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that's what jesus always says

Just cancelled my Paramount+ 👋

Frank isn’t a backup. He’s still one of the best center’s in the league. Let Ratledge continue at Guard and get valuable experience in the trenches.

I’m only here to read T&Ps meltdowns.

At the risk of looking too pedantic here, Epstein and Trump were not throwing parties for 14-year-old girls. They were throwing parties for themselves. The girls were invited to be the party favors. In a case like this I believe proper characterization is important.

As I was saying, this team isn't making the playoffs and that's why I created this thread when I did. Anyways, onward and upward hopefully. The failings of this offensive line are on Brad Holmes and the Lions front office, full stop. This doesn't mean I hate Brad Holmes. I don't. This doesn't mean I suddenly think Brad sucks. He doesn't. He is still a very good GM and one of the better ones in the league. But the offensive line was once the identity of this team. They had one of the top rated lines in the league, a top 5 line, over the past three season. They controlled the line of scrimmage and imposed their will on other teams. They ran the ball down the throats of others and had no problem giving Goff ample time to setup for play action and look off to multiple read in pass protection. Now, this season, the offensive line has become a liability at times. One week it looks alright and the next, depending on personnel and who they are playing defensively, it looks like a disaster. Yesterday, against the Steelers, was one of those games where it looked like a disaster. What makes it worse is that this did not come out of nowhere. For the last two offseasons, fans and media alike openly speculated about Frank Ragnow’s future with the team. The injuries, the wear and tear, the toll of playing through pain, none of this was a secret. We knew Ragnow was bagned up. Yet when Ragnow finally retired, the Lions were completely unprepared. There was no succession plan, no young center waiting in the wings, no real answer other than shuffling a declining veteran in Graham Glasgow in there and hoping for the best. That is a front office failure. That is a Brad Holmes failure. Ragnow was the glue that held everything together. He set protections, handled communication, and anchored both the run game and pass protection. Once he was gone, everything unraveled this season. Graham Glasgow is not the same Graham Glasgow we remember from two, three, four, five years ago. He's on the wrong side of 30, declining in play, and asked to elevate the play of rookies and career backups alongside him at the Guard spots week after week. It would be one thing is Graham was playing alongside a veteran like Kevin Zeitler or a second year guy who played a full season, were Mahogany fully healthy all season. But he didn't get that and his play has clearly struggled as a result of that and his age. The tape matches the numbers. His grades have fallen, the run blocking isn't as dominate, and QB pressures allowed have increased. This is not an indictment of Glasgow as much as it is an indictment of the front office for asking him to be something he clearly is not at this stage of his career. We have all watched the communication issues pile up this season, blown assignments, late calls, free rushers straight up the middle and blowing by our rotation of Guards and Glasgow himself. That does not just hurt the offensive line, it wrecks the entire offense. The Lions’ run blocking has fallen off a cliff at times, as it did yesterday against Pittsburgh. The interior pass protection has been among the worst stretches we have seen under this regime. Defenders are living in the backfield and blowing up players before they get started because the middle simply cannot hold up. For an offense that is predicated on timing, rythym, running the ball, dictating pace of play, and dominating in TOP, they did the opposite of this at times this season. What makes all of this so frustrating is that the Lions had multiple chances to get ahead of this and did not. The 2024 NFL Draft should have been the moment they addressed the interior offensive line and found a replacement for one of Glasgow or Ragnow. Instead, they doubled up at CB and drafted the always injured Ennis Rakestraw. Meanwhile, interior linemen who could have been immediate solutions were right there. The excuse that cornerback had to be addressed by doubling down in the draft does not hold water either. That position could have been supplemented in free agency far more easily than center. Quality veteran corners hit the market every year. Reliable centers do not. You draft and develop those guys, and the Lions chose not to. That choice is now killing them in run blocking, in pass protection, short yardage situations, on 3rd and long, and in overall offensive consistency. Brad Holmes has shown a penchent for wanting to be aggressive in the draft with his picks and trade up. He was willing to do it multiple times for shiny toys at WR and was almost willing to do it to draft Levi back during his first draft. Why then didn't he do it for the identity and once clear strength of this team, the offensive line? In the 2024 draft he could have tried trading up for someone like Zach Frazier or Jackson Powers Johnson. Maybe he did and we just don't know about it. And if he did, then I'll say I'm wrong, apologize, and move on. It would have been a proactive move to do so. Even standing pat and drafting players like Roger Rosengarten or Cooper Beebe instead of Rakestraw would have shown foresight. Instead, the Lions ignored the warning signs. None of this is revisionist history either. It isn't like we as fans and the media were caught off guard (pun slightly intended) by the retirement of Ragnow or decline in play from Glasgow or struggles by backup lineman when asked to take on starting roles. And this is just us focusing on the interior issues. This doesn't even begin to address the Taylor Decker problem at Tackle. This is another issue all itself. Taylor Decker's age, banged up body, and unfortunate decline in play over the course of this season is another uncomfortable truth the Lions have to face. Decker has been a steady presence for years, no doubt. He's been an anchor on this line. I'm no expert by any means. I've gotten lots of things wrong, as have we all. But the tape and the results show a player who is no longer consistently winning at the point of attack or holding up in pass protection against top edge rushers or even league average guys at times. Age and wear are catching up, and that is not a criticism so much as a reality of the NFL. The Decker situation is exactly where Brad Holmes has to learn from his mistakes on the interior and be proactive instead of reactive. Drafting Ratledge, while a very good pick, was still reactive, instead of proactive. The Lions cannot wait until Decker falls off a cliff or retires to start searching for answers. This offseason needs to include a real plan to identify and develop Decker’s long term replacement, whether that is through the draft or a smart roster move, so they are not caught flat footed yet again. I don't look at Giovani Manu as the long-term replacement either. He hasn't stayed healthy enough to play a full season and wasn't lighting the world on fire when he did play. I mean, I guess he wasn't a complete liability at Tackle when he was in, but they can and should do better IMO. If Detroit truly wants to rebuild the offensive line into a strength, it has to start with planning ahead at Tackle instead of repeating the same failures we just watched unfold in the middle of the line. I think significant, high round, draft capital has to be used on getting one of a Center or Tackle (or both) in this year's draft. I'm talking a first or second round pick if the players are there to be had. I haven't done enough research yet to know who those guys might be. But that's Brad and the scouting team's job to do, not mine or any fans. I'm sure I'll have names of players I like later on in the offseason. At the end of the day, the blame belongs with Brad Holmes and the front office for allowing a strength to become a liability at times this season. This is not about one bad game or one bad injury, it is about two straight offseasons of not doing enough, not being proactive enough, to address an obvious long term issue on the roster. The interior offensive line is broken because the front office let it break. If the Lions are serious about fixing this and getting back to their identity on offense, they must address the line in this year's draft and via free agency. I think they need one of a Center or Guard, depnding on where they want to put Ratledge. They also need a Tackle to address the Decker situation long-term. They just need to get their identity back and build the offensive line into a top unit again. And yeah, I know, much easier said then done. I still like Brad Holmes and trust in him and his staff to be able to do this.

