2013 Detroit Lions

**smogboy** · January-15-14, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

Never the less, I'll back the new guy and I'm getting excited for next season. Looking forward to Smogboy starting the official new thread so we can start concentrating on the draft. Go Lions!

I'm trying to remember in the past, when have we walked away from the previous season's thread. I know it's not immediately after the Lions are done as there's still NFL football to discuss. But what do you think of closing up this thread a few days after the Super Bowl's been played. We can see who won the big game and compare our Lions to that team. What do the winners have that we need to get?

So get in your last bits of Lions discussion now as the 2014 Lions thread will be in the hopper soon.

**Thruster315** · January-15-14, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by smogboy

What will be critical is how his new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and his Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin are going to work out.

No dice with Bill Lazor. He's Miami Dolphins' OC now.

**Thruster315** · January-15-14, 05:32 PM

I just heard the Caldwell presser. I'm not jumping up and down one way or another. I'm digging the fact that he thinks he can win here and now. He's not going to settle for a re-build.

But beyond that little morsel of knowledge? He said the right things. He acknowledged us fans and our rabid desire for a winner. Cool.

Beyond the coach's talk, I did like Lewand acknowledging the Whisenhunt search though. I thought it was important that they acknowledge it. We as fans needed to hear that they were up front with it. It does make me think that Whisenhunt was as locked up as we're all led to believe. It sounded as though they wanted to interview him one more time and he jumped to the Titans before they could finalize an offer.

So let's saddle up Caldwell, give him two, maybe three years to get us to the next level. Schwartz given five years to pull this sack of sh!t out of the river was adequate; and he failed. Caldwell's here in our kitchen and the cupboards aren't bare. He's got some fixin's to make good.

So now prove it or be shown the door. It's as simple as that.

**Thruster315** · January-15-14, 05:38 PM

Four years for Caldwell. Dollar amounts unannounced.

It ain't my money but I guess they had to sweeten the pot in order to land ANY coach. But I still stick by my call to get some serious improvement to get this thing over the hump in two to three years.

**rb336** · January-15-14, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

Four years for Caldwell. Dollar amounts unannounced.

It ain't my money but I guess they had to sweeten the pot in order to land ANY coach. But I still stick by my call to get some serious improvement to get this thing over the hump in two to three years.

What is "sweeten the pot"? four years is not an overly long contract, and the titans allegedly paid Whiz $1 million/year more than the Lions were willing to pay

**Thruster315** · January-15-14, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

What is "sweeten the pot"? four years is not an overly long contract, and the titans allegedly paid Whiz $1 million/year more than the Lions were willing to pay

It was in reference to my desire to only give Caldwell a three year deal. It's not a dollar amount; it's the length of time. Like I posted earlier, he's got some talent here to work with. If he's as good as advertised, I'm thinking he should be able to get some results in that three year window. He should be given benchmarks he needs to meet before he's even given a fourth or fifth year. That additional fourth year is security for him and might not serve the Lions if he ends stinking up the joint. Some say Schwartz' deal wasn't that long either but right now the Lions are paying him $12 million for the last two years of his deal.

**smogboy** · January-15-14, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

It was in reference to my desire to only give Caldwell a three year deal. It's not a dollar amount; it's the length of time. Like I posted earlier, he's got some talent here to work with. If he's as good as advertised, I'm thinking he should be able to get some results in that three year window. He should be given benchmarks he needs to meet before he's even given a fourth or fifth year. That additional fourth year is security for him and might not serve the Lions if he ends stinking up the joint. Some say Schwartz' deal wasn't that long either but right now the Lions are paying him $12 million for the last two years of his deal.

I don't think there is a football coach out there willing to take on any NFL job for a three year deal. It's got to be four years for him. Look at it from Caldwell's point of view. He doesn't want to be a vagabond constantly traipsing his family all across the country for his next job. He seems like a nice likable family man who still wants to provide his family some sort of stability.

I understand your desire for the Lions to duck out of the deal and fire him if he doesn't any sort of results, but it's obviously a sellers' market right now.

And even logistically for him to re-vamp the team, he's not going to be able to do it overnight. From the sounds of things, he's gathering his coordinators now or at least trying to depending on how the playoffs shake down. I'm also sure that for the players it's going to take some adjustment for them as well. I've heard that many of the plays still might be the same, but the terms might be a bit different. What terms Schwartz & Linehan called will probably be entirely different from what Caldwell and his staff will call them- and the players will have to adjust. We simply need to give Caldwell and the team some adjustment period. I'm not sure if one training camp will be enough; it'll be a work in progress.

I do agree that he and his staff do have to have some sort of benchmarks though. They need a criteria to achieve- and anything less than that should be grounds for getting fired. I'm hoping that Caldwell has a vision with the team and a rationale to achieve it.

**KJ5** · January-19-14, 07:10 AM

Forget the Same Old Lions.
Who do y'all like in the NFL's final four? I think I'm gonna root for the Seahawks since they've never won the Super Bowl and I rooted against them when they played one here.

**smogboy** · January-21-14, 02:27 AM

For what it's worth, Jahvid Best has finally landed on his feet after his shortened Lions career>

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf...t-rounder.html

Good for him. While he was with us and as healthy as he could've been, he was exciting. I really wish the guy well and actually glad he stepped away from pro football for his personal health.

**gnome** · January-21-14, 02:43 PM

Mr. Commissioner, this thread has veered well off path. I suggest we put this one bed and start anew.

first, though we need nominations, seconds and general comments on:

Most Valuable Poster
Rookie Poster of the Year
Champion Guesser of the Year

Your thoughts...?

**smogboy** · January-21-14, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Mr. Commissioner, this thread has veered well off path. I suggest we put this one bed and start anew.

first, though we need nominations, seconds and general comments on:

Most Valuable Poster
Rookie Poster of the Year
Champion Guesser of the Year

Your thoughts...?

I'm in agreement but I'll keep this thread going up until Super Bowl. That's the final culmination of the NFL season and will be so with this thread as well.

MVP? Thruster for his halftime rants.
Rookie? Pickford-Bentler brought some intelligent discussions.
Champion guesser went to GOAT and firstandten. They nailed it with the 7-9 call.

**rb336** · January-24-14, 09:36 PM

Schwartz to buffalo

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/art...tw_buf_article

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-25-14, 05:48 PM

And the Bills come to Ford Field next season. How ironic.

**rb336** · January-25-14, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

And the Bills come to Ford Field next season. How ironic.

No, not ironic.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-26-14, 04:43 AM

Originally Posted by rb336

No, not ironic.

Whatever you say man.

**Thruster315** · January-26-14, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

And the Bills come to Ford Field next season. How ironic.

Did I miss the irony here or what? I mean it's not like we don't see ex-Lions coaches like Marty Mornhingweg or Rod Marinelli strolling through town with their respective teams here.

**rb336** · January-27-14, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

Did I miss the irony here or what? I mean it's not like we don't see ex-Lions coaches like Marty Mornhingweg or Rod Marinelli strolling through town with their respective teams here.

CK just doesn't know the meaning of irony. He's not alone. For the edification of those who don't know:
Full Definition of IRONY

1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony
2a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
b : a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony
c : an ironic expression or utterance
3a [[1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result [[2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity
b : incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony, tragic irony

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-27-14, 10:57 AM

Thanks for the clarification RB, While it might not be a big deal, and maybe a wrong choice of word, Gym Shorts was just fired this year, and he's coming back to the scene of the crime, is all I meant.