Lions News

[jaadam4]

My favorite vacation was one year where I hadn't taken any and my boss was telling me to use it so I put in for 2 weeks and got it. I didn't have anything planned at all and just hung out at home. Got some nice bike rides in and relaxed a lot. Some days I didn't do a bloody thing and was happy as a clam not doing it.

You don’t have to church this up. You watched porn for 2 weeks until you were chaffed.

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[edindetroit]

LOL "now is the time for Tim Boyle to impress" throws the ball where no one is.

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

[El Axe]

Goff after 3 interceptions (courtesy NFCNorthmemewars subreddit)

image.png


edit: notice all the edits. I love the long lion :-)

[whatever_gong82]

Ask not what your team can do for you: Lions 8-2 for first time since JFK was president


Justin Rogers
The Detroit News



Detroit — With Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions moved to 8-2 on the season. If you can't remember the last time the Lions had that good of a record this deep into a season, don't feel bad — it's been a while.

A long while.



So long, that the last time they had eight wins 10 games into the year, John F. Kennedy was the president.

That's right, the most recent Lions team to get off to an 8-2 start was the 1962 Lions, five years removed from the team's last championship and four years before the first Super Bowl. That '62 squad actually got off to an 11-2 start before falling to the Chicago Bears, 3-0, in the season finale at Wrigley Field.

And get this, the 1962 Lions didn't even make the playoffs. In that era, only the best team in each conference played for the championship, and the Green Bay Packers went 13-1 that year. Their lone loss actually came at the hands of the Lions, in a game known as "The Thanksgiving Day Massacre." The teams split their season series that season.


Here are some other fun facts about 1962:

▶ The Lions were still a year away from William Clay Ford becoming the franchise's majority owner. That means the team has never had an 8-2 record while owned by a member of the Ford family. Congratulations, Sheila Hamp.

▶ The average price of gas in 1962 was 31 cents, "West Side Story" won the Oscar for best picture and Judy Garland's live recording from Carnegie Hall won Album of the Year at the fourth-ever Grammy Awards.

▶ The Lions had the opportunity to go 8-2 in both 1993 and 2014. In 1993, they went into a bye after winning their seventh game and proceeded to lose the next three following the break, finishing 10-6. The 2014 squad also lost back-to-back games after moving to 7-2, ending the year with an 11-5 mark. Both of those teams failed to win their division and lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers

[whatever_gong82]

Wojo: Lions defy comeback odds, rise to 8-2 record for first time in 61 years


Bob Wojnowski
The Detroit News



Detroit — It started as a peep, then a murmur — and then, sure enough, you could hear it. A boo, or two.

Boo? Who?


“Did they?” Jared Goff said with a sly smile. “I actually didn’t hear that.”

The Lions are forgiven if they didn’t fully recognize the mild unrest. And they’re forgiven for three-and-a-half quarters of sloppy football against a lower-rung team. But, the truth is, this is all their fault. They’ve won so much lately, fans come to expect it, even demand it. Do not make them sweat!


It was a sweaty, messy day at Ford Field, and the Lions took their time cleaning it up, right down to the final three minutes. Then they scored two touchdowns to pull out a 31-26 squeaker over the Bears — and of all their victories the past year-plus, this was the most telling, in some ways. It went from a probability to a practical impossibility, then back to the new reality.

The Lions made enough mistakes to fill up three losses. They had four turnovers, including three interceptions by Goff. They trailed, 26-14, with 4:15 left, and when they ran on the next play for a 4-yard gain, the ESPN win probability index ticked up to 98.8% for the Bears (3-8). The Lions have defied a few odds in their 8-2 start, just as they defied odds in their 8-2 finish last season. But not many this long or this odd.


It adds up to a 16-4 stretch for the Lions and a stranglehold on the NFC North lead. When the Packers come to town on Thanksgiving, the Lions could nudge closer to a playoff berth, which seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. Of course, I say that not knowing what a foregone conclusion looks like.

