Week 4: Lions at Jets

[epheisey]

Won't be tuning in for this game, I'll be catching it on gamepass sometime tonight.

But I'm already to the point where my motivation to continue watching has waned considerably. Week 1 left me with a huge high for the Lions. Week 2 was a swing in the complete opposite direction. And last week did very little to improve my mood towards the team, although a win is big regardless of how it's done.

Eric Ebron. He should play a much more significant role in this game with Fauria out. Also in the unlikely event that Waddle plays, we might actually be able to use the TE less in protection.

Levy. Without Tulloch to man the middle, and Whitehead taking his place, it will be interesting to see if he steps up and handles his duties plus play calling without Tulloch there or will he crumble and end up exposed without a quality player next to him?

O-Line. The Jets have possibly the best defensive line outside of the Lions. Our line has struggled the past two games. This will be a huge determining factor in the outcome of this one.

The offense as a whole. They need to start scoring. The Jets defense is the best outside of ours so far, so this would be a great week for the offense to show up and prove that it's formidable and not a joke.

I predict Lions win this one without anything spectacular happening. 24-14.


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[Blkbrd671]

Watched the whole game. ACtually had to because our boys couldn't capitalize and kept it in a 2 possession game.


QB: Grade: A

Stafford looked good, stepped up into the pocket, made plays with his feet. He had 1 intentional grounding call and 1 that very well could have been called intentional grounding, but overall kept the ball pretty secure. i still feel he doesn't quite sense where the pressure is coming from and where to step up, however whats encouraging is the fact that he's staying in the pocket. His throw to Ross for the TD was a thing of beauty, honestly showing off his arm strength. His throw 2 ebron was on the money, there actually was only one small window to throw to ebron, and it was right there. As a lions fan, those kind of throws make you salivate at what matty can be. The running TD wasn't part of the design, he was looking for collins in the flat, Matty made a heads up play and beat the D-lineman to the pylon. Stafford's IQ is truly underrated, while his decision making has been questioned, he consistently makes savy plays, that suprise you. Stafford had a TD to Ross and Ebron, while hitting Tate all day inthe slant. Its nice to see the ball being distributed and Stafford using all his weapons.

WR: Grade A
Broyles sighting!!!!, he actually might have scored on one play, but he either got excited or didn't locate the ball early enough and made a diving catch when he could have caught it on the run and got pretty damn close to the goal line. TATE earned all his money this game, he made a amazing bobbling catch for the first down when we were backed up in our end zone on a 3rd and long. He was money on the slant routes all day, and one play he simply turned caught the ball and ran over the DB and got us to the goal line. If he made that play in Detroit, the place would have gone nuts. CJ had 2 catches, i think he was mostly a decoy this game, and used to get in Ryans head in terms of how to attack our Offense with and without CJ. He was in and out of the game, and mostly out in 3rd down situations. Amazingly the 2nd of his 2 catches was a diving one handed play that i think Stafford was just throwing at his feet because a DB came off the edge on touched. Overall few drops, made plays when we needed and spread the wealth.

RB: Grade B
We honestly couldn't get sh* out of the RB game for the first 3 quarters. Bell got into the secondary a couple times, but for the most part, screen plays and downhill running was hard. Jets D was swallowing up our O-line and it looked like we'd be unable to hold the lead. Then Bell got hurt and we were down to Bush to run out the clock, and surprisingly our run game picked up. Bush stopped tryign going east west, and started just gong north south. It was pretty impressive for a RB who isn't necessarily considered a between the tackles type back. One play that is highlighted in my mind, was a scoring drive in the second quarter where we needed a first down and bush got caught a screen play, and he went for the first down but looked like the LB was goign to tackle him short, then Warford came and just shoved bush to th first down with ease. TEAMWORK!!!! Bell played well but didn't finish the game which is concerning. Also i really think once riddick gets a chance, we'll see Bush 2.0. The few moments you see this kid, he can definietly make ppl miss

O-Line: B
I personally don't possess the ability to evaluate the OLine other than how much/how little pressure Stafford is under. I will say this, very few penalties which is encouraging, and for the most part, they kept Stafford off his back, and the 2nd best defense on their toes. And when Stafford was sacked, he didn't look like he took that hard of a shot. I think this could even be considered a B+, considering the jets come at offense with so many different and odd looks.

