Lions News

[Iron Lion]

IIRC that one UDFA TE we had said he messed up his ankle grabbing his urinating dog on the stairs, but really it was beach volleyball. So there's one guy who was content to let the story be that he slipped and ended his career.

[froot loops]

Buggs played a lot of snaps last year in large part because of injuries. At the end of last season Campbell praised him but said they need to have depth so Buggs is only playing 30 snaps a game so he is fresh. He plays a role that could be minimized in certain matchups like this one. I am sure they are going to deploy a lot of pass rushers.

The great thing about depth and I don't recall the Lions having this type of depth is you can mix and match your gameday lineup for your opponent. The downside is crap like this, Buggs needs to chill the fuck out. You have a 53 man roster with 28 defenders and you can only suit up 47. Some good guys are going to be inactive every week until attrition sets in. This guy is supposed to be a clubhouse leader and he is doing a gen z temper tantrum. I gave the Brockers trade and the extension a lot of grief, but he wasn't whining to the press at the first roadblock. Brockers took his benching like a man and was still a leader.by every account that I read.

[jaadam4]

First-person article where Levi Onwuzurike talks about his injury and extensive rehab. I'm not usually a fan of these types of articles, but I enjoyed this one.

https://view.ceros.com/detroit-lions/beyond-levi/p/1

This quote got me:

That’s pretty terrible. And here I was in the forum more than likely dogging the guy. It’s what they sign up for with all the ho’s, fame and money but they’re all human too.

[whatever_gong82]

Thank you for posting those WG82

Thanks, but I miss when Future was posting from some other, usually better sources than mine.

I'm going to miss him just like the rest of us.

[jaadam4]

Future posted a lot of stuff from Pride

[Trickalicious]

Yet not one of you has thanked CGVT for posting Tolstoy or me for sharing passages from "P is for Potty." Ingrates.

[-Deborah-]

IIRC that one UDFA TE we had said he messed up his ankle grabbing his urinating dog on the stairs, but really it was beach volleyball. So there's one guy who was content to let the story be that he slipped and ended his career.

Joseph Fauria - his Wikipedia page is sad

Fauria's 2014 season was limited due to an ankle injury. In seven games, Fauria had six receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown.^[11] His sole touchdown came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 7. Arizona Cardinals[edit]


On September 10, 2015, Fauria was signed by the Arizona Cardinals.^[12] On September 19, 2015, he was released by the Cardinals.^[13] On September 23, 2015, Fauria was re-signed to the Cardinals' practice squad.^[14] On October 2, 2015, the Cardinals placed Fauria on the practice squad injured list.^[15] On October 13, 2015, the Cardinals waived Fauria from their practice squad injured list. New England Patriots[edit]


On November 18, 2015, the New England Patriots signed Fauria to their practice squad. He was released on December 8, 2015.^[16] Arizona Hotshots (AAF)[edit]


Fauria attempted a comeback with the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in advance of the team and league's inaugural 2019 season but did not make the team's final roster on January 30, 2019.^[17]

[Cody_Russell]

Here’s a good one. Lions hype train discussion 25:17 to 27:50.
- U on Lions O/U 9.5. It’s so obvious.
- SOL!
- Lions defense garbage again.
- Overhyped team because last season was meaningless.
- Can’t cover anyone.
- Will probably give up 38 points to the Chiefs.
- No room for improvement.
- Didn’t need a RB because Jamaal Williams’ TD stats from last season.
- Good offense though! 🙄

[ghandi]

Joseph Fauria - his Wikipedia page is sad

I thought he had more than one TD but I guess I remember that one TD well.....HE basically just ran a couple of yards, turned around, and Stafford threw a pass high where he just stood there and caught it so easily....We were thinking the guy might be unstoppable because he was so tall (6'9" iirc)

[-Deborah-]

I also remember expecting a lot of success from him, maybe he lit it up in preseason or something?

[Cody_Russell]

7 TDs in 2013:
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...F/FaurJo00.htm

Fauria is the guy that allegedly injured himself while walking his dog. Then his career went way downhill from there. Turned out the injury was actually related to playing volleyball.
But yes, Fauria had a brief time period when he looked like a Jimmy Graham-like red zone weapon with all of those TDs as a rookie. Nope.

