I don't see a LIONS Thread?

locaoimh · 14-09-2015 9:32am #1

Are there (m)any Lions fans in here?

What do you think of that 2nd half collapse?

At least Ameer looks good?

But why so few passes to Megatron?

Zoton · 14-09-2015 1:15pm

Don't think there's too many of us knocking around.

Second half collapse was really disappointing, but Abdullah looked really good which at least is a positive. Was trying to not get caught up in the preseason hype and hopefully he'll stay injury free and have a good rookie season. Defense really missed Levy with woodhead bursting through with his rushes.

No idea why megatron was targeted so little.

Hopefully they can improve because there's a really tough run of games coming up

the baby bull elephant · 15-09-2015 3:23am

Newish fan here. The collapse was absolutely sickening only saw what they showed on redzone so can't analyse it too much. We did seem to be missing Levy massively (although Bynes was the top graded player according to PFF) as well as Warford and Waddle. I'd love to know how much of Stafford's second half performance was due to injury. I'm a fan of his so hopefully he can show more in the next game.

I've been slowly building expectation about Abdullah since reading about him and seeing college clips after he was drafted. Obviously it's still incredibly early to tell but he seems quality. Another slight positive was that at least Ebron contributed some positive plays and should take a number of strides forward.

Here's looking to next week, hopefully we can make a statement and stop the hype surrounding the Vikings.

Leslie91 · 15-09-2015 10:45am

Gday lads, can't believe so many teams passed on Abdullah, he reminded me of our beloved LT at times, he even wears his #. The Chargers were beating themselves in the 1st half. Once our O got its act together it was lights out. Loved how our secondary did against Megatron and Tate. Having said that Stafford was disappointing. Good luck the rest of the way.

Zoton · 22-09-2015 10:56am

Is it time to start panicking yet? Only 2 games in, but the next three are rough!
Broncos, seahawks in seattle and cardinals. Offensive line has been absolutely terrible and the misfiring offense can't make up for it at the moment. Stafford may end up being decapitated by that broncos d this Sunday :-(

jman0war · 12-10-2015 1:22pm

I thought Detroit was going to catch their 1st win.
But man, i have never seen them get destroyed in their home stadium like that.

Maybe the Cardinals really are the hottest team in the NFL right now.

locaoimh · 12-10-2015 2:50pm

I though last week was going to be their 1st win. I stayed up to watch it and felt they were very close on lots of fronts. Even taking the bad call out of it.

Last night was just a disaster. It's hard to see where the failings are. Caldwell? Lombardi? Stafford?

The defense was always going to be weaker with Suh going but it's just no good atm. I'm inclined to forgive Stafford because it looks like he is getting no time in the pocket at all.

It's all very depressing.

(You'd think that as a Chelsea fan I'd be used to it)

the baby bull elephant · 18-10-2015 10:06pm

Well thank God it won't be another 0-16. Nice to see a number of deep throws from Stafford.

Zoton · 18-10-2015 10:20pm

That last deep ball to megatron was beautiful. Reminiscent of the td pass to golden tate against the Falcons in London last season :-)
Some very lucky calls this week, but there was some fight in the lions too. They really dug in to get that win when it mattered

Lionbacker · 26-10-2015 9:51pm

The Lions are firing Joe Lombardi, along with a few assistants.

About time too. The man has been a complete disaster since arriving.

Zoton · 27-10-2015 1:49pm

Hopefully the guys stepping in can improve things, but they've a tough task ahead of them. Surely can't be any worse!

Lionbacker · 27-10-2015 2:46pm

Zoton wrote: »

Hopefully the guys stepping in can improve things, but they've a tough task ahead of them. Surely can't be any worse!

Yeah, apparently Cooter who is stepping up from QB coach to OC, is going to change a few things schematically. Hopefully this will result in more man blocking on the offensive line & ditching the zone blocking scheme which they can't seem to execute at all.
Also Stafford should get an opportunity to throw a few more shots downfield, rather than this awful short passing game which doesn't suit him at all.

the baby bull elephant · 28-10-2015 1:34pm

Did any of you watch the full game on Sunday? I was following the first half or so on NFL.com and then had to go out so wasn't really able to gain any proper understanding of the collapse. Seemed the defense had the problem they've had all season of giving up loads of big plays on third down but the offense seemed to start really hot before collapsing. Was it just the usual protection issues from this season?