TE: B+
Ebron finally got his touch down and made a acrobatic catch in the end zone. As the #10 pick, i expect him to make that catch all day, no matter how hard its thrown. (it was a laser), he did however fail to get a clean release on a go route, and didn't finish the route. Pettigrew got a couple catches, but i think once we review film, that we'll see a lot of good blocking especially towards the end. one thing is for sure is that ebron can run. and he needs to grow these next 2-3 weeks, and really take advantage of this opportunity.

D-Line: A
For the most part, they took the running game away from the Jets, though Ivory is Lynch 2.0. Chris johnson broke free for a TD, when 2 lions players essentially tackled the other out of the play springing him free. We seemed to stop blitzing as much in the 2nd half and rushed four, with that in mind, i think we got good pressure.

LB: C
Tullouch is obviously going to be sorely missed, there is definitely a noticeable difference when he's not in the game. Whitehead did a decent job, but the blitzing rarely hit home. Whitehead did have a monster tackle that drew ahh's and ooo's from the crowd. One of those hits that you could hear through out the stadium. It may have been the way we scheme'd it, but tackling was poor and it seemed like their were more opportunities in the middle of the field that the jets failed to capitalize on. i think we'll see more of Ager and van noy is definitely going to have a opportunity when he comes back in 4 weeks.


DB/S: B+
They did a pretty decent job considering that the lack of pass rush left a lot of them on a island. Slay finally got his first interception on a over throw(Smith got absolutely destroyed by Ansah), which he still gets credit for, but i want to see one while he's in coverage. He also let up a big yardage play to the jets, when he tried to strip the ball instead of secure the tackle. The jets got 10-15 more YAC. Mathis got called on a questionable holding penalty that wasn't even there, and Dig absolutely destroyed Smith on a Safety blitz causing the fumble. Dig also had a couple nice tackles in the backfield. If overall they tackled better, they'd get a A, and if our offense was able to capitalize on their TO's, it probably swing my grade a little, however the offense didn't. and our secondary failed to secure some tackles. Overall the progress of our secondary is still encouraging.

ST: Ross has been a non factor, his decision to come out the end zone and get taclked at the 13 yard put us in a pretty poor field posistion. Henry our kicker made and missed a 51+ yarder. He needed to hit that last one to make it a 3 possession game, however horribly missed it. I think he gets one more chance, but he can't miss any more

Coaching: Our defense and offense game plan overall was good. I thought we became 2 conservative in the 2nd half up 2 TD's, but we ended up winning so shows how much i know. I think our defensive scheme also became conservative and less blitzy, allowing Smith to get back in rhythm. I think against a better QB this game is alot closer, however we played the jets, and we won. That's all that matters

[Blkbrd671]

Apparently the bootleg was Staffords call, and even had me deceived when watching it

His best run of the day, however, wasn’t originally intended for him. Facing a 2nd down and 4 at the two-minute mark, and needing a first down to clinch the game, Stafford called a bootleg at the line of scrimmage after seeing a safety creep up to stuff the run. The 7-yard gain and baseball slide to stay inbounds fooled everyone on the Jets defense and sealed the game.

“Going into the week it’s a key that, ‘Hey maybe they’d do this, they do this every once in a while they’ll fire this free safety,’ and that was literally the only play in the book that I was allowed to do that on,” Stafford said afterward.

“I was taking advantage of it. I’m just glad it worked. It was a point in the game where they were going to sell out to try and stop the run and it just worked out great. It was nice to be able to run the clock out there in the fourth.”

[Blkbrd671]

We were 3-1 last year and finished 7-9. However i will tell you this, last year when we were 3-1. it felt more by luck rather than by we won 3 games. We definitely won these last 3 games, and looked in control. Very encouraging, however champions are ones that can do it consistently rather than for the first 4 games.

[epheisey]

Watched the whole game. ACtually had to because our boys couldn't capitalize and kept it in a 2 possession game.


QB: Grade: A

Stafford looked good, stepped up into the pocket, made plays with his feet. He had 1 intentional grounding call and 1 that very well could have been called intentional grounding, but overall kept the ball pretty secure. i still feel he doesn't quite sense where the pressure is coming from and where to step up, however whats encouraging is the fact that he's staying in the pocket. His throw to Ross for the TD was a thing of beauty, honestly showing off his arm strength. His throw 2 ebron was on the money, there actually was only one small window to throw to ebron, and it was right there. As a lions fan, those kind of throws make you salivate at what matty can be. The running TD wasn't part of the design, he was looking for collins in the flat, Matty made a heads up play and beat the D-lineman to the pylon. Stafford's IQ is truly underrated, while his decision making has been questioned, he consistently makes savy plays, that suprise you. Stafford had a TD to Ross and Ebron, while hitting Tate all day inthe slant. Its nice to see the ball being distributed and Stafford using all his weapons.

