Detroit Lions Offseason Thread 2023

[buddha]

7 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Yeah, I mean there's a million ways to try to over analyze this.

• Are the Bears a bigger name in Europe vs. the Lions?
• Is the NFL trying to show case Fields (definitely an electric player... questionable if he will be a long term NFL star, but certain electric and exciting to watch)?
• Is the NFL hoping to showcase the SB champs and give them an easier chance at a big victory on the international stage?
• Does the NFL think that the Lions will be an even bigger deal in 2024 so wants to showcase them internationally next year?
• How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

yes

probably not

yes and no.

not likely

3

[buddha]

hopefully its not a division game on thanksgiving, but it probably will be.  might be more fun to see a team like vegas or denver come in for that.

as to the international game, i doubt many people know or care about the lions internationally.  i know if there are teams from europe that come over here for games, the big draws are the big name teams and the big name players.  freiburg are a good young up and coming team in germany, sociedad in spain, but if they played here no one would care.  they want munich and barca.  same with football over there, they want the chiefs and another big name team, not a perennial loser no one has heard about.

its a little different in england because they are there every year multiple times a year, but this is a one off (that theyre trying to make a thing) in germany.  theyre going to want big name teams to showcase.  lions arent there yet.

[Motown Bombers]

I doubt the Bears are any more popular in Germany than the Lions. 

[Motown Bombers]

15 minutes ago, buddha said:

i dont think the ordinary fans in the rest of the country see the lions like we do.  

we have turkey day and maybe we get a monday night game this year.  they have some marquee national teams on the schedule (bears, packers, chiefs, broncos, cowboys).

i can see them getting a monday night game against dallas or kc maybe.

I think they do. The Lions are the clear favorite right now to win the division, many national pundits are talking about them and even calling them an NFC contender, the one primetime game they did play in was the highest rated Sunday Night game in 6 years, they were one of the most popular teams to be featured on Hard Knocks, and they are the perennial underdog and people love the underdog story. I think they get at least two Monday Night games. Probably a division game at home. The Packers are still intriguing. Kansas City plays a lot of high profile games next year so I think the Lions game with them may be a Sunday Night or a 4:25 game of the week. 

[RandyMarsh]

Yeah I think the Bears are marginally more popular at best over in Europe than the Lions.

The Bears aren't the Packers,Cowboys, Steelers or Patriots who's brand goes worldwide(well as much as an NFL team can), they are in the next tier of teams who might be more well known among casual Americans but who almost certainly aren't that well known internationally just like the teams like the Lions.

With that said I guess the Panthers have a huge European fan base so perhaps there is no rhyme or reason to what teams are popular there.

Edited April 6, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[Motown Bombers]

Looking at the Chiefs schedule, they have a lot of primetime opportunities. Their non division schedule includes The Bills, Bengals, Dolphins, Jets and Eagles. This doesn't include division games that would be popular like with the Chargers and Broncos and possibly Raiders. I think the Lions game with them may be the standard 4:25 since there aren't enough primetime slots to go around. 

[RandyMarsh]

Iirc the 4:25 national games actually drew more viewers than MNF last year so in some ways that's more of a showcase game than Primetime.

Edited April 6, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[Motown Bombers]

Here's my prediction; Lions will host a Monday Night game against either the Vikings or Packers. They will also play a second Monday night game against the Chargers. This will be Jared Goff's second return to Los Angeles but this time on a contending team and even though it isn't against the Rams. They will also get at least one Sunday Night game against the Saints. Saints and Lions are both division contenders, it will be Jamaal Williams game against his former team and everyone will want to see his Sunday Night introduction. I don't think they get a Thursday night game. I think the Chiefs game will be a 4:25 game of the week and draw the A list broadcasters. I'm not sure how the Thanksgiving rotation goes, but I think the Lions should be playing an NFC team. I think Seattle will be the team. Maybe a division opponent most likely the Bears. 

[MichiganCardinal]

TNF Opener @ Chiefs

MNF v. Vikings

Thanksgiving v. Packers

SNF @ Saints

[Motown Bombers]

Last time the Lions had real expectations was 2015 and they played in two Monday Night games, a Sunday Night game, a Thursday Night game and the Thanksgiving day game. I think the expectations for the Lions are even higher this year than in 2015. The Packers were still the division favorites in 2015. The Lions are owed some favorable primetime games for letting the Bills use Ford Field. The Packers or Vikings will be the Monday Night matchup at Ford Field and the other the Thanksgiving matchup. 

[buddha]

one would think that the lions would be more marketable this year and could garner some national games other than turkey day.

[Motown Bombers]

I would be shocked if the Lions didn't get multiple primetime games. The Lions are marketable and it starts with Campbell. He was even a guest on the Manning cast during the Cowboys playoff game. People like his persona. People also like underdog stories. The Lions are the ultimate underdog. They also have an offense that is fun and scores a lot of points. People like seeing pivotal 3rd down catches by Sewell and pivotal hook and ladders and their overall aggressiveness. I think the one thing they lack is that highly marketable player, most of the Lions are non controversial. Jamaal Williams was really their marketable guy. 

