MichiganCardinal

NFL requires either blue/white or blue/blue, so I'm almost positive we will get the blueberries.

On the line Saturday (and potentially Sunday), only four teams have never hosted a Conference Championship game in the Super Bowl era: the Ravens, Texans, Titans, and Lions. If the Texans, Lions, and Ravens win, two of those teams would host a conference championship in the same season.

They can have Ben Johnson if we can have Maxx Crosby.

Take away Jimmy Fallon and the off-beat clapping and it’s a decent tune.

I agree completely. The Red Zone plays to the Lions strength, allowing Branch and Joseph to be more involved on a shorter field. If you can hold the Commanders to 3 instead of 7 two or three times, you are setting your offense up extremely well to put the game on ice in the 3rd quarter. On offense, just pound the rock. Control time of possession, keep the defense off the field. Aim for a 2:1 ratio. If they get desperate and drop 7 or 8 into the box, don’t be afraid to take the top off with Jamo. But a simple offense should be enough to put up 35+. Save the flash for Philly or LA.

Seeing Minnesota's performance last night tells me that the nine-point performance against the Lions was likely more an indictment on Darnold than a sign that the Lions defense has markedly improved from its performance against the Bills and 49ers. Daniels is likely going to have his, but the Lions offense will have theirs. If the Lions offense doesn't fall flat on its face, Washington's only real path to victory is going to be to just outpace the Lions, similar to what the Bills did. Which isn't an easy task when you still have Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph manning the deep ball, and when even the second string run defense is top five in the league.

IIRC, I was pretty okay with it. He is a good TE, but he wasn’t worth what the Vikings paid for him. I’ll take the 2nd round pick that ultimately turned into Brian Branch over paying Hock. And LaPorta is as good as Hock, if not better.

“That’s really what we’re here to do is go somewhere and win some games. That’s kind of the first time I’ve been able to say that.” -TJ Hockenson on 11/02/2022 Since 11/02/2022 the Detroit Lions are 35-9. The Minnesota Vikings are 28-16.

Hey look it’s TJ Hockenson! I wonder how it feels to play for a winner now.

6-11 my very quick calculation. 6-12 after this massacre is over.

What I remember most about that game is that I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so I went alone. Drank expecting a blowout loss and then didn’t know what to do with myself when we were somehow blowing them out.

Think of all the Minnesota children who were saved from witnessing a murder though.

I agree with this. He was an Honorable Mention. I think his face makes me take pity on him though, which would bring less force with a punch. Lifetime Award for punchable face goes to Matt Patricia.

Tonight’s halftime show: Purple Pain Forums: Wild Card Weekend: Vikes @ Rams

Now this is what the bye week is for. Undisputable top ten most punchable faces: 1. Matt LaFleur 2. Nick Sirianni 3. Sean McVay 4. Kyle Shanahan 5. Sean Payton 6. Dave Canales 7. KOC 8. Shane Steichen 9. Brian Callahan 10. Zac Taylor

At this rate he’ll be lucky if they don’t just have the janitorial staff clean out his locker for him.

I was just saying this the other day, watching the Steelers/Ravens game. Remember when they called like six illegal formations in the Thursday Night opener? Now, nothing. That’s not even the refs fault. That’s their bosses.

Sam Darnold is going from a mega deal extension to a one-year prove-it in the course of two weeks.

They got the call right. It was a stupid decision by Stafford, but ultimately the right call. Clearly a passing motion, and there was an eligible receiver no more than a few yards away. KOC knows his team needs those kinds of fluky breaks to win games.

Stafford is channeling his inner Jared Goff so far.

The Eagles losing Dean was a huge blow IMO. It was right after that happened that Josh Jacobs was able to get that long run. He’s a focal point of their defense.

Minnesota and LA are tied for me, but I’d rather play either of them before Philly. No NFC Championship Game will ever be easy, you’re playing a team that’s won two consecutive playoff games. But we’ve beat both of those teams already this year. With Nakobe Dean out, I think the way to beat Philly is going to be on the ground. Both Minnesota and LA are mediocre on the ground though. Intuitively, I think LA is probably more likely to be Philadelphia, so I’ll pull for them. I also think it would be funny to watch Vikings Nation collapse.

My gut tells me it’ll be closer than I’d like. Washington is hot and playing with house money. The Lions have the benefit in that they’re not really cold, at least not in the same way the Chiefs are (who haven’t played a meaningful game in nearly a month). But the Commanders are the prototypical young and scrappy underdog team that has far exceeded expectations, now with nothing to lose. They think they can beat anybody. Thats a dangerous team to play when it’s a one-and-done. Position by position it’s hard to name one where Washington is better, but this isn’t a best-of-five series. You can’t afford to go down 21-0, or cough up multiple turnovers. Ultimately, talent beats spirit more often than not (and it’s not like Detroit doesn’t have plenty of spirit of their own). I think that’s the case here too, but it’s not as easy a matchup as an apples to apples roster comparison might suggest.

As long as Jerry Jones treats the team like his toy to play GM with on weekends, they’ll never be a real contender.