Optimigo Band Reunion….

[Trickalicious]

The horse has expired at this point, but Goff himself said he missed the throw.

Poor horse. Dibs on the kneecaps!

[LightninBoy]

I've seen enough. I'm all in and thinking about how they can get the 1st seed and get past the 49ers into the Super Bowl.

This team is unlike any Lions team I've seen before. And I've been watching since the 80's. This team isn't just 5-1. They are 5-1 by beating the reigning SB champs ON THE ROAD. They've dominated good and bad teams ON THE ROAD. They are winning by double digits. All while having injuries to several starters.

Another point: if you extend the sample size back 17 games (a season) they are 13-4. This elevated play didn't start this year, it started last year and continued into this year after a strong off season. They were a good team at the end of last year and they are a great team this year. That is what the record shows. It isn't bravado. If they fail to be competitive in the playoffs this year it will be because the injuries have stacked up or Goff goes down for extended amount of time. I think they are teetering on the injury knife edge right now as it is.

Some of you assholes just need to BELIEVE!!

[froot loops]

One game at a time, this is probably the toughest remaining on the schedule.

[Mainevent]

The Athletic guys ran a bunch of stats about how similar the Ravens and Bucs defenses operate, but that that the Ravens have few key differences to how they deploy guys and in the capabilities of their personnel that could make it difficult for the Lions. Should be a good matchup. And Lamar of course is scary as hell.

[Topweasel]

I was a charter member of the post Stafford draft Optimigo's. I like many lost my way with Fatty Patty. I was a little slow to get onto the Campbell bus (I liked just about everything he said but needed some actual performance. But I have been all in since the offseason started. That GB game was all I really need to know we got over the hump.

[froot loops]

The timing of this thread was impeccable.

[chemiclord]

I mean, it was a bad game. It does happen. It was going to be rough even if the Lions came in like gangbusters.

The final score sucked, and I personally think it once again showcased Aaron Glenn's god-awful strategy against dual-threat QBs, but at the end of the day it's just one L in a column that still reads 5-2. It shouldn't derail the train that much, unless you were looking for a reason to hop off.

[edindetroit]

I mean, it was a bad game. It does happen. It was going to be rough even if the Lions came in like gangbusters.

The final score sucked, and I personally think it once again showcased Aaron Glenn's god-awful strategy against dual-threat QBs, but at the end of the day it's just one L in a column that still reads 5-2. It shouldn't derail the train that much, unless you were looking for a reason to hop off.

I haven't hopped off since getting on board in 1978.

[froot loops]

It's a matter of expectations, the realistic look on this game was the Ravens were men and the Lions were boys. They are battle tested and the Lions are just beginning. One of the keys is how they deal with this embarrassment.

[chemiclord]

I fully expect them to manhandle the Raiders. That's not the question on my mind.

My question for the rest of the season is what do they do against Justin Hebert? What happens when they run into Dak Prescott? What do they do differently if Geno Smith and Seattle comes into Detroit in the Wild Card round? What is their strategy for Jalen Hurts if they meet Philly? Because it sure seems like that answer is a befuddled shrug and "hope our opponents make enough unforced errors for our offense to win a shootout."

[whatever_gong82]

I fully expect them to manhandle the Raiders. That's not the question on my mind.

My question for the rest of the season is what do they do against Justin Hebert? What happens when they run into Dak Prescott? What do they do differently if Geno Smith and Seattle comes into Detroit in the Wild Card round? What is their strategy for Jalen Hurts if they meet Philly? Because it sure seems like that answer is a befuddled shrug and "hope our opponents make enough unforced errors for our offense to win a shootout."

I think our Kryptonite is Aaron Glenn and his stubborn insistence on his outdated defensive strategies when it comes to mobile quarterbacks.

Either he grows a pair and change what simply isn't working against mobile QBs, or Holmes and Campbell needs to tell him to look for another employer.

Look at what the Defensive Coordinator for Baltimore did to us today.

