Now that the weekend is over, I’m focusing on the positives I see for the season.
Lions Offense:
Looks like a very multiple offense that can mix the run and pass well. Williams won’t always have such an easy time getting 10 yards a carry, but the push is there to average 4-5 yards consistently.
WRs showed they can contribute. Benson looked legit and also not on the same page with Goff, yet. I can see Benson being a top 3 WR by the end of the season.
This is an offense that can last the season and isn’t overly dependent on the pass (AZ) or qb runs (BAL). Passing teams can’t play in the cold and wet weather later in the season. Running teams can’t keep up with the passing teams in the domes.
The offense started slow (rust/nerves) but showed against a decent SF defense they can move the ball multiple ways. The deep ball will be there once the Pass OL is playing better against lesser DLs.
Defense:
The 49ers are one of the hardest assignment offenses to play against. They overload you on one side so the next time when you over pursue they beat you one on one the other side. Young defenses get eaten alive by them.
Still, adjustments were made. Faster guys were brought in (Barnes and Iffy). Blitzes were added. The 49ers players may have eased up a bit, but Shanahan claims they didn’t adjust play calling at all. The potential for a better defense is there. They will take lumps. I expect the DL to perform much better against a more standard Packers offense. Rodgers will likely expose the young DBs when throwing to Adams.
The most exciting thing was watching the defense move forward aggressively in the 2nd half. In the first half they were playing read and react and that is a killer against motion offenses. Now we see why Glenn was all over the defense to amp up their effort in practices because he wants them attacking.
Competition:
I did a separate post on Joe Barry and the Packers. Rodgers will start playing better but their defense may be the Achilles that drops them from the top. Zimmer seems a decent coach but the personnel has continued to decline under his leadership. Nagy is an extremely mediocre coach and may not last the season.
The NFC-North is there for the taking if the Lions can improve and play to their potential this season. Meanwhile, teams like the Bengals and maybe even the Eagles look improved and won’t be gimmies. The path to the playoffs likely runs through the North division.
It’s the way you finish:
All preseason the Lions were behind and came back in the 4th quarter. Against the 49ers, more of the same. There is a lot to clean up and great coaches will clean up most of this stuff quickly. There are some talent deficiencies. We see the younger guys like Iffy and Barnes bring up the level of play. We see young WRs starting to get comfortable.
We’ve now seen the Lions first product put on the field and it wasn’t horrible. Ok it was horrible for first quarter but then it started to improve quickly. Can we see that improvement continue? Can we see the team not make the same mistakes twice, because there are surely more mistakes to come. Can we see the depth start to impact and improve the team because already there are 3 significant injuries.
There is a lot of football left and one game does not a season make. My dad loves the quote, “from tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow”. I saw some shoots and leaves sprouting on Sunday. It’s up to the coaching staff to provide water and nutrients for future growth.
The most positive thing I saw in game 1 was actual holes created by the o-line for our running backs to run through. Been ages since I’ve seen that. The problem is you can’t keep running the ball when your defense is giving up TD after TD after TD after TD. smh
The rushing attack is something for A. Lynn to build on though moving forward.
Aaron Glenn sure has his work cut out for him on the defensive side of the ball though. We did look a bit better in the 2nd half. I say play the kids, start Barnes, get Levi in the lineup, get Julian Okwara on the field. If you’re going to suck, might as well get the young players some experience.
There is a delicate dance to getting the young guys reps to learn along side vets that play the position correctly versus putting them on an island with guys that are also making a ton of mistakes and building bad habits or destroying confidence.
I have a feeling the defense can still be workable this season. The 49ers are a difficult offense to contain when it’s clicking and it was.
I’ve been thinking the same thing, but I like Kalif Raymond as well. Hopefully they find a young veteran through FA or a trade next year and also pick up one in the 1st or 2nd rd in the draft.
Here is my take…. As Barely There mentioned, there is a delicate balance between letting the kids run wild, and not dismissing the veterans.
Guys like Iffy, Levi, McNeill, Barnes, St Brown and Sewell could all “potentially” be starters, or maybe just 2-3 or 4 will.
A) there is zero, I mean zero point in being mad af J Okudah. He didn’t draft himself at #3, and I would bet he didn’t intentionally tear up his Achilles to piss us off. We have an uncanny way of holding high draftees to the ceiling of their selection, or hating them here. I hope he heels up and next year becomes a starter at FS…
B) Vets have the money, the swagger, and the pull in the locker room. You don’t see 5th round DE rookies making Myles Garrett buy lunch. Nobody drafted in round 3, is putting dead fish in Honey Badgers locker. If the team benches Brockers, Collins, etc now, they will have rookies making confidence harming mistakes, we will still get blown out, and the vets will turn the locker room on the coaches.
C) we have a punchers chance to have a punchers chance this year, that’s it. We should pick #4-#10 with ours, and #20-#26 or so with Rams.
So imagine adding guys like next years version of J Chase, Jamin Davis, and Jevon Holland to our current roster. Then add an elite CB and another WR in FA, and a pair of edge guys in round 3.
Some very good points here! The thing a lot of people have a tendency to forget on game day, and I am as guilty as the next guy, is that many of these NFL player are freaking babies. Okudah, Sewell and others are just 20-22 year old kids, and just because they look like grown ass men, it doesn’t mean they are. They just happened to be blessed with physical talent that pretty much any one of us on this forum wish we had. It takes a very rare combination to have the entire package and a long stellar career. Hell, I was 22 y/o living with my parents, drinking too much, dropped out of college and only working part-time, before I joined the military and got my crap together. I wish all of these players/kids all the best in health and career, no matter how long it might last for them and to what heights they climb. Here’s your soapbox back.
