MichiganCardinal

I think they go 3-2 in their next five, and then lose to both the Packers and the Lions to end the season. In that scenario, they would enter Week 17 at 11-4, very much still in the race. They're a good team in a brutal division.

Looking at the remaining schedules: Lions: @Colts, vBears, vPackers, vBills, @Bears, @49ers, vVikings [Expected Finish: 13-4 to 16-1] Packers: v49ers, vDolphins, @Lions, @Seahawks, vSaints, @Vikings, vBears [Expected Finish: 10-7 to 13-4] Vikings: @Bears, vCardinals, vFalcons, vBears, @Seahawks, vPackers, @Lions [Expected Finish: 10-7 to 13-4] Eagles: @Rams, @Ravens, vPanthers, vSteelers, @Commanders, vCowboys, vGiants [Expected Finish: 11-5 to to 14-3] There's probably a world where the Lions go 2-3 in the final stretch of Packers, Bills, Bears, 49ers, and Vikings. It feels unlikely the way they've been playing, but I think that's the only way they get caught, either for the one-seed or for the division. The Eagles don't have an easy finish either, playing the Rams, Ravens, Steelers, and Commanders across the next five weeks. They could easily go 2-3 themselves in that stretch. The Vikings probably have the easiest schedule of the bunch, but the way they're trending I don't think there is a single gimme in there. If I had to predict today, I would say: 1 - Lions (15-2) 2 - Eagles (13-4) 3 - Falcons (10-7) 4 - Cardinals (10-7) 5 - Packers (12-5) 6 - Vikings (11-6) 7 - 49ers (10-7) Eagles knock off the 49ers (possibly into a rebuild), Kirk Cousins knocks off the Vikings, and the Packers beat the Cardinals, setting up a Lions/Packers Divisional Round game at Ford Field.

Lucky for us he doesn’t really have a role in this backfield right now. Curious to see how they use Moseley though.

9-1 is the best start in Lions franchise history dating back to the inaugural 1934 edition of the Detroit Lions, fresh off the move from Portsmouth. That 1934 squad, led by head coach Potsy Clark and QB Dutch Clark (no relation), started 10-0, not allowing a point on defense for the first seven games. They ultimately fell to a disappointing 10-3 finish, losing twice in the last three games to the undefeated Chicago Bears. In true Bears fashion though, they lost the NFL Championship 30-13 to the New York Giants. Some things never change.

Zac Taylor's seat is warming up.

vs. Setting: 11/24/2024 1:00pm EST on FOX Site: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Lions -8 All-Time Series Record: Colts lead, 22-20-2 Last Meeting: 11/01/2020, Colts won 41-21 Indianapolis Colts (5-6) Head Coach: Shane Steichen (2nd Season: 14-14) Projected Starting QB: Anthony Richardson (2nd Season: 6-5) Last Game: 28-27 W @ New York Jets (3-8) Looking Ahead to Week #13: Sunday @ New England Patriots (3-8) Your Detroit Lions (9-1) Head Coach: Dan Campbell (4th Season: 33-27-1) Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (9th Season: 75-51-1) Last Week: 52-6 W v. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) Looking Ahead to Week #13: Thanksgiving v. Chicago Bears (4-6) Elsewhere in the NFL Primetime: Steelers @ Browns (TNF), Eagles @ Rams (SNF), Ravens @ Chargers (MNF) 1:00pm: Chiefs @ Panthers, Vikings @ Bears, Titans @ Texans, Patriots @ Dolphins, Buccaneers @ Giants, Cowboys @ Commanders 4:05/4:25pm: Broncos @ Raiders, 49ers @ Packers, Cardinals @ Seahawks BYE: Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Saints, and Jets

For a characteristically smart franchise, they're bungling the handling of their offensive line. They put the cart before the horse when they signed him, just assuming Steve Avila could start as center, since he did in college at TCU. Then when Avila was not a capable center in camp, they picked home grown Avila over Jackson at LG, and pigeon holed Jackson into a position he extremely rarely played here. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that the big money guard you signed isn't a great center. But now they're stuck with one too many guards and one too few center.

Seeing Brad Allen as the referee on Sunday Night Football.... still haven't forgiven him. Can't wait until he gets a game at Ford Field again. Might not be this year.... might not be next.... but we will remember. Decker reported, you idiot! BOOOOOOOOOOOO

Back and well rested by postseason.

Khan was probably preparing paperwork at halftime.

The Bears are good for NOTHING

Salt meet wound.

Good for Rakestraw to get some snaps too, I’m assuming he’s the replacement.

