Lions News

[froot loops]

I don't think Saturday night's disaster had anything to do with it. I believe Ben Johnson had what he thought was his best game plan going in. I believe Aaron Glenn did as well. The interviews happened during a bye week where the opponent was unknown.

The offense was pressing because they were scared of the defense being able to stop Washington. Going into a game hoping to outscore the other team in a shootout, turnovers are highly probable.

The defense was bad because of all of the injuries and I think Aaron Glenn had a bad game because of his insistence on blitzing and man coverage. Both coordinators had bad games and it was some of the same issues we seen from both of them in their tenures. Most of the time the Lions have had enough talent to overcome those issues especially offensively.

Ben Johnson has the tendency to get too cute. The 4th quarter trick play was the biggest example.
Aaron Glenn sometimes gets too stubborn with what he wants to do and was trying to do what he did to the Vikings on a team that was well prepared for it. Frankly, it may have been time for a change at both positions. The Lions need to get a little more clinical about what they do. It's all too a little emotional for my liking. They lost their shit Saturday but it had to do with how injuries and how they approached games as a whole.

This is the way the league operates, you might not like it but that's the way it goes. And I'd rather have a staff that is in demand than what we have seen in the past where the Lions had starters that were hangers-on.

[Whitley]

If you feel that Ben Johnson did his best Saturday and put forth his best game plan, despite having a foot out the door for a division rival...I disagree. And even if I'm off base here, why even have the possibility of distraction or conflict? I know it may eliminate some coordinators from being considered by some teams, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for that. Their career trajectory should not take precedence over the team's playoff run.

1) Ben Johnson probably has had a list of people that he wanted on his staff for what positions. That is pretty typical in sports especially for those that dream of being a manager/head coach.

2) there is no evidence that Johnson or Glenn half assed the prep into this game. To say that is letting the players off the hook. You can have the best game plan ever but if Gs miss there blocks or have a bad game not much you can do.

3) successful coaching staffs should have an opportunity to move on. No other profession do they say.....you know what you are successful and totally ready for a promotion but you can't go

[ghandi]

There's no guarantees in the NFL that is for sure.....Look at the 49ers this past year...From 1 seed to not even close to the playoffs.....The Rams not too long ago...From super bowl winner to 6th worst record

[Mainevent]

I mean, I can say (and be right) that the trick play pass to JaMo was in both foresight and hindsight a terrible call. That doesn't mean he was distracted by the interview process or assembling his staff. Just means he made a dumb play call. Shit happens.

And Dan Campbell is on the headset too, he could have shut that play call down.

[edindetroit]

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...-as-next-coach

The Jets, another crap show coach killer job.

[edindetroit]

Whelp, there's always next lifetime.


I have a feeling that this was a one off year and we'll be back to SOL soon enough.

They've improved every year under MCDC with the exception of year 1

[Coop]

I don't think any of us like Johnson to the Bears...but the grass may not be greener on the other side. The McCaskey family has not done well from an ownership perspective with that team.

[chemiclord]

I said before Johnson moved on that I am wary that he'll make a terribly good head coach. That's not hindsight, I've said it on this forum. X's and O's guys can succeed as head coaches, but being motivational is honestly one of the biggest skills a head coach needs, and I don't know if Ben has that charisma.

[mason reese]

This is just straight doomerism talking. They have an exceptional (and young) core of players locked up for a long time. They have a GM who has been making savvy moves every offseason. The idea that they'll be dropping off into SOL anytime soon is thinking emotionally not rationally. They're probably not going 15-2 next year... but they probably aren't going to be running a practice squad preseason defense into the playoffs, either.

If you want to get into SOL doomerism…then let’s talk about the fact that they weathered all the injuries instead of going down in flames robbed them of yet another premium draft pick.

[froot loops]

You never know with anyone really. There is not a lot to go on with coordinators. The first thing to look for is who he can hire as staff. He has his work cut out for him with Caleb Williams, there are all kinds of bad habits that need to be coached out of him. I was less impressed with him than the general consensus was.

[-Deborah-]

The Lions had over 500 yards, averaged nearly 8 yards per play and had a success rate of over 60%. There were 2/3 high leverage plays where they called a bad play and paid a big price with a turnover. But that's a lot of the same shit they've done all year, being aggressive, looking for explosive plays and not just stuffing it in the RB belly all game.

If you're going to blame Ben Johnson for not being focused and a poor gameplan, then Dan Campbell shares in that blame too as he's intricately involved in the gameplans. And he wasn't interviewing for other jobs.

I appreciate the reply. All valid points. I'm probably off base, but don't like even the possibility of a conflict of interest or distraction. I wish they'd change the rule back.

[froot loops]

Saturday's loss was typical of the traditional SOL loss when the term was born in the 90s. People would say SOL when they lost a game that they shouldn't have lost after winning a big game. That was the 90s, once Millen was hired SOL became a catchall term for being a sad sack.

Either way, most of the time it wasn't because of some curse or anything unique to the Lions as a franchise. It was always lack of talent, whether it was front line talent or depth to back up front line talent. If Gibby truly thinks they are going back to those 5-6 win years, he must not think much of the talent.

I happen to think there is a lot of young talent but they need to keep on adding more. This is the hard part of sustain success, but for next year they could compete without adding much.because they aren't losing much.

[-Deborah-]

This is just straight doomerism talking. They have an exceptional (and young) core of players locked up for a long time. They have a GM who has been making savvy moves every offseason. The idea that they'll be dropping off into SOL anytime soon is thinking emotionally not rationally. They're probably not going 15-2 next year... but they probably aren't going to be running a practice squad preseason defense into the playoffs, either.

Someone here made a good point that other teams go through this all the time, getting to the playoffs and still not making it to the Superbowl. It doesn't mean the window has closed. If anyone can get the staff back to where it should be and the team put on the right path, I believe Brad and Dan can.

This is why last year hurt so much, knowing how freaking hard it is and how many "lucky" moments go into a Superbowl run. It's so hard to do it all again, especially when you're now the hunted instead of the hunter. The fact that they got to 15-2 with a first round bye given the state of the injuries is a true miracle.

[froot loops]

The thing is with that loss is their season was donezo once Ameek Robertson went down on the second play. If things had gone differently and they pulled out the game, they weren't winning the next week. Everyone was hoping against hope that the injuries piling up were not going to stop them. I was one of the ones leading the arguments, but the injuries kept coming. You can't expect to beat quality teams when you are playing a defensive squad in the 4th quarter that is something you might see in a preseason game.

[-Deborah-]

Yeah, that's also a good point. They were very unlikely to win another game. Sigh.

Still, what a season!!