Motown Bombers

Look at the Lions 2021 draft. Sewell and St Brown are foundational players. McNeil has really come into his own this year and was a plus starter and someone who looked worthy of a second contract. After getting nothing from Melifonwu, he has come on lately. Barnes has been a solid contributor in year three. Jefferson was a typical 7th round pick who is practice squad fodder. Levi is the only bust.

The Lions didn't need a tackle either. They had many more areas to address but they still drafted the best player and swung him to the right side and have an elite unit.

Sewell also just turned 23. He's in his 3rd year in the league and is only 23.

Keep in mind Sewell has played multiple games at both left and right tackle this year.

I think underrated part of Holmes job has been his ability to move on from veteran players. It started first with not signing Golladay, then Jamaal Williams and Hockenson.

I take this quote by Staley as basically the Lions wanted him to toughen up. "So this offseason, Staley gave Swift a challenge: “Hey man, you’ve got to fight through some things.” The objective is clear. Staley needs Swift to stay as healthy as possible, but he can’t back down when the relatively minor bumps and bruises come. “We all know there’s a difference in being injured and hurt,” Staley explained. “As soon as you step in this building as a running back—Day 1 of training camp—you’re not going to feel the same. So there are going to be some things he’s going to have to fight through, and he’s going to have to work through that.”

I wonder if Swift is playing through injury more than in Detroit because it's a contract year? I remember either Campbell or Staley seemed to insinuate that Swift wasn't tough enough.

One thing that strikes me is the Lions defense compares very well to the Vikings except for red zone efficiency. That is the only reason the Vikings are giving up fewer points. I also wonder what Minnesota's offensive production looks like post Kirk Cousins?

I think Williams would have had a better season in Detroit, but Montgomery is a lot better than I thought he was. Williams had the luxury of playing behind some good lines in Detroit and Green Bay. Montgomery was putting up the same production as Williams with a bad line.

Only Swift and Elliott are having good seasons.

The Lions do not commit many penalties. They are 29th in defensive penalties, however, they are 5th in the number of defensive penalties resulting in 1st downs. When they commit a penalty, they usually commit the worst possible penalty. Minnesota is the exact opposite. They commit the 4th most penalties on defense but have the fewest penalties that result in 1st downs.

Kevin O'Connell's largest margin of victory as a Vikings coach is 16 points and that was the first game of the 2022 season. Vikings have a total of 3 games they have won by double digits since 2022. The Lions have 10 such games.

I'm also struck by the fact the Vikings only have one game in which they won by double digit points. They generally don't put teams away.

I think it's a big deal. It means the defense doesn't need to be great.

Lions are 10-1 when they have fewer than 3 turnovers.

Lions are 9-1 when they give up 28 points or less. The Vikings have only scored 28 or more points once without Cousins (and only once with Cousins).

Not even the Millen Lions had a stretch that bad. That's a winning percentage of 8.

Dumped for a Hooker.

In the past 7 weeks Will Harris has 12 defensive snaps with 5 coming during the Chargers game. He's basically a special teamer. Charles Harris has been inactive the last two weeks and hasn't cracked 25% of the defensive snaps since week 6. Steven Gilmore has been inactive most of the year and only has two defensive snaps all year.

They are eventually going to have to create a roster spot for Badgley when he runs out of elevations. They will also need to create room when CJGJ and McNeil return and Houston's possible return. I would not be surprised if Charles Harris is waived. I also haven't heard from Will Harris in a long time. I suspect he could get waived.

Not worried about any of them. I guess I wouldn't want to play Minnesota. I don't like playing a team 3 times in 4 weeks.

This reminds me of a couple years ago between the Chargers and Raiders and a tie could have meant both teams made the playoffs and it almost happened but I seem to remember Staley messing it up.

He'll be traded to the Bears for a 2nd round pick.