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Justired
JDavis,
I did not say Freeman was a better QB than Mathew, only that so far, he looks better, and he does.
As for Mathew having the same states as Peyton had in his first season, what does that prove? Nothing! Joey didn't have great stats his first year nor did David Carr, Jeff George or a host of other QB busts.
You and others seam to want to put Mathew in the Hall of Fame with out him even playing a complete season.
You are correct in pointing out that Freeman has better players around him than Mathew, which is why I think Mathew was a bad draft choice, not that he doesn't have potential, but because the Lions have no running game, and no pass protection!
By the time the Lions get a running game and the pass protection needed to give Mathew the support he needs, Mathew will be so Lionized that you and every one else will be calling him a bum!
This Management is just as bad as the past two management teams, they just haven't been around as long, but they are making the same mistakes. I'm not saying Mathew is a bad player, only that he was the wrong player.
I don't think there's a bad time to try to find your franchise quarterback. And I'm not guaranteeing he won't be a bust like the others. I just don't see it. I think he's a heck of a talent and the difference with this guy is he's not fragile emotionally. He showed that again Sunday, I think.
As for Freeman, I'm a bit surprised he looks as good as he does this early. But I've said all along, his ceiling was arguably as high as any of the QBs in that draft. That's what most scouts said, based on his size and arm and athleticism. The question was just how long it'd take for him to be ready to play. Obviously, he's ready sooner than I and a lot of others expected.
Same OLD ......
John,
Thanks for your response!
In answer to your question concerning the 2009 draft; No I do not think they are looking pretty good.
They have only 1 win so far and Mathews stats are horrendous!
Brandon has had one good game, and the 3rd round WR is a bust!
Josh Freeman looks like a better pick at QB than Mathew, and we still have one of the worst defenses.
Maybe Brandon will work out well and Mathew will survive, the next couple of years, and become a good QB, but by that time we will need a WR because Calvin will be gone.
Sammie Hill and Delmas do look very good.
If they start winning, with Mathew as the QB, Brandon plays up to his billing, Delmas continues to produce, and Sammie continues to improve...........
GM hat
Thanks St Pete, you just help make my point about bad player acquisitions!
Mike Utley was lost during the 1991 season, and in the following draft the Lions traded up to get a kicker (Jason Hanson) they had a great kicker in Eddy Murray but no right gaurd. The problem was exacerbated when Andolsek was killed that same spring.
Yes Jason is a great kicker, but he did has not help the Lions get a Superbowl ring, while Eddy help the Cowboys get one!
Taking the best player available is a good plan if you have a solid team, like New England, but not when you have major holes in your foundation!
In a previous post I said that this problem has been going on for 10 years but the truth is it has been a problem for 17 years!
My counter-argument. Taking lesser players that fill needs is what keeps teams down. Drafting best player available is what makes a winner, not vice versa. For example, Dizon over players like DeSean Jackson or Ray Rice, et al. You could argue the Cherilus pick's a similar mistake, though I won't. Ditto Sims over Cutler in '06.
Same OLD ......
In answer to your question, What wide receiver would I have kept, Dane Looker. I know that he is currently back at home finishing his deck, but he caught almost everything thrown his way. Another receiver I would have kept, until some one beat him out, is Mike Furry - this guy averages 10 yards per catch, and is a very reliable receiver (he is averaging 8 yards per catch with the inept Cleveland Browns).
The talent evaluators in Detroit are not getting the job done.
I don't know if it is the coaches and GM ignoring the scouts, or the scouts just aren't good enough, what ever the reason, for the past 10 years the Lions have continued to make bad decisions, whether it is, the draft free agency or trades, the Lions just can't find players to fill their needs.
Calvin Johnson is a great player, but so is Adrian Peterson, and at the time the Lions drafted Calvin (the best player available) we needed a running back far more than another receiver, and we still need a running back and the team has been unable to utilize Calvin "Because we are unable to establish the run".
When are the Lions going to improve the "Talent evaluation and acquisition process"?
Furrey wanted out even more than they wanted him gone at the end of last year, so that wasn't gonna happen. (Despite what Furrey says publicly.) i thought Looker had a chance to stick around, but in the interest of emphasizing youth and long-term thinking, keeping Williams and Figurs around made more sense.
But I think the '09 draft is looking pretty good, don't you?
Roy Williams
John,
I was watching the NFL channel talking about Roy Williams and his problems catching the ball. It seams to me that he should remove the face shield, the curved plastic could be distorting his vision just enough especially with his peripheral vision.
Watching several of his attempts was like watching a blind man.
I've always liked Roy, and thought his 1st down signal was a good way to energize the team, but he needs to do something to correct his mishandling of the ball!
In watching him on those replays it looked like a lack of hand eye coordination, give up the "cool look" of the shield and/or get an eye exam.
Please pass this on to him!