Stafford is frustrating to watch because he's so hot and cold. This week he looked great again. The past couple weeks, you could see him lock into one guy (Calvin most of the time) and fail to continue through his progressions. This week, his head was on a swivel, eyes on every option most plays. That was encouraging, although I wonder how much of that was a result of Calvin not being on the field or involved in the game much. Hopefully this turns into a long term thing, but I've said that before. He did get up with a bit of a hitch in his step a couple times, hopefully nothing more than a bruise or charley horse....

WR: Grade A
Broyles sighting!!!!, he actually might have scored on one play, but he either got excited or didn't locate the ball early enough and made a diving catch when he could have caught it on the run and got pretty damn close to the goal line. TATE earned all his money this game, he made a amazing bobbling catch for the first down when we were backed up in our end zone on a 3rd and long. He was money on the slant routes all day, and one play he simply turned caught the ball and ran over the DB and got us to the goal line. If he made that play in Detroit, the place would have gone nuts. CJ had 2 catches, i think he was mostly a decoy this game, and used to get in Ryans head in terms of how to attack our Offense with and without CJ. He was in and out of the game, and mostly out in 3rd down situations. Amazingly the 2nd of his 2 catches was a diving one handed play that i think Stafford was just throwing at his feet because a DB came off the edge on touched. Overall few drops, made plays when we needed and spread the wealth.

Tate was a beast in this game! He is a phenomenal compliment to Calvin, and I hope that this weeks performance really gets through to Stafford that he's a viable option if Calvin is covered. His ability to make defenders miss is great. He's a lot quicker and shiftier than I realized, and I'd love to see them use him and Ross in some motion-reverse type plays. Seattle has done it well with Percy Harvin, using him in motion in play-fakes a lot and I could see it working well with those two as well. I almost wish they would have just rested CJ entirely this week though. I understand he's a great decoy and all, but is pulling him out on 3rd downs and limiting his play count really going to protect him from the one play that it takes to aggravate his ankle? It's just not worth it this early in the season IMO.

RB: Grade B
We honestly couldn't get sh* out of the RB game for the first 3 quarters. Bell got into the secondary a couple times, but for the most part, screen plays and downhill running was hard. Jets D was swallowing up our O-line and it looked like we'd be unable to hold the lead. Then Bell got hurt and we were down to Bush to run out the clock, and surprisingly our run game picked up. Bush stopped tryign going east west, and started just gong north south. It was pretty impressive for a RB who isn't necessarily considered a between the tackles type back. One play that is highlighted in my mind, was a scoring drive in the second quarter where we needed a first down and bush got caught a screen play, and he went for the first down but looked like the LB was goign to tackle him short, then Warford came and just shoved bush to th first down with ease. TEAMWORK!!!! Bell played well but didn't finish the game which is concerning. Also i really think once riddick gets a chance, we'll see Bush 2.0. The few moments you see this kid, he can definietly make ppl miss

The running game failed to impress me again. We ran the ball when it counted towards the end of the game, when it's predictable, so I don't really get what the struggle is early in the game. If we could come up with some sort of run game through the first 3 quarters, it would open up our passing game even more. Is it just me, or does Reggie Bush seem to slip more than any other running back...I understand his game is about quick cuts, but he seems to lose his footing and fall on his backside way more than anybody else.

O-Line: B
I personally don't possess the ability to evaluate the OLine other than how much/how little pressure Stafford is under. I will say this, very few penalties which is encouraging, and for the most part, they kept Stafford off his back, and the 2nd best defense on their toes. And when Stafford was sacked, he didn't look like he took that hard of a shot. I think this could even be considered a B+, considering the jets come at offense with so many different and odd looks.

Pass protection, considering the defensive line we faced, was probably an improvement over past weeks. There were a few times that I was impressed at how long Stafford had to make a throw. Running though was a struggle. Again...how can they do so well when the gameplan is so predictable late in the game, but early have such a hard time?

