Lions vs Packers ---Whooping part dos

[Blkbrd671]

Last year we embarrassed the Packers on National TV. I am pretty sure they haven't forgotten that. Sweet revenge would be coming into our house and puttin up points. Are secondary is short handed ,and the Nickel corner ,who's the replacement of the replacement or the replacement, is going to have a interesting time against cobb.



Ziggy also may not be game ready though i think he plays, expect to see a ton of webster or as i like to call him Clowney 2.0.


RT- Lucas and Reynolds are going to platoon the position, expect a number of sacks coming from there. We need to really establish the run against this week DT's, and keep packers D honest. Bush needs to be utilized.

Slay has made noticeable improvements every week, he's going up against nelson who is leading the league in Receiving yards, this is going to be a fun match up to watch, i hope Slay hold his ground.

[epheisey]

After last week, I feel like it's against all my better judgement, but I think we should win this game. It's should be an offensive shootout.

I can't say it enough but our secondary is a disaster. We have 2, that's right only 2, corners from week 1 that are playing in this game. We are going in with 4 healthy corners (at least healthy enough to play). Thankfully, the two still healthy are the starters on the outsides, and Don Carey has some experience and looked decent at times in the slot last year.

Slay has me on the edge of my seat right now. This will be a big game for him, especially since he hasn't had a real test yet. He's graded out great so far this season, but Eli is awful and Cam Newton isn't a top notch passer, and barely needed to throw the ball last week. This week, Slay is going to get some work. Hopefully he can put in a respectable game.

The advantage for our defense is our front seven. Especially against the depleted Packers line, we should be able to pressure Rodgers and help out the secondary.

Offensively, we should be able to move the ball on the ground better than the past two weeks. But our RT is going to get blasted all game long. If we can limit the damage that causes, we should be good. Passing, as long as we can get a decent pass protection going, Stafford should pick apart their secondary. If not...well let's just not go there.

I predict 38-34 Lions.


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[epheisey]

Halftime...and all I can say is, our offense is awful for the talent that we have on that side of the ball.

Our defense is winning this game. Yet again.

And our kicker is awful. If he comes back again next week, I will be mind blown.


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[epheisey]

Not how I pictured this game going. This defense is unbelievably good. And even more so with the injuries they've been dealing with.

Don Carey made one HUGE play, and then got hurt. Tulloch blew an ACL (most likely, not confirmed yet) celebrating a sack. I hope he enjoyed that sack, because it's probably the last one he'll have this season.

This team raises more questions than it provides answers, despite winning a tough game.

Stafford looked very Stafford-like. Three turnovers. I give him a pass for the fumble, because the O-Line has offered no protection, but the two picks are on him. The one that glanced of Fuller, is just as much on Stafford because, again, it was a poor throw that the WR had to go up and get. I'm all about "he got his hands on it, he needs to make the catch", but a good QB makes his WRs look better, giving them the ball in the right place, and letting them do the rest. Stafford continually makes it difficult on his receivers, really highlighting his inaccuracy.

The O-Line is not what it was last season. I'm not even taking into account the RT situation. I'm not sure if it's the play calling, actual line coaching, or what, but the line is the biggest disappointment of the season thus far.

The offense as a whole is extremely frustrating and disappointing. How can we have such a difficult time doing ANYTHING in the opponents half of the field with the talent we have EVERYWHERE? Lombardi has brought in some neat wrinkles to the offense, but so far, I am not impressed at all. Linehan at least had the line playing well, which puts the pressure on the skill players to perform, but this year, no one looks good.

Defensively, this team is playing way beyond itself. Slay looked fantastic in this game. I don't remember even seeing Mathis, which is a good thing. IAQ played the TE as good as can be on the GB TD, so I can't even be upset about that one.

DeAndre Levy is a beast. Plain and simple, he might be among the top 10 in linebackers right now. Every single week he makes incredible plays that are huge in the overall outcome of the game. Easily the MVP of the Lions season thus far.

Nate Freese survived this past week of practice, and bringing in some veteran kickers for workouts, but I don't anticipate it lasting another week. Caldwell was pretty clear that he was not happy with the kicking game, and basically said he has no faith in Freese. Not something you want to hear, but deserved by Freese because of his awful performance. Fun fact I heard about Freese: He's missed 4 FGs so far. The rest of the NFL combined only has 5 misses.

