Obviously losing Stafford was the season for this team. It’s not an excuse for the rest of the team, nor for the coaching, just reality.
There are lots of examples of teams that lose QBs (not as good as Stafford) and it is a season ended. Clearly Driskel is a developmental project. One example would be the 49ers last year versus this year. Another would be the Packers without Erin, their record takes a huge dive.
This isn’t college football. The roster limits in the NFL are tight, and when you are playing without about a quarter of your starters, including one of the best QBs in the game, it is hard to win.
Lot’s of mistakes by backups that were filling in today (backup return guy, backup QB, etc). I would hope for better, but is it really reasonable to expect much better?
I’m going to hope for better, but I think the biggest problem with the team this year has been injuries. This is a close call for me though - I think the Defensive playcalling could be more aggressive. I’d point out though that some of the games where they called the most blitzes, they just were not able to get home on them - I’ve read articles breaking down the numbers.
Thoughts?
I’m slightly in the camp of keeping the coach. They were NEVER healthy this year and were still competitive with very good teams at less that 100% earlier this year.
The GB game took the pride away from the players. It hasn’t been the same since. MP said it before the season that we have to be healthy to be successful. As guys get healthy, you should see better play from the players. Snacks has been lights out these past few games and so has Davis. Still, too many injuries.
During the Giants Super Bowl run, they got healthy at the right time and made a big push to winning the SB.
If any farging icehole sits out caMP on a contract pissing match, cut the bastage. Snacks and Slay started slow, and with Flowers and Hand hurt it gutted us from the get go.
Also, the defensive scheme is like watching a T-Rex try to masturbate.
we could go…offensively, but had little to no help from our defense it’s not even close to a mystery, but am I wanting Paul Pas back next damn season that’s a GIANT NO !!
get a much better DC in the offseason, and let Patricia Coach, Quinn’s ass has to STOP getting these fragile players that do not play half the fucking season ! your QB gets mauled and he is smaller than you and HE stays on the field 98% of the damn time…because he has heart, where is the heart and want to your supposed to be Lions not pussies !!! man up or leave.
WTF happened to our o-line, they were doing ok keeping Matt upright, enter Driskel and The Redskins make you look like bi^7c3$ ! my lord. does ANYBODY know how to do their job here?
I sense that too. Intensity level dropped off drastically, after that game. Gettin goosed by the officials in back to back games was brutal.
Injuries probably 2nd
Missed opportunities/mistakes. Untimely dropped picks, coaches calling timeouts when our alpha-male QB is busy winning the game & not being trusted.
It truly sucks, to not watch meaningful football in December. I also notice how tough the Cowboys played the Patriots, and how tough we played the Cowboys. If we had any D at all, we’d have beaten them. This team has been a tough out for everyone. We are not very far away. So, so frustrating.
It’s not hard at all to envision this team with a whole lot more wins.
KC
Dallas
GB
KC
Washington (OMG that sucks)
AZ
Not far off. Watch us beat the freaking Vikings on the road. I’m so frustrated. Love this team, and as a fan, it feels helpless (not hopeless). I think we will see SBs, maybe even with this regime. The D is by far my biggest concern.
Let’s get some x-factor dudes that fight hard. Ettlemen returns punts, because he’s talented, but also a leader, a tough guy, and gives them a spark. Let’s get some dudes like that. I’d be cool with drafting a KR/PR to specifically play that role. Big nasty DT, Big ugly OL (or 2), angry RB who channels his displaced anger to the football field.
Here’s my beef: Stafford is no more injured than he was when he was in the lineup at the end of last season and the start of this season. OK, it was discovered he has microscopic fracture(s) in one or more bones in his spinal column. Those ostensibly will heal over time. He is not in traction. He has demonstrated he can throw the ball with authority. He has good mobility. He’s being paid millions of dollars, and those dollars are coming from fans and TV viewers and the people who buy products advertised during the telecasts. Those people deserve to see the best personnel a team can field, playing to the best of their ability, every time they take the field. I’m so sick of people talking about “meaningless” games just because a team is not playoff eligible. There is no meaningless game to an athlete who has an innate desire to win every time he suits up. If Stafford is concerned about jeopardizing his life after football he should retire and forfeit the remainder of his contract. Every man out there is taking his life in his hands on every snap. If you can’t deal with that, hang it up. So, I’ll say it again, the Lions fans are being “gamed”, as in not being dealt with fairly, by the team’s management.
