Week Three: Atlanta Falcons (2-0) @ Detroit Lions (1-1)

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

this game is looking more and more like a loss.

I am of the opinion that stopping Atlanta from running at will and preventing Ridder from using his feet to pick up big 3rd downs will have a much bigger impact on the outcome than the availability of anyone on today’s injury report.  

[NYLion]

lol, I see this place has transformed into SOL mode. I sure hope the team isn't as defeatist as the fans are.

[MichiganCardinal]

I wonder how different the vibes here would be if the Lions had won a coin toss last Sunday.

[RedRamage]

23 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I am of the opinion that stopping Atlanta from running at will and preventing Ridder from using his feet to pick up big 3rd downs will have a much bigger impact on the outcome than the availability of anyone on today’s injury report.  

Agreed. I certainly don't love the injuries, but I'm more worried about the defense just performing.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, NYLion said:

lol, I see this place has transformed into SOL mode. I sure hope the team isn't as defeatist as the fans are.

 

58 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I wonder how different the vibes here would be if the Lions had won a coin toss last Sunday.

its not SOL or a coin toss, its that theyre beat up.  health is one of the most important aspects of success in the nfl.  do the lions beat kc if kelce is playing?  probably not.  if amon ra and decker are out it will be harder to win against a team that just might be better than i'm giving them credit for.

goff is better than ridder so hopefully that takes us past atlanta.  

[MichiganCardinal]

5 hours ago, buddha said:

 

its not SOL or a coin toss, its that theyre beat up.  health is one of the most important aspects of success in the nfl.  do the lions beat kc if kelce is playing?  probably not.  if amon ra and decker are out it will be harder to win against a team that just might be better than i'm giving them credit for.

goff is better than ridder so hopefully that takes us past atlanta.  

I agree they’re banged up but I’m not writing this off as a loss already.

On the offense, Glasgow was signed as a 6th starter. I’m not worried about the drop off from Vaitai to Glasgow. If Decker can’t go, Nelson is a downgrade no doubt, but he also mostly held his own last wwwk notwithstanding a play or two. ASB is most concerning, because we don’t have a lot of depth there. If they won’t let Gibbs run through the tackles there might be some drop off from Montgomery to Knight/Reynolds, but not enough to make a win a loss.

On the defense, Walker is probably a week one starter on nearly 31 teams. We need Harris to step up and do his job, but that’s not a new need.

Our depth is bending, I don’t think it’s broken like it was against the Cowboys last year.

Edited September 22, 2023 by MichiganCardinal

[Sports_Freak]

6 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I wonder how different the vibes here would be if the Lions had won a coin toss last Sunday.

Or if they would have scored a TD in the last 1:44 of regulation. Getting the ball at midfield....

[buddha]

15 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I agree they’re banged up but I’m not writing this off as a loss already.

On the offense, Glasgow was signed as a 6th starter. I’m not worried about the drop off from Vaitai to Glasgow. If Decker can’t go, Nelson is a downgrade no doubt, but he also mostly held his own last wwwk notwithstanding a play or two. ASB is most concerning, because we don’t have a lot of depth there. If they won’t let Gibbs run through the tackles there might be some drop off from Montgomery to Knight/Reynolds, but not enough to make a win a loss.

On the defense, Walker is probably a week one starter on nearly 31 teams. We need Harris to step up and do his job, but that’s not a new need.

Our depth is bending, I don’t think it’s broken like it was against the Cowboys last year.

im not writing it off as a loss, it just seems like they are the less healthy of the two teams and that usually leads to a loss.

hopefully they dont turn the ball over and atlanta does.

[RandyMarsh]

Looking at Atlanta's roster and they have alot better one than I realized particularly if you put more weight on how they have played thus far this year.

I penciled this one in as a win going into the season but maybe I didn't give Atlanta enough credit, still think the Lions are going to pull this one off just cause they have the QB advantage and are playing at home but it almost certainly won't be as easy as I thought it was gonna be going into the season.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Atlanta has only had 2 scoring drives this year that were 70 yards or more. So most of their scoring drives have been on a shortened or shorter field. If they aren't a team that drives the length of the field to score it seems to me like punting and backing them up deep in their own territory is better strategy then being super aggressive and going for it all the time.

[KL2]

23 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I wonder how different the vibes here would be if the Lions had won a coin toss last Sunday.

or you know played defense, so said coin toss wouldn't have mattered. 

[TP_Fan]

Reynolds showed up as questionable on the injury report too.

