MichiganCardinal

Watching Clemson-Syracuse, I'm not sure that a one-loss ACC champion would make the playoff this year over a one-loss B1G team. The Clemson bias is still out there, so it wouldn't shock me if it's them, but this is a two-conference league now.

Iowa / Ohio State and Syracuse / Clemson at 12 UCLA / Oregon and Ole Miss / LSU at 330 MS State / Alabama and Kansas State / TCU at 7 I think we could see a number of unbeatens go down today

A lot of QBs struggle to come back from this injury. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not 100%

Holmes can say what he wants publicly, but this team was not built to win in 2022. They clearly have a plan that extends beyond 2022. There is an argument to be made that the team Campbell has been presented is better than their 1-4 would show, but these first two years has been a lot of "let's throw cheap talent at the wall and see what can stick"... It's why Rodrigo might be here next year rather than a free agent LB that could have been signed instead of him.

I think your last line does what you accuse Birkett of doing lol. Holmes has stayed away from big free agency moves.

The Rams offer by now would probably be limited to a 2028 1st and a nice ball of yarn

Really intriguing deal. Risk involved on both sides.

This year, but no timetable yet and they won't rush it.

Are weekly game threads not enough for you people?? First 1000 in attendance this week get a free match to help burn it all down.

There is a reason Chark signed a prove-it deal. If he doesn’t prove it, as it seems, cut ties at the end of the year. JayMo would take his touches away anyway next year.

CFB doesn't need a strong Notre Dame. The sport certainly benefits from strong midwest schools, but that could just as easily be Michigan, OSU, MSU, Penn State, et al. in any given year. It's more about competition and quantity than it is any individual school and quality. The sport would also benefit if the PAC-12 wasn't such a vacuum chamber of mediocrity, yet here we are. You don't want the sport turning into college baseball, where the midwest has no real chance, but practically speaking, that will never happen. It exists in baseball due to the climate of the midwest and the lack of funding (and interest) to build domed stadiums and training facilities for the midwest programs. They simply can't compete with southern schools who live and breath baseball 24/7/365. The problem of the last decade in CFB (as defined by fans of schools that are not Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State) vested in the playoff format. Having four teams be all that can win a championship in any given year necessarily lends itself to a funneling of virtually all talent to select schools that have demonstrated they can be one of those four teams year-in and year-out. If you wanted to win a championship in college football, you had very strong reason to go to one of those schools, where Saban, Dabo, and Tressel/Meyer cracked the code for success (i.e., cheating without getting caught). I think we will see a dilution of talent with the expansion of the playoff. It might take some time, but good recruiting coupled with good coaching at a midsize school might actually mean something moving forward. I think that is what could be really good for college football. To see a school like Minnesota in 2019 or Cincinnati in 2021 make a run in the playoffs and actually compete with the upper echelon of SEC schools - that would be really good for the sport and really cool to see. With four playoff teams, Minnesota or Cincinnati can recruit their butts off and coach their butts off, but it doesn't mean anything in the long run when Saban can just step out his front door and have 5* recruits line up to play for him. Minnesota's peak is the 2019 Outback Bowl... If those schools can legitimately sell "hey, you can come here and we expect to compete for a championship", you might get some of those 5* kids who would otherwise go to Alabama or Ohio State to buy-in.

This is encouraging to me. I've always felt like past ownership teams have been very complacent and reactive, rather than proactive. It sounds like she is involved to the right degree.

No word from him on ASB yet.

After 1-3 it was true. They lost those three games by a combined 10 points. One game doesn’t put someone on the hot seat.

I would put Kevan Stefanski, Josh McDaniels, and Mike McCarthy on the list. I would not put Dan Campbell anywhere close to the list. Seats get hot when you don't meet expectations over the course of a season or seasons. The Lions did not expect to be competing this season.

It may be worth mentioning that in the 2021 draft, scouting and the pre-draft process were significantly hindered across the NFL by COVID. For instance, Levi opted out of the 2020 season and they were relying exclusively on old film. That’s not a condition to expect for future classes. For the Lions in particular, they had a limited run-up to the draft as well, given they were a new regime in place hired just months beforehand. That class in particular will probably turn out weird in a few ways as a result.

Agreed that BH is not above criticism. Maybe I'm wearing the rosy glasses, I just see more positives than negatives, despite the putrid product the last time they set foot on a field. The day after Stafford was traded, the offense was a huge question mark - a couple potential playmakers in Hock, Swift, and Decker but otherwise middling talent. He took that within a year and turned it into a top five offense in the NFL (when healthy). If Holmes can make half of that impact with the defense in the next year (before next August), we will be a playoff team next year. Hopefully the potential playmakers on that side of the ball (Okudah, Hutch, and... Paschal? Rodrigo?) can contribute to that build. I do think even just one serious playmaking leader a la Micah Parsons would make a world of difference to the defense on the whole.

The NFL is fickle. The Cowboys are a better team than the Lions. But they are coming off a tough primetime loss, and adding their QB back into the equation. The Lions are coming off the bye week and have heard nothing but how much they suck for two weeks. I expect a close game. Not willing to make a prediction until I see the Lions injury report.

vs. Setting: 10/23/2022 1:00pm EST on FOX Site: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX Weather: Climate Controlled (Retractable Roof - Sunny, 86°, 20mph winds if open) Opening Spread: Cowboys -7 All-Time Series Record: Cowboys lead, 15-11 Last Meeting: 11/17/2019, Cowboys won 35-27 Dallas Cowboys (4-2) Head Coach: Mike McCarthy (16th Season: 147-94-2) Projected Starting QB: Dak Prescott (7th Season: 53-33) Last Week: 26-17 L @ Philadelphia Eagles (6-0) (on SNF) Looking Ahead to Week #8: Sunday v. Chicago Bears (2-4) Your Detroit Lions (1-4) Head Coach: Dan Campbell (2nd Season: 4-17-1) Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (7th Season: 46-41-1) Last Week: BYE (following 29-0 L @ New England Patriots (3-3)) Looking Ahead to Week #8: Sunday v. Miami Dolphins (3-3) Elsewhere in the NFL Primetime: Saints @ Cardinals (TNF), Steelers @ Dolphins (SNF), Bears @ Patriots (MNF) 1:00pm: Browns @ Ravens, Packers @ Commanders, Buccaneers @ Panthers, Falcons @ Bengals, Giants @ Jaguars, Colts @ Titans 4:05/4:25pm: Texans @ Raiders, Jets @ Broncos, Chiefs @ 49ers, Seahawks @ Chargers BYE: Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles

It’s tough to evaluate the Levi pick out of context, much of which we don’t have yet. Sometimes these fluke things happen. If his back was a ticking time bomb, it didn’t matter who picked him or where, he was going to be a bust. If our early round picks perpetually underperform or are ending up on the IR… it may be time to assign blame more directly. Levi’s case is frustrating, and certainly Holmes is not fault-less. I’m not willing to indict him yet though.

I think so. It won’t be official until he’s cut this off-season but I’m willing to write him off. Did Levi have back concerns before he was drafted? Could this have been foreseen or is it just Lions Luck?

I think it's more likely than it was last year, when Alabama had an NFL-ready offense and Georgia had an NFL-ready defense. None of the SEC teams this year seem quite as good as either of those teams were last year. Michigan or Ohio State playing Alabama, Georgia, or Tennessee on a neutral field in 2022? B1G has a puncher's chance.

It didn’t seem like Saleh was even considered by the group who went about that hiring process. Not sure if it ever came out why. The Jets were all about him though. I would rather be the Lions than the Jets right now FWIW. Zach Wilson ain’t it.