This is roughly what Snacks and Flowers made for the game yesterday and between the 2 of them, I don’t think they could have made less of an impact. To me, other than coaching being a complete disaster in the 2nd half, this was the most disappointing take away from that collapse.
I was ok with extending Snacks, but I wasn’t overly anxious to do so, based on a few games last year after the season was already in the tank. Show me something in games that matter and then cry for an extension. Flowers being paid like he’s Reggie White in his prime could also be a problem if he goes missing like he did yesterday.
They both looked rusty and not in game shape. Problem is we need them now in the hardest part of our schedule. They both were non factors yesterday as far as doing anything good. Too much $$$ tied into this two to not be dominant
I agree that we didn’t appear in game shape, but Snacks gets a lot of attention from the DL, and was a large part of Kenard’s success.
When we go “prevent,” we put all the pressure on the DBs (the weakest part of our D)…And they went no huddle, so we couldn’t change personnel…and this made our big boys even more tired.
Flowers is coming off of a shoulder surgery, so he’s still building strength back up. No way is he at full strength, right now. Anyone who has ever rehabbed knows this.
Bottom line, we’re pissed, and we should be. When peopel get pissed about a loss, we look for blame. There’s plenty to go around. Some are blaming the QB, WRs, DL (here), Agnew, OC, Decker…you see where I’m going.
Truth is, this one is on the coaches more than anyone. They put the players in a position where they could not get breaks. The coaches put us in a prevent D, and kept them on the field, when we have demonstrated for 3+ quarters that we can handle their ass.
The D is gong to get better. What really sucks is that they Cards provided a great blueprint on how to beat our Defense. We do not have the horses to be overly conservative on either side of the ball. We need to keep playing football, and play to win, instead of playing to not lose.
Did you guys see Snacks tweet? He put it all on himself. I know it wasnt his fault, but I do think the lack of playing guys in preseason bit us in the ass here.
One of my concerns for the game was seeing how the rookies would handle playing a full NFL 4 quarter game. My concern was misplaced. It was the vets who melted. Combine that with the fact we took the foot off the gas too early, then compounded as we played right into Arizona’s hands, and gassed our own defense twice as fast.
Here’s something I thought about. Any Michigan fans remember RichRod’s game against Wisconsin at home? Thats exactly what Arizona did to the Lions. Better news. The Wolverines won their game, but were not the better team.
I think Flowers, Daniels, and Harrison were out of energy and strength when it came to crunch time. Think about it, those 3 guys missed most of TC and didn’t have the stamina to get after Murray. who made them expend a lot of energy chasing after him for 3 quarters. It’s no surprise then that in the 4th qtr they couldn’t do much more than raise their hands and try to bat down the ball.
Let’s face it, Snacks is morbidly obese and out of shape.
I think the temperature hovered around 120 degrees on the field, so of course he was affected. Hot temps affects the hogs more than anyone else. {A camera took a shot of a thermometer, so I could be off on the exact temp].
Something I forgot about - the temp on the field. I did realize they were going no huddle, and we were going prevent, and we couldn’t make substitutions. Temperature was a big factor, for sure. I went to the Miami game last year, and I was thoroughly impressed that the dudes were even playing in that shit. Totally proud of the Miami effort in that heat.
Next game, they’ll be indoors, and in slightly better shape. Let’s see what happens.
Even with a controlled environment, the big guys looked gassed in the 4th qtr. Flowers, Harrison, Daniels, etc., none of whom have practiced much until the last 2 weeks and my guess is they were not in good physical condition. Chasing Murray around for 3 qtrs will do that to a big guy. I just wonder how long it will take for them to get in NFL shape, you gotta have a pass rush in the 4th qtr, and the Lions can’t wait too long or they’ll be 0-5-1 and that’s tough to come back from.
That has nothing to do with temp, I think Xmark realized he was wrong and backed off.
I agree, i think the big men were gassed because they basically did nothing in the preseason. Not sure why the Lions went 3 upfront and 8 back on both of Arizona’s TD drives in the 4th. It didn’t work the first time, why would they do it again. Murray is obvious really good when he had time, he is crap when he is rushed. Unless the DL needed to go soft because they were gassed, not sure why Patricia would change up what was working. This made me disrespect Patricia as a head coach.