Motown Bombers

Read the Philadelphia beat reporters and it's already being reported. There also seems to be some locker room issues with AJ Brown. Hurts also reverted back to his 2021 self instead of 2022.

Did they watch the playoff game? At the end of the game they got a first down by passing and then ran three times for no gain. Terrible.

I almost starting booing at my phone screen when I saw this.

For whatever reason, I don't think this coaching staff thinks highly of Houston. I'm not sure how aggressive they will be in free agency. They have to do contract extensions for St Brown, Sewell, Goff and possibly McNeil.

Kelly Stafford didn't like Lions fans booing her children but she lacks the self-awareness to realize they were booing her and not the children.

Another good thing about Tampa is they don't run the ball well at all and the Lions can run more dime to have safeties on the field to cover for deficiencies in the pass game. I also feel better blitzing Mayfield than Stafford.

I found this interesting. The Rams use motion as much as anyone and used it 91% of the time against the Lions. Minnesota is also in the upper half of teams that use motion. The Lions struggle a bit against motion. Tampa is near the bottom of the league in motion. Look at some of the top teams on that list. The Lions struggled against the Ravens, Seahawks, Packers and Chargers who are all top 10 in motion. They did well against Carolina, Tampa, Broncos and even the Saints to some degree who use less motion.

The 2014 team would have won the division and been the 2 seed and earned a first round bye if they beat the Packers. Instead they were the 6th seed. The NFC was stacked that year except for the South. Both wild card teams were 11-5 and the Eagles missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record. In 2011, beating Green Bay was the difference between facing the Saints or Giants. The Giants were initially viewed as the weaker team since they won their division with a 9-7 record, but they ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.

I can't help but think how easy it was for Tampa to pick up a playoff win. They played in a week division and fell into a division championship and hosted a playoff game against an Eagles team that was in a freefall and got the win. How did that not ever happen to the Lions the past 32 years? How did they just not luck into a set of circumstances one season that allowed them to pick up a playoff win?

I've been thinking, what exactly is Stafford going to be remembered for as a Lion? He will likely still be the Lions all time leader in many passing categories for years to come, but what is his special moment as a Lion? The game against Cleveland where the Lions won a meaningless game with his dislocated shoulder? The fake spike against the Cowboys in a mediocre season? I will always remember the Goff pass to Chark against the Packers to end Rodgers Packer career and his pass to St Brown to win the first playoff game in 32 years and who knows what will happen in these playoffs. Stafford had those opportunities and for things within and out of his control came up short. Stafford kind of reminds me of the Grant Hill of the Lions. A star player who played on some mediocre teams but never advanced in the playoffs. They both left for sunny pastures and the Pistons, like the Lions, were left with a castoff that became central to a playoff run and a new era.

The Eagles are getting old and they seem to have character issues on that roster. It's probably better than most other jobs out there but the expectations would be Super Bowl or bust.

Hurts is one of the highest paid QBs in the league. I will say, Goff would have at least attempted the block. He probably would have failed but he at least would have put in the effort.

Except for Minnesota, all the teams in the north are young.

I think the issue is that he lost the locker room. There are a lot of reports by the Philadelphia media of issues in the locker room.

Tampa was 3-1 when the Lions played them and the Lions were without Montgomery, Gibbs and Jackson. After the Detroit game, they struggled for a while before beating some mediocre teams at the end.

I'm enjoying Dallas and Philadelphia flopping in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Last time the Lions played Tampa, they didn't have Gibbs, Montgomery or Jackson.

Looking at who they've beat in their final 6 when they went 5-1, it was Carolina twice and not convincingly, Atlanta in a close game, a reeling Jacksonville team and a win at Green Bay.

The score was 16-9 at half. The Eagles still have not converted a 3rd down.

Some of those losses were to bad teams too.

I'll still take Gibbs and Laporta over Carter. I still worry about Carter's effort.