2016 Detroit Lions

[sirrealone]

I pretty much had this team pegged after the first two games of the season. After they came back and beat Indy, then the next week coughed up a lead and lost to Tennessee, I knew that this was a team that would be all over the map. They wouldn't be awful, but they were not talented enough, deep enough, or well coached enough to win. It was surprising when they hit 9-4 but all that talk of magic numbers and a 1.5-2.0 game division lead was, well, only talk.

I think Quin is great and that they're heading mostly in the right direction. He did very well with free agency and had a solid draft to start building depth, something that was so missing on this team that it will really take another year or two of similiar sucess before you start seeing the difference.

The biggest wild card I could see that could stand in their way is Caldwell. I know he's 27-21 but I still don't think he's a very good coach. They seem to win in spite of him, not because of him. The gears in his head seem to turn just a touch slower than the game moves. Given that he's not a Quin hire, I'm not convinced that he's a given to return. If they win, of course he's back, but if they lose in the national spotlight for the third week in a row, who knows?

Bottom line, I don't think they really have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but I'll still be watching and rooting for them. In my house, that's called being a faithful but realistic Lions fan.

[softailrider]

Didn't even show up tonight. Flat from beginning to the end. Stanford didn't have it. I expected more.

[ABetterDetroit]

They were terrible! Caldwell was taken to school by Carrol. Carroll said I'm going to run it on you with every play with my 25th ranked rush offense and you won't stop me! Lions never did.

Carroll controlled the whole game, just owned us. Now it appears we are stuck with Caldwell. Who's his boss? Martha? Did she make the decision to keep him? If it's Quinn that kept him, it would be nice to hear from him on that. It's a shame. He is a nice guy but he is a little low enery to make the fast decisions about clock management effectively. Forget about the red flag. He doesn't know what it's for. Caldwell is just a good D coordinator, nothing more. Somehow we chronically over-promote these guys...All you had to do was look at the guy on the other side of the field. He's a bona fide real deal NFL head coach. We need one of those.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

They were terrible! Caldwell was taken to school by Carrol. Carroll said I'm going to run it on you with every play with my 25th ranked rush offense and you won't stop me! Lions never did.

Carroll controlled the whole game, just owned us. Now it appears we are stuck with Caldwell. Who's his boss? Martha? Did she make the decision to keep him? If it's Quinn that kept him, it would be nice to hear from him on that. It's a shame. He is a nice guy but he is a little low enery to make the fast decisions about clock management effectively. Forget about the red flag. He doesn't know what it's for. Caldwell is just a good D coordinator, nothing more. Somehow we chronically over-promote these guys...All you had to do was look at the guy on the other side of the field. He's a bona fide real deal NFL head coach. We need one of those.

+1000, Caldwell is not the guy to lead this team.

[royce]

The problem with the Lions goes deeper than Coach Caldwell. Let's face it, we have been giving Matthew Stafford too much credit. MVP? He has had years to demonstrate if he could take this team to the next level. He can't. Like Tony Romo, he is a decent quarterback but not one who's gonna make the plays to score points and lead this team to a super bowl victory. Has anyone realized that the Lions kicker has scored a large percentage of the Lions points this past season? And the Lions only scores on Saturday came from two Matt Prater field goals of 50 plus yards. That doesn't sound like a lot of offensive production. I'm curious, because I didn't see most of the game, how close to the goal line did the Lions ever get? How close did they get the whole season? What was there touchdown percentage in the red zone?

The Detroit Lions have an average group of players, period. No standout offensive player [[aka Calvin Johnson). No standout defensive player [[aka N. Sue). They got into the playoffs because they beat enough bad teams. If they want to go to and win a super bowl they need a quarterback who is a born leader with skills. They need a fullback-type running back who can get over a thousand yards a season. They need a dominant defensive lineman, an agile linebacker, and a Ronnie Lott-type defensive back. Yeah, I know, that's a lot to ask for.

[Detroit Stylin]

When is the last time we can say we've been to the playoffs twice in three years? Like the 90s? Some of you "fans" are just as annoying as cowboys fans and probably know just enough about football. Caldwell is not the problem. We've had injuries all season in key positions and you already know we play the refs more than the teams we actually play. Caldwell took what we had and allowed us to play January football again. But some of you want us to get rid of him and start all over again?

Every time a season doesn't go your way and we don't get to the Superbowl you scream for the coaches head. By doing that we might get there by 2072. Most of you were screaming the same thing about the coach when Millen was running this team into the ground.

Learn the game before you decide heads should roll.

[emu steve]

When is the last time we can say we've been to the playoffs twice in three years? Like the 90s? Some of you "fans" are just as annoying as cowboys fans and probably know just enough about football. Caldwell is not the problem. We've had injuries all season in key positions and you already know we play the refs more than the teams we actually play. Caldwell took what we had and allowed us to play January football again. But some of you want us to get rid of him and start all over again?

Every time a season doesn't go your way and we don't get to the Superbowl you scream for the coaches head. By doing that we might get there by 2072. Most of you were screaming the same thing about the coach when Millen was running this team into the ground.

Learn the game before you decide heads should roll.

I agree with you!!!

Teams or schools consistently changing coaches don't win.

The emphasis should be on getting cap space to get more talented players.

[softailrider]

When is the last time we can say we've been to the playoffs twice in three years? Like the 90s? Some of you "fans" are just as annoying as cowboys fans and probably know just enough about football. Caldwell is not the problem. We've had injuries all season in key positions and you already know we play the refs more than the teams we actually play. Caldwell took what we had and allowed us to play January football again. But some of you want us to get rid of him and start all over again?

Every time a season doesn't go your way and we don't get to the Superbowl you scream for the coaches head. By doing that we might get there by 2072. Most of you were screaming the same thing about the coach when Millen was running this team into the ground.