TE: B+
Ebron finally got his touch down and made a acrobatic catch in the end zone. As the #10 pick, i expect him to make that catch all day, no matter how hard its thrown. (it was a laser), he did however fail to get a clean release on a go route, and didn't finish the route. Pettigrew got a couple catches, but i think once we review film, that we'll see a lot of good blocking especially towards the end. one thing is for sure is that ebron can run. and he needs to grow these next 2-3 weeks, and really take advantage of this opportunity.

ABOUT TIME! Ebron matched his entire season in this game. Not that it was a difficult task, but it was good to see him involved. I hope his role continues to grow. The route on the outside was a poor play call IMO. I'm guessing that Calvin was supposed to line up outside against the corner/safety but with him being held out, Ebron was given the route? Either way, a TE like Ebron is best matched up with a LB for any deep routes, or routes where speed grants an advantage, and if he's matched up with a corner/safety, utilize his size. That route did neither, especially with where the ball was placed. It was a jump ball, that was a catch he was supposed to make in stride, and there's almost no chance he's beating a corner off the line in a dead sprint.

D-Line: A
For the most part, they took the running game away from the Jets, though Ivory is Lynch 2.0. Chris johnson broke free for a TD, when 2 lions players essentially tackled the other out of the play springing him free. We seemed to stop blitzing as much in the 2nd half and rushed four, with that in mind, i think we got good pressure.

LB: C
Tullouch is obviously going to be sorely missed, there is definitely a noticeable difference when he's not in the game. Whitehead did a decent job, but the blitzing rarely hit home. Whitehead did have a monster tackle that drew ahh's and ooo's from the crowd. One of those hits that you could hear through out the stadium. It may have been the way we scheme'd it, but tackling was poor and it seemed like their were more opportunities in the middle of the field that the jets failed to capitalize on. i think we'll see more of Ager and van noy is definitely going to have a opportunity when he comes back in 4 weeks.

I think these two are best grouped together. The run defense was OK. The pass rush was OK. Whitehead looked fine to me, but it's hard for me to pinpoint who made mistakes in the run game. I was impressed by Whitehead's coverage. There were a few times I watched him, and he played his man perfectly. I could be wrong, but it would seem that playing coverage as a linebacker is more difficult than playing the run/blitzing, and he seemed to hold his own. Room for improvement across the board here though. Only 1 sack from the D-line isn't very encouraging. I know there were some other pressures throughout the game, but putting a QB on the ground can be a game changer if they can get in his head.

DB/S: B+
They did a pretty decent job considering that the lack of pass rush left a lot of them on a island. Slay finally got his first interception on a over throw(Smith got absolutely destroyed by Ansah), which he still gets credit for, but i want to see one while he's in coverage. He also let up a big yardage play to the jets, when he tried to strip the ball instead of secure the tackle. The jets got 10-15 more YAC. Mathis got called on a questionable holding penalty that wasn't even there, and Dig absolutely destroyed Smith on a Safety blitz causing the fumble. Dig also had a couple nice tackles in the backfield. If overall they tackled better, they'd get a A, and if our offense was able to capitalize on their TO's, it probably swing my grade a little, however the offense didn't. and our secondary failed to secure some tackles. Overall the progress of our secondary is still encouraging.

Slay didn't look awful, but he made some fundamental mistakes that should be easily correctable. It almost seemed to me like he was getting a little cocky/overconfident, and this game might be just what he needs to really buckle down. Mathis is looking great this year. I am extremely glad that we have him this year, and not just because we need a solid corner, but he's a great player to mentor Slay (and the other young guys even if they're not on the field...). Ihedigbo being back was great, and the forced fumble (which could have went either way, I honestly thought it would get overturned) was a big play, maybe I've just been impressed with the backups, but I didn't notice a huge difference really. Not a bad thing at all, if anything it speaks to the play of the backup, just an observation.

ST: Ross has been a non factor, his decision to come out the end zone and get taclked at the 13 yard put us in a pretty poor field posistion. Henry our kicker made and missed a 51+ yarder. He needed to hit that last one to make it a 3 possession game, however horribly missed it. I think he gets one more chance, but he can't miss any more

Coverage-wise, I don't like seeing the first guy down on a punt completely whiff on the returner. I understand they're racing the coverage down the field and don't have a great shot at the guy, but I'd almost rather them slow up just a hair and even if they get blocked, it puts traffic in front of the returner. Ross has not looked good this season in kick returns. Punt returns have been fine. But he seems to be forcing it on kickoffs, and it's killing field position. I don't know if Ross is responsible or if it's his blocking, but hopefully they can make some adjustments. As for Henery, he hit his career long in an outdoor stadium. He then missed from the same distance. I honestly don't have a problem with a 1 for 2 day when they're both from 51 outside. Granted the second one would have been big, but the offense really needs to stop stalling.

