~2017 NFL Thread~

[Mdot21]

5 years ago, maybe.  If they didn't have Stafford, maybe.  I'm not going to give a 62 year old defensive minded coach his first NFL job, when you have a team built around a QB.

call me crazy, but I think since you already have the QB problem solved- which is the most important part of the puzzle- you bring in a guy who will fix the defense and install a running game. Maybe you're right though. It really all depends on how that dynamic would work. Would the defensive minded guy try and restrict the QB too much and be too conservative? Belichik is a defensive minded guy and he's pretty much put all his faith into Brady and let him do his thing- which is why that relationship has been so great. You never know how it'll work out though. When Jimmy Johnson came to Miami to try and fix the defense and give Marino a running game they never saw eye to eye and got into it way too much- there was too much friction there and it just never worked.

[ELA]

Steelers call timeout to run a two point play, and still take a delay of game.

[ELA]

call me crazy, but I think since you already have the QB problem solved- which is the most important part of the puzzle- you bring in a guy who will fix the defense and install a running game. Maybe you're right though. It really all depends on how that dynamic would work. Would the defensive minded guy try and restrict the QB too much and be too conservative? Belichik is a defensive minded guy and he's pretty much put all his faith into Brady and let him do his thing- which is why that relationship has been so great. You never know how it'll work out though. When Jimmy Johnson came to Miami to try and fix the defense and give Marino a running game they never saw eye to eye and got into it way too much- there was too much friction there and it just never worked.

Yeah, if Dantonio we're younger I'd agree.  I've always said my ideal staff features a defensive minded head coach, with a great OC who is given wide autonomy.
 Belicheck and Brady timed up well.  He was what?  Late 40s, and Brady was a young QB.  Dantonio is like 15 years older, and Stafford is an established QB, who I don't think would be overly enthusiastic about hiring a guy with no NFL experience.  And he has done enough to earn a say.
Now if there were any in state college coach with NFL experience, whose expertise is QBs...

[Mdot21]

Yeah, if Dantonio we're younger I'd agree.  I've always said my ideal staff features a defensive minded head coach, with a great OC who is given wide autonomy.
 Belicheck and Brady timed up well.  He was what?  Late 40s, and Brady was a young QB.  Dantonio is like 15 years older, and Stafford is an established QB, who I don't think would be overly enthusiastic about hiring a guy with no NFL experience.  And he has done enough to earn a say.
Now if there were any in state college coach with NFL experience, whose expertise is QBs...

Lol. I have no doubt that Harbaugh would be very successful for 3-4 years if he jumped to the Lions. I think after about a year in though Stafford would want to punch Jim in the face. Molding Andrew Luck in college and molding what at the time was considered a bust in Alex Smith and a nobody like Kapernick- far different thing than trying to work with an established franchise QB who is one of the 5-6 best QB's in the entire league. Harbaugh was a great college QB, a 1st round pick and he played QB in the NFL for 14 years and made a couple Pro Bowls- but even on his very best day he was nowhere remotely close to what Matt Stafford is. Stafford has other worldly talent. Jim was always an extremely competitive, over-worker, over-achiever with middling talent. I don't know how that dynamic would work. And I honestly don't think it'd last very long.

Jim is just too much of a dick to be an NFL coach in todays game in my opinion. He'd have been a perfect fit for the NFL game 25-30 years ago. That landscape is so different now. He's a perfect fit for the college game where he's cycling through an entire batch of new players every 3-4 years.

[Mdot21]

I feel bad for Kizer. He has literally no help. You saw how they looked once he went out and Kessler came in? Jesus Christ. Hue Jackson probably needs to go. He just looks lost, in way over his head.

[Mdot21]

man do Kizer's WR's just flat out suck. He threw a BEAUTIFUL back shoulder ball to the sideline to a WR that was double covered. Put it where only the WR could get it. WR got to hands on it...and dropped it. This guy has got the talent. Not sure he'll ever reach his potential stuck on a team so shitty.

[Mdot21]

Browns need to trade that #1 pick and acquire picks. If they were to take Rosen or Darnold #1, they wouldn't fare any better than Kizer. That team is horrible everywhere. They need to acquire picks and more importantly- USE THE PICKS WISELY.

[ELA]

2-0 now in this three game must win stretch of games.  Wasn't pretty, and this team ain't good.  But the whole back half of the schedule isn't great aside from Vikings.

[Mdot21]

2-0 now in this three game must win stretch of games.  Wasn't pretty, and this team ain't good.  But the whole back half of the schedule isn't great aside from Vikings.

they displayed a graphic at the end of the game- the winning pct of the remaining teams on the Lions' schedule is .384. It's the second easiest schedule on paper the rest of the way behind only the Jags schedule. The Atlanta, Carolina, and Steelers losses loom large. They were in every one of those games, if they had just won 1 of those games. Every game counts in this league. If they can't win 5 of the next 7, they might as well just fire Caldwell at the end of the year.

Very flawed team that Stafford masks a lot for. Feel like he is the entire team. They don't have a true #1 WR, which is OK because Stafford can make all the receivers better. Ebron is a waste of space and a bum at TE. The RB's are mediocre. The OL has been banged up all year. And the defense is too inconsistent. I really wish Suh hadn't left. He was so dominant in the middle. Call me crazy, but they aren't that far away from being a real contender. They hit the right picks in the draft, get some better luck on the injury front to that OL next year and sign a couple key F/A they'll be right in the thick of it.

[ELA]

Stafford will be 30 next season.  If they max out the next 3-4 years with him, I'll take that.  He's really really good, but he's not Brady or Brees or Rodgers.  He's not going to be elite at 40.  This is his window.

[ELA]

they displayed a graphic at the end of the game- the winning pct of the remaining teams on the Lions' schedule is .384. It's the second easiest schedule on paper the rest of the way behind only the Jags schedule. The Atlanta, Carolina, and Steelers losses loom large. They were in every one of those games, if they had just won 1 of those games. Every game counts in this league. If they can't win 5 of the next 7, they might as well just fire Caldwell at the end of the year.

Very flawed team that Stafford masks a lot for. Feel like he is the entire team. They don't have a true #1 WR, which is OK because Stafford can make all the receivers better. Ebron is a waste of space and a bum at TE. The RB's are mediocre. The OL has been banged up all year. And the defense is too inconsistent. I really wish Suh hadn't left. He was so dominant in the middle. Call me crazy, but they aren't that far away from being a real contender. They hit the right picks in the draft, get some better luck on the injury front to that OL next year and sign a couple key F/A they'll be right in the thick of it.

Agreed.  I've largely liked Bob Quinn though.  I have faith the surrounding roster will continue to improve.  Brady and Belicheck got a lot of undeserving assistants head coaching jobs, but the personnel evaluation was always good.  Quinn was a big part of that.

[MrNubbz]

Every 4 years the Lions get to play the Browns, and it's the one time every 64 games you know the Lions will actually be out-stupided

You-You-You-you're not wrong

[MrNubbz]

Steelers call timeout to run a two point play, and still take a delay of game.

Browns call a QB keeper at the 2 with 15 sec. left in the half and no t.o.'s

[FearlessF]

the only thing more enjoyable than watching the Packers lose last week is watching the Cowboys lose this week