2016 NFL Draft - Round 1 - Detroit Lions

OT Taylor Decker

In my forum, late at night on the 24th or April, I did my Lions mock for this year http://badnetrat.proboards.com/thread/9487/lions-draft-mock-today instead of posting it here. It's a little late but I shall paste that post now:

1st round:
OT Taylor Decker Ohio State; alternates include: Ronnie Stanley Notre Dame and Jack Conklin MSU

2nd round:
DE Jonathan Bullard Florida; alternates include: Emmanuel Ogbah Oklahoma State, Shilique Calhoun Michigan State, or a S Karl Joseph West Virginia

3rd round:
S Jalen Mills LSU; alternates include: Justin Simmons Boston College, or a DE Matt Judon Grand Valley State

4th round:
C Max Tuerk Southern California; alternates include: DT Hassan Ridgeway Texas, among many many others.

5th and 6th rounds:
RB Darius Jackson Eastern Michigan and DT Justin Zimmer Ferris State among others.

7th round:
QB Josh Woodrum Liberty among others.

Some undrafted guys:
Ben McCord TE Central Michigan
Nick Beamish C Central Michigan
Sharrod Neasman SS Florida Atlantic
Alex Huettel OG Bowling Green
Perez Ford OLB Northern Illinois
Lars Hanson OT Sacramento State
Brett McMakin OLB Northern Iowa
Mike Rose DE NC State
Chris Mayes DT Georgia (or there are 4 other DTs I like as well)
Johnny Holton WR Cincinnati
Blake Frohnapfel QB Massachusetts
Frankie Williams CB Purdue
Mike Jordan CB Missouri Western State
Jay Lee WR Baylor
Ryker Mathews OT Brigham Young

and I still haven't had the time to research as much as I usually do. I did get my big board done, with 1191 names on it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to review nearly as many as I would normally do and it don't look good for the next 3 days either.

Still, needed something in writing to show against the actual happenings from later this week.


And, as you can see, I got round 1 right on the nose for the Lions after all. I had also, in other threads, added a WR in Mitch Mathews to the undrafted list and a center to the 4th round in Isaac Seumalo... in fact I put Isaac Seumalo ahead of Max Tuerk and the others above, making him the pick I truly hope the Lions make.

If the Lions can somehow add DE Bullard or DE Ogbah in the 2nd; S Jalen Mills or S Justin Simmons in the 3rd, then snag C Isaac Seumalo or C Max Tuerk in the 4th along with the rest of my guys listed above I would be one of the happiest draftniks on the planet.

What tomorrow (and the next day) brings remains to be seen, but for tonight we have to get familiar with our new (probable) Right Tackle; Taylor Decker. First off, he's from Ohio State, but let's not hold that against him. he's 6'7" tall (tall) and weights in at 310 pounds (also big). I have him at 14 on my big board and since he was drafted at 16 he is neither a reach nor a sleeper. A former scout for the Bears (of 30 years) had him 12th on his board. There should be no issues with anyone saying he was taken too soon, or that he dropped, or any other derogatory remark in that regard. So without any further ado, some links and comments about offensive tackle Taylor Decker.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/taylor-decker?id=2555206 "Tough guy who scouts believe has the locker room presence and field demeanor to be an instant leader along an offensive line."

http://thehuddlereport.com/archive/2016profiles/Taylor.Decker.htm "His natural leadership skills and his football intelligence are outstanding. His ability to understand blocking assignments like an offensive line coach is more mature than most players coming out of college and these strong attributes will help to make him an outstanding lineman for the team that selects him. He has solid athletic talent and uses good techniques"

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1983776/taylor-decker "Decker started the last 42 games for the Buckeyes, splitting time between left and right tackle, and was part of a senior class that won 50 games at Ohio State. He had a rough debut against Buffalo's Khalil Mack (Oakland Raider top-five pick in the 2014 NFL Draft) in his first career start, but has been an ascending talent since, learning from past mistakes and developing his skill-set.

