2014 Detroit Lions

[Thruster315]

How has Olsen been OPEN the entire game?

How about the man is an All-Pro player? The Panthers have also been pretty smart in hiding him in the line and then sneaking him out underneath our D. He was a pain to us when he played in Chicago and continues to vex us now.

The fact that our defensive backfield is shaky to begin with doesn't help.

Playing against that Carolina defense wasn't exactly a cakewalk either. Them's some tough bulldogs to run up against. Their front four was pretty dominant and that's being kind to our offensive line. I'm not even so sure if our offensive line was completely healthy would we have suffered any less of a fate.

Toss in those accursed fumbles & turnovers, I'm surprised we didn't spanked worse.

[smogboy]

Very quick observation here with regards to the Carolina Panthers defense- I think it's what Detroit wishes they could do. The Panthers have an impressive surge with their four down line men and they could play nickel defense quite a bit to stifle our receivers. Matthew Stafford, improved footwork and all could not buy the time to find an open receiver all game. It was that two prong approach [[good rush + good coverage) that halted our much vaunted offense.

[Danny]

Lions suck! against the Panthers. But this is is just early in the game. They can't make more follies next game. Coach Cadwell says that their jobs is on the line.

[Thruster315]

Lions suck! against the Panthers. But this is is just early in the game. They can't make more follies next game. Coach Cadwell says that their jobs is on the line.

I'll assume you meant Caldwell? But as far as the threat of jobs being on the line? FEH. Bobby Ross said the same thing but we all know how hollow that statement can be. It's not like there are Pro Bowl caliber players out there unsigned just waiting to be picked up as replacements. The NFL talent has already been sorted through. The odds of not just the Lions or anyone else in the NFL finding that diamond in the rough at this stage of the game is zero to none. With injuries happening all over the league over the span of a season, sometimes it just comes down to stupid luck as to who can stay healthy and who has some measure of depth on their team.

Firing someone now? Not likely.

The best we can hope for is adjusting with what we have, stop gap replacements, healing quickly, and a whole lotta prayer.

[Downriviera]

As bad as the game was, I thought the announcing/commentary by Chris Meyers and Ronde Barber made it worse. Not hard to see why they are Fox's 4th rated team. And yeah, how is Olsen so open? I realize he's an all pro, but he was their only threat and our defenders weren't even in the same zip code. This was a winnable game but somehow the Lion's found a way to lose once again. One last thought; What's Jason Hanson up to these days?

[Thruster315]

As bad as the game was, I thought the announcing/commentary by Chris Meyers and Ronde Barber made it worse. Not hard to see why they are Fox's 4th rated team.

I never had any issues with Chris Meyers until this game. Between he and Ronde Barber, they sucked ass with the call. I think I would've preferred Floyd the Barber over Ronde. Where was the game prep for this game? They kept stumbling over names, bungling stats and the most clever thing they showed today was the comparison of Henry Cavill's Clark Kent to Luke Kuechly's mild mannered looks.

They brought nothing to the game. I think gnome and I in a pair of barco-loungers could've called a better game.

[Bong-Man]

The Lions....Losing on the road outside on real grass since 1975 !

[p69rrh51]

SOL-same old lions!

[EastsideAl]

Oh how I wish someone would have coached Matt Stafford out of his bad habits back when he first came into the league.

He is physically gifted, and keeps showing a lot of "potential," But the miscues also keep piling up, and "potential" means less and less when you're in your 6th season in the league.

[Smirnoff]

Bottom Line: Lions will never become a winning franchise w/Stafford!

Stafford is just like the previous QB's; remember Scott Mitchell, Chuck Long, Andre Ware, Joey Harrington......time to add his name to the previous list. Oh, and look who they signed as his backup, Orlovsky, 'nuff said.....

[EastsideAl]

Joey Harrington was another QB messed up by deficient coaching to convert his physical skills from the type of QB he'd been in college to an NFL QB. He was also hurt by stubborn game planning that worked to negate his skill set.

Stafford was harmed by coming in under the defensive-minded 'just hit 'em real hard' Jim Schwartz regime, and the underwhelming offensive and QB coaching of Scott Linehan and Jeff Horton. They left him overly dependent on just his physical skills to get by, and still throwing [[and making errors) like a college QB, against NFL defenses that will pounce on any mistakes and quickly ruin a QB's day.

[Thruster315]

SOL-same old lions!

Hey, that's original. Come up with that one all by yourself?

[Thruster315]

Joey Harrington was another QB messed up by deficient coaching to convert his physical skills from the type of QB he'd been in college to an NFL QB. He was also hurt by stubborn game planning that worked to negate his skill set.