Happy to have the win, especially against Green Bay. But this team has a long ways to go if they want to compete for a playoff spot. We can't have our offense outscoring our defense by 1 point and expect to win many games the rest of the way.

I'll be interested to see what the next move is among the secondary. They can't keep relying on Carey to stay healthy. They need to bring in another healthy body. With the rash of injuries in that group, I'm worried what will happen when if one of the top 2 goes down. We'd essentially be plugging in our 6th corner....

Really hoping that Tulloch's injury turns out to be a minor one, but the initial reports aren't looking good. Down 2 of 3 top LBs, 3 of 5 top CBs, 2 of 4 top safetys....the defense is a mess. How they keep doing what they're doing is incredible.

[Lionlifer]

Well Freese is gone....

But so is Tulloch, season ending IR. Unreal, who hurts themselves on a celebration, apparently only him and the Gramatica brothers.

[epheisey]

It's a bummer about Tulloch, but the way ACL's work, at least explained to me by my doctor, is like a bunch of rubber bands. A few might break here and there, and over time it gets down to the point where there might only be a couple or even one "rubber band" left, and it doesn't take much to break the last strand. Tearing an ACL sucks, but if his tore that easily, it was likely going to happen at some point during the next couple games.


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[Blkbrd671]

I did some reading from different articles and video's, a couple of gems i found i thought i'd share

NFL Defenses pts allowed
1 Bengals 11 pts per game
2 Lions 15.0 per game
3 Cards 15.0 per game
4 Pats 16.3 per game
5 Chargers 16.3 per game

Talked to Corey Fuller today. He took blame for the interception. Said he was surprised Lions called his number again at the end of the half

On Levy, that's man man weight

“You look at the guy and you say, no way he plays linebacker in the NFL, Arnett says. “But he’s so explosive. One day we put 700 pounds on a bar for deadlifting. Everything they do is so competitive, and Zeitler (6-4, 315) couldn’t move it. We’ve got the music cranked, they’re yelling and screaming at him and he can’t do it.

“‘Dre throws his belt back on and says ‘Zeitler get out of the way,’ and he locks it out. Then he looks over at Zeitler and starts shrugging the weight and says, ‘How’s this?’ ”

Good read on how we defended the slot, enouraging things about gorrer and Seisay(who i am high on)

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/20 ... ive.com%29

[Blkbrd671]

Not how I pictured this game going. This defense is unbelievably good. And even more so with the injuries they've been dealing with.

Don Carey made one HUGE play, and then got hurt. Tulloch blew an ACL (most likely, not confirmed yet) celebrating a sack. I hope he enjoyed that sack, because it's probably the last one he'll have this season.

This team raises more questions than it provides answers, despite winning a tough game.

Stafford looked very Stafford-like. Three turnovers. I give him a pass for the fumble, because the O-Line has offered no protection, but the two picks are on him. The one that glanced of Fuller, is just as much on Stafford because, again, it was a poor throw that the WR had to go up and get. I'm all about "he got his hands on it, he needs to make the catch", but a good QB makes his WRs look better, giving them the ball in the right place, and letting them do the rest. Stafford continually makes it difficult on his receivers, really highlighting his inaccuracy.

Stafford is going to be stafford, one offseason isn't going to change his gun slinging ways and he's still learning a new system. Fuller didn't run his route all the way through and even he admits that 2nd interception is his fault. The first one i believe was him trying to force a ball to calvin. Stafford however per what i've read, played much better the second half and was able to run the clock out to finish the game. To be fair, Matty hasn't had much protection on the right side, though he we expect him to play through this, we have to understand that Lucas and Reynolds aren't gettin the job done. Goign to be interesting against a very good Jets blitzin defense.

The O-Line is not what it was last season. I'm not even taking into account the RT situation. I'm not sure if it's the play calling, actual line coaching, or what, but the line is the biggest disappointment of the season thus far.

I think its more a result of the offense working through the progressions, a lot of reason why our OL looked so good last year, is Stafford got rid of the ball quick., or back pedal'd out of sacks and either threw a interception or tried to force a ballt aht was incomplete. OL is also about chemistry, when one link is new or weak, it effects the whole line. I would give it 1 or 2 more games to really give them a fair judgement.

