Next up - Lions

Anyone watch the Lions this season? It's tough to gauge them since they've beaten good teams and got blown out by bad ones.

"KeyFin wrote:

Anyone watch the Lions this season? It's tough to gauge them since they've beaten good teams and got blown out by bad ones.

They've been just that IMO from the local coverage I get of them being so close to Detroit. Up and down. Early on they didn't look good, likely due to Patricia being new, and guys adjusting to what he wants to do defensively. My opinion is that defense is starting to come together for them, but until he's got more time to get his type of guys in there they will have some growing pains probably. I think we can and will have our opportunities against their D, especially if we can get our run game going because Detroit has struggled a bit against the run, but they're pretty goo against the pass. All in all though, what concerns me for our game with them is that NE/Patricia seem to have had Gase/Tannehill's number more often than not. Whether that translates to Detroit now though, who knows.

Their offense, is still pretty one dimensional IMO. They still struggle to run the ball consistently, but K. Johnson has been boosting them a bit there. If Stafford is on his game they've got some guys who can make plays in the passing game for them. Golladay has done some deep damage from what I've seen, and I wouldnt be surprised to see him get a big gainer on us. Tate and Jones can quickly hurt you too. Don't forget Riddick either. If we can put a couple of shots on Stafford though, he can be rattled, and their OL isn't exactly the greatest either.

I didn't like our chances against the Bears, but that worked out for us, and I like our chances a bit more against Detroit, so... who knows. Knowing our team though, if we win, it'll be close and likely kill us all. :lol:

Yeah I don't know what to expect. They're an up and down team.

Miami wins 34-27

"The_Dark_Knight wrote:

Miami wins 34-27

Who plays QB? 34 points?!? Whens the last time this offense put up that amount of points..

"Galant wrote:

Is it true our sideline is shaded and the opposing team is out in the sun? LMAO that's some serious BS! Imagine going to Buffalo in December and only one sideline has heaters....

beating the packers doesn't seem so hard they way the packers are playing.

"djphinfan wrote:

beating the packers doesn't seem so hard they way the packers are playing.

Yeah, until Aaron Rodgers decides to remind us of his greatness.

"KeyFin wrote:

Is it true our sideline is shaded and the opposing team is out in the sun? LMAO that's some serious BS! Imagine going to Buffalo in December and only one sideline has heaters....

yes

That was one of the best decisions Garfinkel/Ross made when renovating the stadium.

"Not So Fast wrote:

That was one of the best decisions Garfinkel/Ross made when renovating the stadium.

I haven't been there since they added the awning, so I'm guessing it's just the angle of the center opening from 1-4 PM. In other words, if it were a 10 AM game then the home side would be in the sun. That is pretty brilliant if they did it intentionally....but we may be giving them a little too much credit. After all, the stadium was built 25+ years ago and the awning appears to be the same on both sides. Could it have been dumb luck?

"KeyFin wrote:

Is it true our sideline is shaded and the opposing team is out in the sun? LMAO that's some serious BS! Imagine going to Buffalo in December and only one sideline has heaters....

Yes, and it's pure genius on our part with that stadium renovation.

Dont you remember the pittsburgh game... wasnt it last year? They had guys puking on the field baking away from that hot sun in those black jerseys.

Heaters aren't supplied by the home team IIRC. That's up to your team to bring with you. Much like how if you noticed Sunday, the bears had guys carrying around screens to try and block some of the sun for guys on the sidelines. We've seen other teams do other things similar in the past.

"KeyFin wrote:

I haven't been there since they added the awning, so I'm guessing it's just the angle of the center opening from 1-4 PM. In other words, if it were a 10 AM game then the home side would be in the sun. That is pretty brilliant if they did it intentionally....but we may be giving them a little too much credit. After all, the stadium was built 25+ years ago and the awning appears to be the same on both sides. Could it have been dumb luck?

