During the caldwell years, the lions were never out of a ballgame. there was always fight. typically they started slow and finished strong(er) except of course when they weren’t just shitting the bed. there were a lot of memorable comeback wins during those years. put another way, many of the games rested on the O’s back. the D might get a key stop and then put it on the shoulders of the O to seal the deal.
Under MP / bevell, generally speaking, it seems that the lions are often jumping out to leads and then having to defend them. it’s sort of the opposite of caldwell. instead of the O heating up and sealing the win, the O gets worse or goes absent as the game goes on and the D is asked to protect the win.
I’m not sure if either is better. all i can say is that for whatever reason, i used to feel more confident with having the ball and playing for the win vs letting the game slip away and protecting a lead on D. the former way feels more like we’re peaking and getting better as the game goes on vs the latter which feels like we’re coming unglued and getting worse as the minutes tick away. it’s the old sinking we’re going to “blow another one feeling”.
in theory you want to always be playing from a lead because that means you’re already winning ;), so it should be better. but b/c the lions are so inconsistent watching a lead evaporate feels worse than watching them chip away at a deficit. maybe i’m just like offense more than defense.
anyway, the best way to get to and be successful in the playoffs is to play 4 qtrs of good ball week in and week out. they gotta get better.
I think it just “feels” better to have the ball in your hands with one of the greatest comeback QBs in history at the controls. Its obviously better to have the lead.
The Lions HAD the lead, and the ball mid-way through the 4th qtr no? But they couldn’t get close enough to kick a FG and force GB to score a TD to win it. IMHO, the offense is just as much to blame for this loss as the defense is, not withstanding the effing refs.
Wise, I try very hard not to be one of the conspiracy theories person but, I’d appreciate your input on what you think about the overturned call on the kerryon Johnson pass that would have given them a first down in field goal range and the non pass interference call On Marvin Jones later in the game that once again would have had them not only in field-goal range but deep inside the red zone? In both these instances obviously would have been first down and dramatically increases the likelihood that points are scored on both those drives.
I thought Kerryon had made the catch and had it until he hit the ground, which isn’t supposed to cause a fumble or an INC. The fact that NY overturned it surprised me, maybe they saw it from a different angle but I thought he took 2 steps without losing control.
The Marvin Jones interference was a missed call, IMHO. I swear, I don’t know what is DPI and what isn’t anymore. Maybe the ref didn’t see it or something, don’t know.
I don’t buy the conspiracy thing, could be wrong of course. But some teams get the calls and on-calls based in part on home field but also on their reputation. Michael Jordan used to take 4 steps to the basket sometimes and ever get called for traveling, well it’s like that for the Lions. I see Stafford taking a hit that would be Roughing the Passer for another QB. And sometimes the refs don’t see the foul but the player acts like he’s being killed and so the flag gets thrown. It’s like flopping in the NBA, I think Rodgers and the Packers are maybe the NFL’s best actors when it comes to drawing fouls.
Aren’t those literally examples of biased officiating? Especially when it’s the same teams and or the same Superstar players that continue to routinely throughout their career over years and years get those type of calls in their favor whereas the designated loser teams repeatedly get those calls against them?
Yes, it is biased officiating, which I think does happen but maybe not to the degree that others do. A conspiracy means a concerted, intentional effort to deny somebody a win because of some kind of favoritism. If you look across the league, there’s a lot of bitching about the officiating; other teams are getting screwed, not just the Lions. It wasn’t us, so we kinda forget about it but games have been lost due to some very bad officiating. Yes, it does seem like the Lions are getting the worst of it, and I can’t deny that a team like Green Bay is not always treated the same as the Lions are.
“The fumble that never was” was a first down…instead - officiating threw a drive-killer at us. Translation - the refs stopped our O. True, he shouldn’t have fumbled.
“The PI that never was” was also a drive-killer. If it’s called fairly, you’re not even having this conversation, because we scored more points. No to mention we’d likely have scored more, if the refs hadn’t kept Packer drives going. The offense played well enough to beat a damn good team on the road. If any one of those calls was changed, we’re having a totally different conversation.
The fumble that never was
The PI that never was
Hands to the face #1
hands to the face #2
Personal Foul on Wilson for trying to make an interception
First down for PI on Graham that never happened
This was the most flagrantly biased officiating I can ever remember seeing. The Lions play like that every week, and we will win almost every game for the rest of this season.
Almost impossible to win, with officiating like that. Literally unbelievable. If someone described that game to you, you would think they were being dramatic and exaggerating. Wow!
Hey there big Natty! I agree with you 100% I’m not sure how that particular quote was attributed to me because it wasn’t anything that I posted? It was part of a post from wiseacres that I had responded to with similar thoughts to your own
one caveat in terms of losses. losing sucks period. but if blowing leads becomes a trend that consistently turn into losses, the psychological effect of not being able to habitually finish is demoralizing. instead of playing loose you get tight and play afraid. you see the worst coming and you help make the inevitable happen.
ah i guess it cuts both ways. just find a way to win whether ahead or behind, on O or D, and the psychology and confidence will take care of itself
i’m completely with you on this. i think this O is better in some ways than those of past but basically it’s very similar in that they consistently are absent for long stretches of time when you need them most and they fail to capitalize on opportunities given far too often that could seal victories early. this results in last second outcomes nearly every single game that don’t need to be. this can be exciting or just plain annoying. it’s generally not the sign of a team that’s ever going to do any real damage in the post season.
As much as we would like to believe that we can systematically run the ball and bleed the clock, we cannot. Therefore we need to be aggressive in our playcalling and stop this notion of a big enough lead.
Sadly, not only must we step on the throat of our opponents, but we must go beyond that and play to a level of which our sportsmanship could be called into question. I will happily be accused of running up the score and take the win. When we get conservative on offense, the sucking begins.
We cannot allow teams to hang around and be within 2 scores in the fourth. It sucks, but this is how we get jobbed. So remove getting jobbed, or make it so obvious that the league must address it. MUST address it. Monday was shameful, but it wasn’t all on the refs. We own some of this too. Until we remove all doubt of the win, we will continue to have these situations. We must now begin to destroy our competition because just winning isn’t enough. Just winning has proven to be a great opportunity for a ref to tilt the game. No more! Destroy the opponent and remove all doubt now.
This week we get to play the Vikes and a team of refs. Best take care of both.
The Lions simply can’t run the ball to keep a lead. The main culprits? Wagner and Decker. They are not holding at the point of attack. I’m not sure if they’re running a power or zone scheme. If they are running power, then Decker and Wagner are not the Tackles to do so. If they are running a zone blocking system, then Dahl and Glasgow aren’t the Guards for it. So call me confused.
in terms of run game, the odd thing is it’s pretty much the same OL personnel (plus some extra new TEs that are supposed to be good blockers) as last year and a new OC. why is it odd? b/c last year we actually ran the ball better than we are this year??? no consistency with this team ever.
