Game 8: Time to JAX Somebody Up!

[TSE]

Well finally I am able to at least get some sleep after the 4 TD performance and late victory against SEA last week, but now we need to focus on getting amped up to another level and show even more fierceness on Defense. This is another must win considering the hefty competition we have remaining, so we can't afford to lose to the lowly Jaguars who have only won 1 game so far this year and are in a 3-way tie for worst team in the league.

We did get 1 INT last week (courtesy of Silva), but we still only have 3 INTs on the year (league leaders have 16, and only the Colts have less with 2). But just as bad we are not stripping the ball or hitting people ferociously enough as evidenced by only having 3 FFs as well (league leaders have 14, and only the Colts and Rams have less with 2). Maybe this weak we can start creating some Turnovers so we don't have to rely on a final possession to win the game. We also don't have any Safeties or Defensive TDs so maybe we can see one of those this week as well.

GOOD NEWS: Well for us at least, but MJD is going to be out for this game, and Blaine Gabbert might still be playing through a previous injury so Jacksonville could be vulnerable on offense this week. I feel sorry for them, but one team's misery is another team's opportunity to pounce and attack for a much needed victory. We are about a 3.5 point favorite right now which seems pretty low to me, but this is a road game.

[TSE]

Justin Miller was cut to make room for the Jags WR Mike Thomas that we just traded a "mid-round" pick for. He has experience returning punts and kicks as well averaging about a yard less than Logan, but he also fumbles half as often as Logan.

Still wish we could find a lot more trades before the deadline, we could use improvement in many areas and it would be nice to sell any players that aren't in our long-term plans.

[Blkbrd671]

Justin Miller was cut to make room for the Jags WR Mike Thomas that we just traded a "mid-round" pick for. He has experience returning punts and kicks as well averaging about a yard less than Logan, but he also fumbles half as often as Logan.

Still wish we could find a lot more trades before the deadline, we could use improvement in many areas and it would be nice to sell any players that aren't in our long-term plans.

i saw that, i wonder if this is for depth purposes or they'd really like to sit Broyles and let him continue to heal properly.

i am disappointed that we haven't gone after a CB or Safety, and i agree that we should trade players not in our long term plans.

[TSE]

^
Well Broyles looked pretty decent in health, so I don't know but that is possible. I'm guessing they just wanted to have 4 active good WRs so even with Broyles they would need him if that's the goal. But then again it doesn't make sense why they cut Miller instead of Robiskie, why do we need him as the 5th WR when we still have Logan as an emergency 5th as well as 3 TEs that can run routes? So it seems obvious to me that they want 4 credible WRs absolutely for sure. That's the only justification that makes sense to me.

There's still time to go after a CB or S but then again we aren't really shrewd at being dealmakers, which is my #1 complaint with our personnel strategy as a whole. It's not like us to make a big deal so if we do it will probably be a nondescript player to help with depth. They are rumored to be calling around looking for an extra safety and the deadline for trades has been pushed back to Thursday, so don't be surprised if they pick up a DB in the next 2 days. It seems like they want to make a move and we are short on healthy Safeties for the next game perhaps, not really knowing what the health is of the crew firsthand though.

If it were me I would trade at least 20 guys by Thursday and completely reinvent the team. Our odds to make the playoffs this year are low enough that we have to consider aggressive moves for the long-term, plus cleaning house of the guys that aren't in our long-term plans could actually give us a better shot THIS year to make the playoffs imo. But then again that's playing Madden ball, I only say that so 10 people don't reply to this post and say you can't do that.

Everybody told John Rockefeller he couldn't do what he wanted to do, and he achieved a net worth that was arguably 10x that of what Bill Gates has today, and I have the same attitude. This is about Survival of the Fittest and the rest of the GMs in this league aren't fit, and I think we should make as many moves as possible to take advantage of those losers.

Sorry Blkbrd, this time I didn't keep it overly simple.

[Icness]

The Thomas trade is just dumb. It will be a 5th round pick because Lions already traded the the 4th rounder for Tahir Whitehead, who is seldom active and pushed Doug Hogue off the roster. They're the same damn player, completely redundant, no need to waste the pick.