He has reliable character, a can-do attitude and pro-ready make-up that fits NFL locker rooms. Decker can struggle at times with speed off the edge, especially flexible rushers who can bend underneath him, but he has the frame, balance and forceful hands to neutralize quickness and control the point of attack. "

Okay, so he's big, strong, smart, a leader, is coach-able, healthy, and has no off field issues... in other words, a potential permanent fixture on the OLine and quite possibly will become the best player on the Lions offensive line before his 2nd year. Not sure what you were expecting for the 16th pick in round 1, but for me, I'll take this upgrade to the line any time. Sure, if you read the cons in the links above you will see he has things to work on, which college kid doesn't, but do they all know they actually do have to work on it? This kid does, and he will.

Day 1 of the Lions 2016 draft is in the books, and I am glad I got to see it happen. The upcoming two days could really make things interesting, should it go anywhere near as I suspect it will. Even if it's not the players I envision at this point in time, I have a feeling I'll be happy with the results. Before today I wouldn't have said that, by the way, I was leery as to what Quinn was all about. But, he did not panic and move up like some teams did. He did not snag a guy who dropped because he was suddenly a "good value" yet had warts. He held his ground and got a very solid football player that will in fact help the team win games. Bodes well for the next couple of days if you ask me. Here's to a great start!

2016 Detroit Lions Pre-Draft Off-Season Review

How the Lions got to this point.

The Lions signed a new GM in early January, the New England Patriots Director of Pro Scouting Bob Quinn. He in turn replaced a number of people in the Lions front office and then remodeled the entire Lions weight room after replacing the top trainers. Since the results of all those moves have yet to be seen, I'll refrain from having an opinion one way or the other on those actions. Instead, I'll focus on the transactions that have occurred to the roster. It is the off season after all.

On 1/4/2016 in what will become the final moves by interim GM Sheldon White the Detroit Lions sign LB Khaseem Greene, TE Casey Pierce, WR Ryan Spadola, WR Corey Washington and OT Tyrus Thompson to 2016 Reserve/Future contracts. Four days later Bob Quinn is hired and interim GM Sheldon White is out of a job, he had replaced the former GM Martin Mayhew mid-season in 2015. Sheldon White was the Lions VP of Pro Personnel before becoming interim GM and he was not retained in that role either. Martin Mayhew later was hired by the New York Giants as director of football operations there.

The Detroit Lions under Bob Quinn then made the following roster moves:
1/21/2016 The Detroit Lions sign WR Austin Willis to a 2016 Reserve/Futures contract.
2/11/2016 The Detroit Lions sign linebacker Jerry Franklin.
2/12/2016 The Detroit Lions sign offensive tackle Lamar Holmes.
2/16/2016 The Detroit Lions terminate the contract of running back Joique Bell.
2/19/2016 The Detroit Lions release defensive tackle C.J. Wilson.
3/2/2016 The Detroit Lions place cornerback Rashean Mathis on Reserve/Retired.
3/4/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker.
3/8/2016 The Detroit Lions place wide receiver Calvin Johnson on Reserve/Retired.
3/10/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign wide receiver Corey Fuller.
3/10/2016 The Detroit Lions sign defensive back Tavon Wilson.
3/10/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
3/11/2016 The Detroit Lions sign cornerback Johnson Bademosi, cornerback Crezdon Butler, wide receiver Marvin Jones, longsnapper Don Muhlbach, quarterback Dan Orlovsky, linebacker Tahir Whitehead and defensive tackle Stefan Charles.
3/12/2016 The Detroit Lions sign safety Rafael Bush.
3/16/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign tight end Timothy Wright.
3/21/2016 The Detroit Lions sign wide receiver Jeremy Kerley.
3/29/2016 The Detroit Lions sign cornerback Darrin Walls
3/30/2016 The Detroit Lions sign guard Geoff Schwartz.
4/5/2016 The Detroit Lions sign defensive end Wallace Gilberry, tight end Matthew Mulligan and running back Stevan Ridley.
4/8/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign running back George Winn.
4/18/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign defensive tackle Khyri Thornton.
4/19/2016 The Detroit Lions re-sign center Braxston Cave, defensive end Brandon Copeland and defensive back Isaiah Johnson.
4/25/2016 The Detroit Lions sign punter Kyle Christy.

