Lions News

[jaadam4]

Between travel, parking/Uber, food, hotel, and the ticket price, what would 2 adjacent seats at the Super Bowl run you? Over 20 grand or what?

At least and that’s if you could even get tickets

[-Deborah-]

I don't know where to post this. AI renderings of a Detroit Superbowl celebration. Weird and crazy.

[jaadam4]

Do you guys think we’ll see Broderick Martin this year? Our DT play has rendered him not even suiting up for the games

[Marko69]

I don't know where to post this. AI renderings of a Detroit Superbowl celebration. Weird and crazy.

This is fantastic.

[Iron Lion]

I don't know where to post this. AI renderings of a Detroit Superbowl celebration. Weird and crazy.

Honestly I will 100% go to the parade in Detroit if it happens.

[Iron Lion]

Do you guys think we’ll see Broderick Martin this year? Our DT play has rendered him not even suiting up for the games

8 Ball says no.

[Iron Lion]

Screenshot-20231017-154137-You-Tube.jpg

[froot loops]

Nobody is jumping into the Detroit river in July let alone February. Every once in awhile someone falls into the river and they find the body near Lake Erie.

[ghandi]

Do you guys think we’ll see Broderick Martin this year? Our DT play has rendered him not even suiting up for the games

He must be more of a project than we were lead to believe....Brad gave up 3 fifth round picks for him and he was projected to be drafted in fifth round

[whatever_gong82]

NFL power rankings: Campbell is Coach of the Year favorite, Goff in MVP hunt after 6 games



Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press


The third pole. It doesn’t quite have the same ring as the quarter pole, but that’s where we’re at six weeks into the NFL season. A third of the regular season is in the books, and that means it’s time to check in on the races for the league’s most popular postseason awards, which a couple Detroit Lions have a shot at winning this year.

MVP: Tua Tagovailoa

The Miami Dolphins have the best offense in the NFL right now and it isn’t close. They’re a track team that plays football, and they have a quarterback in Tagovailoa who is amazingly accurate (71.1%) and great at distributing the ball. Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards (1,876), touchdowns (14) and rating (114.1), and the Dolphins are one of five 5-1 teams in the league. Tagovailoa may not be the best quarterback in the NFL, but his injury last season, and more specifically how Miami struggled in his absence, certainly sheds light on how important he is to the Dolphins’ success.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff would be in my top five MVP candidates right now for his role in making the Lions one of the best teams in the NFC. Over his last 17 games, Goff has thrown for 4,473 yards and 29 touchdowns with four interceptions. I’d put Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in the top five, too.


Offensive Rookie of the Year: C.J. Stroud

There isn’t a close second for this award right now, though Los Angeles Rams rookie receiver Puka Nacua and Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, before his injury, at least merited discussion. Nacua had a record-breaking start and Achane is a key cog in Miami’s offensive machine, but it’s incredibly difficult to play quarterback in the NFL and Stroud is excelling as a rookie while lifting the Texans to respectability. In six games, Stroud has nine touchdown passes against one interception and the Texans are 3-3. He can be better. He’s completing just less than 60% of his passes right now. But Houston has a soft schedule after the bye and should be in playoff contention this winter. That’s enough for Stroud to run away with the award if he stays healthy.


Lions tight end Sam LaPorta is a long-shot candidate given the position he plays, but he has had a nice start to his NFL career, too.


Defensive Rookie of the Year: Jalen Carter

The most polarizing player in this year’s draft has been one of the most impactful rookies in the NFL. Carter has 3½ sacks and two forced fumbles in five games, and some teams have to wonder if they made the right decision passing on him because of character concerns. Carter missed the Eagles’ loss to the New York Jets with an ankle injury last week, but if that injury isn’t serious it shouldn’t affect his candidacy for the award.

Lions defensive back Brian Branch is among a handful of players with a chance to overtake Carter in the coming weeks, given the way he played before his ankle injury. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who had two sacks and a pick-six against the New York Giants, also is in the mix, and one pass rusher or another — Will Anderson? Calijah Kancey? Byron Young? — could emerge as a legitimate candidate.


