It's time to acknowledge that the Lions are for real

El Guapo

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I'm still not selling the Lions as a Super Bowl team, but they are a playoff-caliber team which is a step up from the past. You don't need Stafford to be an elite QB to go far in the modern NFL, just look at Flacco and the Ravens or even Rothlisberger and the Steelers. Neither is at the same level as Manning/Brady/Brees but both had really good defenses to compliment them. Stafford has a pretty good defense (not elite either) but also the best WR in the league, and a shot in the arm with Golden Tate.
 

Mklangelo

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I'm still not selling the Lions as a Super Bowl team, but they are a playoff-caliber team which is a step up from the past. You don't need Stafford to be an elite QB to go far in the modern NFL, just look at Flacco and the Ravens or even Rothlisberger and the Steelers. Neither is at the same level as Manning/Brady/Brees but both had really good defenses to compliment them. Stafford has a pretty good defense (not elite either) but also the best WR in the league, and a shot in the arm with Golden Tate.
When you mention top shelf QBs you have a pretty good list there with one GLARING omission.

And I would say Detroit's Defense if much better than "pretty good".

I would call the number 1 Defense in the league for the last month Elite.
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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What I have been saying: the lions have won a LOT of their games by the skin of their teeth. Games that could have gone either way, but they got lucky....and that will run out. They have yet to prove that they can stack up big time points this season and punish other teams.
Lions-22 falcons-21
Lions-24 saints-23
Lions-17 Vikes-3 ( who cant smack the vikes)
Lions-14 Bills -17
Lions 24 Jets 17
Lions 19 Packers -7 ( lions offense only put up 10 on us)
Lions 7 Panthers 24

So....NO, not a ton of faith in the kitty kats.
They are 31st at running the ball, something vital when it comes to late season cold outside games.
Now over half way through the season and stafford is at 13 TDs and 8 picks and 4 fumbles......not nearly what i call productive.
 
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What I have been saying: the lions have won a LOT of their games by the skin of their teeth. Games that could have gone either way, but they got lucky....and that will run out. They have yet to prove that they can stack up big time points this season and punish other teams.
Lions-22 falcons-21
Lions-24 saints-23
Lions-17 Vikes-3 ( who cant smack the vikes)
Lions-17 bills-14
Lions 24 Jets 17
Lions 19 Packers -7 ( lions offense only put up 10 on us)
Lions 7 Panthers 24

So....NO, not a ton of faith in the kitty kats.

The Lions actually lost to the Bills. A game in which their kicker missed all three FG attempts. While they´ve won some close games (which they wouldn´t have won under Schwartz) they could be 8-1 as well.
 

Mklangelo

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What I have been saying: the lions have won a LOT of their games by the skin of their teeth. Games that could have gone either way, but they got lucky....and that will run out. They have yet to prove that they can stack up big time points this season and punish other teams.
Lions-22 falcons-21
Lions-24 saints-23
Lions-17 Vikes-3 ( who cant smack the vikes)
Lions-14 Bills -17
Lions 24 Jets 17
Lions 19 Packers -7 ( lions offense only put up 10 on us)
Lions 7 Panthers 24

So....NO, not a ton of faith in the kitty kats.
They are 31st at running the ball, something vital when it comes to late season cold outside games.
Now over half way through the season and stafford is at 13 TDs and 8 picks and 4 fumbles......not nearly what i call productive.
We can lick em'. I'm sure of it.

That's one game I can't wait to see. I'll bet the Pack are chomping at the bit for that rematch as well.

I'm pretty optimistic about the Philly game this week as well. Our Defense is roughly as good as theirs overall. Maybe a tad better on paper that is. But it's a home game.

But our Secondary will be tested.
 
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Oshkoshpackfan

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I corrected that, thanks. While we were not yet in
R E L A X mode yet (lol) when they beat us, their offense looked slow. Now that ours is clicking and ticking, I think we would slap them silly. Their D is good no doubt, but Arod and crew have the upper hand in our next game vs them. They could also easily be one of the worst teams had a few of the 3 points or less games gone the other way. Like i said, they got lucky, they aint as good as some people think they are.
 
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I corrected that, thanks. While we were not yet in
R E L A X mode yet (lol) when they beat us, their offense looked slow. Now that ours is clicking and ticking, I think we would slap them silly. Their D is good no doubt, but Arod and crew have the upper hand in our next game vs them. They could also easily be one of the worst teams had a few of the 3 points or less games gone the other way. Like i said, they got lucky, they aint as good as some people think they are.

IMO it doesn´t make any sense to dwell on what could have happened (as the Packers could very well be 4-5 as well).
 

Packerlover

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I think that the Packers will win the north division but it may come down to the last game of the season vs Detroit.

Their coach, Caldwell, appears to have brought discipline to the Lions, which many pundits claimed was the reason for them losing close games and/or not being focused for important games. If Detroit stays focused (and I think this is likely) they will be a formidable foe down the stretch and in the playoffs.
 

Mklangelo

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I think that the Packers will win the north division but it may come down to the last game of the season vs Detroit.

Their coach, Caldwell, appears to have brought discipline to the Lions, which many pundits claimed was the reason for them losing close games and/or not being focused for important games. If Detroit stays focused (and I think this is likely) they will be a formidable foe down the stretch and in the playoffs.

They were a pretty unruly bunch, that's for sure.
 

