Motown Bombers

Ya'll bitched when I tried to tell you how awesome Goff is.

The first tiebreaker would be division record. If the Lions beat the Bears and win one of two vs the Vikings, they would both be tied at 4-2 in the division. The Lions already won the tiebreaker in common games. The Packers lost to the Falcons and Raiders. Even accounting for a loss to Denver (which Green Bay lost to) the Lions own that tiebreaker. By beating the Vikings, they would be at 7 losses and eliminated.

All the Lions have to do is beat the Bears and the Vikings once and they win the division. Minnesota and Green Bay play each other so both teams aren't going to win out. Lions would hold the tiebreaker with Green Bay and Minnesota would be at 7 losses.

Offensively the Eagles have scored two more points than the Lions and defensively have given up two more points than the Lions giving both teams the same differential. The narrative is the Eagles are so far ahead of the Lions despite being so similar.

The Eagles have given up more points on the season than the Lions. They have also given up 30 or more points in a game more times than the Lions.

The Eagles just gave up more points than the Lions did in an single game this year. They are teetering on a defensive implosion I tell you.

They're also 17-5 in their last 21 games. You'll have to go back to the 50's or early 60's to find an era of that kind of sustained success. This team is still really young. This isn't even their ceiling.

Leyland also inherited some bad teams. The Pirates lost over 100 games the season before Leyland took over and got them to 3 straight NLCS before Bonds left. He had that 97 Marlins team that loaded up in the offseason and then managed the 98 team that was completely dismantled. There was Colorado but then he inherited a Tigers team that was 3 years removed from losing 119 games and 13 years since their last winning season and 19 years from their last playoff appearance and made them an immediate success. If you look past the W-L record, he did well reviving franchises.

I'm concerned about not having Ben Johnson dial up tight window throws into triple coverage.

Thankfully Fields fumbled twice scrambling in a dome. Can't imagine what he will look like in those conditions.

Alexander Mattison averaged 5.2 yards per carry against the Bears. His season average is 3.8. Inexplicably, Minnesota only gave him the ball 10 times. It seems teams come in and try to throw it on them because they have a weak secondary.

I think Josh Dobbs would be the perfect platoon QB. If I were Minnesota, I would bring him and Cousins back. Cousins would be the main QB but for a handle of plays or a drive or two bring in Dobbs. Dobbs can do what Taysom Hill did but is more of a threat to throw.

The Saints did what I wish more teams would do and that is a platoon at QB. I don't know if Hooker has that kind of speed and athleticism, but I would mind the Lions having a mobile QB that they can run a handful of plays for.

I don't think there is enough data. Looking at 2018, that Chicago game was in a pretty rough 3 game stretch for Goff. It came after that epic Monday night game against the Chiefs. He faced the Lions in the dome and was meh, 1 TD 1 INT and completed only 51% of his passes. Patricia still manages to lose that game by double digits. Then there was the Chicago game. Then the game against the Eagles at Los Angeles where he was better but had 0 TDs and 0 INTs in a loss. He then finished the season great. I think it was more of a poor three game stretch combined with facing an elite Bears defense.

Meh, the Saints only scored 7 points in the 1st half. They had an INT, and multiple punts. In the 2nd half the Saints converted multiple 3rd and really long plays. Then they had a tipped pass that Jacobs was going to intercept for a TD but instead ended up being caught by the goal line. The defense was better. Not great but good enough.

Was it the weather or the Ravens defense? The two games people site as he can't play outdoors are the Baltimore game and the 2018 Bears game. Both teams had elite defenses. Looking back at the conditions in the 2018 Bears game, the game temperature was 29 degrees, 4 MPH winds, no precipitation. The previous game in 2018 was against the Lions in which he wasn't great either. I'm not convinced the weather had an effect and that it was a combination of him not playing well at the time combined with facing an elite defense.

I'm concerned about Goff when Tanner Engstrand becomes coordinator and becomes head coach after another successful season from Goff without McVay and Gurley.

How often has Goff played in those conditions? It seems this narrative developed from one game in 2018 that was clear, no wind and cold. I think it was more the Bears had an elite defense that year and not this bad weather narrative.

The Lions and Eagles have the same point differential.

I'm not concerned about Goff. He's like that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry says he always comes out even and Elaine throws his $20 bill out the window and he finds another $20 bill in his pocket. He always ends up on winning teams, with the best offenses, with the best coaches, and the best players. It's uncanny. How fortunate was he to end up on the Lions known historically for their winning and coaching? Then to be paired with Ben Johnson who was a TE coach nobody ever heard of and was hired by Patricia? Ben Johnson has never called a play in an NFL regular season without Goff as his QB. Goff is always at the right place at the right time.

I'm concerned about what Mahomes looks like without Eric Bieniemy.

If Jordan Love was bald, I think he would look like Charlie Batch.

Especially since they lost to the Lions and only scored 20 on an Aaron Glenn defense.

The long term answer for Decker is Sewell. They would need to find a RT.