Other then WR Marvin Jones, who received a contract very similar to Golden Tate's, the contracts for everyone else is either a 1 year or 2 year deal and most of them have relatively small signing bonuses with many many incentives built-in to them. Should those players remain on the roster and get a lot of playing time (meaning they won their respective jobs/roster spots) they will be paid fairly well, though I'm sure not as well as they would like. However, if they are unable to win their roster spot or starting job (due to performance or the draft results), they can be affordable to either cut or trade. The moves should allow Quinn to have a fairly decent roster with some depth to it in case of injury. It also gives Quinn room in the draft to select players they think fit the team without having to reach or feel pressure to take someone they maybe shouldn't.

The only roster spot at the moment with no depth at all is defensive end. In fact, the Lions only have 3 players signed that play that position and they usually have 4 or even 5 on the roster for the season. If Mayhew was still GM this would be a sure indicator that DE would be the first pick of the draft. Since it is not Mayhew no one knows who the Lions will select in the first round. A large number seem to think the Lions will go WR to replace Calvin Johnson who retired in March. An equal number still think that DT is the pick to replace Suh (even though it's two years now and the Lions have 7 DTs on the roster at the moment). Even more believe they will go offensive tackle (to challenge Reiff and/or Ola/Schwartz). Finally I'm now hearing a lot of pundits suggesting the Lions will take the best Center in the draft and replace Swanson, arguably the worst member of the offensive line last year. Any of them could be right. All of them could be wrong. No one, except perhaps 5 or so people that work in Allen Park, have any idea what the Lions might do Thursday night, and they don't even know who will be available when the Lions finely get on the clock.

Myself, I think they just might trade down. Although a part of me knows that Quinn might get aggressive to build the roster at a particular spot and try to trade up, despite my hoping he never ever trades up. If no trades occur (or even if they do) I think the pick would be or could be DE, OT, S, CB, C, or DT... pretty much in that order, depending on who is there when they pick. Heck, it wouldn't even surprise me a ton if the pick was a linebacker. That is how much I don't know about Quinn. Is he the type to take the best player that can help the team now? The best player period? The best player for the team at any point in the future even if he doesn't help now? or the player they need the most now even if he's not the best available? I know what Quinn has said, but I don't know when the clock is ticking, exactly what will happen. And to be honest, almost no one anywhere else does either. Plenty of guesses, but actual knowledge is just not available.

What would I do if I were GM? It would depend on what trade offers (down) I get and who is still available. I could see selecting a DE to learn behind Devin Taylor and who can rotate in more and more as the year progresses to play opposite Ansah. I could see selecting a DT to play behind Ngata and Walker to also rotate in and learn the job to be an eventual replacement for one of them. I could see selecting an offensive tackle that could maybe play left side (replacing Reiff) or at least competes to start instead of Ola or Geoff Schwartz on the right side. I could see selecting Ryan Kelly to start at Center putting Swanson as the backup guard/center for depth, even though I normally would not advocate selecting a center in round one. Then after trying to decide on those four trench positions I could see entertaining the thought of selecting a top tier Safety to play opposite Quinn, or a top tier LB to play either opposite Levy or between Levy and Whitehead. Finally, I could see selecting a corner to play opposite Slay. All are viable options in my opinion. All depends on who is available and how they are truly ranked (by the pro's, not just by draftniks and/or myself). But the final truth of it is, as long as the pick works out, any one of those options would help the team win games now and/or later. Making sure the pick made will in fact work out is the primary concern (as it should be).

I'm a little more sure of what won't happen, since there is no sense drafting a player to fill a role that is already filled. In the first round they will not draft a QB, a RB, a WR, a TE, a G, a P, or a K... in my opinion. They may draft or sign an undrafted player to fill the QB#3 spot, the power RB spot, the tall fast deep WR spot (after a few years of development), or the blocking TE spot... all on day 3. Just not in round 1. Probably not in round 2 either for that matter. Maybe.

The Lions only (currently) have 3 picks on the first 2 days of the draft and I can see them finding a top DE, C, OT, S, and/or CB during that time. Since they can not address all five spots as it stands now the whole thing is indeterminable. Plus, we don't know how they truly feel about some of the players currently on the roster, nor do we know what offers are still outstanding in free agency... offers that won't be addressed until after the draft is over and players, their agents, and front office people see what is what.

All of this, of course, is what makes the draft so appealing to so many fans. Myself included. It's only about 48 hours (approximately) until the Lions are on the clock... only then will we know what Quinn is thinking, and a few hours later, should you read this blog, how I feel about what the Lions did. Perhaps I shall "see" you then.

