NYLion

That game was a microcosm of what a young team is all about, both Orlando and Detroit. Big ups and downs, but It was highly entertaining to watch. The biggest thing that stuck out to me is that I didn't expect Duren to make this much impact this soon. Just one game but he looked like a young Amare Stoudemire out there, a better defensive version. Very impressive and I'll be interested to see how Casey monitors his minutes when Noel and Bagley return. I don't know if he's ready to be a starter yet but he's a better fit than Stewart if they insist on having Bey and Bogjanovic on the court at the same time. Ivey is a blur, as we knew already, but what I liked about his game tonight is that he was largely under control which is his biggest question mark. If he can learn how to play a different paces, look out league. IT won't be discussed much but CoJo and Hayes really kept this team afloat when it looked like Orlando was going to blow them out. They kicked off the comeback with CoJo's shotmaking and both of their defensive intensity, along with Duren. Bogdanovic awesome, exactly the type of vet that they need. Fun game overall. Loads of talent on both sides. Wagner is really impressive, I never thought in a million years that he'd be this good as a pro but he's the real deal.

Sure but when you're up by 10 midway through the 4th with the ball, you should expect to win every time. I get that there is a bigger picture thing and the Lions are still a ways off from being a good team but it doesn't make the frustration any less when they completely self destruct in a very winnable game.

The injuries are ridiculous. At one point, their two biggest offensive weapons (St. Brown and Swift) were limping off simultaneously in the 4th quarter of a close game, then Reynolds hurts himself trying to catch a ball when he's wide open and limps off the next play. That's the Lions in a nutshell right there. Still, they blew this game, flat out. Coaching and players both, choked. Oh and why was Hutch even out there? He was a ghost most of this game and I bet he was playing injured. I haven't even touched on Tracy Walker yet. Oh and that their prized 1st rounder, two 2nd rounders and 3rd rounder can't get on the field. What a mess

Some of the 4th down calls were fine but it was too much. At some point, you can't coach this game like a video game. Going for it near lidfield in the 2nd quarter I believe, was one that I vehemently disagreed with. I'm just an armchair coach but there's too many instances when I find myself thinking that Campbell coaches like an amateur at times. He's not a rookie coach anymore, he needs to start learning from his mistakes.

In the end, they choked the game away. There's no excuse for losing the game the way they did.

One mistake? Wasting timeouts AGAIN, going for the field goal from a mile away, went to the well too many times with 4th down calls, no creativity in the run game when they had the lead, going deep on a 3rd and 1 up by 10, Williams to the outside on 4th down. A few others as well. Just like the Eagles game, too many head scratching decisions.

SOL. Campbell is a complete amateur as a head coach. Way too many mistakes AGAIN to count right now. Very likeable guy, not suited to be a head coach IMO.

I know it's a subjective award but I have a hard time putting Curry ahead of the back to back MVP. It's Giannis and Jokic then you can make an argument for #3 among Curry, Embiid and Luka.

He has 17 TDs and 2 INTs in his last 7 games. I'm not sure what else can be expected of him. He's missed some throws but who doesn't? I say this as somebody who was not a Goff fan at all at the time of trade but he's been good pretty much since Lynn was let go and they let him throw beyond 3 yards. If an upgrade is available (Lamar for instance) then it should be explored but I actually think this offense suits Goff very well with the elite offensive line, good running game and guys like Swift and Amon Ra who live in the intermediate and closer range are benefitting greatly from an accurate QB like Goff. I see your concerns with Jamo's potential not being maximized because Goff isn't great on the long range throw but Jamo is much more than just a run deep and catch guy so he'll be fine. Minnesota will be a good test. Lions QBs typcially get eaten alive in Minnesota for as long as I can remember so if they can put up a good offensive performance in that stadium, I'd be impressed even if this isn't a vintage Minny defense.

Not much to dislike about this trade. The Pistons got the better player who fills a bigger need, the better trade chip if need be and clear even more cap space next offseason. Weaver's been killing it the last few trades after a few questionable ones in the past. Confusing trade for Utah but Ainge is a confusing GM (president or whatever his title is over there).

What's even more encouraging is that the offense hasn't been whole yet and several guys are underachieving. They have this dynamic nuclear weapon on the shelf waiting to be used in Jamo then you have guys like Chark and Hockenson who have more to give so there's still big growth potential even beyond what they've done these first two weeks. An offense like this will give them a chance to win most games. As usual in the NFL, most of these games will have razor thin margins that will decide most games but at least the Lions now have the horses, on offense in particular, to compete every week.

