Week Fifteen: Detroit Lions (8-5) @ Los Angeles Rams (10-3)

[TP_Fan]

Spikes it to end the game. How fitting.  Worst coaching job imaginable.  

[Motown Bombers]

I mean, we do know the Rams would be defending the sidelines right? 

[MichiganCardinal]

Meanwhile Sean Payton thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, gives Love a chance for no reason.

[lordstanley]

Just now, Motown Bombers said:

I mean, we do know the Rams would be defending the sidelines right? 

I don’t hate the play call up of a throw up the middle but you need to go down 2 seconds earlier than they did. Got it to the 40 and no more plays, but could have got to the 35 and had time to heave one up. 

[NYLion]

Meh, this season just never felt right. Still a chance for the playoffs but they need a hard reset this offseason, the coaching has been terrible, defense even worse and they look soft. Something is off with the group and it needs to get corrected.

[Motown Bombers]

1 minute ago, lordstanley said:

I don’t hate the play call up of a throw up the middle but you need to go down 2 seconds earlier than they did. Got it to the 40 and no more plays, but could have got to the 35 and had time to heave one up. 

I'm as big of a Goff guy as any, but he does not have the arm to heave it 75 yards down field. 

[MichiganCardinal]

If they miss the playoffs, and I still don't think they will, it's not a loss to the Rams that will cost them. It's the inexplicable loss to the Vikings who started the worst QB in the NFL. It's being 1-3 in the division.

[number20]

Well, today went pretty much as expected. Lions lose to Rams, figured the Bears would beat Cleveland, and the Packers would lose to Denver

[Motown Bombers]

They don't need a hard reset. This is a team that had a brutal schedule but will still likely win 10-11 games while sustaining some pretty serious injuries. This team is built for sustained success. The Ravens had seasons where they won 9-10 games mixed in with 12-13 win games. They don't need to do anything radical. 

[Sports_Freak]

5 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Meanwhile Sean Payton thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, gives Love a chance for no reason.

That was bad, real bad. Punt the ball, stupid! But Denver won, so it's all good.

[lordstanley]

So three times farily recently - down 3 to Minnesota, down 7 to Philly, down 7 to LA Rams - the Lions kicked off with around 2 minutes to go asking the defense to make a stop to get the ball back to tie. Failed each time. 

[Sports_Freak]

Just now, Motown Bombers said:

They don't need a hard reset. This is a team that had a brutal schedule but will still likely win 10-11 games while sustaining some pretty serious injuries. This team is built for sustained success. The Ravens had seasons where they won 9-10 games mixed in with 12-13 win games. They don't need to do anything radical. 

OL depth and secondary help. And some health luck for a change. Teams that advance in the playoffs aren't always the best team, sometimes it's the healthiest team 

[RatkoVarda]

Dan's insistence on running the ball between the tackles 20 times a game, when they have inexperienced and untalented interior linemen is just stupid

 

 

[NYLion]

7 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

They don't need a hard reset. This is a team that had a brutal schedule but will still likely win 10-11 games while sustaining some pretty serious injuries. This team is built for sustained success. The Ravens had seasons where they won 9-10 games mixed in with 12-13 win games. They don't need to do anything radical. 

Nothing radical but they need to look themselves in the mirror and reassess. The execution has been poor this season, coaching highly questionable and they've been very soft up front.  The schedule hasn't even been that bad, a lot of these teams like the Chiefs, Ravens and Eagles aren't as good as expected and the Bengals and Commanders didn't have their starting QBs.  They've beaten two above .500 teams, the Bucs who aren't that good and the Bears early in the season when the Bears weren't nearly as good as they are now. It's a mediocre Lions team, far cry from the Superbowl contender of the last two seasons, a sizeable step back.

Edited 23 hours ago by NYLion

[Sports_Freak]

Im not sure how healthy Seattle is but the Rams are hurting. Seattle/Rams play Thursday on a short week. And Watson is hurt for Green Bay. They play in Chicago on Saturday night.

[SeattleMike]

9 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

So three times farily recently - down 3 to Minnesota, down 7 to Philly, down 7 to LA Rams - the Lions kicked off with around 2 minutes to go asking the defense to make a stop to get the ball back to tie. Failed each time. 

Same with Packers as well I think. Last 4 losses all set up the same way and defense could not get a stop.

[number20]

4 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Im not sure how healthy Seattle is but the Rams are hurting. Seattle/Rams play Thursday on a short week. And Watson is hurt for Green Bay. They play in Chicago on Saturday night.

So is Parsons. Reports are he's believed to have torn his ACL

[Mr.TaterSalad]

29 minutes ago, NYLion said:

Meh, this season just never felt right. Still a chance for the playoffs but they need a hard reset this offseason, the coaching has been terrible, defense even worse and they look soft. Something is off with the group and it needs to get corrected.

Right from game one this season felt different. They've rarely ever been clicking on an cylinders all year. If the offense looks good, the the defense is a train wreck. If the defense has a good game, the offense is bad. The inconsistency is on Dan Campbell for sure. His teams have not be fully ready to play all season, in both sides of the ball. 

[Sports_Freak]

18 minutes ago, number20 said:

So is Parsons. Reports are he's believed to have torn his ACL

Wow. Just wow. I guess we need the bears to lose either against GB or against SF. And we need to win out. Pittsburgh here, in Minnesota and in Chicago. 

Tough task. Its been a while since we won 3 in a row. October 5th win was our last 3 in a row win.

Edited 22 hours ago by Sports_Freak

[lordstanley]

24 minutes ago, SeattleMike said:

Same with Packers as well I think. Last 4 losses all set up the same way and defense could not get a stop.

Yes, you are correct. I missed that one. So 4 times in past 7 games, in a 3W 4L stretch. 

[number20]

9 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Wow. Just wow. I guess we need the bears to lose either against GB or against SF. And we need to win out. Pittsburgh here, in Minnesota and in Chicago. 

Tough task. Its been a while since we won 3 in a row. October 5th win was our last 3 in a row win.

They should beat the Vikings and Steelers, but I wouldn't count on either game with this schizophrenic team.

In all likelihood it'll come down to that final game with the Bears (who, by the way, now get to play the Packers with no Parsons, no Watson, no Reed, and no Zach Tom)

[Sports_Freak]

 

[Adullin]

That's a touchdown apparently 

[number20]

1 hour ago, NYLion said:

Nothing radical but they need to look themselves in the mirror and reassess. The execution has been poor this season, coaching highly questionable and they've been very soft up front.  The schedule hasn't even been that bad, a lot of these teams like the Chiefs, Ravens and Eagles aren't as good as expected and the Bengals and Commanders didn't have their starting QBs.  They've beaten two above .500 teams, the Bucs who aren't that good and the Bears early in the season when the Bears weren't nearly as good as they are now. It's a mediocre Lions team, far cry from the Superbowl contender of the last two seasons, a sizeable step back.

Who knows how the rest of the season plays out, but the bigger letdown to me isn't the 8-6 record as much as the turn of events. The Lions had this. They were the clear division alpha, loaded with young talent, positioned to own the North for years. The Bears were a punchline, the Vikings were propped up by smoke and mirrors, and the Packers were decent - but hardly scary.

How the hell did this organization allow the Bears and the Packers to blow past them in one year?

[MichiganCardinal]

35 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

 

The reality is if they looked at this and said "we have clear evidence that this was a fumble" then it should have been a touchback, because he doesn't recover the ball again until he's out of bounds in the end zone. But that would have been too outlandish. So call stands, give the Rams six points.