Lions News

[mason reese]

He was only getting around 20 snaps a game, those belong to Martin and Levi now, with Buggs and Jones getting the most snaps

[dsred]

I get keeping Martin but JAG Levi is a bust.

[froot loops]

Levi may turn out to be a bust but Bohanna wasn't outplaying him when he got the chance. Again, he looked better than he actually played.

[CGVT]

Levi may turn out to be a bust but Bohanna wasn't outplaying him when he got the chance. Again, he looked better than he actually played.

They Lions could have kept him by adding him to the active roster if they felt he was worth keeping.

Apparently they didn't think he was worth it

[chemiclord]

Hot- that’s funny

2014- Lions went on a four game winning streak late in the season, eventually winning 11 games. Lost in the Wild Card round to Dallas.
2011- Went 3-1 to close out the regular season. Got run out of the Superdome against New Orleans in the Wild Card round.
1997- Ended the season on a 5-1 tear. Mattered little as they were punked by Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round.
1995- Closed out the season on a 7 game winning streak. Supposedly no one wanted to play them. Got pantsed by the Eagles in the Wild Card round.

Those are just off the top of my head. Plenty of examples of the Lions finishing the season strong. It didn't help them one bit.

[wcfwtf]

Gave ya something to do instead of watching reruns of Gunsmoke😂

[Meano.Culpa]

2014- Lions went on a four game winning streak late in the season, eventually winning 11 games. Lost in the Wild Card round to Dallas.
2011- Went 3-1 to close out the regular season. Got run out of the Superdome against New Orleans in the Wild Card round.
1997- Ended the season on a 5-1 tear. Mattered little as they were punked by Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round.
1995- Closed out the season on a 7 game winning streak. Supposedly no one wanted to play them. Got pantsed by the Eagles in the Wild Card round.

Those are just off the top of my head. Plenty of examples of the Lions finishing the season strong. It didn't help them one bit.

1993 - Barry goes down (knee) at Thanksgiving and Lions lose. Shut out at home the next week. But, then, they finish 3-1 including a season-ending win over the Packers to get a Wild Card game at home. “Way to finish strong,” says Fontes, “and we get Barry back for the playoffs. So, here’s the plan: nobody cover Sterling Sharpe.”

[-Deborah-]

[CGVT]

If they felt that was the case, they'd have kept him.

I think there are lots of Bohannas out there.

[froot loops]

If Payton thinks so strongly on the subject, he should offer up who they should have cut. He listed 3 guys who don't play the same position, Buggs is not a free agent. Benito Jones is the one guy if they lost Bohannon would have replaced.

[-Deborah-]

I feel like this column is talking to the Forum lol


Listen Detroit Lions pessimists: Your team doesn't stink. It just has fixable problems.

Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press

So, how about those Lio-

The Detroit Lions stink!

Hold on, just wait a second. I think you’ve lost some perspective.

They have reached their ceiling.

They are freakin’ 9-4 and in first place in the NFC North. I'll take that kind of ceiling...

Yeah, but they’ve lost two of their past three games. Good teams don’t do that.

You mean like the Philadelphia Eagles? Um, they’ve lost two of their past three.

The Eagles lost to really good teams, though: Dallas and San Francisco.

Yeah, and the 49ers lost three in a row to the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s apples and oranges!

No, it’s the NFL. And there is an actual reason why the Lions have hit a skid.

Yeah, it’s Jared Goff and his small hands! He fumbled three times against the Green Bay Packers; and he threw interceptions in the first game against the Bears; and besides, that record doesn’t mean squat. They haven’t beaten anybody.

No, I’m serious. There’s an actual reason.

This is no different than Same Old…

Stop it. Don’t go there.

OK, Mr. Smarty Pants. What’s the reason?

Let me rephrase that. It’s a whole bunch of small things.

Yeah, the offense sucks right now. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught only three passes on Sunday against the Bears for just 21 yards; and the Bears shut down Sam LaPorta, who had two catches for 23. This offense has regressed.

Yep, and there’s a reason. It starts with the Lions' most basic pass plays. The bread and butter of this offense.

What do you mean?

You wanna know why the Lions are regressing offensively?

“It’s been our base-pass game,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Wednesday. “Some of our staples that we have been doing in spring, training camp, and all season long, they showed up last week in particular where, ‘God, we’re just not — we’re not doing what we say, how we installed that, how we said we were going to do it, how we’ve been doing it, how we’ve got banked reps on,’ and it’s come back and bit us in the rear end.”

