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Week Thirteen: Detroit Lions (8-3) @ New Orleans Saints (5-6)


MichiganCardinal

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LIONSLOGOGDT.png.ac790cc16a52e2206a9ef6206ebb95b5.png          vs.          saintslogo.png.f3e07575ee378c16064fd704bfaaccd1.png

Setting: 12/03/2023, 1:00pm on FOX

Site: Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA

Weather: Climate Controlled

Opening Spread: Lions -3

All-Time Series Record: Saints lead, 14-12-1

Last Meeting: 10/04/2020, Saints won 35-29

 

New Orleans Saints (5-6)

Head Coach: Dennis Allen (5th Season: 20-44)

Projected Starting QB: Derek Carr (10th Season: 68-85)

Last Game: 24-15 L @ Atlanta Falcons (5-6)

Looking Ahead to Week #14: Sunday v. Carolina Panthers (1-10)

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Your Detroit Lions (8-3)

Head Coach: Dan Campbell (3rd Season: 20-24-1)

Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (8th Season: 62-48-1)

Last Week: 29-22 L v. Green Bay Packers (5-6)

Looking Ahead to Week #14: Sunday @ Chicago Bears (3-8)*

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Elsewhere in the NFL

Primetime: Seahawks @ Cowboys (TNF), Chiefs @ Packers (SNF), Bengals @ Jaguars (MNF)

1:00pm: Chargers @ Patriots, Falcons @ Jets, Cardinals @ Steelers, Colts @ Titans, Dolphins @ Commanders, Broncos @ Texans

4:05/4:25pm: Panthers @ Buccaneers, Browns @ Rams, 49ers @ Eagles

BYE: Ravens, Bills, Bears, Raiders, Vikings, Giants

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Don’t feel good about this game.  Lions haven’t played a good game in 2 months.  Now they are on the road against a QB who can shred.  Feels like the lions are coming down to earth.  The defense has gotten progressively worse and Campbell has asked Glenn to make no adjustments.  They don’t blitz.  They can’t cover and they have zero pass rush.   Lions defense has been worst in the league since week 7, no one has been worse.  Goff has gone back to 2021 Goff and throws a lot of ducks.

We will see how the week goes but first thought is Saints 31, Lions 24.  

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One pattern that could be emerging... We have lost to two great coaches this year in Carroll and Harbaugh, and split with a good one in LaFleur, while beating one great coach in Reid and beating up on mediocre to bad coaching in Arthur Smith, Todd Bowles, Frank Reich, Josh McDaniels, and Brandon Staley.

Certainly there is some element of chicken-and-egg here, good coaches tend to have good teams, but Dennis Allen would definitely be the worst coach we have lost to this season, and be the first loss to a team with a clearly worse coach than Campbell. I think I like the Lions here. They have the better roster top to bottom and seem too talented to not bounce back.

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1 minute ago, RandyMarsh said:

While its not literally a must win I feel like this is an important game to win. Dont even want the thought of collapsing to start creeping up in people's minds and I think back to back losses to inferior teams could bring that. 

 

I agree. It’s due time for them to come out and play a complete four quarter game how they did against Carolina this year, Jacksonville last year, or Arizona the year before. Show people you are legit.

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1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I agree. It’s due time for them to come out and play a complete four quarter game how they did against Carolina this year, Jacksonville last year, or Arizona the year before. Show people you are legit.

On board with this... wanna see a complete game dismantling of an inferior team.

 

1 hour ago, RandyMarsh said:

While its not literally a must win I feel like this is an important game to win. Dont even want the thought of collapsing to start creeping up in people's minds and I think back to back losses to inferior teams could bring that. 

The only thing I would disagree with is that I don't believe Green Bay is an inferior team; so it wouldn't be back-to-back...

I think Green Bay is like we were last year, up-and-coming and... dangerous.

I think that's what caught the Lions, players and coaches, by surprise last week. They were surprised at how dangerous these new Packers are... I mean, I know they prepare fully for each team so that there are no surprises, or shouldn't be... But the Packers "Out-Lined" them, both offensive and defensive lines. The same thing that the Ravens did earlier in the year.

That was a... surprise. IMO.

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3 minutes ago, buddha said:

i dont think the packers are "up and coming", i think goff played badly and the defense cant get any pressure.  turn the ball over and lose.

 

I think the Packers are just a well coached team with mediocre talent. You can’t lose the turnover battle by 3 (4 if you count the failed fake) to a team like that and expect to win the game.

