Week One: Detroit Lions (0-0) @ Green Bay Packers (0-0)

[Motor City Sonics]

Yesterday was ugly as hell.   The O-Line has to get.  The new Coordinators have to sort it out.     There's a ton of talent on the team and they don't need to give up on anything.  Might be a bit of a down year, but this team is built for a 3-year run right now.  

And never give up on a game.  The Bills proved that last night.  Never give up.  

[romad1]

I can't say anything about yesterday.  Road loss where we couldn't be the 2024 Lions on offense.  No trick plays, no amazing runs.  Goff and his receivers were decent when he had a minute.  I trust that they will get the running game going with this level of talent.  

[RatkoVarda]

Goff is obviously one of the most immobile QBs around. It's not just the OL that needs to be good to keep him clean, it's also the play calling. Being aggressive and unpredictable allows the offense to dictate terms to the defense, and keeps him clean and incredibly effective.

Both the OL and the play-calling can be fixed, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say yesterday was a disaster, and one has to be concerned.

[Jason_R]

PFF numbers:

Hutch 56.8 (worst of career)

Sewell 54.5 (worst of career)

These are the team’s two best players. Both on HOF trajectory. These guys did not forget how to play football. This coaching staff just did not have them ready to play. 

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

How many times did Goff throw a pass over 10-15 yards yesterday? Once? Twice, maybe? He averaged 5.8 yards per pass yesterday, so it couldn't have happened that often. The play calling from Morton or whatever Goff opted or audibled into seemed to be almost entirely check down throws, without looking for a receiver downfield at all. There were two throws to St. Brown that extended beyond 10 yards that I remember off hand, but that seemed to be it. I know Green Bay was playing deeper with their secondary, but it didn't feel like Goff/Morton tried moving the ball downfield at all. It felt like the play calling and Goff's decision making was one check down after another.

Edited September 8 by Mr.TaterSalad

[romad1]

Goff missed seeing some open receivers i noted during a couple drives.  He was not his usual awesome.  He will get better. 

[Motown Bombers]

I started a new job and the worst thing I could have ever done is let it slip I’m a Lions fan. Now it’s endless what happened to the Lions talk.

[RedRamage]

48 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I started a new job and the worst thing I could have ever done is let it slip I’m a Lions fan. Now it’s endless what happened to the Lions talk.

The only thing worse than Lions fans overreacting to a loss is non-Lions fans overreacting to a loss.

[Sports_Freak]

8 hours ago, buddha said:

if this game doesnt worry you a bit, youre either very young or you just started rooting for the lions.  looked like old times in green bay.

it reminded me of that turkey day game a few years ago where the packers just killed us.  couldnt stop them all day.  

how long until dan campbell starts calling plays?  week 9?

There's a difference between"worrying a bit" and full fleged panic. Worried? Sure, a bit. Panic? Not yet. Like I said, the Lions lost their 2nd game last season and looked pretty bad. At home, against Tampa Bay. I was worried. And then they won the next 11 games. So yeah, losing sucks but how long has it been since we lost 2 in a row? 2023? I just hope nobody breaks an ankle or a leg when the jump off the Lions bandwagon. 😅😅

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

How many times did Goff throw a pass over 10-15 yards yesterday? Once? Twice, maybe? He averaged 5.8 yards per pass yesterday, so it couldn't have happened that often. The play calling from Morton or whatever Goff opted or audibled into seemed to be almost entirely check down throws, without looking for a receiver downfield at all. There were two throws to St. Brown that extended beyond 10 yards that I remember off hand, but that seemed to be it. I know Green Bay was playing deeper with their secondary, but it didn't feel like Goff/Morton tried moving the ball downfield at all. It felt like the play calling and Goff's decision making was one check down after another.

A QB need several seconds of protection to allow his receivers to get open 10 to 15 yards down the field. Our OL didn't give Goff the needed time. So yeah, he got gunshy. It happens, the Lions will be fine.