You wanna know what bites in the read end? Losing to the Bears.

I know, I know, but let’s let Johnson finish: “We’ve been in some second-and-longs and those second-and-longs have become third-and-longs because we haven’t executed well on second-and-longs,” Johnson said. “So, listen, it’s all fixable. These guys know — they know how we can get better and how we can improve and we’re looking forward to an opportunity to do that.”

I’m so sick of hearing "These guys can improve."

But it’s the truth. Yes, Goff can’t turn the ball over, and the offense can’t have stupid penalties — that pre-snap, boneheaded stuff that throws everything out of whack — but it starts with the base pass plays. When those staples aren’t staples anymore, everything looks ugly.

Yeah, it’s looked ugly for a while now.

Some of that’s on the coaches. You can bash Goff for his turnovers and even his dip in production, but you have to concede some of that’s on the play-calling. And that brings me back to Johnson.

“Shoot, last week there’s a couple third-down plays where, ‘Man, there’s not a lot of good answers there for the quarterback,’” Johnson said. “And so, that’s where I’ve got to take it.”

I think it all goes back to Frank Ragnow. He’s the most valuable player on this team.

I don’t disagree with you there. The center is invaluable. Everything works better when he’s on the field. And the offensive line has been a revolving door all season — it’s hard to get to the playoffs when you change the offensive line every week.

This team won’t do anything in the playoffs — it will be one and done — if it keeps playing like this.

Again, I agree with you. But we know what this offense is capable of, and the defense has improved.

What? The Bears put up freakin’ 28 against the Lions.

Yeah, but that’s deceiving. The Bears had a short field and scored a touchdown on a five-play, 29-yard drive. And after Gamblin’ Dan went for it deep in his own territory, the Bears scored a field goal on a 20-yard drive.

Gamblin’ Dan lost his senses there.

Yeah, it seemed like a panic moment. But the defense is improving in small areas.

“All the little things that people really don’t talk about,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “For example — and I talked to our guys about it, like the sudden changes that happen. That’s a real thing in this League and I think we’re one of the better teams in that situation. And we do everything we can to get the ball back to our offense. The second thing is our run defense. Our run defense is still going at a high level. Our ability to not allow touchdowns at a high rate from outside of our red zone. The things I try to make sure I point those things out to our players.”

All that matters is how many points you give up. The Lions are giving up 24.2 points per game, which ranks 25^th in the NFL.

True. But it’s improving.

“The one thing I thought we improved on from last week is our red zone," Glenn said. "And that’s one of the issues that we’ve had all year and if we continue to improve the way that we improved last week, I think we’ll be all good.”

Good? What's he talking about? This team hasn’t looked good since Baltimore.

I’m not arguing about that. But it’s dangerous to make grand statements and generalities. Because the issues stem back to the little things, which can be fixed and improved. And it’s why I still believe in this team. It’s still the same team that was 8-2.

I just don’t know what to think about this team. I don't on’t even know how to act. It’s the middle of December and it’s in first place, but it’s not playing great.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the best news of all. The problems are fixable, all those little things. The coaches and players have held themselves accountable. Nobody is pointing fingers, except at themselves. And while the outside world makes everything complicated, inside that building it’s pretty simple: It’s all about problems and solutions. And the problems are pretty obvious.

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

[Mainevent]

If Payton thinks so strongly on the subject, he should offer up who they should have cut. He listed 3 guys who don't play the same position, Buggs is not a free agent. Benito Jones is the one guy if they lost Bohannon would have replaced.

I don't think any fans would miss Charles Harris. Though cutting a guy you named captain may be problematic inside the locker room so not very realistic..

Maybe they should have kept Bohanna over Jones - he's 3 years younger. But that's also cutting one of your guys that's been part of the buy in here in the middle of the season. That can have unintended consequences.

[-Deborah-]

[froot loops]

I don't think any fans would miss Charles Harris. Though cutting a guy you named captain may be problematic inside the locker room so not very realistic..

Maybe they should have kept Bohanna over Jones - he's 3 years younger. But that's also cutting one of your guys that's been part of the buy in here in the middle of the season. That can have unintended consequences.

Agreed on Jones, for some reason the staff really likes him. Harris has been a disappointment.

[dpatnod]

Keegan told a great story about meeting Barry at a game during that show.