2015 - Week #17 Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears

Team.

The 7-9 Detroit Lions narrowly beat the 6-10 Chicago Bears 24-20 to finish 3rd in the division and a couple of games away from making the playoffs.

Matthew Stafford was 28 of 39 (71.795%) for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. The Lions offense managed only 67 yards rushing but the Lions defense did get 3 interceptions on Jay Cutler. It was definitely a team effort.

Now that the season is over all eyes turn towards the front office and the eventual hiring of a general manager, or at the very least, the confirmation of Sheldon White being named the permanent instead of temporary general manager. The only front office name I've heard that intrigues me is Duke Tobin the personnel director with the Cincinnati Bengals. His method to build a team is nearly identical to mine based I what I have read on him and I hope he is in the mix for GM for the Lions (note: I heard others talking about Hugh Jackson, Bengals OC, as a possible Lions HC candidate, that along with Duke Tobin intrigues me as well).

Once the GM situation is set, and as I have stated before, then the head coaching job can be addressed. Since Caldwell has 2 years remaining on his contract you can bet the Fords would like to find that their new GM would want to keep him on (as I'm sure it'll cost the Fords' between $8 and $12 million to fire him). Unfortunately, Caldwell has made a lot of in game errors that are hard to overlook, but many a fan is willing to overlook them if it means that Jim Bob Cooter can remain as the OC (most want Austin as the DC too, but word is he will be a hot item for head coaching jobs around the league). It's entirely possible a new head coach would be willing to keep Cooter on as the OC, but all this remains to be seen.

Speaking of Cooter, I charted the passing production of one Matthew Stafford for the entire season (this does not include any running plays of any kind). You will note that under Lomdardi Stafford was improved to around 65% completion percentage but under Cooter he further improved to 69%... even though his yardage was practically the same (on average per game). His TD to INT ratio was superb under Cooter though, as were the wins/losses, so it's no wonder fans are willing to put up with Caldwell if it means retaining Cooter. Anyway, here is my raw data for your review... I will be back with more team analysis in the near future.

2015 Lions Staffords Numbers

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2015	Completions	Attempts	Percentage	Yards	TDs	Int
Lombardi at OC
Chargers	19	30	0.6333	246	2	2
Vikings	32	53	0.6038	286	2	1
Broncos	31	45	0.6889	282	1	2
Seahawks	24	35	0.6857	203	0	0
Cardinals	20	32	0.6250	188	1	3
Bears	27	42	0.6429	405	4	1
Vikings	18	26	0.6923	256	2	0
Totals	171	263	0.6502	1866	12	9
Average	24.429	37.571	0.653	266.571	1.714	1.286
Median	24.000	35.000	0.643	256.000	2.000	1.000
Cooter at OC
Chiefs	22	36	0.6111	217	1	2
Packers	24	38	0.6316	242	2	1
Raiders	22	35	0.6286	282	0	0
Eagles	27	38	0.7105	337	5	0
Packers	23	35	0.6571	220	2	0
Rams	30	46	0.6522	245	2	1
Saints	22	25	0.8800	254	3	0
49ers	29	37	0.7838	301	2	0
Bears	28	39	0.7179	298	3	0
Totals	227	329	0.6900	2396	20	4
Average	25.222	36.556	0.697	266.222	2.222	0.444
Median	24.000	37.000	0.657	254.000	2.000	0.000

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Last Updated on 1/3/2016
By NetRat


After completing the blog to this point I realized there was a lot of other information already available and I wanted to include it in this blog so I am making an addition/correction entry as follows:

The Lions will be drafting in the 16th spot in the 2016 draft due to their strength of schedule and record of 7-9.

The Lions opponents for 2016 both home and away are now known, though the exact schedule won't be released until near the date of the draft. The opponents are:

Home: Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams.

Away: Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints.

The Lions DC Austin is being linked to head coaching interviews by Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns, and is likely to also be mentioned for any other head coaching vacancy.

