MichiganCardinal

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.

My hope is that with conference realignment / SEC and B1G disbandment we will eventually see less and less non-conference games, which may allow us to go further and further away from relying on pollsters, to relying on standings and statistics. With a 24-team B1G and a 24-team SEC, each split into four six-team divisions my ideal would be for a 13-game regular season. Week One: Practical preseason game where the vast majority of the 48 teams plays cupcakes. Michigan plays their game against Hawaii or UConn or whomever; state schools like Iowa, Washington, or Oregon who are invited to the big boys table can have their annual game against their little brothers if they so choose, same with Notre Dame against Army or Navy. Largely though, the intent will be that this game will not mean much of anything when it comes to postseason considerations. Week Two: B1G v. SEC Conference Matchup Week. Pair six-team divisions with each other, rotating yearly, and match 1v1, 2v2, etc. from the prior year's standings. Makeup a trophy for the league office that wins more games if you feel so inclined. Again, this game won't matter unless we go deep into the tiebreakers. Weeks Three through Fourteen: Eleven conference games (every team in your division plus games against each team in a paired division, rotating yearly), plus one bye week. You will have a strong standings based system at this point to have #1-6 seeds in each of the eight divisions. Create playoffs based upon that however you'd like to do it. Top seeds in each division? Top two seeds? Top seed in each division plus two wildcards? However. Play it out and have a B1G v. SEC National Championship. It probably won't ever happen, even though it would generate a TON of money and remove the meaningfulness of arbitrary polling, even if it remained for ceremonious purposes.

We all agree there should be no preseason polls... how about no week eight polls either? 😉 I agree that we will know more soon enough. No one's season is being defined by the coaches or AP right now.

What I meant was that I would be more okay with GA/TN/OSU/MI than GA/OSU/TN/MI... For that matter I would also be okay with GA/TN/MI/OSU. MI and TN have only one signature win. I think it may be fair to say OSU has none, considering Notre Dame is one upset away from likely not making a bowl game.

Ask and yee shall receive. I think each of the #2-4 seeds have a case to be made to be higher than they are. I don't see the rationale in have Tennessee above Michigan, but below Ohio State. Michigan and Ohio State have very similar resumes at this point. With #1 still scheduled to play #3, plus MS State, Kentucky, and (likely) the SEC Championship; and #2 still scheduled to play #4, plus Penn State in Happy Valley, there is a lot of shaking out yet to do.

Last year it felt like they didn't really open up the playbook until very late in the season. It feels similar here. Why show your best plays if running it up the middle 40 times wins you games by 24?

I think this is right, though I wouldn't put it past them to have Tennessee jump Michigan because of SEC bias.

The rule needs to be changed. As it is, an "inadvertent signal" (in this case a 'stop the clock' signal) is treated the same as an inadvertent whistle. They treated the signal as the end of the play, which is ridiculous. An inadvertent signal can be fixed in a way that an inadvertent whistle cannot.

Utah pulls it off despite some incompetence from the PAC-12 officiating crew resulting in an additional play being given to USC.

Utah takes the lead on a 4th and goal plus two point conversion with 48 seconds to go... Very poor two-minute clock management from Utah preceded it though, there could be less than 10 seconds left if they had timed it better. They snapped one play with *35* seconds on the play clock (because of a USC injury), and another with about 14. Let's see if USC can make them pay for it.

Will make a great decoration in a Tennessee fraternity house.

Goal posts were coming down... Expensive victory for Tennessee, but likely well worth it.

Down goes Bama!!!!

Bama doesn't look like Bama though. This is the most points they've given up under Saban.

LOL. Even better outcome than I could have hoped. Good play call ya $95 million dollar man.

There's no way this MSU kicker makes this kick right?

Both Tennessee and Alabama seem to have no defense to speak of. Which I'm sure will be spun as unreal offenses by the pollsters.