I’m with JC on that last paragraph. You have a point there regarding the guys coming here, but it’s not as a Stepping Stone. They are showing their own sense of competitiveness and desire to own something unique. It’s not so much about what it might lead to for them, it’s about what it might lead to for us. (that might be too sappy, but I just don’t think they’re looking past us as something to add to their resume, because as JC said, we’re usually not something to brag about after the fact)
I get your point, by going for 2 and taking the lead it meant that the Vikings had an urgency to win the game as they were behind. Would they have been as aggressive trying to push the ball down the field if it was 16-16? Probably not
But on the other hand I respect the call. We had done zero on offense all game and were gifted an opportunity to win the game through sheer perseverance. Even if we had failed to convert I think that the players would have respected Campbell for going for it rather than just playing for OT and hoping for another break to go our way as our offense wasn’t going to drive the field to score from the kick off if we got the ball first.
I hate Zimmer and he is about as big an asshole as there is in football but I was surprised by this as he isn’t one to pass out faint praise for the sake of it. Scheme wise we are heading in the right direction, it is match ups and execution which is killing us due to a lack of talent. but that will change in time.
One other aspect I noted was our discipline was vastly improved from the Bears game where we were very sloppy. Think we only had two penalties, one of them the intentional delay of game from the punt and an illegal shift call as well. Things are being tidied up which reflects well on the coaches.
I agree with you about the two point conversion. I prefer playing for overtime in that situation. Hit in general I thought DC coached a mighty fine game after having a bit of a stinker in Chicago.
Most importantly. You can see the staffs player development chops in action. The players are improving. They are gaining confidence. We’ll always have a low ceiling this year due to athletic limitations but between this staff and Brad and Rah I’m feeling pretty good about the future.
Great post, I give it four stars.
For 2021, this team is condemned, like Sysiphus, to keep pushing a boulder uphill and just as it reaches the top, it rolls right back down. Can MCDC keep his team from losing heart?
Going for 2 was the right call, and a no brainer quite frankly. They’re an 0-4 team with nothing to lose and are playing a Vikings team that was on their heels. The right play was to continue the momentum and take the lead, not go for the tie and give them a reset.
Is it really Dan Campbell making the play-call on Defense on that last completion?
I don’t know why everyone is jumping on DC for something Aaron Glenn would make the call on?!?!
And you know as well as I do, had rushing 3 worked and we forced an incomplete, it would have been a great play-call…or had we rushed 4 and it was completed then posters would be calling for DC’s head because he only rushed 4 or should have rushed 3 or whatever.
A lot of arm-chair coaches who think their play-call would have been fool-proof.
I never picked up on it before this regime, but one extremely noticeable change in the Lions is how the entire organization seems dedicated to football. I know that may sound ridiculous to say about a “football” organization, but for so many years the Lions were just a place to come get a good contract or one last payday. We had some decent coaches in Schwartz and Caldwell that might have bucked that trend somewhat, but the last 20 years I’ve seen a lot of it.
To me, it shows that the organization is mostly ran by former players. And not just former NFL players. Former Lion players in Spielman and Campbell. These guys F-ing care. One of the beat writers the other day tweeted Chris Spielman was the first guy on the field at practice, for instance. And that these guys hired largely an entire staff of former players reinforces the idea. I liken it to when somebody is called a man’s man. We are building a football team’s football team it seems. I don’t know if its going to work, but how cool is that?!
Doesn’t it feel different on the field or is just me? I know were losing but the team just feels like they are moving in the right direction.
Yeah, I think we fix that secondary and get some guys that can get open we might be on to something. I really want to believe I’m witnessing an “origin story” like the legendary teams you always see on one of the “A Football Life” shows. This beginning isn’t quite the Junction Boys, but it has been totally brutal with the talent and the injuries, franchise QB wanting out. Of course, I’ve been known to partake in the Kool Aid so there’s that
