MichiganCardinal

I'm not surprised to see them appeal. The suspension is stupid, it's the NCAA trying to make the punishment seem harsher than Michigan offered. The entire charade of suspending him for CMU and Nebraska instead of New Mexico and Oklahoma they are okay with, but make sure you add in a game next year against Western Michigan or UTEP too? Come on now. The real thing is the money. $20MM means nothing to the football program. They don't rely on that money and they don't need it. They are self-sustaining 100-times over, and the NIL donors are the ones making that program run. OTOH, the $20MM may very well be felt by the wrestling, softball, swim/dive, and all other non-revenue programs. Those programs run at a (sometimes steep) deficit and rely on downstream revenues of the football and basketball programs to stay afloat. That money will need to be made up somewhere or cuts will need to be made.

They were never going to "bring the hammer" down on a blue blood in 2025 like they historically did to USC, SMU, or even Ohio State. You could throw Penn State in there too, but that was a pretty different set of circumstances. The NCAA's very existence is on its heels after recent court rulings. The last thing they wanted to do was give Warde Manual a reason to be the inaugural Chairman of the new B1G-SEC football league. It's not about denial, if anything that made it worse. It's about what the NCAA thinks they can actually get away with right now. They probably issued a huge sigh of relief when Harbaugh left town. They could "bring the hammer" down on him without totally frustrating the remaining infrastructure of the university. They're a joke of an organization struggling to retain a shred of dignity.

If you told me in 2015 that the Harbaugh saga at Michigan would end in ten years with one National Championship and a total of 14 years in show-cause penalties, I would be thoroughly impressed in Michigan's embrace of modern day college football.

MSU and OSU slappies since 2023: "The hammer is going to drop any day now!" The Hammer that dropped:

The "Last Meeting" research was fun with this one. I remember the 10/30/2022 game against the Dolphins pretty well. I attended it and left at halftime to make it to a baby shower (and may have been murdered that day if I left any later, the powers that be were pissed I went to the game in the first place). Lions were up 21-7 in that game - 27-17 at the half - before collapsing and failing to score a point in the second half. After that loss to the Dolphins, we dropped to 1-6 on the season. Some highlights (or lowlights) from that GDT (not quoting because the sources are irrelevant): "It doesn’t matter who they hire or fire. It’s a hopeless joke of a franchise and nothing will change in our lifetime." "Look at that. The Eagles went from Super Bowl Champ, to collapse, to rebuild to Super Bowl favorite and in the same amount of time we have continued to suck." "They might not win 3 games this year. Marty Morningwheg all over again. Lots of tough guy quotes, but a clown show." Along with a lot of people pissed at DeAndre Swift -- at least we weren't all wrong. Although the sources are irrelevant (because it was a universal feeling), credit where it is due to @Motown Bombers who was a clear voice of reason and called for patience, comparing Campbell to Jim Schwartz, who was given plenty of leash. Since that game, the Lions have gone 35-9 in the regular season. History still in the making??

Miami Dolphins (0-0-1) @ Detroit Lions (1-1) vs. Setting: 08/16/2025 1:00pm EST on Lions TV Network Site: Ford Field in Detroit, MI Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Dolphins -2.5 All-Time Series Record: Dolphins lead, 8-5 Last Meeting: 10/30/2022, Dolphins won 31-27

Jamo knows it’s put up or shut up time for that contract and all eyes are on him. Tens of millions of dollars are riding on his staying out of trouble off the field for the next 6-10 months. I think he’ll stay away from the law. Now, after some team gives him a massive contract? I’m not so sure. I think someone might pay him to be their WR1.

Good on those players. They took a stand and it still took NFL leadership eight minutes to make the call. Bet you they now send a memo to NFL referees that tells them not to allow players to decide to do that in a regular season game. Will tell them to stop the clock after 20 seconds and go to official review for an NFL decision.

Reports out of camp have seemed to indicate that TeSlaa is outperforming Patrick. I don’t think they are married to keeping Patrick if TeSlaa is ready on day one.

I’m curious to see the snap counts at the WR position tomorrow. I think Lovett and Tim Patrick are battling for the 5th seat in that room, and I might give Lovett the edge based on his special teams ability.

