds to say Hutch needs to be on the practice squad labels him  a total bust after 1 game. 

[Stanley70]

Th dline rotation featured 3 guys they recently signed off from waivers in Cominsky, Jones, and Buggs. They were getting gashed late in that game. I don't think they are fixing that this year unless Paschel is really good, should he get healthy. I'm not counting on anything from Levi.

 

Also the pass rush was getting pressure but they were leaving huge lanes for Hurts to escape. That should be correctable.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Stanley70]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I'm not sure why they just don't run Chase Lucas out there instead of Harris. Tracy Walker was playing well until he got himself ejected. His replacement than gave up the other big play of the game. 

Harris had decent coverage on that play. Sometimes you get beat by a perfect throw.

[Hongbit]

17 minutes ago, Stanley70 said:

Harris had decent coverage on that play. Sometimes you get beat by a perfect throw.

He wasn’t burnt to a crisp but It wasn’t good coverage.  He was beat by at least a step, never looked back for the ball, and actually tugged on the jersey for a PI that probably gets called if Brown doesn’t make the grab.

Here are all of Brown’s catches.  5 receptions are on the same route.   He’s really hard to stop on the slant pattern.   Guy is a beast.  
 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Hongbit

[MichiganCardinal]

What drove me nuts about the secondary yesterday was the lack of awareness to Hurts' rushing ability. On the 3/15 for instance, where Hurts scrambled for 16, there was a corner (can't recall who) who with the slightest glance back for the ball (or better communication across the field) could have identified that the play broke down and that Hurts was coming towards him. Instead the receiver played him like a fiddle and Hurts practically ran right to him, with his back turned the entire time.

[Hart]

21 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

That was a pretty tough QB to pursue today, so it was a good way to learn.  

Yeah.  He blew into the backfield a few times early and Hurts went right around him.  Played a lot more conservative after that. 

I still didn't like how the Lions used him overall though.  

[Hart]

9 hours ago, John_Brian_K said:

They scored 35 points...this game was on the defense.

Expectations matter though too.  The defense doesn't have as much talent as the offense.  After the first drive, the Lions went punt, punt, punt, punt, pick 6.  They bear some responsibility.   We know we are going to need to outscore teams.  

Plus, we saw this last year.  The Lions get down big and then make a comeback when defenses let up a bit. 

[Hart]

5 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I think the defense was better than it looked. Accept for that big play to Brown in which Okudah was out of the game and Will Harris was in, they really didn't give up big plays in the passing game. The pressure was there, they just couldn't finish. The Eagles also have one of the best OL in the league and they were still getting Hurts to move his feet. If they have this same pressure against Wentz, it will be a lot different but mobile QBs kill this team. 

I agree to an extent.  Hurts is not a good match up for us because we don't have instinctive linebackers who can run.  

At the same time, I think our defense is probably bottom third in the league over the 17 game schedule.  It's not just the bad matchup issue.    

Edited September 12, 2022 by Hart

[Jason_R]

Philly’s second drive was 16 plays, 97 yards (including 15 yards of penalties) and consumed 7:55. That’s a long time to hold the ball and it exposed the weakness of the DL. In which Brad Holmes has invested a lot of resources. 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[sabretooth]

On 9/12/2022 at 12:45 PM, RandyMarsh said:

I disagree,  in that situation field position wasn't as important as getting the ball back. Down two possessions and kicking away with under 10 mins left your odds of winning are very slim. Either way the only way you are likely going to win by kicking away is if you get a quick stop and in that case it doesn't matter  where the team gets the ball cause it's not about stopping them from scoring its about stopping them from killing time and getting the ball back yourself quickly as possible. 

That's a good point.

[Tigeraholic1]

Always a day late and dollar short for the Lions......

 

 

 

 

[buddha]

52 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Always a day late and dollar short for the Lions......

 

 

 

 

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