The Packers go into the tank when they lose Rodgers because he is an other worldly talent that should have like 4 Super Bowl rings at this point but an inferior roster around him has held the team back. We DO NOT want a Packers situation. When you lose your starting QB, the entire season should not go into the tank, particularly in the first 4 or so games you are without your starter…because those are the games where you have the element of surprise on your side to offset the problems with the backup long term. If we can’t win without Stafford, then Quinn needs to be fired along with Patricia.
I’d say the same goes not winning with him. there are enough offensive weapons we don’t need to add there (we were top 5 with stafford) but good lord what did happen with that defense? if we played as good as we did 2nd half last year we should be looking at least 6 or 7 wins right now. at least. I get injuries are a thing but did the scheme change? I would figure you play the same scheme no matter who is in there, if they fail they fail but good lord to just sit back and hope the opposing offense screws up is…silly.
They absolutely should keep Patricia.
And, yes, this season is largely impacted by injury.
At it’s core, though, the team is/was incomplete.
The OL still hasn’t gelled in the run-game. An unfortunate part of that is that the RB’s also haven’t made good decisions, making the OL and blocking look worse than it really is. The best looking RB we’ve had all year is a Street Free Agent we picked up after a bunch of injuries. He’s a good #2, making KJ a good #3.
The defense is a serious mess. Not just because we’re missing a piece or two, but because the guys we have are incomplete for their roles. Neither of our ILB’s can cover. None of our OLB’s possess starting-caliber pass-rush ability and struggle to cover. The bigs on the inside do not possess the skill or ability to be effective in pass and run, or to be dependable while both singled or doubled.
That probably sounds like sour grapes, but it’s not. It’s been a frustrating reality even since last year with some players and it wasn’t improved this off-season.
So, restore this team fully to health from game 1, including Daniels, Hand, Snacks and Bryant from the very beginning and we’re definitely in a better place, but there’s still a ceiling. The other part of that is, how reasonable is it to think each of them would be healthy to start the season. The team knew the situation and still rolled with that roster.
Teams like the Colts have had plenty of injuries and are still able to win games. They lost their franchise QB right before the season started. Then their back up got hurt. They are still sitting here with a winning record. Stafford goes down (after the season is shot) and people use it as an excuse, even though we sucked with him. We tied the damn Cardinals and beat nobody with a pulse when Stafford was playing some of his best ball of his career. The roster and staff was severely flawed before Daniels got his 3rd hangnail of the season.
I think some of our issues are injuries. But not all of them. I think we have some talent issues. We don’t have a bad roster, its just very OKAY and lacks difference makers. And I question our defensive scheme in regards to getting heat on the QB.
Damn near everyone who plays in the NFL has some kind of injury/pain/discomfort, etc. The difference here is that we use it as an excuse for being bad at football.
Snacks played like garbage most of the year (but he hurt his hamstring in June). Good, then sit out if you’re too injured to be productive.
Flowers (shoulder pain from march). If you’re useless on the field because of it, then why is he dressing?
Slay (see snacks).
TJH he can’t play good because he’s a rookie and that’s an NFL rule. He has to just dress this year, get 0 catches vs one of the worst teams and just wait. Next year he will be a hall of famer.
Daniels - counting on him for anything was dumb from the start.
Fact is, we were pretty damn healthy at the start of the season. Had damn near all of our weapons and main starters. We tied the Cardinals. The team was built with very little depth. Then you add that almost all of our top free agent signings have been terrible and another entire draft looks like shit and you have your 2019 Detroit Lions.
I think it is all scheme and injuries. Bevell’s scheme works great if you have a mobile quarter with an accurate and strong arm. Diskel is very mobile but his arm and accuracy suck imho. Stafford has the tool for throwing that overcome his less than great mobility that Bevell is used to scheming for but it can work enough to put up 25 points+ on the board.
This past week we had 6 starters out (1/4 of your entire starting team), that’s gonna hurt anyone, but the defensive scheme is sooooooooooooooo bad that they just are not getting the players ready to go against other teams. Plus, I can’t comfirm it but I think some guys are giving up on the season.
It’s clear there are the haves and the havenots this season, much more than any other season I can remember. I mean it is only the end of week 12 and it is pretty clear that the NFC is already set for the playoffs (SF, SEA, GB, MIN, NO and whoever wants to make the playoffs in the East).