RedRamage

It's really rather ridiculous.

Branch comes up lame.

I hate to be a "Blame the refs" guy, but there's been some super obvious fouls by the Chiefs that just aren't being called.

Too much red... way too much red.

I dunno if I can pick one... I mean, I'll be excited to see what Gibbs can do. I want to see if LaPorta ends up being worth the pick. I want to see what Campbell can do to help against the run and the pass. And I want to see what Branch brings to the table. If I had to rank 'em, it'd probably be like this: 1. Gibbs 2. Branch 3. Campbell 4. LaPorta

I dunno... I can't think one. Maybe if there was a "Win and your in" game in the past? But even those where never with a team that I think any fan felt positive about being able to make a run in the playoffs. I will say that I don't think the hype is about this game as much as it is about the season starting. I sorta expect to lose honestly, but if the Lions can at least look like they belong on the field I'll be happy okay with the results.

Four things I'm going to be paying attention to: 1. Goff - Was 2023 Goff the real Goff or was 2022 the real Goff? 2. Running Game - J.Williams was great last year. Was that because of him or the OL/scheme? 3. Secondary - With a lot of new faces back there, will they perform well? 4. DL - Can they cause pressure without over pursuing against a very elusive QB?

It might be because your link was x.com instead of twitter.com

Yeah, I'd agree with this: I'd prefer to win against a full strength KC team vs. win against a weakened KC team. However, I'd prefer to win vs. lose and a weakened KC team makes winning more likely. There's always going to asterisks for any game. If the Lions lose was it because Jamo wasn't on the field? Or maybe Hutchinson had a bad cold or refs blew a major call? If the Lions win and KC was at full strength was it because Jones wasn't up to speed yet? Or maybe Mahomes stubbed his toe bad in practice or they just looked past the Lions? Or maybe the refs blew a major call and it went in favor of the Lions for a change? If the Lions beat KC because Jones doesn't play and Kelce is a bit gimpy... I'm still going to celebrate and consider it a great win. If KC wins I doubt any fan will look at it and go: "Well, sure, but the Lions didn't have Jamo and Mosley wasn't at 100%, plus ARSB was a little dinged up still from preseason so it wasn't a real test."

I think this is what had people speculating so much... and everyone who did also acknowledged that it was massive speculation. The scrubbing of the Lions from social media sure made people think he wasn't going to be on the team. So if he wasn't going to be on the team, why was he still on the team? The logical conclusion was that a trade was in the works. But if so, why was it taking so long when the player had been informed? The logical conclusion was that it was with the Chiefs. The Chiefs had a player who was holding out... the Lions had a need at that position... the Lions could be sending back a (lesser) player of the same position as the Chiefs would want some depth there... and the trade won't happen until after the game. It all fit. It all made sense. It was all wrong, but it made more sense than that a player that seemingly wanted to be in Detroit was throwing a tantrum because he was being pushed down the depth chart.

Mahomes needs to be told that he's massively underpaid. He definitely needs a bigger contract. He should hold out.

Crap... I mean... I don't wish injury on anyone, but I also wouldn't be overtly upset if on Wednesday it was still tender and maybe a bit swollen.

Some how I missed this when it came out a few months back...

But if the Chiefs are without Kelce or Jones we can counter that with the Lions being without Jamo and Buggs... so it's kinda even.

Campbell addressed the Buggs situation in his press conference: A little vague, which isn't surprising. Seems very much like @MichiganCardinal's idea. The coaches just didn't see quite the same out of Buggs that they saw in others so he was a healthy scratch. Buggs seemingly took it poorly.

That seems like a plausible situation... not them saying he was being punished, but he could be interpreting it that way.

Right... that's the part that makes me think the Lions aren't trading. I'd assume that Jones wants a long term deal at that $30M/year range... at least three years. I don't seem Holmes doing that. The Lions would also need to adjust some stuff to get that $30 inside the cap. They're like $13M under cap right now I think... add in $2M for trading Buggs. That still leaves in the range of $15M needed.

Depends why. Assuming that he's just a healthy scratch (which I think is more likely than some mystery trade) then the two prevailing theories I've heard: 1. Punishment for missing voluntary practices. This seems to be the idea floated by Buggs, but this seems very counter to Holmes/Campbell, especially given that Buggs' kid was being born. (Note this is all just speculation based on limited bit of info.) 2. KC is not a run heavy offence and Buggs biggest strength is run defense. The Lions prefer other linemen who are better in coverage and/or QB pressure. If the reason he's not playing is #1... that's not anything I'd find encouraging as it seems petty on the Lions part. If it's #2... that's encouraging because it shows smarts from the coaching staff and an uptick the talent level of the team.

I think the fact that Buggs practiced rules out a trade. Although, I supposed one could argue that Buggs would be a throw in piece for any trade for a big name player, so if he did sustain a major injury they could always swap in another piece and/or add draft picks. Honestly the only trade that would explain a delay in the trade happening would be with KC for Chris Jones. According to one report I saw Jones is looking for a $30M a year deal. That seems very high. I'm also not sure if a guy holding out is the type of guy the Lions would want to add to the team. (For the record, the NFL where there is no guaranteed contracts, is one of the few areas where I tend to side with the players in hold outs. So I'm not saying Jones is a bad dude or anything and obviously Holmes and Campbell would be involved in talking with him I'm sure.)

Must win! If we lose this we need to blow it all up and start over.

Given also that you had Badgley, who was accurate enough in close put didn't have great range... I mean it seems to odd that Badgley was dropped in favors of pretty much the same skill set that you have to use assets to acquire... and now it seems Riley isn't good enough? As much as Holmes has done a fantastic job in nearly all areas of building this year, kicker is an area he's whiffed on.

I'd be very surprised if Houston gets traded.

It was a Hurricane, then downgraded to tropical storm before it made landfall, then was downgraded to a "subtropical cyclone" early Monday, so it was decreasing in strength. That said, you're right that it's an area that doesn't normally deal with this and I see reports that schools are closed today in LA. FWIW, I suspect it's far easier to move an MLB game than an NFL game. MLB team (and everything associated with them... media, stadium employees, opposing teams, etc.) are used to performing 6-7 days a week. It would be harder to move all the employees from Sunday to Saturday I would think for an NFL event. Given also that the stadium is indoor I can see the NFL being reluctant to move barring a serious disaster level event. So, the question is: Was it a serious disaster level event?