Going back even a little farther, I played in a semi-pro league during 1959 & 1960. It consisted of 2 southern Michigan teams and 4 northern Ohio teams. It was made up of high school, college and washed up professional guys. Not a bad league.

baloney. i made a game thread post when the lions screwed up royally. emotions run hot in game posts. then you decided to be a snarky **** about it. so dont get mad when someone decides to call you out on your snarky dickness.

Allowed?

I ****ING HATE THIS LEAGUE!!!!!!!!

By the way, the very last episode of the first season of Pluribus on Apple TV air at 9 PM EST on Tuesday, December 23 so as not to air on Christmas which was also the case with an earlier episode that would’ve aired on Thanksgiving

The Lions' playoff chances aren't officially dead. I'm under no illusion - I know the chances are extremely low and that even if they were to get in they are a seriously flawed team. But hey, plenty of time to deal with offseason issues in the offseason. Until then, I might as well cheer for them to win on Thursday and Green Bay to lose on Thursday and have it come down to the final weekend. Stranger things have happened, they really have.

Bill Clinton calling Bondi and Trump’s bluff.

Outside of a second scorer to help Cade, I want them to focus on getting a couple 2-way players. The odds of getting a second scorer who can also defend are slim, because those are All-Stars, so I won't put that requirement on that slot. However, any other slot you're trying to fill I'm looking for "3 and D" at a minimum for me to consider the trade. No more role players who play great D but can't shoot or guys who can shoot while getting targeted every play on the other end like Duncan.

when he was drafted, gistisberhere was his most likely comp is he panned out. those of us dreamers like me were pining away for erik karlsson 2.0...but when karlsson was asp's age he was already an all star. when he was 21 he won the norris. i might have been a little ambitious.

It's the oldest old boy network left.

Don't interrupt a man kissing ass for a job.

Even I can't argue against a stylish perm.

IIRC JD took a hard fall last game when he was undercut on a rebound.

its the nhl. guys just get recycled over and over again. bergevin seems uniquely bad. he was terrible as montreal's gm. i think the only good players he ver drafted were cole caufield and mikael sergachev...and he traded sergachev for jonathan freaking drouin.

I don't see any scenario where Indiana trades Nembhard. It would take an extreme overpay IMO.

I mean, they have the highest scoring offense now. They just need more consistency and a good coordinator will go a long way.

The definitely have more holes to patch up this off season than the last few, with fewer resources to address them. I think with some o-line tweeks and an offensive coordinator they can have one of the best offenses again. Hopefully Ragnow can go another year. It's the defense that needs help, potientially a lot if Branch and Kirby have career altering injuries. They have to address the pass rush, especially at DT. IMO they have to rethink the entire defense, and what kind of players they need to make it work. You can't have a week pass rush and a bunch of average corners and expect to shut teams down.