The last time the Lions started 8-2 was in 1962, when a gallon of gas cost 31 cents, ground beef was 45 cents per pound and the average six-pack of beer was $1.72. And if you must know, I was a 1-year-old then.



All of this to say, the Lions still are finding fresh ways to surprise us. The way they performed much of this game, their 1.2% chance of winning was well-earned. Of Goff’s three picks, one was tipped and the receiver fell on another. But he also narrowly avoided at least two more interceptions, and the Lions were picking up penalties at ghastly times to extend drives. Final time of possession: Bears, 40-20 minutes.

And yet here they were, winning a game they’d almost always lose. It speaks to Goff’s strong mentality, but it also speaks to the type of team Dan Campbell has. The Lions can grind it out or air it out, and on their final two drives, they did both.



Trailing, 26-14, with the clock ticking, the Lions looked doomed, and the crowd suddenly went from impatient to aggravated. And from that point to the end, Goff completed nine of 11 passes, Campbell used his timeouts expertly, and the Lions used all their weapons.

Jameson Williams flashed his speed on a 32-yard touchdown reception that cut the Bears’ lead to 26-21 with 2:59 left. After forcing a punt, the Lions took over at their 27, and as we’re learning, Goff is especially lethal in two-minute drills. Last week, he guided the Lions to the winning field goal in a 41-38 victory over the Chargers. Once again, popping quick passes to Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta and others, he guided them smoothly down the field.



And here’s a difference with this version of the 8-2 Lions. They have hammers and nails, such as David Montgomery, the former Bear, who pounded in for a 5-yard touchdown with 29 seconds left to give the Lions the lead. The Bears’ chances ended when Aidan Hutchinson strip-sacked Justin Fields and the ball was knocked out of the end zone for a safety. (Especially notable this week, that’s a former Wolverine ending the game by knocking the ball from a former Buckeye. Hmm.)

“That’s a hard way to live,” Campbell said of the comeback. “It speaks volumes. Goff doesn’t have the best game, but when you needed him most, that’s when he was at his best. … Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever really seen him frazzled. More than anything, he just wants to punch himself in the face sometimes.”



Face punches were warranted early on. Fields, returning after missing four games because of a thumb injury, was back to his running self, scooting for 104 yards on the ground. The Lions’ defense was getting picked apart for the second straight week.

But when the Bears had to get a first down, the Lions stuffed them. When the Lions had to have it, Goff took it.



“We found a way to make it work at the end, and that’s the sign of a good team,” said Goff, who finished 23-for-35 for 236 yards. “We’re a resilient group. We’re tough. We have a lot of courage, and we don’t back down from anything.”

He eventually confessed to hearing the brief burst of boos, but recognized what it meant.


“I think the expectations for our team are as high as they’ve ever been,” Goff said. “We love our fans, and they had a lot to boo about today. Maybe (we would) appreciate if they wouldn’t, but we get that. I understand their passion and feel their pain, at times.”

Feeling the pain and delivering the pain. It’s simplistic to say the Lions will only go as far as Goff takes them, but I’ll say it anyway. At times, he’s played the best football of his career. He’s only had two stinkers this season — at Baltimore was the other one — but he managed to erase the stink from this one.



That crunch-time grit is why his teammates embrace him and are quick to protect him. Tackle Penei Sewell was in a good mood after the game, until someone mentioned the boos. He didn’t get mad, but he did a bit of scolding.

“It was kind of sad to see a couple people leave (in the stands),” Sewell said. “I don’t tolerate that (booing).”



Good thing is, the Lions rarely have to tolerate it these days. If it happens again, they’ll know what to do. Montgomery will run with angry abandon, St. Brown will catch a bunch of clutch passes and Goff will punch himself in the face a few times.

He can handle it, as long as he gets the last punch.


Bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com

@bobwojnowski

[wcfwtf]

The pAckers that year is consider of the best in history. If it wasn’t for a Milt Plum interception the Lions would have beat them twice that year. Lions had great defense, but they also had Milt Plum.

[whatever_gong82]