The offense as a whole is extremely frustrating and disappointing. How can we have such a difficult time doing ANYTHING in the opponents half of the field with the talent we have EVERYWHERE? Lombardi has brought in some neat wrinkles to the offense, but so far, I am not impressed at all. Linehan at least had the line playing well, which puts the pressure on the skill players to perform, but this year, no one looks good.

i addressed some of your points in previous posts, but have you looked at Dallas offense, i do not miss Linehan at all.

Defensively, this team is playing way beyond itself. Slay looked fantastic in this game. I don't remember even seeing Mathis, which is a good thing. IAQ played the TE as good as can be on the GB TD, so I can't even be upset about that one.

Great article on Mathis and his veteran leadership, allowing all our young DB's to feel a sense of comfort in knowing where there suppose to be. Your right in that we don't hear much about him, which i think is good. Slay is going from Houston 2.0 to legit cover corner. It pisses me off when i see how good Kyle Fuller is playing (drafted #13) and imagining how great our secondary be with him opposite Slay for the future, as oppose to a 3rd TE who hasn't done jack sh*

DeAndre Levy is a beast. Plain and simple, he might be among the top 10 in linebackers right now. Every single week he makes incredible plays that are huge in the overall outcome of the game. Easily the MVP of the Lions season thus far.

He's playing like the defensive player of the year, if the award were given out today, it be between him and fuller and Levy probably easily win that. Going to be interesting to see if they keep him as the ILB, which where he initally started.

Nate Freese survived this past week of practice, and bringing in some veteran kickers for workouts, but I don't anticipate it lasting another week. Caldwell was pretty clear that he was not happy with the kicking game, and basically said he has no faith in Freese. Not something you want to hear, but deserved by Freese because of his awful performance. Fun fact I heard about Freese: He's missed 4 FGs so far. The rest of the NFL combined only has 5 misses.

Got not patients or sympathy for players that don't show up. Good bye freese, thx for nothing. Gettin cut by the lions is not something that looks good on a resume.

Other quick notes:

Suh's Sack,

If you watch the replay, Suh is lined up as a DE w Fairley as a DT next to him and they fun a x stunt where Suh basically picks off fairley's block freein'g him off the end and suh coming up the middle. SUH absolutely destroys Tj Lang and free's Fairley off the end, who does a good job of containing and suh cleans up after himself. Terrific play call.

Bush's TD

Great break down of this was done, but basically Lombardi sets the play up by starting pettigrew on the right side in which stafford motions him to the left, then when the ball is snapped Pettigrew pulls to the right and the line seems to be motioning to a run to the right, however the handoff is too the left, by the time Hawk realizes what is happening bush is already gone. All the motion prior to the snap set up that play, beautifully done by lombardi and executed.

[Blkbrd671]

It's a bummer about Tulloch, but the way ACL's work, at least explained to me by my doctor, is like a bunch of rubber bands. A few might break here and there, and over time it gets down to the point where there might only be a couple or even one "rubber band" left, and it doesn't take much to break the last strand. Tearing an ACL sucks, but if his tore that easily, it was likely going to happen at some point during the next couple games.


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Awesome note, makes me want to get my knee examined. Goign to definitely be interesting. Depending on how could the guy we just signed is, i'd assume we go Palmer, levy , Whitehead.

[epheisey]

The fact that Austin is incorporating things into the defense that should have been there for many years and seeing those changes actually produce the results we thought they would is awesome. I said for a long time that our D-Line should be moving guys around and allowing them to really confuse the offense. Austin is finally putting that into practice. Schwartz and Co. did it here and there, but they rarely utilized it properly IMO.

Fuller is looking phenomenal for a rookie. Hindsight is 20-20. But man that would have been sweet. And having Mathis in the slot would be incredible...BUT, the defense has looked great. Aside from the injuries, I can't complain about them not drafting a defensive player at 10 with the way they're playing. I will continue to say that Ebron was the WRONG pick. And I still think a corner or safety would have been the right pick, but for all I can tell, maybe we needed a LG or a C that high. Would have been great to take a guy that could play inside when Sims leaves, but could be filling in for Waddle/Hilliard right now....

