MichiganCardinal

That would be my guess too

I took a trip around LCA and tried a different beer for every quadrant so if the messages become less coherent or I can’t pay my WiFi bill you’ll know why.

Whatever you imagine as the worst possible halftime show… tonight’s was worse. I did not understand a single word spoken.

I’d be surprised if they don’t hire from within for OC. DC is the gig they might look elsewhere for.

That’s what I said too! He billed it as witnessing history, can you tell he’s in sales?

My buddy who I brought to a Lions game brought me to this ones I think I got the raw end of the deal.

I’ve never been so happy to get a large charge alert from my bank as I was this afternoon when the Lions withdrew money my wildcard tickets.

I saw a lot of Vikings fans complaining about the hit that knocked him out. It’s a violent league and injuries happen. It looked like he braced himself and straightened the knee before contact which really probably did as much damage as the hit itself.

They'll have options. Ideally, someone could take over opposite Sutton. Neither Jacobs nor Vildor are one of the best 11 players on the defense, but we might just be stuck with one of them at corner, because you don't want to force a square peg into a round hole... Iffy was originally a corner and they moved him to safety, maybe he could be a press corner? But you don't want to undo the progress made towards making him a quality player. If it's working, don't fix it and all that... You can also run more multi-safety looks on obvious passing downs and take Campbell/Barnes off the field. If I had to guess though it will be rotational. I don't have the stats in front of me, but intuitively it feels like Branch is better against the run but a little weaker in coverage. CJGJ has (historically at least) been a ball hawk against the pass and less dominant against the run.

Him and CJGJ. The two weakest position groups on this Lions team are about to be infused with the 2022 NFL leader in interceptions and the 2022 NFL leader in sacks per games played, just in time for the playoffs. We don't even need Houston to continue the ridiculous tear he was on to close the season last year. If he just generates some amount of pressure from the opposite side of Hutch.... causes attention to be devoted to him... If he's just half the player Charles Harris was supposed to be and never was... it will be a game changer on the defense.

Maybe if KC trades him to the Rams for Matt Stafford he can prove it there.

I think the NFC Champion will be one of the 49ers, Eagles, or Lions. Whichever team gets hot at the right time and gets the breaks to go their way in the playoff matchups against each other will come out of it. All three of them are beatable and have their weaknesses to exploit, but I don't see any of the other NFC playoff teams (NFC South, Rams, Seahawks, Vikings, or Packers) pulling off three in a row against them to go to Vegas. I would put the Cowboys as a distant 4th because I think it's plausible it finally happens, but they are poorly coached, and I don't see them going on the road against any of those three teams and winning, let alone doing it twice. They might even lose to the NFC South Champion if they have to go to Tampa, Atlanta, or NOLA as a 5-seed. I think the AFC playoffs are wide open. Baltimore has been the best team and has likely earned the #1 seed. But head-to-head any given Sunday? I think any of Baltimore, Miami, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, or Cincinnati could win three in a row and advance to the Super Bowl. And not all seven of those teams will even make the playoffs!

I've thought for a while now that the Lions matchup well against the 49ers. What we saw last night is what can happen when you limit McCaffrey's potency and force Purdy into spots where he is uncomfortable. The 49ers are 0-4 when CMC has 15 or fewer rush attempts in a game and 11-0 when he rushes the ball 16+ times... It's not an easy feat, they have a superb offensive line and CMC is as good a running back as you'll find in the NFL. But if you force Purdy to win the game with his arm, he will struggle. By the numbers, the Lions have a better rush defense than any team the 49ers have played this season.

I expected the Cowboys to be favored at home, I'm just surprised they are a full touchdown favorite. I would have expected it closer to -3 or -3.5... If it holds, it would be the first time we are 6+ point underdogs since we played the Bills on Thanksgiving last year.

How can you say no to a man who turns Holden Fortunato into "Zane"??

I'm a little surprised by the line. Started at Cowboys -5.5 and has increased to -6.0. The Lions have a better record and haven't lost a game outside their own division in over two months... It's a bit of a stretch analytically, but the Lions haven't lost a road game played indoors since October 2022 (against the Cowboys actually). Cowboys are reeling having lost two straight and seem poised for their late season collapse in typical Cowboys fashion. I know they're always tough at home, but Vegas is begging the public to take Detroit and the points.

Robbie Gould retired earlier this month but would probably answer if called by a playoff team. He was 84% on FGs and only missed one extra point last year, long of 51... Brett Maher is available, the Rams cut him in October after he missed an extra point and from 53 and 51 against the Steelers. That was his only extra point miss and he was perfect from inside 40 on field goals, but 10/16 from 40+.... Ryan Succop is available, he was 29/31 inside 50 but 2/7 from 50+ in 2022, missed one extra point. The way the practice squad works too is that the Lions could re-sign Patterson from the Browns practice squad. If the Browns offered him a spot on the 53-man though, I suspect he would take their offer, depending on Dustin Hopkins' injury. Zane Gonzalez might be my pick for a tryout. He was on the Lions' practice squad when Campbell and Holmes took over and had a great year with the Panthers in 2021. Was perfect inside 50, 3/5 from 50+ with a long of 57 and one missed extra point. He got injured in the 2022 preseason, was re-injured in the 2023 preseason, and hasn't kicked in the regular season since. If you need a guy for a few postseason games, with Badgley on the practice squad in case of injury, Gonzalez might worth a shot. All told though I think they probably just ride with Badgley.

Warde’s job became easy when Moore beat Ohio State. Not a soul will complain about the OC who is 4-0 as interim head coach, including two ranked wins, one over aOSU, taking over as head coach if Harbaugh leaves. At least not until he loses to Texas in week two next year.

Yep. I was there. By which I mean, I was in absurdly long security lines when the pick six happened and missed the best play of the season. Darnold proceeded to then torch the Lions the rest of the game while Stafford threw four picks. Jets won 48-17.

I mean, I do believe that Brian Kelly would leave LSU for the Michigan job, if offered.... They ain't calling him, and if he calls them he's not getting past Warde's secretary. If he's looking to return to the midwest though, I hear Chippewa Valley has an opening. No scissor lifts in the budget though.

Two weeks of stress-free December/January football where we aren't thinking about draft position?

I really think they chose not to re-sign Prater because he figured by the time we get to this point, the NFC North Champ and a playoff team, someone off the street would have emerged as an NFL kicker. And that just hasn’t happened. I don’t agree with drafting a kicker in the 3rd round, especially when you are a good drafter, because you can find players like Travis Kelce, Tyler Lockett, and Cooper Kupp in the 3rd round (or Alim McNeill, Iffy Melifonwu, and Kerby Joseph). You should find a starter in the 3rd round, and that’s more valuable than a kicker. But - you can PAY for one! Prater, Zuerlein, and McManus were all free agents this past offseason and all could have been had. And all would have been better than running it back with Badgley and Patterson. If you’re a good drafter it should mean you can afford to pay a kicker a few million dollars, because your young talent isn’t getting big contracts yet.

What’s Jason Hanson doing? Let’s sign him and assemble a Lions All-Time All Star team* for the playoff run, except it’s just the 2023 Lions plus Jason Hanson. *must not have unexpectedly retired to qualify

People calling that a “ref safety” like it didn’t start because Lamar ran 25 yards backwards.