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Jonah Jackson is back at practice
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His tiny hands haven’t been any problem this year. Good observation.
Why are you so sure that Ben Johnson is not following Dan Campbell’s vision? Maybe it’s Jared Goff’s input as far as which plays he likes to run that is the deciding difference. At this point I think it’s way too early to say that everything that is happening is due to Ben Johnson. Maybe it is, but we don’t really know as of yet.
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One thing you DON’T do is make him a head coach. The history of the NFL is littered with great coordinators who couldn’t get it done as head coaches.
Dan Campbell won a lot of points w/me when I saw this team fighting hard to the bitter end last year with “nothing to play for.” I think it’s clear that he’s overseen a cultural change that’s for the best. Obviously, more work to do. Can he pull some levers that lead to real improvement defensively and, if they continue to flounder, can he keep the team focused and together?
That’s wha I’ll judge him on, but even if he fails I see no reason to think Johnson will succeed just because he’s masterminded a successful offense so far.
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Campbells vision has been Anthony Lynn and Aron Glenn.
Sometimes you can tell when someone just has it. Just the way the players talk about Johnson is very telling. I’ve researched Johnson some and listened to his interviews. He comes across much more fluid and pragmatic then Dan in my opinion.
Reality is there isn’t some great pool of coaches just sitting out there. Guys like Patricia, Hackett, Staley and even Campbell are getting jobs. Some work like Lafluer and McVay. Some flunk. Personally, give me the guy who has the number 1 offense with backups playing.
I get Campbell is great for tv and he’s a likeable guy. Hell our last coach Jeff Fisher reminds me of Campbell. Former player and a players coach. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean your good at your job. Based off what I’ve seen. Campbell isn’t and it’s a results job. The Lions thing would to do would be to lose a guy like Johnson because biting knees sounds cooler. Just my opinion.
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Lol. Ok you’ve pinned me to the mat with that one.
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It’s Campbell’s vision and johnsons execution. Campbell fired lynn and then started calling the plays last year and the difference was felt immediately… and you could see the direction the offense has moved. Johnson and Campbell seemed to have a clear idea of what the offense should be.
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You give up too easily, LP!
Obviously, Lynn didn’t work. Dan replaced him mid-season and now the O obviously looks amazing. And it looked pretty good even at the end of last year, as many have said.
On D, as many have also said, the infusion of talent the Lions should get should make a big difference. Unlike w/Lynn DC says the DC isn’t the problem. Maybe he’s right! People, including head coaches, certainly should be given a chance to course-correct.
Meanwhile, Special Team has been pretty good and lots of others things seem to be going well.
Talk of kicking Dan to the curb is waaay premature to me.
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For your guys sake I hope Campbell is that guy. But at the end of the day good coaches win games. McVay took the 32nd offense and made them the best in his first year. We went to the playoffs. First year!!! Hell, look what Pedersen did with the Jags dumpster fire. First year!!!
I’m not trying to be that guy. But when Fisher was our coach we said the exact same stuff you guys are saying now. We need more talent, next year, players like him, culture change. And all that is great to a extent. Till you see the win loss column.
Your right its probably too early to write Dan off. But there are signs he might not be it.
I don’t know whether DC is that guy or not. I’m saying it’s too early to say that he’s not, especially in light of some promising signs.
And not all NFL team “dumpster fires” are created the same. McVay and Snead did a very nice job, no doubt about it. AND the talent cupboard they inherited wasn’t NEARLY as bare as the one DC and BH did, especially in re the skill positions.
Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Tyler Higbee, Rodger Saffold, Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers (when he was good!), Robert Quinn, Mark Barron, Johnny Hekker, Greg Zuerlein - that is a flippin’ TREASURE CHEST relative to what DC and BH had to deal with.
AND the Rams’ cap situation was waaaaaay better. McVay and Snead went to town in free agency, adding Woods, Watkins, Whitworth, and John Sullivan. In two years, our guys have been able to add…Chark.
And then the Rams were very lucky w/injuries those first couple years, whereas we know what happened to the Lions last year - and is still happening. The issue of drafting hurt guys - or not -aside, I don’t think coaches and GMs deserve much credit or blame for that. They mostly do the same stuff.
So:
- Quality of players inherited
- Cap situation
- Injury luck
All those skewed MASSIVELY in favor of the Rams in 2017 vs. the Lions last year and this year. Chark is still the only big FA Holmes has been able to add.
All to say: beware of apples-bicycles comparisons.
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How do you know Campbell isn’t a huge reason for the offense success?
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I can agree with some of that. And yes you guys have been injury plagued. But you have the best offense in the league and are 1-3 because of coaching and decisions made by your headcoach. It’s year 2 now. At some point you just have to win games. Something Campbell is currently struggling with.
It’s not about comparisons. It’s about results.
For the same reason Dan didn’t get blamed for fully for Lynn. If it truly was Campbells offense there would have been no need to replace the OC. I mean isn’t Johnson the one calling plays here? I give Campbell props for giving the offense to Johnson. But from everything I’ve read it sounds like this is Bens show on offense.
Sure, it’s about results. But judging results without paying attention to context is terrible way to assess performance.
And whats the context exactly?
Dan was the one calling the plays last year though after demoting Lynn, and when he took over Goff played much better. Goff has been quite good ever since. I think it’s a collaborative effort. Goff has huge input into what they are running to according to BJ. Fraley also coming up with some very creative run blocking schemes. If only we had some good schemes on defense.
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Fair enough. But from my perspective the main factor is Johnson in, Lynn out and number 1 offense.
Does there number count when the QB runs as a rushed QB or just when a QB is rushed an throws a bad pass or throws it away.
I mean if you flush a QB an he runs an gains a yard is that count as pressure an if doesn’t how do they know when its pressure an when its a opening appears an QB just runs?
We all have seen QB looking like rush will close in an a open happens an he runs for good yardage is that a rush pressure or a delayed QB rush?
I see the chart, but it doesn’t match what I see in games. Goff has been sacked exactly 5 times in 4 games. He isn’t running for his life back there.
You and I have both seen plenty of Lions games where the QB is sacked 5 times in a single game! Our not-particularly-mobile QB has had time to throw.
In fact, there are 26 starters in the NFL who have been sacked more than Goff this year. Five of them have been sacked 3X more (Wentz 17, Borrow 16, Fields 16, Stafford 16, Ryan 15). What does this chart measure cuz our line isn’t giving up sacks.
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Yeah, while I somewhat agree, there’s also a lot of Head Coaches that were Coordinators as well. McVay immediately comes to mind.