Walking into Ford Field today feels like a reverse of 2021. We know the outcome, the question is only how ugly will it get?

Lions 31 Jags 17 We don’t need to embarrass them, it’s not like they’re the Cowboys

I've just learned my lesson, because I cited to this stat when I wasn't ready to fire Matt Patricia in 2019. How naïve of me. Or - as I would claim now - I just knew that Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes would be prepared to take it over in 2020.

Losing close does nothing but save bad coaches’ jobs. Matt Patricia would have been 8-7-1 in his penultimate season under this metric. Lot of good that did us.

Neither invoked any fear in me watching that game. Both were meh. Of course, they'd each say the same thing about us after watching last Sunday.

I don't expect LaPorta to go, because we should not need him Sunday anyway. Decker is trending in the right direction. Concerning to see Iffy go back to limited though.

I think the stats paint a worse picture than he actually performed Sunday Night. He was bad, but he wasn't dreadful like 15/30 for 240 yards, 2 TDs, and 5 INTs looks. The first two picks were both deflected, which - in an ideal world, passes aren't getting deflected, yes - but I still think there is a BABIP element of luck there. The third was a Hail Mary that doesn't get thrown if time isn't expiring. It's just the last two, both in the 3rd quarter, that I would say are on Goff. The 4th was a good decision and a terrible throw, if he hits LaPorta in stride it's probably 1st and Goal if not a touchdown. And the 5th was just a blunder. He had Jamo in single coverage as his first look, but Jamo wasn't ready for it. Goff just threw it up there as if Jamo was Calvin and could just jump up and grab anything in the zip code. Bizarro. From that point on though, really for the last 18 minutes of the game, he was the Goff we've come to know and love. He made a beautiful floating over the shoulder check down to Gibbs late in the 3rd that went for 33, and made the throws he needed to to put Bates in a position to win that game. From that throw I mentioned on, he was 7/9 for 79 yards and a touchdown. I don't expect any hangover, I think we will see MVP Goff again.

Sheila Hamp got snubbed. Bulletin board material.

Bears fired the OC. Definitely not a scapegoat move or anything.

At 8-1, the Lions have posted their best start since 1954, when they started 8-1 in route to a 9-3-1 season, capped by a 56-10 NFL Championship loss to the Browns. That team tied its tenth game. A win against Jacksonville would change the historical tracker to the inaugural Detroit Lions season of 1934, where they began 10-0, with a disappointing 0-3 finish, all three games lost by only three points, missing out on the NFL Championship Game. Looking ahead, the Lions have never as a franchise recorded more than 12 wins in the regular season. They would need to finish 5-4 or better to break that record.

It felt like a little bit of that was going on last year against the Ravens, when they came in ranked #1 in a bunch of power rankings. To a lesser degree the game against the Panthers in 2022 as well (though that game was fluky in its own right). I think a lot of the Dan Campbell mantra and attitude is giving it 110% every down of every game, running through a brick wall to get to the ball carrier, or to get the extra yard. And I think that while that is obviously extremely successful, it isn't always attainable every down of every game at the NFL level. You'll have times by week 11 when you're just not on your A-game, and that's okay. You regroup and give it 110% the next week. That is to say, I agree that if they finish 16-1 I don't think it's spells bad news for the playoffs. I just also don't think 14-3 is bad, in the grand scheme of a season arc.

I think that transition too is as much psychological as it is skillset too. Remember going from middle school football to JV, or JV to varsity. All of a sudden those hits from linebackers were hitting a little different, those players were a little smarter and faster. I have to imagine going from college (even at a place like USC) to the NFL, that difference is magnified 10x over. The spotlight is even brighter, the schemes are more complex, and there are so many moving parts that your college brain never had to comprehend. It's easy to see how even a guy like Williams or Lawrence could drown under that expectation. It's so much better when you can gradually introduce them to all that. They'll still be getting cameras shoved in their face, but by week ten if they're the backup, and the coach is doing his job even if they're 1-9 by saying "NO he is not coming in this year," they're not the main story anymore. You mention Stafford, but even Stafford missed 19 games his first two years due to injury. The "injury prone bust" verbiage was getting thrown around quite a bit by his 3rd year. The 2009 injuries included a dislocated knee on a sack, a separated shoulder on a hit (in that crazy game against the Browns), and then re-injuring that shoulder later on, which landed him on IR. Then in 2010 he hurt the shoulder yet again and had to get a second surgery on it. Who knows if he'd be the same QB without having sat for much of 2009 and 2010, but I'm sure those injuries did teach him about how to absorb (and NOT absorb) contact in the NFL.