Coach of the Year: Dan Campbell

The Lions are rolling right now, and Campbell has pushed all the right buttons in their 5-1 start. He’s well-liked around the league, he has hit on his most prominent in-game coaching decisions (such as the fake punt against the Kansas City Chiefs) and he has a team that plays hard and is very much built in his image. Wayne Fontes in 1991 and George Wilson in 1957 are the only other Lions coaches to win this award, but Campbell is the frontrunner after finishing seventh and garnering one first-place vote last year.

The Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel is a smidge behind Campbell in my eyes right now, with Houston’s Demeco Ryans, the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and the Chiefs’ Andy Reid also in my top five.


Onto this week’s full power rankings:

1. San Francisco 49ers (5-1)

2. Kansas City Chiefs (5-1)

3. Miami Dolphins (5-1)

4. Detroit Lions (5-1)

5. Philadelphia Eagles (5-1)


6. Buffalo Bills (4-2)

7. Dallas Cowboys (4-2)

8. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)

9. Baltimore Ravens (4-2)

10. Cleveland Browns (3-2)

11. Cincinnati Bengals (3-3)


12. Seattle Seahawks (3-2)

13. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)

14. Los Angeles Chargers (2-3)

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)



16. Houston Texans (3-3)

17. Los Angeles Rams (3-3)

18. Las Vegas Raiders (3-3)

19. New York Jets (3-3)

20. Minnesota Vikings (2-4)


21. Green Bay Packers (2-3)

22. Indianapolis Colts (3-3)

23. Washington Commanders (3-3)

24. New Orleans Saints (3-3)

25. Atlanta Falcons (3-3)

26. Tennessee Titans (2-4)

27. New York Giants (1-5)


28. New England Patriots (1-5)

29. Arizona Cardinals (1-5)

30. Denver Broncos (1-5)

31. Chicago Bears (1-5)

32. Carolina Panthers (0-6)


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

[El Axe]

Do you guys think we’ll see Broderick Martin this year? Our DT play has rendered him not even suiting up for the games

That was what I was led to expect -- that he was a project player who would only play if we got thin on DT. This is a redshirt year kinda like our other 3rd round pick, Hooker. They really like his athletic ability for his size, his demeanor and work ethic, but since he played for a small school, he was a little behind in developed skills. They can't put him on the practice squad because they don't think he'll clear waivers.

[whatever_gong82]

How the Detroit Lions are shocking the world: They've learned how to land a knockout punch



Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press

One quote sums up a monumental change in the Detroit Lions.

“I think these guys believe that you get us to the fourth and we’ve got a lead,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said, “we’ll find a way to finish it out on offense and defense.”


Bingo — that is the sea change in this organization. That’s why this team has won four straight games by 14 or more points for the first time in franchise history since 1969.


Because it has figured out one of the hardest lessons in sports: Find a way.

In the past, sometimes every week, the Lions seemed to a find new, creative ways to lose (OK, so that was only 11 months ago).


But now?

The Lions are finding new ways to win.


“It’s a credit to the coaches, the players, but they believe,” Campbell said. “They believe in what we’re doing and they execute the plan and when we’ve got a game in our hands right now, we’re going to close it out.”

His tone was full of confidence — for good reason.


During this winning streak, the Lions have eliminated mental mistakes. They have eliminated costly turnovers. And, yes, they have eliminated coaching mistakes.

Cue the tape from last year’s game at Minnesota. The Lions led the Vikings by 10 points, on the road, with eight minutes to play, and then fell apart.


"I frickin' regret my decision there at the end," Campbell told reporters after the game. "I should have gone for it on fourth down and I told the team that. I should have gone for it."

But Campbell has been significantly better. The team is obviously better. And the results are way, way better.


And it's why playoff talk turning into seeding talk doesn't seem so absurd.


Finding ways to win


Against the Green Bay Packers, the Lions sealed the win with a 15-play, 75-yard fourth-quarter drive that ended with a David Montgomery touchdown, giving the Lions a 34-17 lead with 6 minutes left. That drive was a whole bunch of Montgomery, who touched the ball eight times, and Jahmyr Gibbs, who had three runs. It was all basically on the ground.


“I think we find a way,” Campbell said.

But here’s the interesting part: It’s not always the same way. Or the same players.


Against the Carolina Panthers, the Lions had a 35-17 fourth-quarter lead. But the Panthers built some momentum — started clawing back — and the Lions responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Six of those plays belonged to Craig Reynolds, who ended the drive and secured the win with a 5-yard TD run.

