MichiganCardinal

Losing close games is just what mediocre teams do. The Lions were great at losing close games for decades. In fairness to the Bears, a large part of their problem is the North, at least here and now. If they were in most any other division, Eberflus isn’t fired when he is and they probably go around .500 this year, probably battle for a playoff spot, at least for a while. They were 4-5 until they had to start playing in the division. Now they’re 4-11. It’s just really hard to gain any traction as a mediocre team when you’re playing six games against top 5-8 teams in the league. It’s hard to see them doing any better than 7-10 or so next season without two of the Lions, Packers, and Vikings taking a significant step back. I do agree that finding the right coach can make a world of difference though. Dan Campbell, KOC, Sean Payton, and Jim Harbaugh all prove that. Lucky for us, Virginia McCaskey owns the team, so they’ll probably hire Kliff Bar Kingsbury.

“We are going to take the North and never give it back” -Ryan Poles on January 31, 2022 Since, the Bears are 2-15 in the North.

49ers are a good lesson in why we need to enjoy every second of this season, and of this era of Lions football. It can come crashing to the ground very quickly. The Niners a mess, owe a lot of people a lot of money, and I'm not sure Kyle Shanahan will survive a rebuild.

With how well Zeitler has played this year, I would consider re-signing him to another one-year deal if he’s open to it. You’ve got Mahagony on a rookie deal, and having too many starting caliber offensive linemen is a good problem to have.

We are Monday Night this week, so already National. I expect if Minnesota beats the Packers then Week #18 will be flexed to Sunday Night. There are two Saturday Night games too, but that would be a four-day rest for us.

I agree, and for this reason I don’t think the Lions would rest many players against Minnesota, even if the one-seed was locked up. Guys like Montgomery wouldn’t play, but I think it would largely be business as usual. You don’t want to go into a Divisional Round game against Minnesota or Green Bay having not played for three weeks.

If I was Green Bay, I’d much prefer to be even the #5 seed than the #6 seed. The Commanders just beat the Eagles. The Vikings just beat the Seahawks. That’s very easily a 7 beating a 2 and 6 beating a 3. All of a sudden the 5-seed Packers would be hosting a Divisional Round game against the Vikings.

Last year's playoffs, it felt like there were two or three really good teams (SF, DAL, DET), two sneaky good teams (GB, LAR), one good team (TB), and one team that didn't really belong (PHI). This year, it feels like there will be four really good teams (DET, MIN, GB, PHI), two sneaky good teams (LAR, WAS), and one good team (TB). If Seattle upends LA, I'd put them into the good category. If Atlanta upends Tampa, I'd put them in the do not belong category. Likely a better field than last year though. Not that Detroit's path last year was easy, but having one less game to win sure would be nice.

Green Bay was eliminated from contention for the NFC North title today with Detroit's win, but will still clinch a playoff berth this week so long as they beat New Orleans tomorrow. Interestingly, if Green Bay wins out, and Detroit beats Minnesota in Week #18, Green Bay would hold the tiebreaker over Minnesota. At that point they would have split the season series and both be 3-3 in the division. In common games, Green Bay would be 11-3, while Minnesota would be 10-4. The Rams would make the difference. Kind of crazy that a 13-2 Vikings team could still very realistically end up the #6 seed. This is all to say though, presuming that Green Bay would prefer to be the #5 seed over the #6 seed, they definitely still have something to play for, even if they beat New Orleans tomorrow night. I may make a special edition GDT for that game.

vs. Setting: 12/30/2024 8:15pm EST on ABC & ESPN Site: Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA Weather: 61° High / 44° Low, 7% chance of rain, 8mph wind Opening Spread: Lions -3 All-Time Series Record: 49ers lead, 40-28-1 Last Meeting: 01/28/2024, 49ers won 34-31 (2024 NFC Championship) San Francisco 49ers (6-9) Head Coach: Kyle Shanahan (8th Season: 70-60) Projected Starting QB: Brock Purdy (3rd Season: 23-12) Last Week: 29-17 L @ Miami Dolphins (7-8) Looking Ahead to Week #18: TBD @ Arizona Cardinals (7-8) Playoff Implications: Eliminated Your Detroit Lions (13-2) Head Coach: Dan Campbell (4th Season: 37-28-1) Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (9th Season: 79-52-1) Last Week: 34-17 W @ Chicago Bears (4-11) Looking Ahead to Week #18: TBD v. Minnesota Vikings (13-2) Playoff Implications: Playoffs Clinched; Clinch Division Championship and #1 Seed with W @ San Francisco and Minnesota Vikings L vs. Green Bay Packers Elsewhere in the NFL Primetime: Seahawks @ Bears (TNF), Falcons @ Commanders (SNF) Christmas Day: Chiefs @ Steelers (1:00), Ravens @ Texans (4:30) Saturday: Chargers @ Patriots (1:00), Broncos @ Bengals (4:30), Cardinals @ Rams (8:15pm) 1:00pm: Colts @ Giants, Jets @ Bills, Titans @ Jaguars, Packers @ Vikings, Raiders @ Saints, Panthers @ Buccaneers 4:25pm: Dolphins @ Browns, Cowboys @ Eagles

While on the topic of bold takes, an offseason trade prediction: Seattle sends a 2nd round pick to Minnesota for JJ McCarthy

Bold take, but I think Green Bay beats Minnesota by 10 next week.

They're a testament to how good you can be in the NFL if you just don't make mistakes. Just taking care of the ball and executing a game plan can be so effective.

Birds are up 4 with 5 minutes left

Geno Smith is not a good quarterback.

Putting a 15-yard taunting penalty on the PAT in a non-weather game is a waste.

In my mind a big difference between the Lions and Eagles is coaching. I think Sirianni is a mediocre coach at best, with a ton of talent on that roster. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Eagles struggle to recover from this game.

We are one (1) Lions win and one (1) Vikings loss away from the one (1) seed.

TOUCHDOWN COMMIES!

Go score another 7 just because you can.

The gun the Bears are using to shoot themselves in the foot has unlimited rounds.

3/3 on 4th down can’t happen in January.

Or not. Decent play call there by Thomas.

Good test for the run defense here.

They remind me of the Darrell Bevell led Lions. Not good.