MichiganCardinal

I agree that it is best to play your toughest opponents early, when it is more of a crapshoot. Neither a win nor a loss will mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of the season, though I'm sure overreactions will be abound either way. It will also be helpful to get the long rest into week two, which will presumably be at home.

If there was any doubt remaining, it's gone now. This is huge for this franchise and city.

POD didn't cite their sources but are reporting that the games against the Vikings will come in weeks 16 (away) and 18 (home). Could be some late season drama if both teams perform to ability.

Three Thursday games is really annoying, but at least one of them is the opener and another is early too. Hard to get guys healthy on a short week.

The Chiefs tend to start out slow and cruise through the season after the first six games or so. I think MCDC would have the guys ready to rock out of the gate too on National TV.

This Twitter account reportedly has a multi-year track record of correctly leaking the Lions schedule.

I think there is “knew they couldn’t and did it anyway”, “should have known by common sense and did it anyway”, and “should have known by reading and fully understanding the rules and did it anyway”. The difference between #1 and #2 is insignificant, and is what everyone who got the year-long bans did by betting on football. I am okay putting Jamo in the third category.

Deducing the TNF season opener.... Looking at the Chiefs' home slate and eliminating division games and the international game, you're left with the Bills, Lions, Bears, Bengals, and Eagles. Bengals were announced for Christmas Eve.... Eagles are rumored for week two via a Donna Kelce Facebook post (below). She also said that Chiefs/Bears would be international, so grain of salt, though she would seem to be a very good source for the Philly/KC game. That would leave the Bills, Lions, or Bears.... which probably leaves the Bills or Lions.

With the NFL and the betting companies being so in bed with one another, it would be remarkably easy to 'force' compliance among NFL players and have zero, or close to zero, gambling related suspensions. The ones that remain would have intentionally circumvented the rules. If they can tell Jamo placed a bet from the Allen Park training facility, they can block bets from the Allen Park training facility. They choose not to. They could also block access to any and all illicit bets from the devices of players. They choose not to. I'm sure part of this has to do with the (relatively little) time and energy this would cost. More likely it does have to do with money, as if millionaire players want to be stupid and bet their millions, I'm sure the betting companies don't mind collecting it (until the NFL comes calling and they can tattle to dad).

Probably means Detroit will have to sacrifice a home game next year to go international.

I don’t think a lottery makes sense in a league where rebuilding a take at least five years and more commonly closer to ten. I don’t think lotteries make sense period really, but if any sport was going to employ one, it would seem like the NFL would make the most sense because of the potential quick turnaround and the shortened season. In the NHL, if you tank, you’re still going to suck for another couple of years, even assuming you build it back up properly.

I did the schedule prediction competition in the Lions app and this is what I came up with. If I had to predict primetime games I would say @ Chiefs (TNF Season Opener), v. Raiders (MNF), v. Falcons (Thanksgiving), @ Saints (SNF), and @ Vikings (MNF).

I'm old enough to remember when Shane Morris was projected as a #1 pick in a way-too-early mock.

The problem with him wanting to be a starter is that he’s not exactly durable himself.

I have never heard Nate Sudfeld talk, and I think the Lions are perfectly okay keeping it that way. No one wants to deal with fielding questions about the backup QB. No one cares. If a team deals with 49ers type of injuries at the QB position, I could see him getting a private tryout, but no one in their right mind is going to take him on to be QB2.

Cam Newton doesn’t have a job because he (a) sucks, and (b) would be a distraction as a backup quarterback, which absolutely no one wants. I refer this story to (b).

I’m looking forward to Jamo and Gibbs at the same time. I think if we get the as-advertised Jamo we are looking at two threats who can do similar things and you can’t cover them both.

No, but I do think that if you’re trading someone you’re worried will burn you, you may aim away a little.

No one can say I didn’t try to get us off this Seattle/Detroit comparison topic.

This is probably right.

Speaks of how little they think of him if the Browns offer was at all comparable and they sent him to a likely conference rival.

TIL

The whole thing is really odd. Campbell consistently does better on his mocks than anyone at ESPN, CBS, SI, or NFL Network, yet he works for a dude whose website looks like it was built by a high schooler in the late 90s.

I do like Charlie Campbell (I know, everyone is surprised), but I take his praise with a grain of salt. I like what the Lions did, but some of Campbell’s praise seems like confirmation bias. He wasn’t going to have his mock say to pick Gibbs, Campbell, and LaPorta, watch them pick those three, and then say it was bad. At the very least with the contacts he clearly has within the org, I’m sure it wouldn’t be good business to criticize the draft choices that they partially leaked. I still like most of what they did, and Campbell’s mocks will be a source of much attention next year. But the praise I take in context.