Hopefully the coaching revamp will make a big impact in the right direction.

My admiration for Stafford is massive at the moment purely from a toughness point of view. The amount of punishment he's taken and yet he keeps getting up.

Lionbacker · 28-10-2015 4:19pm

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

Did any of you watch the full game on Sunday? I was following the first half or so on NFL.com and then had to go out so wasn't really able to gain any proper understanding of the collapse. Seemed the defense had the problem they've had all season of giving up loads of big plays on third down but the offense seemed to start really hot before collapsing. Was it just the usual protection issues from this season?

Yeah, the defense just couldn't get off the field. The Vikings didn't have to punt till well into the 2nd half.
The OL got progressively worse as the game wore on which effectively lost the game. One particularly awful moment was where Stafford was taking a snap from under centre & was sacked before he even finished dropping back.

the baby bull elephant · 29-10-2015 5:55pm

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/10/29/sack-by-sack-breakdown-of-lions-week-7-o-line-disaster/

Analysis of the sacks.

Zoton · 07-01-2016 2:39pm

Megatron contemplating retirement

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000618342/article/detroit-lions-wr-calvin-johnson-mulling-retirement

Hopefully this is just an offseason hype story that won't come to fruition after (yet) another disappointing season

death1234567 · 07-01-2016 2:43pm

Zoton wrote: »

Megatron contemplating retirement

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000618342/article/detroit-lions-wr-calvin-johnson-mulling-retirement

Hopefully this is just an offseason hype story that won't come to fruition after (yet) another disappointing season

I think he'll retrire. He clearly can't play to his best given the injuries he's had and there's no point playing for the sake of it. He was the best reciever in football for a few years , no point tarnishing that for another 6-10 season.

Raoul · 07-01-2016 5:09pm

He still had a good season. I don't see why he wouldn't keep going unless he really is badly injured and it is hurting. Hopefully he reconsiders after a long offseason.

Lionbacker · 07-01-2016 9:02pm

death1234567 wrote: »

He was the best reciever in football for a few years , no point tarnishing that for another 6-10 season.

We have a cupcake schedule next year in comparison to this seasons, so I'd be very disappointed if we somehow managed to regress to 6-10. If JBC is still on board as OC next year, we'll finally have a competent offence for a whole year & hopefully the defence won't take a step back after the likely departure of Teryl Austin.

Next year is a great opportunity to make the playoffs & I just hope Calvin will put off his retirement plans for at least one more year to help us get there & maybe even pull off a victory once there.

HigginsJ · 07-01-2016 9:51pm

Lionbacker wrote: »

We have a cupcake schedule next year in comparison to this seasons, so I'd be very disappointed if we somehow managed to regress to 6-10. If JBC is still on board as OC next year, we'll finally have a competent offence for a whole year & hopefully the defence won't take a step back after the likely departure of Teryl Austin.

Next year is a great opportunity to make the playoffs & I just hope Calvin will put off his retirement plans for at least one more year to help us get there & maybe even pull off a victory once there.

Doesn't Megatron have a ludicrous cap hit next year (in excess of $20 million). Will ye carry him with that or look to restructure?

the baby bull elephant · 07-01-2016 10:12pm

HigginsJ wrote: »

Doesn't Megatron have a ludicrous cap hit next year (in excess of $20 million). Will ye carry him with that or look to restructure?

24 million next year but it goes down significantly the year after. It's one of the reasons I think a trade isn't on the cards. Presume whoever the new GM ends up being will at least have a look at restructuring.

Been some talk about this maybe being a ploy to keep Caldwell in Detroit but that seems unlikely given the type of person he appears to be and Nate Burleson dismissed it out of hand.

I'm optimistic about next year if we keep JBC, it just seems to suit Stafford down to the ground and our schedule is a lot easier as Lionbacker already said. Still the offensive line needs massive improvement, there needs to be another DT and Whitehead has to be ahead of Tulloch.

