Detroit Lions 2023

[MWmetalhead]

Another dropped pass.

[MWmetalhead]

Now a missed FG attempt. The Raiders absolutely have life.

[Rate This]

Now a missed FG attempt. The Raiders absolutely have life.

I think you’re way too hard on the Lions… this isn’t one of those lousy teams with another shoe that drops and they lose.

[Honeyman]

They got a win and they covered.

[MWmetalhead]

3 turnovers against a terrible Raiders team. Multiple dropped passes. Stupid penalties (not counting the roughing the passer penalty that should've been a non-penalty). Lions need to get that cleaned up. They won't be able to get away with those things against a competent opponent.

The defense did play great. No qualms with them at all.

[bmw]

I have to disagree with MW's assessment here. The Raiders absolutely did not have life after Detroit's missed field goal - not after the way Detroit's defense completely shut them down and decimated their offensive line the prior Raiders' possession.

The only turnover that really mattered was that pick-6. Outside of that one defensive play and their one scoring drive in the 2nd quarter, Detroit dominated the game.

If I have one concern moving forward, it is the lack of much of a deep threat.

[MWmetalhead]

The Lions had only 1 red zone TD against a team that is the third worst in the entire NFL in red zone defense. This came on the heels of the atrocious performance in Baltimore, too.

Sorry, but in my view that is certainly cause for concern.

If Jimmy G. had completed that pass to the wide open receiver down field, it likely would've been a five point ball game with a few minutes still to play. Fortunately for Detroit, the Raiders' pass game stunk all night, even in situations where receivers were open.

This team isn't playing at the same level it was in weeks 1 through 6. Most of the regression can be attributed to injuries.

The good news for Detroit is their schedule at the moment appears fairly easy over the remainder of the season. All of those opponents are currently at or below .500 in the standings with the exception of the Cowboys. The Vikings appeared to be gaining steam, but with Cousins now out due to injury, all bets are off. This team at worst should be able to win five more games given the schedule.

[bmw]

I'm fully with RT here - you're being too hard on them. They were favored by 7 and won by 12 and put up precisely the 26 points they were favored to put up.

They put up nearly 500 yards of offense while giving up only 157. Dominated in time of possession. Gibbs had a breakout game. Goff had a mediocre game but when you get 222 yards on the ground, that's fine. And not only did Detroit rush for 222 yards, they did it without their starter. Find me another team that could pull off that feat against even the worst run defense in the league.

As a whole, the cup is 3/4 full, so I'm not going to complain about that other 1/4. Yeah, the Lions got embarrassed in Baltimore. But the Chiefs also got equally embarrassed by Denver. And the 49ers have lost 3 straight.

Detroit right now has the 2nd best record in the NFC, and is probably set to run away with the division with Cousins out. Their remaining schedule is the easiest in the league. Barring an injury to Goff, they're going to be 12-5 or 13-4 when the season is over and at a minimum hosting a playoff game.

[Rate This]

I'm fully with RT here - you're being too hard on them. They were favored by 7 and won by 12 and put up precisely the 26 points they were favored to put up.

They put up nearly 500 yards of offense while giving up only 157. Dominated in time of possession. Gibbs had a breakout game. Goff had a mediocre game but when you get 222 yards on the ground, that's fine. And not only did Detroit rush for 222 yards, they did it without their starter. Find me another team that could pull off that feat against even the worst run defense in the league.

As a whole, the cup is 3/4 full, so I'm not going to complain about that other 1/4. Yeah, the Lions got embarrassed in Baltimore. But the Chiefs also got equally embarrassed by Denver. And the 49ers have lost 3 straight.

Detroit right now has the 2nd best record in the NFC, and is probably set to run away with the division with Cousins out. Their remaining schedule is the easiest in the league. Barring an injury to Goff, they're going to be 12-5 or 13-4 when the season is over and at a minimum hosting a playoff game.

The next 4 opponents have losing records no less… I was stunned by that graphic…

[MWmetalhead]

1 for 5 in the red zone against a terrible Raiders team.

12.50% TD percentage from the red zone over the past 3 games. That's putrid. Second worst in the league.

Good thing they play no one good anytime soon. As long as their defense keeps performing at a high level, they should be OK.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/r ... coring-pct

[moldyoldie]

I'm gonna waver here and agree with all of you. Three egregious turnovers would've signaled bad tidings against a good team. However, we reestablished a good running game and dominated time of possession which more often than not portends a winning team. The bye couldn't come at a better time, especially with the wrath of injuries across the O-line.

What the hell was Jamo seeing coming at him on that "drop"? He missed it by a mile! He is our deep threat, our only deep threat.

I was very disappointed in Patterson missing that chip shot FG from an odd angle. I hope he intensely practices that kick the next two weeks.

In other news, I guess Cousins to the Jets is no longer a story.

[bmw]

MW - I don't know why you're fixated on that one particular stat. I don't care how they score points or where they come from on the field, the fact of the matter is that they're putting up 25 points a game while giving up 20. And despite what you say about the Raiders, they did in fact have a 3-4 record before last night (meaning there are 14 teams with an equal or worse record than them). The teams Detroit has played thus far have a combined winning record of 28-24 (excluding results of games played vs. Detroit). For comparison to other teams that are 5-2 or better thus far, I'll call this a +4 strength-of-schedule

Philly: 7-1, 0 SOS
Jacksonville: 6-2, +6 SOS
Detroit: 6-2, +4 SOS
Kansas City: 6-2, +4 SOS
Baltimore: 6-2, +1 SOS
Miami: 6-2, -8 SOS
Dallas: 5-2, -6 SOS
Seattle: 5-2, -9 SOS

So just looking at records and each of those teams' strength-of-schedule thus far, Detroit is arguably the 3rd-best team in the league at the moment (and I give them the tiebreaker over KC since they beat them).

[craig11152]

The Lions had a bad game and won by double digits. That is a good day in the NFL.
The Lions of 2 years ago have a game like that they lose 28-3

[MWmetalhead]

Miami, Baltimore, Seattle, and Philly are all better teams, in my opinion. Jury is still out on Dallas. Lions are a top 6 or top 5 team season to date, which is good, especially when compared to historical standards for themselves.

Good post, Moldy. I agree with all of it.

[MWmetalhead]

The Lions had a bad game and won by double digits. That is a good day in the NFL.
The Lions of 2 years ago have a game like that they lose 28-3

Even I won't go so far as to call yesterday a "bad game" as a whole. It was a mixed bag. Defense played great.

Lions of two years ago would've lost via walk off field goal or by giving up a TD in the final 2 minutes of the game. THANK GOD today's Lions are a much better squad than that one.