[Iron Lion]

He had 3 TDs in his first game, which was @CLE. I already knew that much but I did peek at his Wiki.

[jaadam4]

7 TDs in 2013:
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...F/FaurJo00.htm

Fauria is the guy that allegedly injured himself while walking his dog. Then his career went way downhill from there. Turned out the injury was actually related to playing volleyball.
But yes, Fauria had a brief time period when he looked like a Jimmy Graham-like red zone weapon with all of those TDs as a rookie. Nope.

He looked like he was going to be amazing. The next season it was like a completely different person

[whatever_gong82]

Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes to renew acquaintances for first time since epic shootout

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The first time he touched the ball in the third-highest scoring game in NFL history, the best quarterback on the planet led his team to a punt.

Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff squared off in one of the pro football’s most memorable shootouts five years ago, a Monday night game so remarkable it has its own Wikipedia page.

The game was supposed to be played in Mexico City but was rescheduled to Los Angeles because of poor field conditions, where it was played amidst wildfires that forced most Rams players to evacuate their homes and in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Thousand Oaks, Calif., restaurant.

Goff led the Los Angeles Rams to a 54-51 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, going toe-to-toe with Mahomes, the now two-time MVP.



It was billed at the time as a heavyweight fight between two of the game’s best young quarterbacks and two of the NFL’s most explosive teams. Their careers have gone down different paths in the years since, but Goff and Mahomes will meet Thursday for the first time since that game in the NFL season opener when the Detroit Lions visit the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

“That one was a shootout for the ages and a fun one,” Goff recalled Friday.

Goff and Mahomes put up video game numbers, leading their teams to a combined 105 points on 95 pass attempts with 11 touchdowns.

Goff was 31 of 49 passing for 413 yards and four TDs. He ran for a fifth touchdown, and Samson Ebukam scored on fumble and interception returns.



Mahomes was 33 of 46 for 478 yards and six scores, but threw interceptions on Kansas City’s final two possessions and lost two fumbles.

“It was one of the longest games of my life,” said Lions receiver Josh Reynolds, who caught six passes for 80 yards and scored the Rams’ second touchdown that day. “Both offenses were just rolling. If the defense was able to get a stop, usually it was a defensive touchdown so it was just one of those games where everything was kind of clicking.”


Goff led 75- and 83-yard touchdown drives on the Rams’ first two possessions to stake L.A. to a 13-0 lead. Mahomes rallied the Chiefs back after a Goff fumble, and the two teams traded scores in the final two minutes of the first half to reach the locker room tied at 23.



The Rams took a 10-point lead in the third quarter before four lead changes in the final 12 minutes led to an epic finish. Goff threw a go-ahead 40-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett with 1:49 to play, and Mahomes followed with his first pick of the game on the ensuing series and was intercepted again on a long heave with 25 seconds left.

“It was a crazy week, super fun game, but one for sure you remember forever,” said former Rams long snapper Jake McQuaide, who was with the Lions this preseason.

McQuaide said nothing Goff did that day surprised him.


“I think maybe from the outsider’s view maybe people didn’t necessarily believe in Jared’s greatness, but when you see it every day, consistency is the truest measure of performance,” he said. “Jared does it every day. Like, it’s every day. And he makes it look boring. The guy can just throw the ball and when he’s on and when you’re running the ball and he’s working his play-action it’s like, dude, there’s no one better than this guy. When he’s on, he can just fricking sling the ball. He’s great. And you see it every single day.”


Goff led the Rams to a 13-3 record and Super Bowl appearance that season, though their offense sputtered some down the stretch. The Rams needed two fourth quarter scores to beat the Lions in their next game two weeks later, 30-16, and they didn’t score a touchdown in their 13-3 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots.


The Rams missed the playoffs in 2019, and Rams coach Sean McVay tired of Goff after an early playoff exit the next year, prompting his trade to the Lions.


Mahomes, a first-year starter in 2018, won the NFL’s MVP award that season and again last year, and has led the Chiefs to five straight AFC championship games with two Super Bowl wins.

“He’s as good as they come,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s as tough as they are to play. He’s a great player.”