Zoton · 12-01-2016 11:23am

Could the open mulling of retirement be his way of saying "don't even think about asking me to take a pay cut, or restructure contract"?

jdivision · 24-01-2016 4:56pm

Am v disappointed that with a new GM the best RB coach we could come up with was ex-Caldwell when in Indy eho's been out of football since...

the baby bull elephant · 08-03-2016 6:18pm

It's a very sad day for the Lions.

Unfortunately I was only able to see the tailend of Megatron's career but even then he was something else.

Classy player, classy guy.

Zoton · 09-03-2016 6:55pm

Unfortunately didn't get to see him play in the flesh as he was injured when they played the Falcons in London in 2014. Would've loved to have seen him in action. Outstanding player and an upstanding citizen too, a rare breed in the NFL. So long Calvin :-(

the baby bull elephant · 29-04-2016 11:38am

So what do people think of the Decker pick? I didn't watch any college games this year so all I have to go on is what the analysts have said. I always felt we needed to go o-line preferably getting a LT and shifting Reiff over to the other side. However Decker seems to be viewed as being most likely a RT at this level and not a particularly great pass protector. PFF in particular are lambasting the pick but they're also saying we addressed tackle with the addition of Schwartz so I'm not really ready to trust their analysis on this one.

So basically would you have drafted Decker? If not who? Lawson? Kelly? Traded up for Tunsil?

Lionbacker · 29-04-2016 12:34pm

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

So what do people think of the Decker pick? I didn't watch any college games this year so all I have to go on is what the analysts have said. I always felt we needed to go o-line preferably getting a LT and shifting Reiff over to the other side. However Decker seems to be viewed as being most likely a RT at this level and not a particularly great pass protector. PFF in particular are lambasting the pick but they're also saying we addressed tackle with the addition of Schwartz so I'm not really ready to trust their analysis on this one.

So basically would you have drafted Decker? If not who? Lawson? Kelly? Traded up for Tunsil?

It fills a need which is what was wanted. Hopefully we don't have to watch Stafford running for his life again against any half decent D-line. Reiff is fine at LT. Completely average, but still our best O-lineman last year. With Tomlinson getting a year of experience under his belt & becoming more acclimatised to the NFL, I'm sure the left side of the line will be better this year.
I wouldn't take much notice of PFF. I've seen other writers elsewhere saying it was a great pick. Opinion does seem to be split on him though judging by this

http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2016/4/29/11534970/2016-nfl-draft-grades-detroit-lions-taylor-decker

I'm happy enough with him.

the baby bull elephant · 29-04-2016 4:58pm

Lionbacker wrote: »

It fills a need which is what was wanted. Hopefully we don't have to watch Stafford running for his life again against any half decent D-line. Reiff is fine at LT. Completely average, but still our best O-lineman last year. With Tomlinson getting a year of experience under his belt & becoming more acclimatised to the NFL, I'm sure the left side of the line will be better this year.
I wouldn't take much notice of PFF. I've seen other writers elsewhere saying it was a great pick. Opinion does seem to be split on him though judging by this

http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2016/4/29/11534970/2016-nfl-draft-grades-detroit-lions-taylor-decker

I'm happy enough with him.

Yeah, fair enough. I think the line will improve anyway as like everything on offence it got better with JBC but I agree we needed an o-line pick and tackle was the position we needed most (even if Swanson does seem to be pretty poor). I'm just trying to ascertain if the tackle we got was the right one. I generally take everything PFF say with a pinch of salt especially in regard to the Lions but have generally found them to be good for o-line analysis compared to most other sites I can find.

Is there anyone you're hoping for tonight? Reckon we go DT in round 2?

Teferi · 01-05-2016 1:12am

Decent, unflashy draft by the Lions I reckon, building the o-line nicely. Trying to protect Stafford is a crazy tactic but it just might work.

the baby bull elephant · 29-07-2016 11:14pm

Slay has been signed on until 2020 for 50 million.

Pretty happy with it. Quinn is doing a great job so far. This and the Boldin signing are tidy bits of business.