[Motown Bombers]

Not looking good for Morton. 

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RatkoVarda]

i have no idea what Reisman is trying to say

[buddha]

i'm not panicking after one game.  but i do think all the worries we had coming into the season were on display in that game.

no pass rush.  arnold isnt any better at cb.  the interior oline isnt the same without ragnow and zeitler.  the play calling on both sides of the ball isnt as good as last year.

its only one game.  and its a hard game too.  the packers are legit.  but the lions could not take advantage of the packers' weaknesses while the packers easily exploited the lions'.

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

i have no idea what Reisman is trying to say

There was nowhere for Goff to go with the ball. It looks like poor play design because there is no spacing. 

[RatkoVarda]

Just now, Motown Bombers said:

There was nowhere for Goff to go with the ball. It looks like poor play design because there is no spacing. 

no possibility it was good defense?

[Motown Bombers]

1 minute ago, RatkoVarda said:

no possibility it was good defense?

I think the second is, but that first one, all the receivers are running the same depth. There’s no pressure on the safeties, no spacing, nothing. The second one they dropped 8 into coverage and were constricted by the end zone. Still, there was no spacing and no one going over the top. 

[Nate7474]

4 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

no possibility it was good defense?

Sure that’s is always a factor. The first picture all 4 receivers are on the same level. Not typically a good concept if you are trying to stress a defense. 2nd picture it’s hard to tell it looks like 3 are bunch together so could have been a wrong route or also timing of the play not allowing for separation yet that just hasn’t happened yet in the route pattern. 
 

I believe that Greenbay had a great game plan of stopping the run and making Goff go to his check down quickly causing the short throws and they executed it by tackling well. 

[Hongbit]

My biggest concern was OL.  It’s a new group and their all pro player probably had his worst game as a pro.   I trust in Hank Fraley to get it figured it out.  He is one of the best.   They just need more time to gel.   Game plan and playcalls don’t matter much when your line is a sieve. Which brings me to the point of maybe it’s time to retire the play nobody strategy in preseason.   This is 2 years in a row the offense has started flat.    They can’t wait until week 4 to get I’d figured out this season or else they’ll be 1-3

Edited September 8 by Hongbit

[Jason_R]

3/5 of OL on the bottom six list. Also two DL, with Hutch not far behind, posting the worst PFF score of his career.  

The staff did not have this team ready to play. 

This was the case early last season also, but they hadn’t come out and laid an egg like this since Baltimore the year before. 

I think it is going to be up to Goff, Decker, and Sewell to fix the offense. Morton is going to have to be reminded of what this team does well on offense. 

I am less concerned about the defense. They did not look great, and there was some nonsense about dropping the ends into coverage that should get fixed, but they started to tighten up over the course of the game. 

[HugoD]

4 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

Goff is obviously one of the most immobile QBs around. It's not just the OL that needs to be good to keep him clean, it's also the play calling. Being aggressive and unpredictable allows the offense to dictate terms to the defense, and keeps him clean and incredibly effective.

Both the OL and the play-calling can be fixed, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say yesterday was a disaster, and one has to be concerned.

Yeah, it's both.  My initial thoughts yesterday were that play calls always look better with strong OL play.  This is for sure true, but I've come around to the idea that the play caller needs to adjust as well to the situation as it is.  I'm no expert, but it's not as thought the OL was/is a complete disaster that can't be accommodated.

[Nate7474]

Honestly I was thinking it during the preseason but gave the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt. However in light of this game I firmly believe it was a dumb mistake to not have the 3 IOL playing in the preseason. Other places as well but this one really sticks out. 

I know they talk about how with the joint practices they can get good looks while lowering the risk of injury but I just don’t agree. They looked average/bad the first couple weeks last season as well. Also how did Miami and Houston look this week. Did we really get that good of quality practices in? 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

i have no idea what Reisman is trying to say

he's trying to say the play doesnt seemed to be designed very well.

i guess.