Stafford was harmed by coming in under the defensive-minded 'just hit 'em real hard' Jim Schwartz regime, and the underwhelming offensive and QB coaching of Scott Linehan and Jeff Horton. They left him overly dependent on just his physical skills to get by, and still throwing [[and making errors) like a college QB, against NFL defenses that will pounce on any mistakes and quickly ruin a QB's day.

Now this one I can agree with. For all the Stafford bashers that suddenly sprung up like mushrooms on a lawn yesterday, where were you guys when he was doing pretty well the first game versus Giants? Some one cue up the crickets please? That 125.3 QB rating must've turned all of you guys into street mimes.

I couldn't agree more that Stafford didn't have much help with the likes of Schwartz & Linehan. Those two guys didn't have much of a track record with teaching a QB right out of college and shepherding the guy to the pros. Was it a set back? Or just no progress though?

And before I get labelled a Matt Stafford slappie here, I'll pose the question to the masses… how many other starting QBs in this league you think are better than him?

I'll toss my list out there then. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, RG3 [[injured), maybe Colin Kaepernick, maybe Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, and even marginally- a Payton Manning. Five QBs IMO are better than Stafford. Guys like Kaepernick & Luck are about on par with Matty boy. Let's not forget he's younger than Kaepernick.

So unless people can come up with more compelling reasons to think that Stafford's a bum and washed up, I'd like to hear them. We know he's not the second coming of Christ. He's not Joe Montana and even he jumped the shark in KC toward the end of his career.

But now he's got some decent proven QB coaches around him. I'm for giving the guy a chance. He had one tough game versus one of the best defenses in the league and some of you guys want to toss him out with the bathwater. Oh how fickle you can be. So I'll toss down the gauntlet. Tell me who you'd rather have being our QB? And please- no calls for Kellen Moore, please. Convince me who else you'd rather have. Seriously.

[Big Dog]

One game does not, a season make.

[gnome]

The issue with the haters is that they have seen last weekend's game a hundred times squared. Pointing to Stafford is pointless because he isn't on Defense, doesn't kick field goals, and doesn't catch the ball.

[Hypestyles]

When is the "BYE" week for the Lions? Are they facing "top 5" teams for the next several weeks in a row? Which teams should be a "given"?

[Bham1982]

Now this one I can agree with. For all the Stafford bashers that suddenly sprung up like mushrooms on a lawn yesterday, where were you guys when he was doing pretty well the first game versus Giants? Some one cue up the crickets please? That 125.3 QB rating must've turned all of you guys into street mimes.

The Giants have a horrible and injury-riddled secondary. They were absolutely torched by Arizona QB Drew Stanton of all people last week.

So, yeah, I expect Stafford to play as well as Drew Stanton, especially when you have the best player in the NFL in your deep arsenal of receivers.

[gnome]

The Giants have a horrible and injury-riddled secondary. They were absolutely torched by Arizona QB Drew Stanton of all people last week.

So, yeah, I expect Stafford to play as well as Drew Stanton, especially when you have the best player in the NFL in your deep arsenal of receivers.

according to the link below, there was not a single Giant DB on the injury report.
http://gmenhq.com/2014/09/13/new-yor...injury-report/

So, besides making up your own facts, did you actually have something to add?

[Thruster315]

according to the link below, there was not a single Giant DB on the injury report.
http://gmenhq.com/2014/09/13/new-yor...injury-report/

So, besides making up your own facts, did you actually have something to add?

Touche! It was the first game of the season, so if there is a time for a team to be its healthiest- that's when it's gonna be.

Now I'm gonna be the first guy to say when Stafford isn't playing well but let's not torch the guy when he does play well. All of the armchair coaches here are willing to write off our 26 year old QB haven't come up with a viable solution to replacing him either. I have yet to see any reasonable trade solutions. Not a one. And puhleeze don't insult us by insisting we trade him for a third round draft pick and a bag of shoulder pads either. It's not gonna happen. I'd even be willing to contend that more than half of the NFL teams out there would LOVE to have him be their team's starting QB.