“I think we know how to seal a game off," Campbell said. "That’s what I know.”


Securing the win in Tampa


Now, think about what happened in Tampa on Sunday.

Gibbs was out and Montgomery left the game with a rib injury.

So, they had to do it a different way.


After the spectacular Jameson Williams TD catch, which gave Detroit a 17-6 lead, the Lions had two drives that ate up nearly 11 minutes. All Tampa could muster between those two drives was a three-and-out.

Want to know the best defense in the world? An offense that keeps the opposing offense on the sideline. And that’s what the Lions did to the Buccaneers.


The first drive stretched from the end of the third quarter well into the fourth. It lasted nine plays, ate up more than four minutes of clock and ended with a 36-yard field goal.

Only one of those plays was a designed run. The Lions mixed a bunch of short passes with some deep balls, including a 23-yarder over the deep middle to Amon-Ra St. Brown.


After a Buccaneers three-and-out, the Lions put together another impressive drive, which was significant.

The Lions took over on their own 16-yard line and ripped off 11 plays.


It was such a tricky situation. They wanted to hold the ball and eat up clock, but with Montgomery and Gibbs out, doing it with the run game was going to be a challenge. They turned, for the most part, to short high-percentage passes. Four of them went to St. Brown.

The drive only covered 45 yards and it ended in a punt. But it ate nearly seven minutes of clock.


“One of the most significant drives we had was the one where we had to punt,” Campbell said. “But we almost milked out seven minutes and we were able to convert two third downs and they got it back with, whatever three minutes or something down two scores. I mean, that was a significant drive for our guys and in that type of game, with the lead that we had, that is significant. And sometimes you don’t always see those things, but I think we find a way.”

Yes, even if "the way" ends with a punt. So be it.


“I think we know the right balance of chewing up the clock, but also continuing to convert and be just aggressive enough to try to keep that lead where it is, as much as you can," Campbell said.

There are so many things to like about the Lions. Yes, this team can score. Yes, it can play run defense. But it has learned a hard lesson: How to close out a win. How to stomp on somebody's throat.


And that’s the most encouraging thing about this team.


It has learned how to throw a knockout punch.

Without punching itself in the face.


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

[whatever_gong82]

Lions re-sign familiar undrafted rookie to practice squad to bolster running back depth



Justin Rogers
The Detroit News


Allen Park — Needing some additional depth at running back, the Detroit Lions turned to a familiar face, re-signing undrafted rookie Mohamed Ibrahim to the team's practice squad.

The Lions initially added the highly productive University of Minnesota running back in the immediate aftermath of the NFL Draft. He only appeared in one preseason game, logging four carries for nine yards, before he was sidelined by injury. He was eventually released by the team in late August with a settlement.


At Minnesota, the 5-foot-8, 203-poudn Ibrahim topped 1,000 yards three times in five years, peaking with 1,665 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns as a fifth-year senior a year ago. He will add depth to a running back room dealing with a rib injury to bell cow David Montgomery, and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs working his way back after missing the past two games with a strained hamstring.


Following a recent, season-ending shoulder injury for Zonovan Knight, the only other active back on Detroit's roster is Craig Reynolds. He shouldered the load last Sunday against Tampa Bay after Montgomery was knocked from the contest.

The Lions also have Devine Ozigbo on the practice squad. He was temporarily elevated for the game against the Buccaneers, logging three carries and a reception with six offensive snaps, while also contributing on special teams.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @Justin_Rogers

[whatever_gong82]

Film review: Why the Detroit Lions couldn't run the ball effectively against Tampa Bay



Justin Rogers
The Detroit News


The Detroit Lions' ground game had been far from the league's best to start the season, but it was effective enough through five games and trending in the right direction, with the team averaging 161.7 yards and 4.7 yards per carry during a three-game winning streak, entering Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.

But a stout Buccaneers defense shut the Lions' rushing attack down, holding the visitors to a season-low 40 yards on 22 carries. That forced the Lions outside of their comfort zone, having to play a one-dimensional brand of football during the second half of the matchup.


As we now know, that wasn't enough to derail Detroit's momentum. Behind an outstanding performance from quarterback Jared Goff, the Lions were able to cruise to their fourth consecutive victory by double-digits, 20-6.