That mishandling isn't just current. He dropped his share in Detroit, too. But I don't think Roy's all that interested in taking criticism right now. Just ask Michael Irvin.
Same OLD ......
John,
It is my opinion that the 2007 Lions were a better offensive team with less talent, than this year's offense, but this year's defense is better with about the same level of talent, this years special team is worse, and the head coach on this years team is far better.
So why aren't we winning?
It appears that the management of this team has failed!
They did not improve the offensive line, and they failed to keep adequate players at the skill positions until better players where acquired to replace them.
They cut several decent wide receivers, after training camp, and keep guys who should have been placed on the practice squad (Northcutt and Williams for instance).
The players they drafted in the first round are good, but not what Detroit needed, at this point in the building process.
It is like trying to build a gourmet kitchen on your lot before building the foundation!
(It gets in the way and you have to spend extra money on a crane to keep moving it out of the way and then to set it on the foundation after it is constructed!)
Jon played a good game considering it was his first time at that position, and the patch work line did a decent job keeping Mathew upright.
I hate to say this but they looked just like all the Lions teams we have seen over the past 9 years!
Maybe Schwartz can join Steve and Mike on the NFL channel, (his probable next job in 2012)!
Well, Northcutt's not a practice squad guy -- he's a veteran, and he's a better option at slot than Ronald Curry was. But which WRs are you referring to that they should've kept after training camp?
Good analogy with the crane, but I'd argue the timeline of the building process matters less than the bottom line, which is to draft the best player available, and I know that was the thinking with this last draft. Sure, they needed help on OL and DL and DB, but they also needed TE and Pettigrew was the best player left on most team's boards right there, while the DL guys (Perry, Hood), for instance, were rated lower and didn't fit their plan. I won't argue too much with people about Oher, though. But he's not a LT, as some are suggesting.
Jansen did a decent job run blocking, I thought, but pass protection was an issue and two holding penalties on last drive were killers.
Kevin Smith's Style
John,
Why does Kevin Smith continue to run into the hole, stop and shift his weight from left to right and then go down in a cloud of dust?
He does this a lot, and if he would just keep going he would gain a couple of more yards.
It seams like when ever he stops to change direction he gets tackled in the stop!
He won't agree, but this is a guy who ran a lot of zone stuff in college at Central Florida, and again last year with the failed Jim Colletto-designed blocking scheme. So maybe there's a natural instinct he's fighting with trying to find the cutback lanes, etc., rather than just going full speed ahead in isolation plays and powers.
But after an entire offseason and 10 games, including the preseason, it's not much of an excuse. For what it's worth, I thought he was hitting the hold pretty hard in that homestand against Washington and Minnesota. I bet he does again this week against the Rams, too.
Injuries
John,
What is the reason for the rash of injuries to the Lions?
Are they related to the change in conditioning philosophy?
The offense under Scott looks better than last year's fiasco, but not as good as they were under Martz in 2006 and 2007, maybe we can get Mike to come back!
Funny how the defensive line is play better with out Rod, now if we could just get a couple of corner backs, the previous coaching staff dumped better players (at the corner back position) than we have starting now.
I asked that same question of Schwartz on Monday. He essentially said no. And I do wonder if the offseason changes and trying make a small roster bigger bring injuries as a side effect, though the evidence doesn't really support the theory. You've got a few hamstrings, but D. White had similar issues last year and Simpson only joined team in September, and most of the other injuries are pretty straightforward football stuff -- Sims/Felton shoulders, Hunter/Hill ankles, Johnson/Stafford knees, et al.
I'll say it again. When you lose, you get more injuries. And when you get more injuries, you lose more. Not very scientific, but it seems to hold true.
Derrick Williams
Thanks John!
Missied most of the first half of Sunday's game, but it looks like the defense is still questionable, especially the secondary, and the offensive play calling seams a little suspect.
They did get the ball to Calvin a little more, and Stafford continued to play with the same poise he showed last week, but the play calling and the play of the O line were sub par.
The defense looked pores, is this mostly due to the play of the D Line and the CB?
Honestly, I think the defense really missed Sammie Hill, as well as Dewayne White, up front. The run defense had been pretty good the previous two weeks, but not so much against the Bears.
Offensive play-calling was great in the first half, taking advantage of Cover 1 by going to CJ early and often outside. And then they ran into trouble in the second half when special teams put them in a hole and the offensive line really started having issues -- couldn't run against Cover 2 and that was troubling. Peterman and Cherilus both had bad days, though Cherilus was dealing with an injured knee and shoulder in the second half.
Derrick Williams
John,
As you know I'm not a big fan of this years draft, for the most part I think the strategy was wrong, not that the players were bad except for Derrick Williams. I'm still trying to understand why they drafted him.
His 40 time at the combine was only 4.68 not bad for a Linebacker but a little slow for his position, and at 6' 195lb, your not going to move him to TE. So why did they draft him?