Coaching: Our defense and offense game plan overall was good. I thought we became 2 conservative in the 2nd half up 2 TD's, but we ended up winning so shows how much i know. I think our defensive scheme also became conservative and less blitzy, allowing Smith to get back in rhythm. I think against a better QB this game is alot closer, however we played the jets, and we won. That's all that matters

I loved the adjustments the defense was able to make. First drive, we gave up a ton on the ground, we came back and didn't give up a first down the rest of the half if I remember correctly. I've never been a fan of the "bend but don't break" defense at the end of a game, but I understand it, and I have confidence that against a more competitive team, Austin won't sit back like that. Offensively, I still think there's room for some better play calling. The third quarter was rough. Coming out of the locker room with a touchdown lead, and getting the ball, we should have been able to at least put a FG on the board. 5 plays and a punt almost makes taking the ball to start the game a better choice.

But overall, a solid win, a step in the right direction. And this defense

Also, I was pretty darn close with my prediction haha

[Blkbrd671]

Calvin Johnson finished with 12 receiving yards Sunday, his fewest in a Lions win. The Lions were 0-6 in the previous six games Johnson was held under 20 receiving yards.

interesting little fact

[Manocad]

Is it time to start drinking the Kool Aid?

It's like I sooo want to believe this is a more than good team but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Blkbrd671]

Is it time to start drinking the Kool Aid?

It's like I sooo want to believe this is a more than good team but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

honestly if you been watching the games, the difference between this years 3-1 team and last years. Is that this years teams are going out and winning games. We are controlling the pace for most of the game, and the best part is our offense hasn't always been good and our ST has struggled. We've been purely Defensively dominant, with so much potential offensively. When you consider Stafford is in a new system, the trend would be we'd only get better. Discipline is the KEY staple of any good team, and Caldwell at least from a on the field stand point, has instilled quite a bit in our boys

[epheisey]

The back end of the season is when this team typically struggles. And the schedule the second half of the season could be much harder. I'm pleasantly surprised, but I still think an 8-8 finish or around there is likely.


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[Manocad]

Is it time to start drinking the Kool Aid?

It's like I sooo want to believe this is a more than good team but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

honestly if you been watching the games, the difference between this years 3-1 team and last years. Is that this years teams are going out and winning games. We are controlling the pace for most of the game, and the best part is our offense hasn't always been good and our ST has struggled. We've been purely Defensively dominant, with so much potential offensively. When you consider Stafford is in a new system, the trend would be we'd only get better. Discipline is the KEY staple of any good team, and Caldwell at least from a on the field stand point, has instilled quite a bit in our boys

I've watched every game for 30 years so I'm well aware of the changes in this team. However they really haven't played anyone of note. Green Bay looks good now but they played a terrible game against the Lions relative to their play calling and execution, the Giants were in their first game in a new system and looked it, the Jets--Geno Smith, that's all needs to be said there, and they lost at Carolina who hasn't proved to be anything special.

I watched a Michigan team go out against Appalachian State, execute nearly flawlessly, and drop 55 points on App State which is what should have occurred. I was encouraged that they might truly be a better team. Then they went to Notre Dame and looked like a completely different team, and right now they've showed that they actually suck. I think the New Orleans game will be the first real test for the Lions.

[Blkbrd671]

I've watched every game for 30 years so I'm well aware of the changes in this team. However they really haven't played anyone of note. Green Bay looks good now but they played a terrible game against the Lions relative to their play calling and execution, the Giants were in their first game in a new system and looked it, the Jets--Geno Smith, that's all needs to be said there, and they lost at Carolina who hasn't proved to be anything special.

Eli was facing the same problem as Stafford , entering a new system, GB has owned us the past several years, and Jets have a legitimate defense. While your points are valid, i have not seen our team play like this in quite a while. We are going out and controlling games, and finishing them.