"We want to be pretty balanced and we certainly want to be able to run the football but, as it went, he was in a rhythm and a groove and really we felt like that was the best way to move the football is put it in his hands," Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game.




It's reassuring to know you have a quarterback capable of answering that bell, but Detroit's offense remains at its best with balance. They'll look to restore that this Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. But first, we can benefit from understanding what the Buccaneers did, and what the Lions didn't, that led to Sunday's results.

Things started well enough for the Lions. Taking a first-and-10 handoff on the second snap of the team's first possession, running back David Montgomery was provided a lane that allowed him to gain 6 yards. On the inside zone concept, Detroit's three interior linemen got excellent push, leaving Montgomery one-on-one in the hole with backside box safety Ryan Neal, who was able to make the open-field stop, preventing an explosive gain.


The missed assignments started piling up from that point. Detroit's only other run play on the opening possession was a schematic twist, with wide receiver Kalif Raymond lining up in the backfield and taking the shotgun handoff. The pin-and-pull concept going right had promise with right tackle Penei Sewell effectively walling off the inside of the lane, but both pullers, Graham Glasgow or Frank Ragnow, failed to execute their blocking assignment, allowing Tampa Bay to limit the gain to 3 yards.


Following a tip-drill interception on the Buccaneers' next drive, the Lions started in the red zone and opened the series with a short pass before turning to Montgomery for back-to-back unsuccessful runs.

On the first, the Lions introduce a concept they'd lean on heavily the rest of the matchup, a mid-motion snap that gave the back a player with momentum, often a tight end, to follow as a lead blocker. On this stretch zone, Montgomery never even found a lane to cut upfield as outside linebacker YaYa Diaby set a strong edge working against Sewell, allowing the unblocked-by-design Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to track down Montgomery from the backside for a stop behind the line of scrimmage.





The ensuring third-down snap is confounding. It may have been sloppy execution by Montgomery, although the play design certainly raises questions, as well. The run called for Montgomery to go right out of the shotgun snap, while star nose tackle Vita Vea was left unblocked. Sewell, tight end Sam LaPorta and a pulling Kayode Awosika created a well blocked lane for the back, but Montgomery was met in the backfield by Vea, who popped the ball free. The running back was able to recover, but ate another loss of yardage in the process.


Montgomery rebounded with a pair of short, albeit efficient runs on Detroit's third possession, gaining 4 yards each time.

The first, a toss sweep on the first snap of the series, followed the motion block of LaPorta. Outside linebacker Cam Gill was first to the ball, with excellent backside pursuit. But even if he wasn't able to track Montgomery down from behind, Tampa Bay had plenty of clutter in the potential run lanes, particularly defensive tackle Mike Greene, who had effectively shed Awosika's block.


Later in the possession, the Lions ran a power blocking scheme, with Sewell and Glasgow getting excellent push up front with a duo block. Still, Tampa Bay was able to maintain the overall integrity of their gaps, while Neal, playing just off the line and outside the box, crossed the face of wide receiver Josh Reynolds to stop Montgomery shy of the sticks on a second-and-5 snap.


Through the first quarter, the Lions are probably OK with how things are going with the ground game against a strong defense, even if the stat line (six carries for 14 yards) isn't great. Take away the ugly red zone play that Vea blew up and Montgomery had efficient gains on three of his four other carries and the Raymond look had promise, it just lacked execution by two typically reliable linemen.


Unfortunately, Montgomery's day didn't last much longer. He got one more carry, a 3-yard run early in the second quarter where wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown wasn't able to effectively dig out cheating safety Antoine Winfield Jr. A few minutes later, Montgomery was knocked from the game with a rib injury after being tackled from behind on a screen pass.




Enter Craig Reynolds, who mustered just 15 yards on 10 carries the rest of the day.

The Lions didn't hide their intentions of running with Reynolds the first snap after Montgomery went down, bringingout a three-tight end formation all off right tackle, with backup offensive tackle Dan Skipper part of that trio. But on the power run, both Sewell and Awosika lost immediately after the snap, allowing the defense to swarm Reynolds at the line of scrimmage and limit him to a yard.


Reynolds ran the ball twice more during the scoring drive, gaining just 4 yards. He successfully converted a second-and-short on a toss behind a good block from Ragnow. But the back's second carry was another that was essentially dead-on-arrival after left tackle Taylor Decker allowed Greene to get a hand into his chest, leading to an easy shed-and-stop for the defensive tackle.