Thomas is a guy the Lions coveted back in that draft but wound up with Derrick Williams (eww) instead. Legit slot receiver, which means they can use Broyles more outside or bring in more speed when they go 4 WR. He played well as a rookie but has not done a lot since, total misfit in their current short ball control offense. He has very good speed off the line. Not a great return man, very much a run straight ahead as fast as he can runner.

So the Lions just gave up their 5th round pick for a # WR that won't be on the team beyond next year. He might not even be on the team next year if they bring Burleson back; it's essentially one or the other. Thomas will make $1.45M this (half that as it's half the season) and next year, then he accelerates to $3.5 and $3.75, which means he won't see those years unless he really breaks out. The 5th round pick would make about $2.4M over 4 years. There are too many other guys who need to get paid to spend like that on a 4th WR.

The only other trade chatter I've heard is they called Houston about reserve safety Troy Nolan. Decent player, not a lot better than Silva but better in coverage. The problem is the assets to trade just aren't there; the Texans want a WR but the Lions obviously aren't willing to part with one as they just traded for one. And no, they are not flipping Thomas. There is not a 4th or 5th to trade anymore.

[Blkbrd671]

The Thomas trade is just dumb. It will be a 5th round pick because Lions already traded the the 4th rounder for Tahir Whitehead, who is seldom active and pushed Doug Hogue off the roster. They're the same damn player, completely redundant, no need to waste the pick.

Thomas is a guy the Lions coveted back in that draft but wound up with Derrick Williams (eww) instead. Legit slot receiver, which means they can use Broyles more outside or bring in more speed when they go 4 WR. He played well as a rookie but has not done a lot since, total misfit in their current short ball control offense. He has very good speed off the line. Not a great return man, very much a run straight ahead as fast as he can runner.

So the Lions just gave up their 5th round pick for a # WR that won't be on the team beyond next year. He might not even be on the team next year if they bring Burleson back; it's essentially one or the other. Thomas will make $1.45M this (half that as it's half the season) and next year, then he accelerates to $3.5 and $3.75, which means he won't see those years unless he really breaks out. The 5th round pick would make about $2.4M over 4 years. There are too many other guys who need to get paid to spend like that on a 4th WR.

The only other trade chatter I've heard is they called Houston about reserve safety Troy Nolan. Decent player, not a lot better than Silva but better in coverage. The problem is the assets to trade just aren't there; the Texans want a WR but the Lions obviously aren't willing to part with one as they just traded for one. And no, they are not flipping Thomas. There is not a 4th or 5th to trade anymore.

i don't think we intend on paying avril, while he's one of our best rushers, wouldn't it make sense to send him to a team that currently needs DE for secondary help or even picks. While we may lose production in the front 4, wouldn't the strengthen secondary even it out? I thought young and jackson were supposed to have break out years.

[Icness]

Why would anyone give anything up for Avril when they can wait 8 weeks and sign him as a free agent? NFL GMs value picks too much to sacrifice a pick to rent a player that is going to be a free agent. Right or wrong, that's the way it is.

[Blkbrd671]

Why would anyone give anything up for Avril when they can wait 8 weeks and sign him as a free agent? NFL GMs value picks too much to sacrifice a pick to rent a player that is going to be a free agent. Right or wrong, that's the way it is.

Immediate help at the end spot, get to see a player in your system before having to pay him. Strong secondary, weak front 4. idk how many teams out there that are like that. I have a basketball mind set where you and another team have a position need and could trade with each other to meet that need. not quite sure if it works like that in football.

Eagles for instance got a lot of money commited to their secondary that isn't worth what they are paying for. Would avrils expiring look attractive?

i wouldn't do right now for a pick, but i'd do it for a player.

[TSE]

^
Well he hasn't exactly lit it up on the stat board this year, so any team that trades for him would have to see him as more valuable than what his crude production has been on just the pure numbers. 4.5 sacks so far is not terribly exciting, and 0 FFs with only 1 PD means to me that his stock is LESS than what it was before the season started. If we trade him now we will certainly get less because his perceived value should be down, plus we already used him for 7 games that another team can't get value for now, so it really wouldn't make sense to trade him at this point if we weren't prepared to trade him at the beginning of the season. That doesn't mean we still shouldn't consider it, because at some point you have to choose to do the right thing and do what's best for the team, and standing pat with our overall team design is no solution to me, and something HAS to be done, so all options MUST be considered.