He totally took the Lions out of the game offensively, and we didn't even have a chance.

[froot loops]

It wasn't scheme, it was an ass kicking on both lines is what you are not getting. You guys are calling Glenn's schemes outdated but he was a blitz happy, man to man guy until the second half of last year. They changed to a more zone oriented scheme because they were getting killed defensively last year. Going to what you think is outdated saved the defense. They played a lot more man today and they got killed.

The Ravens are a much better defense, I guarantee you if Aaron Glenn had that defense he would be fine. Jack Campbell was bad today, the defensive.line was terrible, Hutch was bad, Cominsky was bad. Roquan Smith would be the best player on the Lions defense by a lot.

Part of what you are seeing is they don't have all the horses yet, playing a bunch of crappy quarterbacks hid that fact. They are much deeper than they were, but they need to turn the Okwaras and Harris into one top notch pass rusher. They need Campbell to get better. They need Moseley and Gardner-Johnson back. You can't scheme if you don't have the horses.

[whatever_gong82]

It wasn't scheme, it was an ass kicking on both lines is what you are not getting. You guys are calling Glenn's schemes outdated but he was a blitz happy, man to man guy until the second half of last year. They changed to a more zone oriented scheme because they were getting killed defensively last year. Going to what you think is outdated saved the defense. They played a lot more man today and they got killed.

The Ravens are a much better defense, I guarantee you if Aaron Glenn had that defense he would be fine. Jack Campbell was bad today, the defensive.line was terrible, Hutch was bad, Cominsky was bad. Roquan Smith would be the best player on the Lions defense by a lot.

Part of what you are seeing is they don't have all the horses yet, playing a bunch of crappy quarterbacks hid that fact. They are much deeper than they were, but they need to turn the Okwaras and Harris into one top notch pass rusher. They need Campbell to get better. They need Moseley and Gardner-Johnson back. You can't scheme if you don't have the horses.

So you're saying that Brad Holmes needs to save all his Draft picks for 2024 and probably 2025 so that we can find the horses to let loose Mr. Glenn's defense.

I agree in part, but I have a issue with Mr. Glenn in that each and every time a mobile QB faces his team, the Lions get cooked, unless we get lucky and beat a team like KC.

Losing Houston early in the season has hurt us big time. Why on Earth did Glenn put him where he was when he got hurt vs. Seattle? That was dumb.

If Holmes does nothing at the Trade Deadline, then we'll have to make due with what we have. And frankly, that won't suffice against the San Francisco 49ers or the Philadelphia Eagles, to say nothing of the Seattle Seahawks if we face them in the 1st Round, or even some of the better teams in the AFC if we somehow make it to the Super Bowl.

[froot loops]

I didn't say that, I've said previously they are a young team and sometimes getting your ass kicked is a way to grow. I like Jack Campbell but he was badly exposed today, he's young and he needs to grow. Same with Hutch and Joseph. Look at who was the starting defense today. What is different from the defense that got destroyed on Christmas Eve? Not much except Sutton and Campbell. If they have their full complement they are better, but they are down to the lineup that was pretty sketchy for some time last year.

I'm saying they were historically bad last year in the first half of the season and Glenn changed things up. People think all you have to do is find some magical scheme. They were starting Harris outside. You are limited in what you can do. Unfortunately they spent big on two defensive backs and they got one game and 4 plays out of them. If you don't have Moseley and Gardner-Johnson, it limits what you can do. But Glenn did do stuff today and nothing worked.

What we know right now is the Lions have a good defense that is pretty deep to the point where they can beat teams with suspect quarterbacking pretty handily. But when they face a good to great quarterback, they are in trouble. So far they haven't shown that they can shut those quarterbacks down. To do that you some all pros on the defensive side of the ball. You aren't likely to get that at the overrated trade deadline

[froot loops]

James Houston getting hurt has nothing to do with Glenn. Players are going to play special teams, there's noway around that.