Also, Goff has 17 TDs and 2 INTs in his last 7 games. I know the competition hasn't been great but....damn.

It's an imperfect team so there will be imperfect performances. The fact that the offense is humming like this with more than half of their offensive line starters out (and their top backup guard) as well as their prized rookie receiver is a really good sign going forward I'd think. The defense is going to have issues all season especially with the injuries on the D-line so just have to hope the offense outscores their problems going forward. Next week should be another shootout.

I missed the game unfortunately but caught up on the highlights and Amon Ra is confirming what I've already known about him, that he will be an elite receiver in this league if he's not already. He's basically another Cooper Kupp with his uncanny ability to always get open and evade defenders despite the lack of any elite athletic traits. He has a special competitive drive as well, you can just see when he interviews that he has that intensity that few others have. Hell of a pick Brad Holmes, it makes up for the 2nd round miss in that draft.

Honestly, I don't even blame Goff for that. The coaches played him in exactly one series the entire preseason so it was no wonder that he and the receivers were out of sync in the first half. I hate to keep harping on the coaches but it seemed like they really didn't have the team prepared for this game for the most part, first offensive drive not withstanding. Regardless, there were enough positives to not continually harping on the loss so chalk it up to another hard lesson learned (hopefully) for both coaches and players.

These are NFL receivers, they need to make those catches. The Reynolds drop in particular was a killer down by 10 early in the 4th then they have to punt. It wasn't a picture perfect pass but plenty accurate enough for Reynolds to bring it in and he had plenty of room to run thereafter so that's likely at least 3 points on that drive that were left on the field. Jamal Williams dropped one right in his hands, same with Amon Ra. I can't remember the 2-3 other drops offhand but I seem to recall at the time that the receivers should have had it. I'm not the biggest Goff fan but he played well enough to win this game. The offense scored 35 points and could have had more if not for the drops. The problem was, right up until the last drive, that the defense couldn't stop the Eagles. They were in position to make tackles in the backfield countless times (Hutch had at least 2 clear opportunities in the 1st alone, the one on 3rd down in the backfield on the final drive among many others) but they couldn't get the Eagles runners to the ground. I know the talent is deficient but it's time for Glenn to earn some of these accolades that people constantly throw his way.

Good effort to get back in it, reminded me of the San Francisco game last year. I don't usually complain about the coaching outside of this game thread but coaching really did them in (not putting a spy on Hurts early, wasted timeouts, dumb onside kick). They will continue to lose close games if they don't clean stuff like that up.

Coaching staff, Holmes, whoever. This is supposed to be their "adrenaline" game at home to start the season and they've been destroyed in this game. I didn't expect them to be Philly but at least be competitive, show a pulse.

The coaching has been horrendous. Yes, lack of talent, but to turn a blind eye to how poor the coaching is is missing the what's going on in this game.

Same mistakes he made last season. He talks about "no turds allowed", he should look in the mirror when making statements like that.

SOL. It's never going to change

First drive was fun then they showed us who they really are after that, as expected really.

They'll be fine. The NFC is really weak. All they need to do is get in the playoffs and they'll be one of the favorites to go to the Super bowl.

I think the 49ers are a good comparable for high end outcome for the Eagles but the 49ers have the best Front 7 in the league, they're special. I don't see the Eagles defense on that level. I'm just saying that the Eagles have no pedigree to believe that they're going to all of a sudden jump into the upper echelon of the league this season. As I posted earlier, 9-8 losing to every good team they played. Is AJ Brown and their draft picks THAT much of a difference maker? We'll see, but I'm skeptical. They could win that division but that would be by default since the rest of the division is el stinko including Jerruh's 'Boys who could very well take a step back this season.

Not too many really. I guess you can say Foles as a fairly recent example (funny enough, an Eagles QB) but Wentz played at an MVP level a good chunk of that year to put them in position to make a playoff run. Of course there's the possibility that Hurts can grow into the role and the Eagles did have a nice offseason/draft but they've brought a lot of guys back from a 9-8 team that got blasted in the wildcard round by a Tampa team that was ravaged by injuries. These were their wins last year (Washington x2, Giants, Jets New Orleans, Detroit, Denver, Carolina and Atlanta), they didn't beat one playoff team and most of those teams weren't even close to the playoffs, so I just don't get why some folks are crowning them as a great team that can make a legit SB run. They're better than the Lions for sure and should be favored this week but I'm not seeing a team that's in the upper echelon of the league.