Unfortunately however Levy was placed on the PUP list.

wowy · 07-11-2016 11:39am

I'm only fairly new to following NFL, and had to choose a team without any thought or research....

Some crazy endings to games so far. Looks like we've a difficult 2nd half of the season with some big games away to other teams chasing playoffs (Saints & Giants) along with a trip to the Cowboys, as well as hosting the 3 return divisional games. Can we keep riding our luck with these insane 4th quarters?

Slay should be back after the bye week, but from what I read, it looks like Levy has no certain date for return.

locaoimh · 07-11-2016 11:54am

wowy wrote: »

I'm only fairly new to following NFL, and had to choose a team without any thought or research....

Some crazy endings to games so far. Looks like we've a difficult 2nd half of the season with some big games away to other teams chasing playoffs (Saints & Giants) along with a trip to the Cowboys, as well as hosting the 3 return divisional games. Can we keep riding our luck with these insane 4th quarters?

Slay should be back after the bye week, but from what I read, it looks like Levy has no certain date for return.

Yeah, Stafford has been a beast for those 5 wins. Last season the second half was brilliant. It def won't be so easy this season.

Nice to be sitting in 2nd place tho.....for now.

Lionbacker · 07-11-2016 1:09pm

According to a few beat writers, Levy should return a week or 2 after the bye. Hard to know if those reports are accurate though. Even if he does come back, you would would have to think he'd be would be rather rusty. In week 1 after a whole previous season out, he looked very average, so I wouldn't bet on him transforming the the D if he returns.

Good to see the defence show up yesterday (4th quarter aside), although against a fairly weak offence. Hopefully they can take heart from the performance & improve further after the bye.

Raoul · 07-11-2016 1:12pm

Lionbacker wrote: »

According to a few beat writers, Levy should return a week or 2 after the bye. Hard to know if those reports are accurate though. Even if he does come back, you would would have to think he'd be would be rather rusty. In week 1 after a whole previous season out, he looked very average, so I wouldn't bet on him transforming the the D if he returns.

Good to see the defence show up yesterday (4th quarter aside), although against a fairly weak offence. Hopefully they can take heart from the performance & improve further after the bye.

The vikings o is awful. Really should have another couple of wins. Texans :mad::mad:

Lionbacker · 07-11-2016 1:22pm

Raoul wrote: »

The vikings o is awful. Really should have another couple of wins. Texans :mad::mad:

Well on the other side of the coin, we could have easily had a few more losses. Look how many games were won in the last minute or so. it's a complete toss up in situations like that.
Rather than the Texans, the one that really got away in my opinion was the Titans:(

locaoimh · 07-11-2016 1:56pm

Lionbacker wrote: »

Well on the other side of the coin, we could have easily had a few more losses. Look how many games were won in the last minute or so. it's a complete toss up in situations like that.
Rather than the Texans, the one that really got away in my opinion was the Titans:(

Yeah, the Titans was a crappy loss.

Zoton · 08-11-2016 12:22pm

locaoimh wrote: »

Yeah, the Titans was a crappy loss.

And to think if Andre Johnson had retired before the start of the season he wouldn't have been there to catch that winning td
ðŸ™‚

Lionbacker · 08-11-2016 1:45pm

Here are two crazy stats coming out of the game last Sunday

https://twitter.com/SprowESPN/status/795651543408246785/photo/1

Entering Sunday, teams that were down exactly three points with 30 seconds or less in the 4th quarter and the ball inside their own 30 were 0-98 since 2001.

The Lions are the first team sincer the 1982 Raiders to win five games while trailing in the 4th quarter within the first nine games in the season

https://twitter.com/Lions/status/795449016272166913/photo/1

Matthew Stafford is the first QB since the NFL merger with 5 game-winning drives in the team's first 5 wins of the season.

locaoimh · 08-11-2016 2:13pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb5gACD7tJ0&feature=player_embedded

Good clip of Lions getting the praise they deserve.

the baby bull elephant · 08-11-2016 3:56pm

Funnily enough after the game had taken place I went on presnapreads to see if there'd been an article posted about Stafford. Talking about the MVP campaign that never was or something. He said that any hope of Stafford winning had gone after the Texans game and he hadn't been playing that well anyway. Now while I don't think Stafford will win MVP due to a number of factors outside of his level of play, clearly you should never count him out.