It wasn't dumb luck, maybe in part, but when they released the plans for the renovations one of the things they touted was the shading, and how the home sideline, and seats would always be covered, but the away really wouldnt. They had diagrams in the media materials showing/projecting the sun/shade models for gametimes during the season. IIRC it was broken down by Sept-Oct, Nov-Dec, 1pm and 4pm games. Sure, the original construction helped, but it would appear that made that "roof" extend far enough to always ensure shade one side, sun the other.

In Detroit, Eric Ebron was a draft bust. Chosen with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Ebron never became the kind of tight end the Lions thought he would be, and this year they let him go rather than paying him his fifth-year option salary. But while Ebron is never going to be a difference-maker he signed with the Colts this year and is changing perceptions in Indianapolis.

Six games into the season, Ebron has six touchdown catches, tying him for the most in the NFL. And that’s twice as many touchdowns as any other tight end this season: Three other tight ends are tied for second, with three touchdown catches apiece. In four full seasons in Detroit, Ebron totaled only 11 touchdown catches, and his six this year are already a career high. He also never had more than 61 catches or 711 yards, and this year he’s on pace to top both of those totals, easily.

The narrative around Ebron now seems to be changing, from, “What were the Lions thinking when they drafted him?” to “Why couldn’t the Lions get out of him what the Colts can?” Ebron is still only 25 years old, and tight ends sometimes take a while to develop in the NFL. He may now just be entering his prime, and he may end up proving that he did deserve to be a first-round pick. Even if he proves it playing for a team other than the one that drafted him.

"Finatik wrote:

In Detroit, Eric Ebron was a draft bust. Chosen with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Ebron never became the kind of tight end the Lions thought he would be, and this year they let him go rather than paying him his fifth-year option salary. But while Ebron is never going to be a difference-maker he signed with the Colts this year and is changing perceptions in Indianapolis.

Six games into the season, Ebron has six touchdown catches, tying him for the most in the NFL. And that’s twice as many touchdowns as any other tight end this season: Three other tight ends are tied for second, with three touchdown catches apiece. In four full seasons in Detroit, Ebron totaled only 11 touchdown catches, and his six this year are already a career high. He also never had more than 61 catches or 711 yards, and this year he’s on pace to top both of those totals, easily.

The narrative around Ebron now seems to be changing, from, “What were the Lions thinking when they drafted him?” to “Why couldn’t the Lions get out of him what the Colts can?” Ebron is still only 25 years old, and tight ends sometimes take a while to develop in the NFL. He may now just be entering his prime, and he may end up proving that he did deserve to be a first-round pick. Even if he proves it playing for a team other than the one that drafted him.

Please provide the links to the original article (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/16/lions-bust-eric-ebron-changing-perceptions-in-indianapolis/) before this site gets in trouble again. We're supposed to only give a summary and link an article.

I do greatly appreciate you providing the informationation though.

"Finatik wrote:

In Detroit, Eric Ebron was a draft bust. Chosen with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Ebron never became the kind of tight end the Lions thought he would be, and this year they let him go rather than paying him his fifth-year option salary. But while Ebron is never going to be a difference-maker he signed with the Colts this year and is changing perceptions in Indianapolis.

Six games into the season, Ebron has six touchdown catches, tying him for the most in the NFL. And that’s twice as many touchdowns as any other tight end this season: Three other tight ends are tied for second, with three touchdown catches apiece. In four full seasons in Detroit, Ebron totaled only 11 touchdown catches, and his six this year are already a career high. He also never had more than 61 catches or 711 yards, and this year he’s on pace to top both of those totals, easily.

The narrative around Ebron now seems to be changing, from, “What were the Lions thinking when they drafted him?” to “Why couldn’t the Lions get out of him what the Colts can?” Ebron is still only 25 years old, and tight ends sometimes take a while to develop in the NFL. He may now just be entering his prime, and he may end up proving that he did deserve to be a first-round pick. Even if he proves it playing for a team other than the one that drafted him.

Looks like O'Leary is coming on for us. IMO, it couldn't be at a better time. Not slamming Gesicki because it does take a while for TE's to develop. I hope he gets better as the season progresses. I would love a one-two punch at TE in the mold of Grant/Wilson.