They drafted him because he's a versatile guy who fit/fille a couple needs with one pick -- as a return man and a slot receiver. Obviously, he hasn't panned out thus far, in either case. As for his combine, he actually was sick (flu) and people were telling him not to run, but he did anyway. He ran faster (4.47) at Penn State's pro day.
Can Henry or Buchanon sing?
The Lions wanted Doug to play nose tackle in a 3 4, so he retired.
He came back when they decided to go back to a 4 3.
Just a little history (of course my memory may be a little faulty)
it's over
I think your right about the teams that are worse than Detroit, and it was sure good to see them win a game! It was even better that they didn't self destruct like Washington did, and they have in the past. We need to send Jim Zorn a "thank you" note for those 2 bonehead calls in the first quarter!
Going for it on 4th and 1 with the score tied was just plain dump, and giving your opponent a free down was so Morningwig!
I expect Zorn to be the first coach fired, especially if they continue to play like they did in the first half on Sunday.
Mathew seamed to take on a "new life" when Zorn gave him another shot!
That may have been the turning point in Mathew's season.
He played the rest of the game with more confidence than he has shown in the past two games.
The offensive line has shown some real improvement, the RT and G positions had been the weakest part of the line but they are playing well and Backus can concentrate more on his duties and not wory about covering the LG, maybe his production will improve as well.
I think any veteran coach would take the field goal on the opening drive. (And I can almost guarantee you Schwartz would -- I actually had a conversation with him about a similar scenario in the preseason.) And while I realize Stafford's not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, I think you absolutely decline that penalty and get your defense off the field after watching them get chewed up for 65-70 yards on the drive already.
Stafford was going to be fine, regardless, but the next play really was a big one.
The only good news for Zorn is the next three opponents are 0-3. But I still think he's gone at season's end unless he takes him on a playoff run.
Running vs Passing
Thanks for the feedback, but remember you can establish the passing game and that will open up the running game.
When teams score early then they can use a ball control running game more effectively.
I know that the conventional wisdom is "establish the run first", that might work if you have a dominant runner like Adrian, Emmit or Barry and is the only way a team with a mediocre to bad QB/receiver corps can get it done.
The Lions are built to pass, they have spent a ton of money on the passing game, they need to use those resources, take the lead and then run the ball to control the clock and keep the defense honest.
The Lions made the same mistake 2 years ago when they were 6 and 2 and Backus and Colletto started the "we don't run enough" stuff and they finished 1 and 7, fired Mike Martz, and went 0 16 the next year trying to "establish the run"!
Now we are 0 and 2 still "establishing the run" maybe we should rethink that approach!
Getting the ball to Calvin 5 time for 50 yards just won't get it done!
You're right, obviously, but I do think with the defensive limitations they have, controlling the ball and moving the chains takes on a little added importance many weeks. Jury's still out, in my book, on what kind of running team this can be.
In my game keys this week I noted a couple things: the run game needs to start producing some big plays, and the secondary receivers need to get more involved. It can't just be 'throw it to Calvin,' though I was with you all last year, baffled by the playcalling that didn't get him the ball more than 4-5 times a game
Marquand Manuel (no. 40)
John,
What happened to the safety M. Manuel?
He started the game and really made a large contribution in the first half.
I don't see anything about his performance in today's sports? I know that he went down twice with an injury to his leg, is it serious?
No, he seems to be OK this week in practice. Manuel looks OK against the run, but he looked pretty awful against the pass against the Saints in the opener. Still not sure they've found their answer there, and we'll see if Ko Simpson gets on the field a little more this week at that SS position.
Running vs Passing
John,
Why did the Lions spend all of that money on the passing game (Staford and Johnson) when they want to be a running team?
If you are going to be a running team start Stanton at QB and trade Johnson.
Again yesterday Staford proved he is not ready to be an effective starting NFL QB, and Johnson is used as a decoy most of the game.
The Lions do not have a franchise running back, but they do have a franchise wide receiver, so why do they continue to try and run the ball most of the time and not throw deep to Megatron?
The argument that he is double teamed most of the time doesn't hold water, he is not only taller but he can out jump the defenders (at least that's what we are told).
It is looking more like WCF decided who would start at QB.
Because the best way to get the ball to CJ still is to establish the run and get it to him with play-action stuff. That first half is what they have to do in order to win (especially with the defensive shortcomings they have), and they did run it against the league's best run defense -- for a half. I'll say this, though: A big help would be if they got a little something more out of B. Johnson and D. Northcutt to keep the opposing safeties honest.
Stafford's a rookie in his second start, so I didn't expect a heck of a lot more, but I do think he needs to show more restraint trying to make plays where they aren't. But the owner didn't make this call. Linehan and Schwartz really dig this rookie, I'm telling you.
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