That’s not even mentioning that their script to start the game scored two easy touchdowns on your defense.

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New Orleans is a **** team that has some key injuries, this would be a really bad loss and signal a collapse if the Lions don't win this one. Not saying "must win" but they need to get their game back on track and Goff in particular needs to take care of the ball, something he was so good at until the Ravens game and hasn't been the same since Chargers game notwithstanding.

Edited by NYLion
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2 minutes ago, MIguy said:

If the Lions lose this game, they might not win another game all season.  For those saying I'm full of it, point out to me on their remaining schedule where the wins are.  

They're gonna be favored in every game the rest of the way except for Dallas and maybe at Minny if they are still playing well. 

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1 minute ago, RandyMarsh said:

They're gonna be favored in every game the rest of the way except for Dallas and maybe at Minny if they are still playing well. 

Which means what exactly?  I'm looking at the teams left on the schedule, how those teams have been playing, and in the case of the Bears, how they've already matched up against the Lions.  

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Just now, MIguy said:

Which means what exactly?  I'm looking at the teams left on the schedule, how those teams have been playing, and in the case of the Bears, how they've already matched up against the Lions.  

It means the Lions are a good team with a lot of talent on the roster. They’ve played poorly the last five weeks and are still 3-2 in that time and 8-3 overall. Even if they continue to play poorly, they’ll likely hang with the teams on their schedule and find at least a win or two, barring a total collapse. They’re a good team.

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7 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It means the Lions are a good team with a lot of talent on the roster. They’ve played poorly the last five weeks and are still 3-2 in that time and 8-3 overall. Even if they continue to play poorly, they’ll likely hang with the teams on their schedule and find at least a win or two, barring a total collapse. They’re a good team.

Lions have beaten 1 team with a winning record and that was on opening night against a team missing 2 of its top 3 players.

Obviously the Lions offense can put up some points but that doesn't make them a good team.  

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Everybody loses when they are -3 for turnovers. 

We need Jonah Jackson back. The OL has not worked without him, and Goff has not been able to hold on to the ball.

Does Irvin get activated on Sunday? Does he have anything left in the tank? Can Houston and/or CJGJ get activated by the Dallas game? If not, Detroit is going to have to put up 38 points to win most of the games left on the schedule  

 

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14 minutes ago, MIguy said:

Lions have beaten 1 team with a winning record and that was on opening night against a team missing 2 of its top 3 players.

Obviously the Lions offense can put up some points but that doesn't make them a good team.  

I don’t like that argument for saying the Lions aren’t good. They’re 1-2 against teams with a winning record, and they’ll be 1-1 if the Seahawks lose to the Cowboys on Thursday. You can’t lose games you don’t play. I think it’s more important that they’re 7-1 against teams with a losing record. They win games they should win. Speaking of the Cowboys, they’re 0-2 against teams with a winning record. Does that mean if they lose to the Seahawks they’ll finish 8-9?

If you want to say the Lions are not one of the top 3-5 teams in the NFL, I’ll agree with you. Because that’s the only group that consistently beats teams with winning records. But I think it’s silly to say that means they’ll finish 8-9 if they don’t beat the Saints.

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11 minutes ago, buddha said:

the difference is the turnovers.  if goff continues to play like this they will continue to lose.  they were lucky to beat the bears turning it over as many times as they did.

I agree with this. The lack of turnovers was the biggest key to the Lions success down the stretch last season. Goff had that remarkable consecutive streak without a pick and everyone was taking care of the ball.

They’ve averaged 2.25 turnovers and giving up 27 points per game in the last five. Those need to improve.

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42 minutes ago, buddha said:

the difference is the turnovers.  if goff continues to play like this they will continue to lose.  they were lucky to beat the bears turning it over as many times as they did.

Precisely. In an odd way, it's kind of encouraging that they beat the Raiders, Bears and were somewhat within striking distance of Green Bay (should have been closer if it wasn't for that idiotic fake punt call) considering that they heavily lost the turnover battle in each game. 10-2 in those 3 games.

If the Lions are relatively even in turnovers even with a shaky defense, there's no reason they can't go 4-2 but that's a big IF considering what we've seen 3 of the last 4 weeks against teams they should have beaten, by more in the case of the Raiders and Bears.

It's mostly on Goff. I believe 9 of those 10 turnovers came from him with the Reynolds return fumble against the Bears being the lone exception. Actually the Reynolds "fumble" against the Raiders too near the goal line so 8 in 3 games by Goff. That needs to be cut down on significantly.

Edited by NYLion
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