But to the extent that this story will move the needle in any way…. I see no difference between airing it and shutting it down and letting the uproar be the story. That obviously wasn’t her strategy. But we don’t need any more stories to understand how awful these people are. The symbolism stinks for sure.

Very very very. That's how stupid.

The Lions 1st will be in the teens. I would consider trading down. For a team against the cap, you need more cheap depth.

when investigating the MAGA dude who shot that other MAGA dude, Patel would not leave the FBI jet until the FBI tactical jacket they found for him (size: Woman's Medium) was adorned with the super special Velcro patches that Patel saw the real agents were wearing

that would indicate that ivey doesnt have a ton of trade value. while the bulls fo vastly overrate their own talent (look at that patrick williams contract, its a lot of money for what might be the worst regular player in the nba), they've been dangling coby white forever and nobody has took them up on it. he's an all offense, no defense, shoot first and dont pass guard. he is very streaky and goes from 40+ to a week of 1-15 on a nightly basis. did i mention the lack of defense? in the bulls' annual play-in loss to the heat, he'd had 14 points in 40 minutes, 13 points in 40 minutes, and then shot 5-20 last year. in other words, he's easy to marginalize and shoots poorly when the other team concentrates on defense. if i'm dangling ivey, i think the pistons can do better. if what you desire is offense off the bench, then why not just keep ivey? if what you want is shooting, he's an upgrade on ivey, but i'm not sure how much of an upgrade. he's they type of guy who will likely go for a protected first or maybe even a couple seconds.

5 game road trip. Portland, Sacramento, Utah, LAC, and LAL. Two games in the same town helps cut down some travel, but it sucks they are on the road over Christmas. First 4 games should be a breeze. With a little luck, they will catch The Lakers resting LeBron or Luka. Strong possibility they go 5-0 on this trip. The Pistons schedule is set up really nice. There are only two instances where they play two good teams in a row. End of February they play San Antonio and the next game is OKC. Then at the end of March they play @Minnesota and the next game is @OKC. It's mostly good then bad, good then bad. Every team has one team where they play back to back road games against. Our team this year is Washington, so that's a break. Last two games of the year are Charlotte and Indiana. So if they need an extra win to break a tie, those two games set up nicely for that.

The NFL brought to you by Draft Kings

In retrospect, they were as bad this season as they looked in the first drive against GB.

What happened to our interior DL. Alim has disappeared. DJ Reader hasn’t made an impact in two years. Tyliek started off promising but has been MIA for months now. All of these guys have better in them than what they showed this season: Very disappointing.

CBS is now state media at this point

Remember 2023 when the Eagles collapsed and they started last year shaky and people were calling to fire Sirianni? It happens. The Lions have a good foundation. This wasn't their year.

If everyone just mutes him he will be shouting into the void like nature intended.

Meh, the Lions deserved to lose. They got badly outplayed and aren't good enough anyway. The call on Teslaa one can argue was a bit ticky tacky but not really that egregious, the Lions lost and the season is over because of the Lions not because of the refs.

Lions didn’t deserve to win

The Lions are 43-15 in their last 58 games. It's won of the best stretches in the NFL. People just need to settle down.

Pittsburgh up 12. Perfectly set up for the Lions to score to make it a one-score game with a few minutes but then fail to make a stop to get the ball back.

Lions @ Vikings could have massive last-place implications.

Colt Keith put up a 107 OPS+ last season at age 23. Maybe it’s time to see what he can do at 3B? Give him one position to focus on this offseason. See what happens. Gleyber Torres might be at 2B for 75% of the games this season, but he’s been in over 90% of games played and averaging well over 600 PA the last 4 seasons. So, are you saying he’s not durable or worthy of playing time? I’d like to see your math behind that. There are still SP on the market. You named a few of them. Off-season ain’t over. Merry Christmas, morans.

At some point you really do just have to laugh to keep from screaming profanities and scaring the neighbors.

It is a compliment. What possible thing could I learn from a beat writer or columnist that I couldn’t learn from this group? I don’t post often in the wings or pistons threads but I read every day. I don’t watch the pistons that often but I do see nearly every wings game. I don’t post because I have nothing to offer that hasn’t been said.

Recalling when poasters here said doge would be the most important thing trump did thats a swing and a miss

My mother died a couple of weeks ago and we put together a playlist of some of her favorite songs/artists. Roger Whittaker, Anne Murray, Nana Mouskouri, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, various hymns.

I grew up yards from a municipal airport runway. In hindsight it was a miracle we never got clipped. My brother says he remembers seeing airplane wreckage in the woods we used to hike in. The NTSB does have a database of plane crashes. So many are single seaters as a result of pilot error/hubris. https://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/AviationQueryv2.aspx