Learn the game before you decide heads should roll.

I do not agree with the majority of what you wrote. The Lions record of futility is pretty much unmatched in the NFL. The Playoffs twice in three years means very little to me, they've been to the Playoffs many times [[9) and only won 1 time. They have never even sniffed a Super Bowl. Since their last championship in 1957 they have one playoff win. A successful season would mean to me a 2nd playoff win in 60 years, not a playoff appearance.

The team was almost comotose last night against the Seahawks. I don't think they ever got into the red zone. I don't think they ever got inside the Seattle 30 yard line. That shouldn't be acceptable to anyone - it was an embarrassment to the team, it was an embarrassment to the city. Caldwells fault? Stanford fault? Not sure, I think you can blame lots of people and lots of different things.

[EastsideAl]

The Lions haven't won a playoff game since 1991 [[the only one in my 50 year + lifetime). Haven't won, or even participated in, a championship game since my very elderly dad was a young man. Have won precisely two road playoff games in their entire history [[in 1952 and 1957). Backed into the playoffs with 3 straight losses [[none of them close) after leading their division by 2 games and being in the #2 seed. Only made the playoffs due to several last minute wins against poor teams on an easy schedule, and a lucky Redskins loss. Were terrible on both sides of the ball in their playoff game and crushed in the 2nd half by a kinda OK team with several injuries of their own.

And someone actually thinks that everything is cool and on track? That the situation is somehow headed in the right direction? That there's some real future for this team beyond being a marginal playoff possibilty in a weak conference? That this team and coach, who have almost never beaten a real playoff team [[and never on the road), can somehow become an actual contender? I guess those are the types of delusions created by chronically low expectations.

[EastsideAl]

Some of you "fans" are just as annoying as cowboys fans and probably know just enough about football.

Cowboy fans are fans of a team that won their division and finished first overall in the conference, has won championships within living memory, and has a consistent history of contending and playing at a very high level over several decades.

In other words, precisely the opposite of the team that Lions fans support.

[DeLemur]

Why all this blame Caldwell stuff? I understand the point that penalties should be the coaches fault and those 3 unnecessary roughness ones showed the 4 game losing streak was getting to player's heads. That's on Caldwell. But the game? No.

Stafford's finger really affected him and I saw 3 dropped passes as well as bad calls. Also saw some unbelievable catches from Seattle's WRs. This Lions team is still growing unfortunately and we always view them historically and need immediate growth. Let's look at 2 playoff births in 3 years. Not the consistent playoff losses since 91.

[Bham1982]

Why all this blame Caldwell stuff? I understand the point that penalties should be the coaches fault and those 3 unnecessary roughness ones showed the 4 game losing streak was getting to player's heads. That's on Caldwell. But the game? No.

The Lions aren't a good team. At absolute best, they're average. They have no stars on offense or defense. They have no running game, an average QB, average receivers.

9-7 and Wild Card seed is a decent season, and Caldwell is a good coach. This team was pegged at 6-10 by most pundits prior to season, and they outperformed by winning a ton of close games against bad teams.

[Bong-Man]

Still don't quite understand the Van Noy trade. He couldn't establish a role with us, but he starts situationally for New England ? Am I missing something ? Was that some kind of secret payback between GMs for acquiring the offensive tackle last year ?

We over-achieved. I had them pegged at 6-10. Quinn gets 3 years to right the ship. One needs to look no further than our history of 2nd round picks. Constantly reaching for a star when all we needed to do was fill a hole with an average player, preferably a lineman on either side. It's not the best players that get you there....it's the quality of your worst. The spread against the Seahawks should have went up four points once it was announced Lucas was starting at right tackle. The 'miracle in Motown' was lost last year when he came in with 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter....game over.

Caldwell deserves some credit for keeping everyone on the same page and running a clean ship, but why is the other team constantly coming out in the 2nd half with adjustments made, and we never have an answer ? It was his problem in Indy too.

[softailrider]

The Lions aren't a good team. At absolute best, they're average. They have no stars on offense or defense. They have no running game, an average QB, average receivers.

9-7 and Wild Card seed is a decent season, and Caldwell is a good coach. This team was pegged at 6-10 by most pundits prior to season, and they outperformed by winning a ton of close games against bad teams.

Hard for me to believe that anyone would think the Lions performance was acceptable. Speaks volumes about how low our expectations are.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Why all this blame Caldwell stuff? I understand the point that penalties should be the coaches fault and those 3 unnecessary roughness ones showed the 4 game losing streak was getting to player's heads. That's on Caldwell. But the game? No.

Stafford's finger really affected him and I saw 3 dropped passes as well as bad calls. Also saw some unbelievable catches from Seattle's WRs. This Lions team is still growing unfortunately and we always view them historically and need immediate growth. Let's look at 2 playoff births in 3 years. Not the consistent playoff losses since 91.

Because Caldwell lost at least 2 games with his inept clock management [[saving TO's), and not throwing the challenge flag on obvious calls. The games vs the Giants and the Texans were calls that the Lions probably would have got reversed, but he stands over there on the sidelines, with that stoic look on his face holding the flag. It's not all his fault, injuries, and the talent level sucks, but he's not prepared and his team shows it.

[Hypestyles]

The Lions should meet with Colin Kaepernick now that he is a free agent. Have some backup for Matthew Stafford, set up a tag-team to give them an edge over rival teams.

[sirrealone]

The Lions should meet with Colin Kaepernick now that he is a free agent. Have some backup for Matthew Stafford, set up a tag-team to give them an edge over rival teams.

I disagree. His ceiling seems pretty low. He did have a brief stint of playing exceptionally well, but that was under Harbaugh, who seems to have a particular knack for making QBs play better than they would otherwise.