Reynolds continued to find little room to operate to open the second half, getting stopped for no gain and losing 3 yards on his two carries during the first drive of the third quarter. It's worth noting he offset those struggles with 28-yard reception on a bubble screen.


On the runs, Detroit tried another pin-and-pull, but tight end Brock Wright was ineffective in clearing out Lavonte David in the hole and Decker whiffed on Devin White in the second level, allowing the linebackers to combine on the no-gain stop.

The Lions tried a stretch zone sweep with Reynolds against a stacked box later in the possession, using LaPorta motioning with the snap to add some momentum to the right-side run, but David was able to expertly slice through the traffic and drop Reynolds well behind the line of scrimmage.




The only successful run of the third quarter belonged to practice squader Devine Ozigbo, who was temporarily elevated for the contest. He converted a second-and-3 with a 4-yard run out of shotgun against a light box. The Lions asked Awosika to block Vea straight up and the guard making his first start of the season did enough for the offense to get the first and no more and Vea shed and made the stop.


Reynolds, meanwhile, continued to labor well into the fourth quarter. On his next four carries, he gained only 6 yards, with his successful third-and-1 plunge taken off the board by an accurately flagged holding infraction against St. Brown.


Running against another eight-man box, the Buccaneers filled every interior gap, funneling Reynolds into the waiting arms of unblocked safety Christian Izien, followed by Vea knocking back Ragnow to blow up an inside zone carry. Both of those touches resulted in 1-yard gains for the back. Then, early in the fourth quarter, on another pin-and-pull concept, Ragnow and Glasgow targeted the same man in the second level, leaving David unblocked and allowing the linebacker to drop Reynolds after 2 yards.

Reynolds finally managed a quality gain with 8:33 remaining in the game, and all credit goes to him. After Decker missed an intial block on Shaquil Barrett on an inside zone concept, Reynolds had no choice but to reverse field where he found some open space and rumbled for 8 yards on the first-down snap.



At that stage, the Lions were leaning heavily on Goff to carry them across the finish line. On a drive that started late in the third quarter and spilled into the fourth, the quarterback dropped back on seven of the possession's eight plays.

And when the Lions took over up 14 with 10:37 to go, Goff threw three straight times to open the series and the Lions looked to pass eight of 11 snaps before punting it back to the Buccaneers.


The Lions ran the ball just 21% of the time while trying to hold on to the lead in the final frame. That's counter everything we've come to expect with this team, but the Buccaneers dictated it. In terms of efficiency — defined as a least 4 yards on first down, 60% of remaining yardage on second down and a conversion on third or fourth down — the Lions were under 32%. League average is closer to 50% and team's are often around or better than 60% on a successful day.

So what happened in this one? Well, to start, the Lions ran into a good defense executing at a high level. Vea is a monster in the middle, while both White and David capitalize on the attention Vea commands, firing with confidence into gaps. Tampa Bay's edge defenders also did a good job setting edges and were impressive with their backside angles and full-effort pursuit, and the team's safeties were highly effective with their responsibilities operating in the box, often proving too quick for Detroit's receivers and tight ends to leverage them out of their gaps.


For the Lions, the offensive line was more inconsistent than usual, across the board. With someone like Ragnow, you understand Vea's going to win some of those head-to-head matchups. Similarly, you anticipate some lapses with Awosika, who entered the year as the team's No. 4 guard and was making his first start of the season. The inconsistency from Sewell and Decker was more outside the norm and can be chalked up as an anomaly contrasted against their track records, but it certainly factored into the ground game's struggles on Sunday.

The receivers and tight ends also didn't play up to the standard we've come to expect. St. Brown and Josh Reynolds struggled with multiple blocking assignments against Tampa Bay's safeties, and Wright's season-long issues with consistency executing persisted. The best performers from that group were LaPorta and Marvin Jones, which probably explains why the veteran receiver continues to have a bigger-than-expected snap count despite minimal weekly targets in the pass game.


The Lions will face an equally formidable front seven next week against Baltimore as they look to get the run game back on track. Prior to Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, the team had topped 100 yards each of the first time games, making the 40-yard effort all the more jarring.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @Justin_Rogers

[whatever_gong82]