I’m a Rest 'em. I view this as a bye for the Lions, because even though there’s a long shot at a No. 2 seed, it doesn’t meet the risk of an injury or additional wear and tear on key players who could use the week off.
And that would have a domino effect.
For example, give Ragnow’s foot a week off. He hasn’t been 100% all year. So if this week would give him an advantage, do it. But with Ragnow out, it makes little sense to give too much reps to Goff, Monty, Gibbs, and maybe even Decker and Sewell. Same goes for LaPorta.
I do think giving snaps to Houston and CJGJ makes sense. Not a ton, but a handful to help them get their feet.
My biggest point is, treat this like a preseason game. Maybe let the starters play for a quarter or so, otherwise, SIT them and keep 'em healthy. All it takes is one play to ruin the season, and so many individual players feel “make or break” for this team.
I voted play them although I don’t think you play them the entire game.
There are things from the Dallas game that need to improve on the O side of the ball.
Best way to do that is in live game situation over practice.
Then, who you play on the OL, or don’t play, determines what I do at QB.
Sit Ragnow and any other starter that shows up on the injury report.
Goff should play a few series and then sit for Teddy. No Hooker.
Get Montgomery to 1,000 yards (he needs 25) and then sit him for Craig Reynolds. I’d like to see Gibbs get 1,000 too, but he needs 85 yards and I don’t want to put a heavy load on him so give him 8-10 carries to try to get there and if he’s not close wrap him up.
Cycle out the other starters through the game. Rodriguez, JRM, Jacobs, Gilmore, Dorsey, W Harris, Martin, Levi, Walker, R Okwara, J Okwara, C Harris, Wright, Mitchell, Skipper, Sorsdal, Awosika, DPJ, Green - they won’t all be active but those that are should see plenty of snaps in the second half.
Give CJGJ some snaps to get him back up to speed.
With all that said, when Campbell was asked about potentially resting players if a playoff spot was secure he said “players can rest after the season” so I fully expect it will be starters most or all of the game.
What are the seeding implications?
How many home playoff games do we get?
I gotta tell ya, the thought of our fans filling another teams stadium again, after the NFL deliberately ■■■■■■ us after filling every stadium for our road games really pisses me off.
Seriously, this isn’t going away for me. It’s just happened way too many times.
If I were Sheila, I seriously would forfeit Sunday, the playoffs, and spend my time looking for a buyer. I’d also make damn sure the NFL never saw another penny of Ford money.
They’ve been pulling this shit for 60 ■■■■■■■ years. Beyond ENOUGH!
Too much.
Exactly. On one hand, it’s said that everybody’s dinged up this time of year. OTOH, some guys are more dinged up than others. It’d be silly not to give recovery time to guys who can really benefit from it.
But here’s the thing that stands out for me: the roughest part of the regular season came right after the real bye.
Having held the Raiders to 14 going into the bye, the defense gave up 38 to a Chargers team missing a bunch of starters, including 2 of its top 3 receivers. Won that game on a walk-off FG. Could EASILY have lost to the Bears after that. Sandwiched losses to the Packers and Bears around a 5-pt win against the Saints after that.
So let’s not assume that resting guys is all to the good.
I kinda expected us to rest a bunch of guys. But Coach Campbell said the exact opposite today.
Now maybe he’s just saying that for people to watch the game. He can’t exactly say we’re sitting everyone so you best go fishing Sunday. But I sure would enjoy that if he did
I don’t know but I’m a believer that teams come out flat many times after they are rested. I say rest anyone who is dinged up and see how the game progresses. If Goff is under a lot of pressure then get him out of there. He’s the key to a successful playoff run.