I have one last note to impart on my readers, one that might perhaps change your opinion on whether to keep Caldwell and/or Austin or not. The Lions lost a game to the Packers due to a hail mary pass that wasn't defended properly if you recall, that swing in the score would've had the Packers at 9-7 and the Lions at 8-8, but the Lions would've owned the tie breaker against the Packers as they would've beat them twice this year. Add to that the ball that was illegally batted out of the end of the end zone in the Seahawks game, that apparently our HC didn't know was illegal and some say didn't argue it enough at the time, which may have allowed the Lions to win that game and they would be 9-7 and I do believe would have made the playoffs in the 2015 season at 9-7 as a wildcard team (and 2nd in the division). Yeah, in summary, a batted ball in the end zone and a hail mary pass prevented the Lions from making the playoffs in a year when they were "hot" as the playoffs approached (near as I can tell). I leave you to chew on that for a few days.

2015 - Week #16 Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers @ Home

Impressive.

The 6-9 Detroit Lions schooled the 4-11 San Francisco 49ers 32 to 17 this afternoon making it an impressive 5 wins out the past 7 games since the Lions front office was "reorganized".

Matthew Stafford was 29 of 37 (78.378%) for 301 yards 2 Touchdowns and 0 Interceptions. The TDs were 1 from Joique Bell rushing one from CJ receiving and the first TD ever for T.J. Jones also receiving. The Lions defense allowed 121 yards rushing and 225 yards passing with 2 TDs. Everyone on the Lions had a pretty good game but I have to give Stafford the award for MVP this game and MLB Tulloch the goat award, if I were giving out awards that is. In fact, the only player on defense failing his job interview for next year (via playing out the losing season) is Stephen Tulloch. On offense it's a tie between various member of the offensive line. More on player evaluation in a later blog entry though.

As for coaching, it took DC Austin half the season but he finally has the defense playing fairly decent, the special teams coach has them doing little wrong, and Jim Bob Cooter is doing a phenomenal job at OC after taking over from Lombardi making few rookie OC mistakes and getting the entire O to play quality football, or at least well enough within their limitations. With most of these same players and adding a quality MLB and some OL talent this team would be down right productive. Throw in a left DE, another DB, and some depth here and there and they could easily make some noise in the playoffs... but will the majority of the team stay intact? Will the coaching staff be replaced in mass or kept mostly intact? Who will be the new GM and what will he do with the coaching staff? Will the new GM be able to add the talent needed to put the team over the top or will we begin another period of perpetual rebuild? So many questions and at this point in time, no answers.

The next and final game of the 2015 season will be next Sunday outside against the Chicago Bears. If these coaches can get this team to play solid ball outside away in a losing season that will likely go a long way as far as their own personal resumes. It certainly has been a tale of two halves this year, the half with Lombardi and Mayhew and company, and the half without them in the picture. The 2nd half picture is of pro quality, the other, poor paint-by-number water colors in comparison.

Color me impressed.

2015 - Week #15 Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints (Monday Night Football)

To do.

The 5-9 Detroit Lions narrowly escaped with a win over the 5-9 New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football this week with a score of 35-27. Matthew Stafford was an astounding 22 of 25 (88%) for 254 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. Drew Brees was 34 of 52 (65.3846%) for 341 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. While both men did a lot for their teams it takes the whole team to win football games and this time the Lions team beat the Saints team, much to the chagrin of draft aficionados. You see, by winning the game the Lions move down in the upcoming 2016 draft selecting later then they otherwise would have. Myself, I want the Lions to win games. You can find good players to pick up anywhere in the draft (and an equal or better number of bad ones) but instilling the will to win is much harder to do.

RB Ameer Abdullah went for 77 yards rushing and 12 yards receiving plus a touchdown while RB Joique Bell was 71 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving plus a touchdown. The Lions were able to establish a run game (finally) and it helped in all facets of the offense. The top receiver (in yards) this game was TE Eric Ebron with 79 yards. Perhaps he too is progressing in his education of what it takes to be successful in the NFL, but there is still much to do.

The Lions are still in need a of GM yet they aren't allowed to talk to members of other front offices until said team is out of their season, that's weeks away yet for many teams and many more for those in the playoffs. Until the GM is decided upon the head coach (Caldwell) won't know if he will remain as HC. Until then, the OC and DC don't know their status and so on for the rest of the coaching staff. Once we know who the coaches are then we can find out what schemes might be implemented, and from there which players on the Lions roster fit those schemes, and which do not. In addition to that, there are preparations for free agency and the before mentioned draft. Yet none of it goes anywhere until the GM is sitting at his desk (unless he already is, the Lions do have a temporary GM in place).