Just the Falcons in that category. The Browns (16-5), Jaguars (6-3), Falcons (26-14), Cardinals (38-28-6), Giants (24-21-1), Jets (8-7), and Buccaneers (32-29) are the only active teams the Lions have an all-time winning record against. They’re also tied all-time with the Saints (13-13-1) and Raiders (7-7)

Detroit Lions (0-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (0-0) vs. Setting: 08/08/2025 7:00pm EST on FOX Site: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Lions -3.5 All-Time Series Record: Lions lead, 26-14 Last Meeting: 09/24/2023, Lions won 20-6

Based on camp reports he was a long shot to make the team anyway. Was drafted as a special teams contributor and was struggling to adapt.

Preseason Power Rankings. Lions play nine games against the top ten by my measure. Only ones at home are the two divisional games. Philadelphia Eagles Buffalo Bills Baltimore Ravens Kansas City Chiefs Detroit Lions Minnesota Vikings Los Angeles Rams Los Angeles Chargers Cincinnati Bengals Green Bay Packers Washington Commanders Houston Texans Tampa Bay Buccaneers Denver Broncos Pittsburgh Steelers Jacksonville Jaguars San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Arizona Cardinals Chicago Bears Miami Dolphins Atlanta Falcons Indianapolis Colts Dallas Cowboys New England Patriots New York Jets New York Giants Las Vegas Raiders Carolina Panthers Tennessee Titans Cleveland Browns New Orleans Saints

I don’t necessarily disagree, and I think that’s in part why they’ll be able to probably re-sign most of that 2023 draft class despite having four picks in the first two rounds. At the same time, the Saints are a poster child for what happens when you ignore the cap completely. And it’s not like salary demands are staying stagnant while the cap increases.

Zero chance he goes to the Eagles. I think odds are Jerry Jones folds and he signs a mega-deal with the Cowboys. Chiefs are a real chance if he is moved. I’d put the Patriots, Rams, and Bears as the three most likely destinations outside of Dallas. I give it a 2% chance he’s a Lion.

I hear this point of view but I don’t think it’s Brad’s style. He’s dismissed the notion of a window before, and trading for and signing Paraons would mean we have a 2-3 year window. I think Brad’s style is more aligned with being consistently 10-7 or better and hoping you can string together three straight in January. Which has its own merits, but ask Pittsburgh how it’s worked out for them lately.

If the Lions made a call on Maxx Crosby I’m sure they’ll make a call on Micah Parsons. The question becomes though what you’re willing to give up — both draft capital wise and contract extension wise. If they traded for Parsons and extended both him and Hutch, you’re not extending Jamo, and probably not 2-3 of Gibbs/Campbell/LaPorta/Branch. Is that worth it? Maybe. Parsons is a damn good football player. But you’re also setting yourself up for a bare cupboard in a few years unless you can really hit on some mid-round picks. I tend to think there will be a higher bidder somewhere in the NFL.

And look how that turned around it, a Divisional Round exit. /s

It’s just practice.

Cut *checks notes* Grant Stuart

Trey Lance is getting the start for the Chargers tomorrow night. I did not know Trey Lance was on the Chargers.

The defense should be fine. The interior DL may takes its lumps against teams like Baltimore and Philly, but they have the DPOY betting favorite on the edge, Anzalone/Campbell behind them, one of the best safeties in the league deep, and two capable to good corners. Healthy, I agree that’s top five. It’s the offensive line that worries me. We are betting on a lot going right with Mahagony/Glasgow/Ratledge on the interior, and that’s not even accounting for Decker’s age. There may be games where we see Goff turtle so often we want to put a hole in the TV. Those games may happen with two guards who have nearly no collective NFL experience. Now if the OL is as good as last year, or even just a little bit worse, there is no reason we can’t make the Super Bowl. We could have last year before half the team fell off an injury cliff.

That case was always going to be nearly impossible to prosecute. The victim was far better off with Sutton in the league and making millions she could collect child support off of. I expect the league still comes out in the Lions favor on this.

I don’t take Justin Rogers’ word lightly. Jamo may be in for a huge year.