Zoton · 09-11-2016 1:38am

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

Funnily enough after the game had taken place I went on presnapreads to see if there'd been an article posted about Stafford. Talking about the MVP campaign that never was or something. He said that any hope of Stafford winning had gone after the Texans game and he hadn't been playing that well anyway. Now while I don't think Stafford will win MVP due to a number of factors outside of his level of play, clearly you should never count him out.

In true Stafford style he won't be in with a chance of winning it until late in the 4th quarter (of the season)

Lionbacker · 02-01-2017 1:51pm

I suppose one good thing to come out of last nights game, is that I fancy our chances of beating the Seahawks in the playoffs than I do of getting past the Giants.
The Seahawks have been a spluttering side of late, since the loss of Earl Thomas, going 3-3 in their last six games, which includes struggling to a win against an awful 49ers team yesterday.
Still a tall order, seeing as we are away, but beatable none the less.

the baby bull elephant · 12-09-2017 4:46pm

So overall pretty great start to the season. Mixed feelings about it being another comeback but at least we really cemented the lead.

Stafford looking to continue on from where he was before injury.

The defense actually looking pretty good.

Golloday showing big play ability and allowing Tate to work out of the slot.

Prater is a hero.

If we can get the run blocking going we quite actually look kind of balanced. The Giants will be a good tester to see where we are especially as Monday night game.

Also saw this fun graphic. https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/907348274482434048/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fdetroit-lions

Raoul · 12-09-2017 10:20pm

I was seriously impressed by the D. I know that Palmer might not be as good as he once was and DJ got injured but the D was supposed to be sh*te!

Golloday and Tate looked great. Didn't think the running game looked up to a lot but hopefully Abdullah can get going.

Zoton · 10-11-2017 11:39pm

Greg Robinson going/gone and Decker coming back. O line is looking good ðŸ˜€
Maybe a somewhat decent run-game will follow

Lionbacker · 10-11-2017 11:55pm

Zoton wrote: »

Greg Robinson going/gone and Decker coming back. O line is looking good &#55357;&#56832;
Maybe a somewhat decent run-game will follow

Don't think we'll see any improvement rushing this weekend, because TJ Lang has been rules out with concussion & the Browns are a decent enough team against the run.

Glad to see Robinson gone though. Even if they keep Decker back for one more game, I've much more confidence in Mahalik than Robinson.

Zoton · 11-11-2017 1:22am

Lionbacker wrote: »

Don't think we'll see any improvement rushing this weekend, because TJ Lang has been rules out with concussion & the Browns are a decent enough team against the run.

Glad to see Robinson gone though. Even if they keep Decker back for one more game, I've much more confidence in Mahalik than Robinson.

Crazy that a converted defensive end has been better than a first round pick.

Zoton · 17-12-2017 10:50pm

With the Packers loss today, do we start getting playoff hopes up? ðŸ˜¬

Lionbacker · 18-12-2017 10:31pm

Zoton wrote: »

With the Packers loss today, do we start getting playoff hopes up? &#55357;&#56876;

Basically, assuming we can win out (hoping Rodgers will now sit out the rest of the season, now that their playoff hopes are gone), we need the Falcons to lose two out of their last 3 games; which are the Bucs tonight & than the Panthers + Saints to finish off the season. It's plausible to see them losing those last 2 games so here's hoping.

Raoul · 19-12-2017 11:27am

Seattle are also ahead of us though?

Don't tell me the score of the game last night. Will watch it at lunch haha.

Lionbacker · 19-12-2017 1:08pm

Raoul wrote: »

Seattle are also ahead of us though?

No, we're ahead of them due to a better conference record.
If they level that up next week (we are playing out of conference at Cincinnati), we will still be ahead due to a better record in common games (assuming of course we manage to beat the Bengals).

I don't see a LIONS Thread?

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