Week Five: Detroit Lions (3-1) @ Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)

[MichiganCardinal]

          vs.          

Setting: 10/05/2025 4:25pm EST on FOX

Site: Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH

Weather: 86° High / 55° Low, 6% chance of rain, 5mph wind

Opening Spread: Lions -8.5

All-Time Series Record: Bengals lead, 10-3

Last Meeting: 10/17/2021, Bengals won 34-11

 

Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)

Head Coach: Zac Taylor (7th Season: 48-54-1)

Projected Starting QB: Jake Browning (7th Season: 4-5)

Last Game: 28-3 L @ Denver Broncos (2-2)

Looking Ahead to Week #6: Sunday @ Green Bay Packers (2-1-1)

 

Your Detroit Lions (3-1)

Head Coach: Dan Campbell (5th Season: 42-29-1)

Projected Starting QB: Jared Goff (10th Season: 84-53-1)

Last Game: 34-10 W vs. Cleveland Browns (1-3)

Looking Ahead to Week #6: Sunday Night @ Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)

 

Elsewhere in the NFL

Primetime: 49ers @ Rams (TNF), Patriots @ Bills (SNF), Chiefs @ Jaguars (MNF)

9:30am: Vikings @ Browns (in London, England)

1:00pm: Texans @ Ravens, Dolphins @ Panthers, Raiders @ Colts, Giants @ Saints, Cowboys @ Jets, Broncos @ Eagles 

4:05/4:25pm: Titans @ Cardinals, Buccaneers @ Seahawks, Commanders @ Chargers 

BYE: Falcons, Packers, Bears, and Steelers 

[Motown Bombers]

Can’t believe it’s already been more games with the Lions. 

[Motown Bombers]

When you want to blame the coaches for the play call, there’s a good chance Goff changed the call. It’s also a good chance he checked into the play with receivers running wide open. 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

When you want to blame the coaches for the play call, there’s a good chance Goff changed the call. It’s also a good chance he checked into the play with receivers running wide open.

Yeah but he’s not mobile so he’s not good, don’t you watch ESPN?

[MichiganCardinal]

Line actually started at -7.5 on this and has already moved to -10. Usually that would mean it ends up close, because it’s the NFL, but I don’t know.

The Bengals have been outscored 76-13 the last two weeks. The Lions have outscored their opponents 72-40. These teams feel on complete different ends of the football spectrum right now.

[RandyMarsh]

5 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

When you want to blame the coaches for the play call, there’s a good chance Goff changed the call. It’s also a good chance he checked into the play with receivers running wide open. 

 

Yep one of the reasons Goff will never be accurately judged by fans and the "experts".  The things he excels at are things that are hard to quantify and/or are taken for granted. It will forever bug me how people judge QBs by the things they can do when everything goes to hell but not judge them the 80-90% time things do actually go according to plan. 

People take for granted just how good Goff is in those ideal situations(which he creates for himself many of times by his vision), yes every QB is better when they are in said spots but Goff is on an even higher level than others in those scenarios. 

 

Edited September 30 by RandyMarsh

[MichiganCardinal]

I think a lot of Goff's being undervalued is due to the modern media age of Red Zone, TikTok, and even just SportsCenter Top 10. Mahomes, Allen, and Lamar are apt to make the flashy play, the play you see a million times from Monday to Thursday. Goff is apt to make the adjustment pre-play that gives him a wide open ASB to put a game on ice, or masterfully work through his progressions and hit his third option in stride. He's so good at what he does, but what he does is not flashy.

Those who know ball know just how elite Goff is. But the average NFL consumer does not know ball as well as they think they know ball.

[RandyMarsh]

I think people also take for granted the rate Goff makes "easy" throws. The haters will say "anybody can hit a wide open receiver" and while that is true even the best don't complete the throws at the rate Goff does.

It is a rarity for Goff to miss an open receiver and fans take that for granted, QBs miss open receivers all the time, most at a rate much higher than Goff but instead of focusing on all the extra completions and yards Goff will give you a game by not being errant they will focus on the couple plays a game that he doesn't make that others may due to his lack of mobility. 

[Motown Bombers]

A narrative was also created when he got dumped from the Rams. Goff was only 26 when he came to the Lions. Go look up Stafford when he was 26. His numbers were worse than Goff's. Goff really compares favorably to Brees. Did anyone say Brees is a product of Sean Payton? Did anyone always mention the elite running game he had with Ingram and Kamara? Did anyone mention the elite receivers in Cooks and Michael Thomas? How about the elite TE in Jimmy Graham? Or the 3+ Pro Bowlers on the offensive line?

[Sports_Freak]

4 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Line actually started at -7.5 on this and has already moved to -10. Usually that would mean it ends up close, because it’s the NFL, but I don’t know.

The Bengals have been outscored 76-13 the last two weeks. The Lions have outscored their opponents 72-40. These teams feel on complete different ends of the football spectrum right now.

And Cincy is coming off a short week. It's a trap i tell you, a trap!

 

[Motown Bombers]

A familiar name. 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

6 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

A familiar name. 

 

As long as he doesn't ever get called for hands to the face against Green Bay on MNF, I like the signing.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

14 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

People take for granted just how good Goff is in those ideal situations(which he creates for himself many of times by his vision), yes every QB is better when they are in said spots but Goff is on an even higher level than others in those scenarios. 

I dunno... I mean he's a decent QB and all, but his passer rating and accuracy are complete garbage when the opposing teams defense has their arms wrapped about him and are pulling him to the ground.

[Sports_Freak]

I hope he scores a TD or 2;

 

 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Motown Bombers]

Watched a clip of ESPN and they were talking about teams that could beat the Eagles and they mentioned the Lions in part because of their pedigree. When was the last time the Lions pedigree was not losing?

[Hongbit]

Paycor is going to be Ford Field South on Sunday.   Wouldn’t surprise me to see the largest number of Lions fans at a road game ever.

[Motown Bombers]

Why do I feel like the Millen man march was during a Bengals game? I feel like everyone was wearing orange. 

[MichiganCardinal]

4 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Paycor is going to be Ford Field South on Sunday.   Wouldn’t surprise me to see the largest number of Lions fans at a road game ever.

The tickets include instructions to wear either black or orange. Their plan was to make it a stripe out. The stripes are going to have blotches of honolulu blue chicken pox.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[sagnam]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

The tickets include instructions to wear either black or orange. Their plan was to make it a stripe out. The stripes are going to have blotches of honolulu blue chicken pox.

I’ll be wearing my black St Brown jersey. Does that count?

Edited October 1 by sagnam

[RandyMarsh]

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

Why do I feel like the Millen man march was during a Bengals game? I feel like everyone was wearing orange. 

I'm pretty sure it was, I remember I was a member of a different Lions board back then and Marvin Lewis and the Bengals were the darlings of all the members there around that time and the organization that most of the members pointed to when talking about a franchise that the Lions could strive to be. 

Edited October 1 by RandyMarsh

[MichiganCardinal]

My memory of Bengals games is the Christmas Eve loss to the Marvin Lewis led Bungals in 2017. Lions came in 8-6 absolutely needing a win to put themselves in playoff position. Bungals had already bungled the season, came in at 5-9. So naturally the Lions lost 26-17.

It was my last straw on Jim Caldwell.

[Motown Bombers]

14 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

My memory of Bengals games is the Christmas Eve loss to the Marvin Lewis led Bungals in 2017. Lions came in 8-6 absolutely needing a win to put themselves in playoff position. Bungals had already bungled the season, came in at 5-9. So naturally the Lions lost 26-17.

It was my last straw on Jim Caldwell.

That was the game the decision was likely made to hire Patricia.