GBU for the GB sequel

[Meano.Culpa]

Alternate title:
FTP2: Last Possession Wins

Good: 12-1 after a signature win.
Bad: [reserved pending update on McNeill’s head injury]
Ugly: Matt Patricia trying to stay relevant.

By “signature win,” think about the DL and LBs at the end of the game. No Hutch, Reader, or McNeill. No Barnes, Anzalone, or Rodriguez. No Levi. Patched together with Za’Sheedius, Martin getting his legs under him, and a bunch of practice squad signings. Held the Pack to only 45 snaps.

By “signature win,” also think about the offensive game plan. Complimentary football to hold for long drives on a night where the Packers’ game plan was focused on stopping the run.

If “go for it on 4th down” is MC/DC’s signature, then think about the 4-5 fourth down conversions:
0:11 left in the first half. Packers had just cut the lead to 10-7. Lions answered, but expedited review took Goff’s sneak off the board and DMo got stuffed by Clark and Gary on 3rd-and-1. TD pass to Gibbs.
9:05 left in the 3rd quarter. Fourth-and-one at midfield. In the first five minutes of the second half, the Pack had scored a TD, then picked Goff and cashed it. Lions needed to get momentum back and hold the ball. First down on sneak by Goff. Then, same drive…
5:02 left in the 3rd quarter. Fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Tying FG is there, but Campbell goes for it. TD pass to Patrick. Thirteen plays; momentum back.
1:29 left in the 3rd quarter. After Patrick’s TD, the Lions forced a three-and-out. With fourth-and-1 at their own 31, MCDC wants to keep the ball. Packers get penetration, Gibbs is stuffed, and Green Bay cashes the short field. But, with the short field, even though the Lions surrendered the TD, it was only four plays. The offense went back out and put together a 10-play, 70-yard drive ending with Patrick’s other TD catch.
0:43 left in the 4th quarter. Fourth-and-one at the Green Bay 21. MCDC could have taken a go-ahead FG in the last minute of the game and with LaFleur out of timeouts. Last possession wins. DMo for the first down. Dagger, kneel, kick, ball game.

[chemiclord]

Good: The team got a win, and actually did a damn good job offensively despite the Packers potentially knowing half of their blocking assignments. On a night where the Packers were hellbent to make sure the big names didn't beat them, the Lions showed their depth and bevy of weapons by using Tim Patrick to slice the defense to ribbons.

And I'm going to say the defense was a damn good too. With all the players they had out (losing McNeil to a "head injury" for the entire second half and Branch with cramping for critical parts of the 4th quarter), holding the Packers to 7 in the first half was incredible, and then they hung on for dear life to get just enough stops.

I liked the decision to go for it on fourth down to end the half; even if it failed, the Packers weren't going to be able to do anything with the no time they had left. In fact, there was a non-zero chance of a safety on the following play because the Packers wouldn't have been able to just down it. They would have had to run a play with how close that ball was to the goal line. I was more ambivalent on the 4th down call to end the game, but understood the logic. Trust your offense to make a play and take the game completely out of Jordan Love's hands against a defense that was (as I mentioned) hanging on for dear life. That's the sort of 50/50 decision that you just take it for what it is and accept there isn't a particularly good or bad choice, just a good or bad result.

Bad: Yes, I know Campbell is a gambler like this. Yes, I know you have to take the good with the bad. But let's be honest with ourselves, that 4th and 1 relatively deep in Lions' territory was simply bad. There's aggression, and there is stupid aggression, and that attempt was frankly stupid. It was stupid at the time, and it was stupid in retrospect. Even if you feel they had to go for it there, a sweep to Gibbs, who had been doing next to nothing on the ground all day, was a terrible call. It shouldn't have even been an audible option. The Packers saw it coming, and it had no chance. Just simply a dumb decision, and a dumb play call. Sorry, but it was.

Ugly: I can only hope McNeil is able to use the extra days to get through whatever "head injury" protocol he needs to. The Lions can't afford to keep dropping defenders like this.