Let me just make sure to clarify. I DO NOT want Linehan back. Hated him while he was here, glad he's gone. And maybe it is just the learning curve the entire offense has with Lombardi's system. But it's very slow going, and the season isn't long enough to allow much more adjusting. Either this week or the next at the latest, they need to have everything sorted out so that they can see what the real issues (not related to the new offense) actually are.

It's a bummer about Tulloch, but the way ACL's work, at least explained to me by my doctor, is like a bunch of rubber bands. A few might break here and there, and over time it gets down to the point where there might only be a couple or even one "rubber band" left, and it doesn't take much to break the last strand. Tearing an ACL sucks, but if his tore that easily, it was likely going to happen at some point during the next couple games.


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Awesome note, makes me want to get my knee examined. Goign to definitely be interesting. Depending on how could the guy we just signed is, i'd assume we go Palmer, levy , Whitehead.

Don't. That's my one bit of advice about that. Unless it's already torn, there's nothing you can do. And the worst thing, especially if you're an active person (which I'm assuming you are if you're worried about it), is to start favoring that leg trying to protect it. It's a long enough process to recover after it's fixed. One bit of advice I have though about knee injuries: Don't "run it off". That's how you end up tearing everything. I convinced my dad to play through the pain calling him a wuss while we were playing some soccer in the backyard. He tore the ACL first, then kept playing and because there was no ACL to support him properly, he ended up hitting the meniscus and MCL within a few minutes. And for an average person, that's enough to make sure you're never the same. Pro's get all sorts of therapy and rehab. My dad when to the same place the Wings send their players. Still runs with a little hitch in his step now nearly 15 years later.

Talk about blowing out a knee just sends shivers down my back. I know it's bound to happen to me at some point. I just hope it's many many years down the road.

[Blkbrd671]

The thing about Fullers interception, is Stafford made the right throw, Fuller just slowed his route. if he runs his route like he's suppose too, then thats a catch. So its really on Fuller, and it changes that possession and outlook. imo we shouldn't really rag on Stafford for that. I am waiting until about week 5 or 6 to really judge stafford. He seems to start slow, which can be fixed.


i totally agree with you in regards to our defense, the looks we are giving are not allowing the offense to set blocking schemes, now they have to guess.

One thing underrrated in losing Tulloch is that he's been one of our best blitzers and hitting home quite a bit, hopefully the quicker levy or freakishly athletic whitehead can fill his shoes.

[epheisey]

I think we can withstand the loss of Tulloch well enough. I have faith in the defense seeing how well they've handled the losses of players I would have otherwise considered irreplaceable (i.e. Bentley at the slot corner, Ihedigbo at safety).

I have mixed feelings about how to go about replacing him though. On the one hand, I think Levy being an absolute playmaker and all around phenom right now should be plugged in there. He managed to take over the middle very well after Tulloch went down, and I think his speed and awareness could make for an even better player on the blitzes and reads. BUT. I also love what Levy does in coverage. He's easily one of the best cover LBs in the NFL. Playing him in the middle would take away a good portion of that responsibility, and possibly remove some playmaking opportunities. I'm also typically a firm believer in not upsetting what is working. In plugging one hole, you shouldn't be making 2. If Levy can't keep the same level of performance by moving, I'd rather see Whitehead play in the middle.

Either way, I'm somewhat intrigued by the opportunity to get Whitehead on the field regularly. Our linebackers went from being somewhat of a question prior to the season to a relatively solid unit. If we can bring them all back next year, we could have Tulloch in the middle, Levy and Van Noy on the outsides, with super sub Whitehead filling in at any of the above when needed.

[epheisey]

Just noticed something pointed out by an article on the Lions TEs as a whole. Combined they only have 7 catches this year. They've been keeping a TE in protection on the right side a lot with the struggles they've had with Waddle and Hilliard out, so that accounts for a good portion of that. But with having 3 quality options at the position, I thought they would be using Fauria and Ebron out wide much more often, or maybe they are and the ball just isn't going in their direction.

Not a huge deal, but definitely something to keep an eye as Waddle returns, and the season progresses. Fauria injured a foot/ankle at home today, so we might be seeing some more of Ebron depending on the results of the MRI.