I don’t understand decker, plays a whole game and then gone forever.

Whats the purpose of spending so many resources in an OL when they can never play together. What, 1 game with all of them starting together?  Ridiculous. 

[buddha]

decker and vatai out.  montgomery doubtful.  amon ra and reynolds questionable.

[sagnam]

Vatai was hurt when Reynold ran into his back and rolled him up.  Need smarter players or better plays for dumb players.

[MichiganCardinal]

Sounds like he’s active. Hope he proves a point and shows why he should stay on the active roster.

 

[NYLion]

6 hours ago, TP_Fan said:

Reynolds showed up as questionable on the injury report too.

I don’t understand decker, plays a whole game and then gone forever.

Whats the purpose of spending so many resources in an OL wIt

hen they can never play together. What, 1 game with all of them starting together?  Ridiculous. 

It's football, injuries tend to happen. Outside of Vaitai, the starting offensive line pretty much played every game last season. Decker is missing his 2nd game, your definition of "forever" is a lot different than mine.

 

[TP_Fan]

35-24 falcons.  

[Motor City Sonics]

On 9/21/2023 at 3:08 PM, MichiganCardinal said:

I wonder how different the vibes here would be if the Lions had won a coin toss last Sunday.

I know, they can't come up with something better?  

[MichiganCardinal]

I expect a close one. Atlanta is better than many give them credit for. I think the offensive line will be just fine, and both teams will rely heavily on the run game.

Zonovan Knight 2+ TDs is +15000, just throwing that out there. I could see him being the goal line back.

I think the better team finds a way today after turning the game over last week.

Detroit 34 Atlanta 30

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I wish sportsbooks allowed you to bet on which rookie RB would be most likely to drop a pass that could have turned into a TD or big play.

[Tenacious D]

It’s not SOL, it’s just the number of injuries to key players that has me discouraged for today.  
 

[Motor City Sonics]

10 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

It’s not SOL, it’s just the number of injuries to key players that has me discouraged for today.  
 

Think about this.   They did not have CJ, Moseley or Vaitai at all last year.    They had to deal with O-Line injuries and they didn't really use Jay-Mo and they won 8 out of their last 10.      This is a really big game to see how they bounce back.  Last week's loss could have been a really good thing for them,  get them to stop believing their own hype a bit.   Atlanta's QB is not as experienced as the first two - and they beat one of them.    Lions have been getting plenty of QB pressures and hits and now they are facing a QB that might not be as elusive or savvy as the last two.   Time to stop getting close and finishing.  

It is about the defense.  We can't wait until week 7 or 8 for the switch to go on this year.   It has to go on now -- today.   

Something tells me Buggs is going to be a bit of a wrecking ball today. 

I want them to win this game like they did vs. Jacksonville last year and then go into Lambeau and beat them again on national TV. 

 

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

14 hours ago, TP_Fan said:

35-24 falcons.  

Agreed on the Falcons winning. My confidence in this defense is shaken right now. They have the worst pass rush in the league and it is only going to get worse with Houston not in there. This coaching staff's faith in Charles Harris is something to behold. The guy offers nothing right now, continues to get no pressure on the QB, and yet continues to get used as an every down DE. I want to see them bring 5 today, if they feel they have the personnel to do it.

We're also really going to test today whether or not our run defense is as good as advertised from the last two weeks. They did a good job limiting both Isiah Pacheco and KWIII the past two weeks. Bijan (we could have had him) might just be one of the top RBs in the league already. He's going to put this defensive line to the test early and often. Let's hope we don't get abused and this improve run D is for real.

The secondary, which is supposed to be Glenn's forte, is all out of sync right now. If they continue to play Jerry Jacobs deep and off the defender, he will continue to get burned. They need to let him play in tighter coverage and be a bit more aggressive, not get killed in a softer zone coverage in space.

I hope we see a lot more of Gibbs in today's running game as well. You don't draft a RB in the first round if he isn't going to be your workhorse. Gibbs needs 20+ touches between running and receiving. He needs to be utilize in the vein of an Alvin Kamara and thus far the coaching staff has worked him in to positions as opposed to just putting him out there to be the guy.

[number20]

I'm hoping the Lions win today.

That's it. That's my entire post.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

10 minutes ago, number20 said:

I'm hoping the Lions win today.

That's it. That's my entire post.

Am I hoping they win as a fa, of course. Do I think they will, probably not at this point. Aaron Glenn needs to do something to restore confidence in this defense.