RandyMarsh

Aside from steroids, I also think the rapid expansion of 4 teams in a short amount in the 90s helped the HR total to some degree.

Interested to see how much support Utley gets. I think he has a really strong case, his JAWS number is 57 right ahead of Sweet Lou along with a number of HOF 2bs. His 7 year WAR peak is 9th and overall WAR is 12th among 2b. On top of that for about a half decade or so he was viewed by most as either 1A or 1B(with Cano) at his position. That's the positive, the negatives is that despite those things he only managed a few top 10 MVP votes and was "only" a 6 time All Star.

Magglio and Granderson's 07s are sleeper all time great Tiger seasons.

IDK maybe to some extent but these guys aren't youth or High School players that you have to teach the fundamentals to, they all have been playing this game prob for 20 or so years from the time they were kids, have gone through world class coaching at every level and quite frankly have been shown how to tackle correctly. At some point its up to them to execute things properly. As far as 3rd down penalties again they know the rules, but instinctively if you get beat you will reach or grab at a guy, that's why you see Olineman always hold after they been beat, it just happens so maybe the fact that they just are an inferior player as to why they are making the penalty to begin with. Not to mention I'm not even sure that they legit are that bad at these things relative to the rest of the league, they have the 6th best 3rd down stop rate in the league which indicates they must not have too many 3rd down penalties. In regards to tackling they have one of the best rush defenses in the league and have given up the 5th fewest yards after catch in the league, two things where if you were bad at tackling you wouldn't excel at. edit: I found the missed tackles stat and they do have the 5th most missed tackles so despite those two stats I mentioned that they excel in it does appear they miss too many tackles and should be better at that. Again though not sure how much the DC can do to help that or if at some point you have to point the finger at the player.

One of the committee's things they take into account is key injuries and how that effects the team going forward and with FSU losing their starting QB they could get dinged by the committee if they win ugly these next two games. Like even if they finish undefeated if their qb play looks like crap these next two games they may keep them out just cause they won't feel they would be able to beat any of the other playoff teams. That was one of the reasons Tennessee finished below Alabama last year despite beating them head to head, the committee said that Tennessee isn't the same team now as they were with Hendon Hooker. Considering though FSU would be undefeated it would be hard to keep them out over a 1 loss team but it's something worth monitoring if their QB does struggle the next couple weeks.

Yeah everybody complains about Glenn and I get it it's frustrating when you see teams carve you up and it's easier to blame the DC but considering the injuries and just overall talent level on the defense I don't think they have been THAT bad and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a DC that would be much better. I mean look at who Glenn has to work with, Hutch is a beast but even he isn't a Myles Garrett type outside of him you have McNeil who would start on most teams but that would prob be it on the d line. Anzalone has been solid this year but that has been offset by Campbell being one of the worst LBs in the league, hopefully that is just due to being a rookie. In the secondary you have Sutton who is good but again it's not like he is a bonafide number 1, if he was we wouldn't have gotten him for what we paid. I love Branch but like Campbell he is still a rookie and prone to some lapses not to mention him probably not being 100%. Add it all up and I just think it's unfair to expect that good of defense with the players they have. Maybe you can argue they should blitz more but then you have guys like Jacobs being left on an island.

I wonder if you were allowed to vote for yourself cause otherwise I don't understand somebody like Jabrill Peppers getting a vote. Also I love ARSB but I could totally see him(or maybe his brother) being the one to vote him number 1.

God if the Rams were to get the 7 seed and some how beat us as the 2 seed that would make for about the most insufferable offseason as possible from Lions "fans".

I agree that's why I didnt say it was better just saying that one side benefit would be that but yeah it totally would be easier to win the SB with a bye and HFA till the Super Bowl.

I will say the one good thing about the 2 seed over 1 is maybe getting a relatively easy opponent that we can beat so we don't have to hear about the 30+year playoff win drought anymore.

I see that Brady has already become the "things were better back in my day" ex athlete as he puts down the current product. Among other things Said the league is full of mediocrity and complained about how ticky tack the penalties are on defenders.

I def would prefer to have the 2nd round SF game be at Ford Field vs.on the road so its obviously a big deal to secure atleast the 2 spot. Not to mention we'd probably be looking at Seattle if we finished at 3 whom we don't appear to matchup too well with.

The Chiefs wr dropped a go ahead TD late, need an asterisk by the Eagles win because of it.

Who wins more games this season, the Lions or Pistons?

Bombers is coming back strong after his long absence. Making up for lost time!

Trevor Lawrence hasn't exactly lived up to his hype but he was atleast solid to good last year and is at the helm of a playoff team this year so makes me wonder how different things would be for the Jets if they didn't win that meaningless game at the end of the 2020 season that cost them the number 1 pick.

Yeah definitely, coming into the year you were expecting those 3 to be 3 of your top handful of defensive players so essentially having them all miss the entire season was a huge blow. On another note, I hate to beat the dead horse but this just makes me question their lack of moves of at the deadline even more. I thought maybe they weren't as aggressive cause they figured that they would be getting guys like CJ and Houston back in December for the stretch run and playoffs so that would essentially be like adding two play makers on defense but with how Campbell has worded things in regards to both of them it sounds like atleast in his eyes he was never expecting them to be back this year.

Doesn't sound good that he will be back this year. Wasn't he a 1 year deal? If so I wonder if they will try to resign him, seems like Campbell and Co. like him and he's been a good culture fit so I don't see why not.

I think 11 wins the division but of course I would love to shoot higher and get at worst a 2 seed so we'd potentially have homefield till atleast the NFC Championship game.

I saw a headline that said we were favored for the first time in 5 years. The surprising part of that to me was that it was only 5 years and not like 20. I kinda forget about those Shea Patterson 2018 and 2019 teams and how good they were.... atleast going into the OSU game.

Too young for that but wasnt there a few times in the 2010s where we either couldve clinched the division or atleast the playoffs with just 1 win in the last 3 only to proceed to lose all of them?

I read a tidbit that said the Bears were the first team ever to have 40 minutes of time of possession, force 4 turnovers and still lose.

With how reactionary TP gets during games for his sake I hope he doesnt do any live in game betting. That would be a disaster!

That would be a helluva Christmas gift. IIRC in 2011 the Lions clinched the playoffs for the first time in like 12 years on Christmas Eve as well. Clinching the division for the first time in 30 years would be an even sweeter gift though!

With that loss by Minnesota today bringing them to 6-5 you have to think at best they are going to finish 11-6 so all we are looking at is 4 more Ws(maybe just 3 if one of them is against the Vikings) for the division.