Hart

Staying healthy is at least somewhat a skill and it's a huge issue for Swift. He's extremely talented and you want to get him the ball when he is healthy but you can't more than a few times per game because you will just run him into an injury.

Trust me, I am the last person to drink the blue kool aid.

I don't mind Campbell taking risks because it is appears we suck again. But that is not a long term solution for a team that doesn't seem to draft well, develop talent, or be able to coach players to outperform expectations.

The Lions needed to load up on defense in the draft and instead used a lot of their draft capital to acquire Jameson Williams. We'll see how that turns out long term but I am suspicious that was a good decision.

I am not convinced with how they are using Hutchinson either. The first few games they did not line him up wide enough. They are at least doing better with that now. But he did not line up in a three point stance very often last year for Michigan and the Lions use him exclusively that way. Maybe it doesn't make a difference but maybe it does.

I agree to an extent. Hurts is not a good match up for us because we don't have instinctive linebackers who can run. At the same time, I think our defense is probably bottom third in the league over the 17 game schedule. It's not just the bad matchup issue.

Expectations matter though too. The defense doesn't have as much talent as the offense. After the first drive, the Lions went punt, punt, punt, punt, pick 6. They bear some responsibility. We know we are going to need to outscore teams. Plus, we saw this last year. The Lions get down big and then make a comeback when defenses let up a bit.

Yeah. He blew into the backfield a few times early and Hurts went right around him. Played a lot more conservative after that. I still didn't like how the Lions used him overall though.

Just catching pieces of the Cowboys-Bucs and jealous of how the Cowboys use Parons as a stand up edge rusher, which is also how MacDonald used Hutch at Michigan. I am really bummed the Lions are using Hutch pretty much exclusively in a three point stance and moving him all over the line.

I've always wanted the Lions to have an outdoor stadium. But Ford Field is about as good as you can get for something indoors.

If he can stay healthy, he should have a big season.

The big debate at the time was whether Stafford was part of the problem or the solution. I think we have our answer on that now. If he was willing to play for us, then the rebuild should have started with him. You can turn things around quickly in the NFL but you really need a quarterback and that is by far the hardest part of the equation. I really wanted to see what Stafford would do once we moved on from Patricia.

Do you really think Stafford was ready to retire? I think the Lions had some leverage there.

You have to have a good back seven against the Eagles because Hurts negates your pass rush with his legs. And the Lions don't.

Make him sit out the season.

The moment we traded Stafford, this became a four or five your rebuild. That is unacceptable in the NFL and also why it was a bad trade. Two years wasted on Goff and then two or three more years trying to figure out if we found our qb of the future.

I bet Hutchinson lined up in a three point stance less than 25% of his snaps last year at Michigan. He is 100% in a three point stance so far for the Lions, as he was in the pre-season. You are not going to get #2 pick production out of him if you don't line him wider like a quasi rush linebacker.

Too bad one of Rogers or Haase does not hit left handed. It would make that a more natural platoon situation.

I also wonder if Haase is actually bad as a defensive catcher as people think. That's a hard thing to measure as a fan. A guy gets a reputation as a bad defensive catcher early in his career and then it is hard to change people's minds.

Should we feel good if we go into Spring Training next year with Eric Haase as our primary catcher? Seems like nobody ever talks about him as anything more than a backup. But a .750 OPS from a catcher over roughly his last 700 at bats is nothing to sneeze at. I don't watch enough games at this point in the season to really notice his defense but I have a hard time believing we could do better than him in the offseason.

I was initially against the defensive shift rules. But I saw some quotes from Carlos Correa that mentioned fans like more action at games. Which is true. We do need more action and this is an easy way to get it. I'd be curious to know how many players favor it vs how many are against it.

He did have over 80 pithes after 6 though. That's usually grounds for taking a young pitcher out so he ends on a positive note.

Earlier in the season, I think Manning would have come out after 6th. I wonder if the Tigers are saying screw it...babying these guys as much as we have certainly has not been working.

Carpenter with two fly outs today. Seems to put the ball in the air a lot when he makes contact which is a very good sign. That was a really nice piece of hitting on that sac fly.

I always loved Andrus. I doubt he has a resurgence in him at this point in his career but I would love to see him in a Tigers uniform to find out.