I would love to do more player evaluation but really, until I know which direction everyone should be pointed towards there isn't much to do in that area. I suppose I'll just bide my time watching the Lions win (or lose) their remaining games. Next up, the final home game of 2015 against the San Francisco 49ers on the 27th. Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

2015 - Week #14 Detroit Lions @ St Louis Rams

The end.

The 4-9 Detroit Lions lost to the 5-8 St Louis Rams 14-21 today, ending any talk about making the playoffs for the Lions in 2015 who have taken sole ownership of last place in the NFC. The only score in the first half was by Trumaine Johnson of the Rams who took Stafford's interception back for a TD. Trumaine also held CJ to just one catch for 16 yards, although CJ did run the wrong route twice by my count, probably due to Cooter installing new plays each week as he moves further away from the Lombardi disaster type of offense.

Mathew Stafford was 30 of 46 (65.217%) for 245 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. He wasn't as sharp as he has been in recent games and that helped to improve the Lions draft position (meaning he helped them lose). Casey Keenum was held to almost half that many yards (124) with no TDs and an INT, but the Lions defense allowed 203 yards rushing so it didn't matter. In the end the Rams did just enough to win the game. Well, some would argue, they had a little help from the officiating, which was exceedingly poor this game.

On top of the poor rush defense, the poor Lions offense, the inadequate quarterbacking, and various other head scratching items there was the TE Eric Ebron (3 catches for 27 yards) versus the DT Aaron Donald (3 sacks and 4 tackles) comparison (due to the 2014 draft). A large part of the Donald success in this game was due to the extremely poor offensive line play which while improved from earlier in the year is still a long way from being NFL ready.

We still don't know who the Lions GM will be for next year, and with that we don't know who the coaching staff will be since most new GMs would want a new coaching staff, so it's still going to be hard to talk draft, but that is where we are at this year. Had the Lions continued their short winning streak from a few weeks ago it was possible the interim GM and OC would remain in their positions along with the rest of the coaching staff but now that the Lions are moving the wrong way in the standings the needle is starting to swing into the other direction. I now longer know what to expect at the end of the year as things stand now.

As time permits I will update my salary cap chart and perhaps create a 2016 estimated depth chart so we may begin the slow arduous task of talking "next year" in December of "this year" once again. Welcome to the new version of the same old Lions everyone.

2015 - Week #13 Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers @ Home on Thursday Night Football

Last.

The 4-8 Detroit Lions lost to the 8-4 Green Bay Packers 23-27 due to a successful last minute hail-mary pass with time expired by the Packers. They took an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter but could not put the game away, partially due to going too conservative (on both O and D) and partially due to officiating (though it could have gone in many directions with the various calls and non-calls all game long). Anyway, the Lions are now last in the division, in fact, they are now last in the NFC.

Matthew Stafford was 23 of 35 (65.714%) for 220 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Rodgers had exactly one more completion but it was the one that won the game on the final play, so it was relatively important. Most are blaming the head coach Caldwell but I tend to lean towards the DC on this one as Austin definitely had not put in a hail-mary defense... and I suspect he was not overruled by Caldwell, though I could be wrong.

. I waited until the last minute to write this blog as I was out of town Thursday night and then unavailable to do so until now. By last minute I mean the Lions have their week 14 game tomorrow when they play the St Louis Rams. I'm sure the Ebron versus Donald contingent will be in full force so here's hoping that Donald has a quiet day and Ebron does very well, just so I don't have to hear about it for the next 3 or 4 YEARS.

Maybe this game the Lions will attack, both on offense and defense, then actually continue to do so for the rest of the game, because a 3 score lead means nothing if you are going to give up 3 scores in the second half and then a 4th as time expires. No, it would be, as I state on a continual basis, best to attack for a full 60 minutes, or even 60 minutes and 1 second. If you know what I mean.

No amount of talent can beat the other team, the officiating, and then poor coaching on your own team, regardless of how good you are. Having to do so is how you end up last, and last is only good if we're talking about the draft spot in round 1 (meaning you won the superbowl, not traded the pick to move there).