[froot loops]

Good:
Dan Skipper only giving up one pressure and losing his lunch in the post game speech
Jared Goff was simply dealing. He's only the 14th best quarterback in the NFL, but he works in Detroit.
Pat O'Connor stepping up
Al-Quadin Muhammad stepping up
David Long stepping. Let's thank the disc jockey for serving him up.
Tim Patrick. Let's thank the Broncos for handing him over free of charge.
Dan Campbell the Gambler, what a fucking coach.

[Mainevent]

Yeah, the sweep play to Gibbs against a defense that has been shooting gaps all night is not great. Yet, I think if Penei doesn't whiff on Walker they probably convert.

[El Axe]

I'm a big proponent of Dan's 4th down gambling overall, but I agree with chemic on that one deep in their own territory was a bad call.

Being devil's advocate in Dan's defense, I do wonder if he was also unpleasantly surprised -- as many of us were -- that the ball spot was clearly incorrectly a yard short of where the ball should have been spotted. 4th and inches is much much different than 4th and over a yard.

Time-wise, I think he has to decide to go for it before the ball is officially spotted and once he makes that call, he can't really take it back without seeming like he's lost faith in his team. The only thing he might be able to do, and I'm not sure the rules on it, is perhaps he could have thrown a challenge flag on the ball spot?

[froot loops]

I thought on the sweep that Gibbs had it when he got the ball, but credit to the Pack for closing that hole fast.

The second Patrick TD is something they've done before with Gibbs as the wideout and Saint as the tailback. Doing it with the delayed huddled combined with the quick snap is a team that really practices hard

[CGVT]

I thought on the sweep that Gibbs had it when he got the ball, but credit to the Pack for closing that hole fast.

The second Patrick TD is something they've done before with Gibbs as the wideout and Saint as the tailback. Doing it with the delayed huddled combined with the quick snap is a team that really practices hard

Yep. Great coaching, but smart football players too. They get it, unlike Caleb Williams who can't grasp what to do in a two minute drill.

[Mainevent]

That probably works even better if Ra isn’t wearing fluorescent orange shoes.

[Mainevent]

Froot, your boy Steven Ruiz coming out of last night’s game singing the praises for a great performance that really proved the mettle of his NFC favorites . . . Jordan Love and the Packers.

[chemiclord]

I thought on the sweep that Gibbs had it when he got the ball, but credit to the Pack for closing that hole fast.

The second Patrick TD is something they've done before with Gibbs as the wideout and Saint as the tailback. Doing it with the delayed huddled combined with the quick snap is a team that really practices hard

The Patrick TD there was some brilliant deception. Also kudos to Goff for realizing the Packers were out of sorts and going to a quick snap.

But I disagree on the Gibbs sweep. There was no point where I thought he had it, and in fact, I saw it getting snuffed out right at the snap. In fact, I kinda think the Packers baited Goff into that audible by packing both DTs into the A-gap, because if you look pre-snap and then right after the snap, pretty much the entire Packers defense is in full motion to snuff out the sweep. They anticipated both plays the Lions had at the line.

[Mainevent]

Packers had the outside sealed up but Penei whiffing on Walker allowed him to prevent any chance of Gibbs cutting it inside. Gibbs cut inside the shooting S and has an opening that he might squeeze through for the yard or so he needs, but Walker is right there to dump him. Can’t say for sure but that missed blocked completely killed any chance.

[mason reese]

Yep. Great coaching, but smart football players too. They get it, unlike Caleb Williams who can't grasp what to do in a two minute drill.

If that ball went to St Brown instead of Patrick, wonder if the refs would have called it a pick play

[Sanders Fan]

Great: The Lions have won six of the last seven against Green Bay and their fans crying that the league is rigged.

[Mainevent]

If that ball went to St Brown instead of Patrick, wonder if the refs would have called it a pick play

I thought the same.

[froot loops]

I said in the game thread but when I saw those Packer fans complaining about the league being rigged I now know George Bailey's joy when Ernie Bishop read Sam Wainright's telegram from London. Hee-haw Merry Christmas George.

That a boy Clarence!