As prolific as Goff, Mahomes and their offenses were that day — Washington’s 72-41 win over the New York Giants in 1966 and a 2004 Cincinnati Bengals-Cleveland Browns game are the only games with more total points in NFL history — both Reynolds and McQuaide said they look back on the game now with a healthy appreciation for everything else that went on in the game.

Ebukam had two touchdowns, Aaron Donald forced two fumbles, the Chiefs scored one defensive touchdown and the Rams got a key stop on a Tyreek Hill punt return late in the game.



Goff has fond memories of the game, too, though he never “saw it as like a bigger meaning than just a Monday Night football game.”

“I think it was two really good offenses and there were some defensive scores in that game, too,” he said. “It just was kind of some fireworks and we were able to score last. That was kind of the thing, it was like, who was going to have the ball last is what it felt like and we were able to score last and finish the game.”


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Here are some more articles from today's Freep:


Why I'm picking the Detroit Lions to beat the Chiefs: 13 reasons we could see an upset

Jeff Seidel

Detroit Free Press


I kind of backed into this column by accident, and it caught me by surprise.

Let me try to explain. I started this column thinking: OK, just for fun, list all the reasons why the Detroit Lions could win at Kansas City. Not will win. That’s not how I started. Just could win.

I know the Chiefs have the great Andy Reid, NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, and the ever-present Travis Kelce. I know the Chiefs are favored. I know they are the defending Super Bowl champions, with a great home-field advantage and great fans and a loud environment, and I know the Chiefs should win.

But the more I’ve thought about it, the longer the list grew, and I started believing it's possible. I started believing they could win, and I totally talked myself into it: I think the Lions will win.

So there. I’m planting my flag. The Lions are going to win at Kansas City, and here are the 13 reasons why:


1. Magic of youth


This team is still incredibly young. Obviously, youth can bring mistakes, but it can also bring something else. Absolute fearlessness.

On Monday afternoon, the Lions were loose, carefree and having fun in their locker room.

Few expect them to win, so they can go out and play without any pressure, without any worry. Season opener? On the road? At Kansas City? On national TV? Against the defending Super Bowl champions?


A veteran team might roll over and sigh: We got no shot.

But not a young team that doesn’t know any better. Not a team cut in Dan Campbell's image.

And that’s how this team played down the stretch last year, winning eight of 10 including at Lambeau Field.


2. Keep holding out, big fella


It looks like Kansas City will play without Chris Jones, the All-Pro defensive tackle.

Jones, who had 15.5 sacks last season, has missed all of training camp and three preseason games in a contract dispute. He did not report on Sunday, so it’s unlikely he’ll play Thursday. At this point, why would he come back? He’s only going to forfeit about $1.1 million for each regular-season game he misses. That’s chump change, man. Hold out for that big contract. Or at least until the Lions are long gone.

“He jumps off the tape right away,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “You feel him out there when you watch their tape from last year.”

Take that guy out of the lineup?

Yeah, advantage Lions.


3. Another missing Chief


Kansas City’s biggest weakness is its pass rush. And defensive end Charles Omenihu, who was supposed to replace defensive end Frank Clark, is suspended for the first six games because of an alleged domestic violence situation.

That should give Lions passing attack even more time to strike downfield.


4. Drawing a line in the sand


The Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and everything is possible when you are strong up front.

“Yeah, it’s my blankie,” Johnson said. “It’s (Lions QB) Jared (Goff)’s blankie. I mean, those guys, they’re good, they’re special, they really are. They’re one of the top units in the League and I think we’ve always felt that way inside the building, this year we really need to come out and prove that to the rest of the League. And I think they understand that and they’re looking forward to it.”


5. First one to 38 wins

Yes, I know the Chiefs have an awesome, creative, potent offense. They ranked first in the NFL last season in points, yards per play and net passing yards per game. The Chiefs have scored 30 or more points in an NFL-record seven straight season-openers.

But the Lions can hang with them. The Lions ranked fourth in yards and fifth in yards per play and points.


6. Risk it for the biscuit


In high-scoring games, Campbell turns into the Gambling Dan, and I expect we will see that version him early and often. Trick plays. Going for it on fourth down. I have a feeling this is going to be a wild show.



continued..