[buddha]

3 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I would be shocked if the Lions didn't get multiple primetime games. The Lions are marketable and it starts with Campbell. He was even a guest on the Manning cast during the Cowboys playoff game. People like his persona. People also like underdog stories. The Lions are the ultimate underdog. They also have an offense that is fun and scores a lot of points. People like seeing pivotal 3rd down catches by Sewell and pivotal hook and ladders and their overall aggressiveness. I think the one thing they lack is that highly marketable player, most of the Lions are non controversial. Jamaal Williams was really their marketable guy. 

the lions might get some games because the league thinks they'll be successful.  i doubt jamaal williams makes anyone watch monday night football.

the lions had barry sanders and barely got any monday night football games.  people watch their favorite teams and major market teams.

the most games on monday night: dallas, pittsburgh, miami, san francisco, chicago, washington, denver, giants, raiders, packers.  a mix of big markets and successful franchises.  lions arent there yet.

but they are possibly an up and coming team and they have some attractive matchups against good (kansas city, dallas), national (denver, green bay, raiders) and big market (chicago, chargers) teams.

 

[RandyMarsh]

Really the only team that consistently draws ratings is the Cowboys. If you look at TV ratings for every other team when they are prime time it isn't a big difference between any of them. The most important thing for ratings is competitive games and meaningful games. 

[Motown Bombers]

The Lions got a Monday Night game in 2021 even after trading Stafford and knowing it was going to be a rebuild year. They will have multiple primetime games. In 2017 following a 9-7 season the Lions got two Monday Night games and a Sunday night game plus the Thanksgiving game. This Lions team has higher expectations and popularity than the 2015 and 2017 teams that had multiple primetime games. 

[buddha]

there is a difference between attention cause you might be good and popularity   the lions popularity is the same as before: a strong loyal fanbase on the smaller side for nfl teams with no real national cachet because they never win anything.  the lions chances of winning look better than before, so that's something in their favor in garnering more attention.  i dont hear about the lions any more than the jets or chargers or even the bears.  i DO hear a lot more about them than usual (which is usually next to nothing nationally). 

i hope they get some monday night games, those are always exciting.

[Motown Bombers]

Popularity doesn't matter as much as you make it out to be. the Broncos are more popular than the Lions and people got so sick of the Broncos on primetime that the NFL is expanding flex scheduling. What they want are good teams and good games. Vegas has the Lions as the clear favorite to win the division. That isn't the loyal fan base. Orlovsky is on ESPN telling us he thinks the Lions are a top 3 team in the NFC. Other national media is talking about the Lions. They were featured on Hard Knocks and were pretty popular. Even all that aside, as recently as 2017 they were in multiple Monday Night games. 

[Motown Bombers]

The Jets played in no Monday Night games last year and had one primetime game, a Thursday night game, against Jacksonville. 

[RandyMarsh]

1 minute ago, Motown Bombers said:

Popularity doesn't matter as much as you make it out to be. the Broncos are more popular than the Lions and people got so sick of the Broncos on primetime that the NFL is expanding flex scheduling. What they want are good teams and good games. Vegas has the Lions as the clear favorite to win the division. That isn't the loyal fan base. Orlovsky is on ESPN telling us he thinks the Lions are a top 3 team in the NFC. Other national media is talking about the Lions. They were featured on Hard Knocks and were pretty popular. Even all that aside, as recently as 2017 they were in multiple Monday Night games. 

Yup, as I mentioned above the only exception to this seems to be the Cowboys. A couple months ago I did a deeper dive into TV ratings and what I found were that they were the one team you could count for high numbers regardless of who they played or the importance of the game.  Outside of them it didn't matter, what mattered was how meaningful the game was. 

[Motown Bombers]

When Cleveland went 0-16, they followed that season up with a 7-8-1 season. That earned them two Monday night games, a Sunday night game and a Thursday night game. 

[RandyMarsh]

In 2011 when the Lions were 4-0 taking on the Bears that MNF game was the 2nd highest rated MNF game all season and nearly was number 1 but a Dallas game had like 100K more viewers. In 2015 the Lions/Seahawks game on MNF was again the 2nd highest game of the season with only Peyton Manning's farewell game in week 17 topping it. In 2016 the Lions/Cowboys MNF game was the most watched MNF in over 4 years. 

You can give credit to the opponents but those teams were on against other teams, the common denominator was the Lions. 

[Motown Bombers]

It's not about fan base size, it's about whether people want to watch the Lions and I think they do. People want to see an up and coming team, an underdog, an aggressive team that goes for it on 4th down, who runs fake punts, who calls a pass play to the right tackle in a critical moment in the game, who calls a hook and ladder late in the game, and who's just fun to watch. The Lions were as fun as any team in the league last year. 

[MichiganCardinal]

Even from just a pure numbers standpoint, with 16 MNF, 15 TNF, and 16 SNF, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas, every team would average around 3 prime time games if they were distributed equally.

[buddha]

11 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Even from just a pure numbers standpoint, with 16 MNF, 15 TNF, and 16 SNF, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas, every team would average around 3 prime time games if they were distributed equally.

true, but the good/popular teams average more than that.

now "good and popular" are usually synonymous.  if youve been good for a while, you usually have lots of fans.

that said, i wonder if the pats will be popular now that they suck again?  i dont think so.  usually teams with dominant runs maintain some popularity (steelers cowboys, niners dolphins, broncos) but i dont see the pats being a team like that.

[MichiganCardinal]

2 minutes ago, buddha said:

true, but the good/popular teams average more than that.

now "good and popular" are usually synonymous.  if youve been good for a while, you usually have lots of fans.

that said, i wonder if the pats will be popular now that they suck again?  i dont think so.  usually teams with dominant runs maintain some popularity (steelers cowboys, niners dolphins, broncos) but i dont see the pats being a team like that.

That’s what I mean. If they start with 3 each, it’s probably easier to take away games from teams you know won’t draw / won’t be good and then all of a sudden the good teams are left and they’re getting 4-5.

The Lions started without a prime time game last year, which by themselves puts up ~3 games for others to take. This year that could be the Colts or Raiders or Falcons or Rams not getting all three.