Now it has only been 4 games, i understand the significance of that. I am just pointing out that we never Went out and won games consistently, and it seems like we are doing it now

[Manocad]

I've watched every game for 30 years so I'm well aware of the changes in this team. However they really haven't played anyone of note. Green Bay looks good now but they played a terrible game against the Lions relative to their play calling and execution, the Giants were in their first game in a new system and looked it, the Jets--Geno Smith, that's all needs to be said there, and they lost at Carolina who hasn't proved to be anything special.

Eli was facing the same problem as Stafford , entering a new system, GB has owned us the past several years, and Jets have a legitimate defense. While your points are valid, i have not seen our team play like this in quite a while. We are going out and controlling games, and finishing them.

Now it has only been 4 games, i understand the significance of that. I am just pointing out that we never Went out and won games consistently, and it seems like we are doing it now

See what I mean? So much for controlling games and finishing them. At home against a good defense but the corpse of Kyle Orton and they couldn't manage dick on offense nor hold Buffalo when it counted.

Now you understand when older guys like me say "Same old Lions." Please excuse me now; I have a shoe to go pick up.

[Blkbrd671]

I've watched every game for 30 years so I'm well aware of the changes in this team. However they really haven't played anyone of note. Green Bay looks good now but they played a terrible game against the Lions relative to their play calling and execution, the Giants were in their first game in a new system and looked it, the Jets--Geno Smith, that's all needs to be said there, and they lost at Carolina who hasn't proved to be anything special.

Eli was facing the same problem as Stafford , entering a new system, GB has owned us the past several years, and Jets have a legitimate defense. While your points are valid, i have not seen our team play like this in quite a while. We are going out and controlling games, and finishing them.

Now it has only been 4 games, i understand the significance of that. I am just pointing out that we never Went out and won games consistently, and it seems like we are doing it now

See what I mean? So much for controlling games and finishing them. At home against a good defense but the corpse of Kyle Orton and they couldn't manage dick on offense nor hold Buffalo when it counted.

Now you understand when older guys like me say "Same old Lions." Please excuse me now; I have a shoe to go pick up.

Actually no, your point was taht the lions haven't played anyone of note, and against the bills they still didn't. And also my point was referring to the last 4 games, and i even stated that i understand the signficance of just 4 games. This loss too me didn't seem like the SOL. It seemed like there kicker made FG's that ours couldn't. I don't expect us to blow out every team , we make at least 1 of those makable fg, the game is different. WE lost this game because we didn't play complimentary football, and struggled with protection. We should have definitely beat this team

[Manocad]

Am I missing something here or are you totally reversing your claim that this is a different team this year?

You said they were different, I said they haven't played anyone of note, and now you're saying that the Bills aren't anyone of note either so you're supporting my point? If you think the loss to the Bills was due to missed FG's you didn't watch the game. The offensively incapability is what made them FG tries in the first place rather than TD's.

The defense is solid and the offense is an absolute disaster. Anyone who knows football can see that.

[Blkbrd671]

Am I missing something here or are you totally reversing your claim that this is a different team this year?

You said they were different, I said they haven't played anyone of note, and now you're saying that the Bills aren't anyone of note either so you're supporting my point? If you think the loss to the Bills was due to missed FG's you didn't watch the game. The offensively incapability is what made them FG tries in the first place rather than TD's.

The defense is solid and the offense is an absolute disaster. Anyone who knows football can see that.

I said the way we won the first 3 games was alot different than last years win. You said it was because they havne't played anybody of note. i am point out they still haven't, so that whole point is mute.


Yes our offense needs to score, but if we make 1 of the those 2 field goals, this game is ours or at least a lot different. We couldn't protect stafford , we lost CJ, our run game is weak. Should we have scored another TD on this Buffaloa D??? maybe.....should we have made at least 1 of the 2 FG's. Definitely!

As far as our offense, its our OL. We can't run the ball and we sure as hell can't block. I also think our offensive scheme this past game forced stafford to hold the ball longer than he wanted to. Letting the play develop. I think when we played the jets, we had matt moving around quite a bit, and that we fell away from that this game, when we shouldn't have.

[Manocad]

I never said this team won because they were the same team as last year and just hadn't played anyone of note. I clearly opened with the statement that I want to believe this team is something special which obviously insinuates they're a better team than last year. However I also inferred that maybe judgment should be reserved until they play someone of note.

And I was right. Until they can figure their offense out they are clearly not something better than good overall. And it's a "moot" point, not mute. All points are mute; points don't talk.