That being said, the new team that is confident in him to a high level would also have to conveniently not have a possible Franchise player to tag so that they can keep their options open just in case they can't negotiate a new deal with him. I wouldn't worry about the contract so much though since if I was trading for him it would be because I'm one of the teams that views him as the most valuable of anybody considering well I apparently offered more in trade to get him, so that would seem to me that I'm more likely to offer him more money than the typical team anyhow, and my attitude would be that there is an opportunity to forge a marriage with the player once he arrives, so I wouldn't be hung up on worrying to keep him long-term after proving I was the highest bidder to get him in trade. It just makes it less likely if there is an obvious player that needs to be tagged.

[ajaX82]

Jags suck. Thank goodness I started LeShore in fantasy today

[TSE]

Yeah I felt pretty confident after that first TD that we might have had enough to win with that one score! The main thing that was annoying today was Stefan Logan. There was at least one time where he wasn't even close to being in position to catch a punt or play a bounce that cost us many yards, there as at least one time he had a huge punt return opportunity and he called for a fair catch by mistake, and then he even committed an offsides penalty on one of our kickoffs! He just couldn't do anything right today or contribute in any way. I thought this would have been a good game just to give Mike Thomas a shot to play the returns against his old team just to see what he might do with a chip on his shoulder just to keep things fun and interesting.

Oh well, time to look forward to next week and see if we can get above .500!

[TSE]

Yeah I felt pretty confident after that first TD that we might have had enough to win with that one score! The main thing that was annoying today was Stefan Logan. There was at least one time where he wasn't even close to being in position to catch a punt or play a bounce that cost us many yards, there as at least one time he had a huge punt return opportunity and he called for a fair catch by mistake, and then he even committed an offsides penalty on one of our kickoffs! He just couldn't do anything right today or contribute in any way. I thought this would have been a good game just to give Mike Thomas a shot to play the returns against his old team just to see what he might do with a chip on his shoulder just to keep things fun and interesting.

Oh well, time to look forward to next week and see if we can get above .500!

[Icness]

It was a great win. I like that the Lions did what good teams do: crush inferior opponents.

The Good:
--OL was awesome. Stafford got sacked (for no loss) on the second drive. After that the Jaguars recorded 2 QB pressures and never touched him. But it was the run blocking that was even better. When they bring Reiff in as the 6th lineman the run game is smashing.

--Leshoure and Bell both ran with confidence. I like the 1-2 punch, nice to see Bell improving. The three TDs for Leshoure get all the attention but I actually thought Bell did more with his carries. Two of Leshoure's TDs were perfectly blocked.

--the defense forcing 3 and outs on the first three drives, then a 5 play and a 4 play drive in the first half, allowing 57 total yards. Then they picked off Gabbert on the first two drives of the 2nd half before easing up in garbage time. All three levels were strong.

--Stafford was grooving early and was excellent on 3rd down all game long. Check the $.10 for the actual numbers.

--Jonte Green had another strong game. Erik Coleman played well though he was seldom really challenged.

The bad:
--The return game continues to sputter. Logan cannot find holes well, but too often the holes just aren't where he can get to them either.

--Calvin Johnson has got to start getting some of those red zone catches into the end zone

--the DL should have finished more of their pressures into sacks, though it's hard to fault them for not getting the sack when the QB wildly throws the ball away while sprinting backwards, which I saw a couple of times.

--I'll admit it, I wanted the shutout.

[TSE]

^
Well I think we should have crushed them by a lot more. When it was 14-0 I felt it should have been more like 24-0 at that point.

Bell looked like did more I think because some of the Jags looked frightened to make contact with him and take more punishment from him. I think they started to have enough after the first couple times they tried tackling him. lol the Jags tacklers were sooo bad.

I'm going to check out the .10 now.