"Finatik wrote:

In Detroit, Eric Ebron was a draft bust. Chosen with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Ebron never became the kind of tight end the Lions thought he would be, and this year they let him go rather than paying him his fifth-year option salary. But while Ebron is never going to be a difference-maker he signed with the Colts this year and is changing perceptions in Indianapolis.

Six games into the season, Ebron has six touchdown catches, tying him for the most in the NFL. And that’s twice as many touchdowns as any other tight end this season: Three other tight ends are tied for second, with three touchdown catches apiece. In four full seasons in Detroit, Ebron totaled only 11 touchdown catches, and his six this year are already a career high. He also never had more than 61 catches or 711 yards, and this year he’s on pace to top both of those totals, easily.

The narrative around Ebron now seems to be changing, from, “What were the Lions thinking when they drafted him?” to “Why couldn’t the Lions get out of him what the Colts can?” Ebron is still only 25 years old, and tight ends sometimes take a while to develop in the NFL. He may now just be entering his prime, and he may end up proving that he did deserve to be a first-round pick. Even if he proves it playing for a team other than the one that drafted him.

Showing a good case for patience with Gesicki. He's got more potential than Ebron. Just may take some time.

"KeyFin wrote:

Anyone watch the Lions this season? It's tough to gauge them since they've beaten good teams and got blown out by bad ones.

They are very similar to Miami in the regard. I watched a few games if we can stop the run we have a good shot at a W.

Of course that depends on which Dolphins team shows up!

Gotten a lot of good looks at them after moving up here. Altogether, they are basically us with a worse defense but better QB.

Their defense is vulnerable against the run. If we can get Gore and Drake rolling early, that will open the passing game up and give us the chance to put up some big points. They have talent in the secondary but it's not deep, so we can definitely get some shots with the depth of our speed (either down the field or as designed RAC).

Offensively they have talent but struggle with consistency. They tend to play better from behind than with a lead, and can score points quickly. Traditionally they have focused on Stafford and the passing game, but they have been trying hard to get Keryon Johnson running the last few weeks, with positive overall results.

I would guess they will come out and try to run it against our D to see if we got worn down against the Bears and get us to commit to the box, then have Stafford gun it. IMO their gameplan will probably look similar to the Bears offensively, but they may commit harder to run defense and force THill/Brock to beat them.

Well... this is another FOX game, so here in Orlando they will show the Bucs! Normally, I would like our 1300 schedule, but it seems like they never show the games on TV anymore. Sigh!

"brandon27 wrote:

They've been just that IMO from the local coverage I get of them being so close to Detroit. Up and down.

Hello Dolphins fans!! So happy we are back in the thick of football season again.

As far as Detroit, they have been a big question mark the first few weeks, but we are starting to see some patterns develop (hopefully).

On defense, the strength has definitely been the secondary. I've seen more coverage sacks this year than I have in all my 30 years of watching the Lions. 11 of their 17 sacks are from linebackers. In that regard, they seem to finally be clicking with what Patricia wants to do on defense. The run defense though... It has not been good. It's certainly gotten better, but still just ugh...

The offense has surprisingly been well balanced this year, even if the stats don't necessarily reflect that. They still try to run draws up the middle, which have never, and will never work outside of goal line scenarios. The offensive line has actually been really good this year. PFF graded them 6th best O-line before the bye (after the bye, with no games played they somehow dropped them to 16...). Stafford has only been sacked 9 times this year, 3rd fewest sacks in the NFL. So he has had loads of time and space to manage the offense. My only complaint on the Offense is how slow they are to start, and how conservative they get when they have a lead.

I watched the Bears game last weekend (thanks for that by the way, lol), and I honestly don't know how this is going to play out. I'm hoping that what appears to be a team finally latching on to a new coach's system is for real, but we will see.

Just hoping for a good game with no injuries!

"texanphinatic wrote:

Their defense is vulnerable against the run. If we can get Gore and Drake rolling early, that will open the passing game up and give us the chance to put up some big points.

This is my biggest concern for this game. I watched them run over the Bears, and they have a much better run D that the Lions.