I defy anyone out there to tell me he's not better than:

EJ Manuel [[Buffalo)
Ryan Tannehill [[Miami)
Geno Smith [[NY Jets)
Tony Romo [[Dallas)
Eli Manning [[NY Giants)
Nick Foles [[Philly)
Kirk Cousins [[Washington)
Alex Smith [[KC)
Derek Carr [[Oakland)
Phillip Rivers [[San Diego)
Shaun Hill [[St. Louis)
Carson Palmer [[Arizona)
Andy Dalton [[Cincy)
Brian Hoyer [[Cleveland)
Ben Roethlisberger [[Pittsburgh)- maybe five years back
Joe Flacco [[Baltimore)
Ryan Fitzpatrick [[Houston)
Jake Locker [[Titans)
Blake Bortles [[Jags)
Jake Cutler [[Chicago)- way overpriced
Matt Cassel [[Vikings)
Matt Ryan [[Atlanta)
Josh McCown [[Tampa Bay)

[Bham1982]

according to the link below, there was not a single Giant DB on the injury report.
http://gmenhq.com/2014/09/13/new-yor...injury-report/

So, besides making up your own facts, did you actually have something to add?

Totally wrong.

Walter Thurmond, starting corner for the Giants, is out for the season.

Terrell Thomas, their best corner the last few years, had ACL surgery and is not even on the team.

The Giants secondary is horrible. Drew Stanton killed them.

[Thruster315]

And again, I'm not totally having a man crush on Matt Stafford but compared to others out there, I'd take him over that motley assortment any day. Seriously if he stinks it up in the field for a game, let's talk. Where did he not do well? Did he over throw his receivers? Did his footwork look clumsy? Was he throwing behind his targets? Too many interceptions? Fumbles?

I'm not at all against being critical of the guy but to just call him out as stinking up the joint or just sucking eggs is childish at best.

[Bham1982]

I defy anyone out there to tell me he's not better than:

EJ Manuel [[Buffalo)
Ryan Tannehill [[Miami)
Geno Smith [[NY Jets)
Tony Romo [[Dallas)
Eli Manning [[NY Giants)
Nick Foles [[Philly)
Kirk Cousins [[Washington)
Alex Smith [[KC)
Derek Carr [[Oakland)
Phillip Rivers [[San Diego)
Shaun Hill [[St. Louis)
Carson Palmer [[Arizona)
Andy Dalton [[Cincy)
Brian Hoyer [[Cleveland)
Ben Roethlisberger [[Pittsburgh)- maybe five years back
Joe Flacco [[Baltimore)
Ryan Fitzpatrick [[Houston)
Jake Locker [[Titans)
Blake Bortles [[Jags)
Jake Cutler [[Chicago)- way overpriced
Matt Cassel [[Vikings)
Matt Ryan [[Atlanta)
Josh McCown [[Tampa Bay)

I would certainly take Flacco, Rothlisberger, Manning and Rivers, and I might take Dalton, Ryan and Cutler. The rest, no.

Can you imagine Phillip Rivers on the Lions? That would be a Super Bowl caliber team.

[Thruster315]

Totally wrong.

Walter Thurmond, starting corner for the Giants, is out for the season.

Terrell Thomas, their best corner the last few years, had ACL surgery and is not even on the team.

The Giants secondary is horrible.

And you want the Lions to apologize for taking advantage of the situation? I didn't exactly see Cam Newton taking it easy on the Lions when he knew our secondary was thin. Good teams have depth and can make up for the loss of key players. Good opponents can exploit weaker teams' weaknesses. Detroit did what they were supposed to do by shredding them. I'm not shedding a tear for the Giants. I'm sure the Panthers don't feel one iota of shame for beating us last week either.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Totally wrong.

Walter Thurmond, starting corner for the Giants, is out for the season.

Terrell Thomas, their best corner the last few years, had ACL surgery and is not even on the team.

The Giants secondary is horrible. Drew Stanton killed them.

Drew Stanton

QB

ARI

1

29

29.0

14

48.3

167

167.0

32

0

0

4

25

66.3

I would not say that a 48.3% completion percentage, a 66.3 QB rating, zero touchdown passes, and four sacks is evidence of a defense getting "killed" by Stanton.


By way of comparison, Stafford's rating for his game against the Giants was greater than 130. His poor showing against the Panthers was about 77.

If it is any consolation, Shaun Hill is setting the world on fire:

Shaun Hill

QB

STL

1

13

13.0

8

61.5

81

81.0

23

0

1

1

6

47.3

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/stats/p...tegory-passing

[Pickford-Bentler]

Opp Total

16

309

524

59.0

3050

16

3.1

28

5.3

5.8

4.03

9.9

190.6

63.4

44

298

4.8

3.2

7.7

This the stat line for the best pass defense in the NFL, in 2013- Seattle.

QB rating against - 63.4

Completion percentage against - 59%

sack per game - about 3

yards per attempt - 5.8

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/sea/2013.htm