A top 5 Center or someone who plays at that level.
GG is out of his depth. It is asking way too much to have a middling journeyman play Center between basically 2 rookie Guards and not have games like this.
The playbook is out. Press the shit out of the Lions G-C-G and stay in Goffs face as much as possible.
Also zone blitz up the middle if Gibbs is in to help block.
Now even with all those problems. If ST plays well or the defense makes more plays they win this game. As bad as they played and it was a disaster IMO they were in it at the end.
This is sort of how I’ve been feeling, and after cooling down from the loss, I think I feel this way too. I know some will say “take out these 2 games” and others will say “we’re this ranking on offense how much better can you get” but I feel the inconsistencies and struggles are not THAT shocking when you consider we are starting essentially 2 rookies at guard flanked by a journeyman center on his last legs. I really hope BH goes and gets a starting level lineman if at all possible this week. I know it won’t be easy, and if the right deal doesn’t present himself I won’t fault him for not making a bad trade - but damn we need help and we need it quickly.
Side note - losing Frazier has been a big loss as well. We haven’t seen him so he almost gets forgotten about, but I truly think in an ideal world there was a plan for him to compete here. And if he was ready to step in and give it a shot maybe - but with Mahog and Frazier both gone I think it’s a pretty damn dire situation. Hell, it may have even needed some help to fortify the OL even before the injury….
2 guards that are grading out at the top of their draft class and believe it or not, GG is ranked 3rd in pass blocking…
Play calling and a poor run game are the main issues IMO… These are not bad players, they just aren’t coaches need to put a scheme together that plays to their strengths. That may not look like what it was last year, but you don’t start in the SEC or the NFL for years and grade out at least average bc you suck… They need to figure out a way to maximize their talent.
The PFF grades are a nice reference for sure. But yesterday exposed the lack of experience that the Lions have up the middle. Between double gap blitzes up the middle and interior twist plays by the Dline the interior Oline was getting thrashed. And if you have a known passing play and know the RB is going to have to pick up a blitz Gibbs is not your guy. He got trucked multiple times yesterday. The scheme and play calling or maybe the personnel being used on certain plays was not great.
I am starting to trend in agreement with some that this interior Oline play is not at a level that can carry this team to a Super Bowl appearance. And now that Mahog is out they are on life support up front. A legit Center would help a ton. And allow us to move GG to Guard to replace Mahogs.
GG is a legit center and would start at the position for half the league… He’s just not a mauler in the run game. Getting an elite center this season isn’t happening, so people can just stop with that. So what’s the solution? Scheme and coaching… Like I’ve been saying, this is on the staff to put these guys in a position to succeed. Either with play calling or a modification to the scheme, it’s the only way to improve their play at this point. This offense is giving me Mike Martz vibes, the Lions just have better players now than they did then.
I would agree to disagree. GG is just bad at run blocking and I do not think his line calls are at the level they need to be.
I am not down on him per see. It is the whole combination that is the issue IMO. Individually all 3 grade out pretty well but as a unit they can be overwhelmed and make critical mistakes. It takes almost perfect line play to have a great run game. Not one of those 5 guys can have a miss or lose. They all must stalemate or win to be effective and it is in that where they are failing.
I would see if we could get Zietler back and pick up Chop from Miami. Z would calm the oline down some and a rotation of Hutch, AQM and Chop would be really solid.
coaches need to put a scheme together that plays to their strengths. That may not look like what it was last year, but you don’t start in the SEC or the NFL for years and grade out at least average bc you suck… They need to figure out a way to maximize their talent.