Carl

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I'm still not selling the Lions as a Super Bowl team, but they are a playoff-caliber team which is a step up from the past. You don't need Stafford to be an elite QB to go far in the modern NFL, just look at Flacco and the Ravens or even Rothlisberger and the Steelers. Neither is at the same level as Manning/Brady/Brees but both had really good defenses to compliment them. Stafford has a pretty good defense (not elite either) but also the best WR in the league, and a shot in the arm with Golden Tate.

The Ravens defense was below average actually, although they did step in up in the postseason.

Flacco and Rothlisberger may not be elite right now, but they certainly played like they were during their Super Bowl runs. Flacco, especially, played fantastically during their Super Bowl postseason.

It's very rare for a team to win a Super Bowl without a QB playing really well. Stafford will have to be very good in the postseason for the Lions to go far.
 

Mklangelo

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The Ravens defense was below average actually, although they did step in up in the postseason.

Flacco and Rothlisberger may not be elite right now, but they certainly played like they were during their Super Bowl runs. Flacco, especially, played fantastically during their Super Bowl postseason.

It's very rare for a team to win a Super Bowl without a QB playing really well. Stafford will have to be very good in the postseason for the Lions to go far.

Dude, Rothlisburger is ranked Number 2 overall at the moment.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=1&statisticPositionCategory=QUARTERBACK

Mr. Rodgers is ranked Number 8 overall.
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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Go and a tually look at the lions schedule thus far, 6 out of the 8 teams they have played have very little in the way of an actual offense....that may be why their D numbers look so good. They also have one of the easiest schedules. Only 2 of the 8 teams they played display a record of better than .500, us and the dolphins. Seven games remain for them and only 3 of those 7 have above .500 records....they could essentially get by the entire season having played only 5 teams at or above .500....
Wow....yup they are real good.
 

Mklangelo

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Go and a tually look at the lions schedule thus far, 6 out of the 8 teams they have played have very little in the way of an actual offense....that may be why their D numbers look so good. They also have one of the easiest schedules. Only 2 of the 8 teams they played display a record of better than .500, us and the dolphins. Seven games remain for them and only 3 of those 7 have above .500 records....they could essentially get by the entire season having played only 5 teams at or above .500....
Wow....yup they are real good.

Detroit has beaten two teams this year who have a winning record (Miami and Green Bay). Green Bay has beaten one (Miami).
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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Dude, Rothlisburger is ranked Number 2 overall at the moment.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=1&statisticPositionCategory=QUARTERBACK

Mr. Rodgers is ranked Number 8 overall.
Arod is number 1 in total QBR right now, ahead of manning, rivers,romo, brady, luck, brees and ben rapistberger.
Arods overall rating is 120.1 and his rating playing at home in GB is an amazing 140 !!! He has an NFL best 8/1 TD to INT ratio. Big ben got two lucky games in a row and then crapped the bed vs a worthless jets team.
 

Mklangelo

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Arod is number 1 in total QBR right now, ahead of manning, rivers,romo, brady, luck, brees and ben rapistberger.
Arods overall rating is 120.1 and his rating playing at home in GB is an amazing 140 !!! He has an NFL best 8/1 TD to INT ratio. Big ben got two lucky games in a row and then crapped the bed vs a worthless jets team.

No doubt he leads in QB rating. He usually does.

He's the man for sure. But BR has been doing pretty good.

I'll take one Rodgers over 5 Rothlisburgers any day. lol

When you "crap the bed" against the Jests, it's a sh*tty day... Pun intended.
 

NOMOFO

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Detroit has beaten two teams this year who have a winning record (Miami and Green Bay). Green Bay has beaten one (Miami).

lol...honestly... we really are just trying so hard to come up with things that it's getting crazy. There's no way I look at our schedule and the Lions and the results and come away "impressed" with one team over the other regarding the schedule played. I don't think anyone that follows the league closely could.

The Packers have played the Bears twice already with 9 games played. The Lions have yet to play them once. The Packers gave the Bears 2 of their 6 losses. That alone skews the "haven't played teams with winning records". Maybe if the Bears played San Fran every week they would be 9-0! (One of the Bears wins came against them) If lost both to the Bears they would have a winning record. If we lost to the Vikings they would have a winning record.
 

MichiganSportsTalk

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lol...honestly... we really are just trying so hard to come up with things that it's getting crazy.

I'm bored, so I looked up the combined win pct of teams that GB and Detroit have played, and then broke that down between their wins and losses.

Green Bay (counting Chi once)
Total win pct of all teams on the schedule: .466
Combined win pct of teams they beat: .370
Combined win pct of teams they lost to: .630

Detroit
Total win pct of all teams on the schedule: .427
Combined win pct of teams they beat: .422
Combined win pct of teams they lost to: .444

So based on combined opponent win pct....
Green Bay's schedule has been tougher
Green Bay's losses have come against winning teams, Detroit's against losing teams.
Detroit's wins have come against teams with a higher win pct than the teams Green Bay has beaten, but both teams wins have come against losing teams.

What does all of this mean?

Pretty much nothing. Just something to look at and try to fill the void between Sundays.
 

Mklangelo

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I'm bored, so I looked up the combined win pct of teams that GB and Detroit have played, and then broke that down between their wins and losses.

Green Bay (counting Chi once)
Total win pct of all teams on the schedule: .466
Combined win pct of teams they beat: .370
Combined win pct of teams they lost to: .630

Detroit
Total win pct of all teams on the schedule: .427
Combined win pct of teams they beat: .422
Combined win pct of teams they lost to: .444

So based on combined opponent win pct....
Green Bay's schedule has been tougher
Green Bay's losses have come against winning teams, Detroit's against losing teams.
Detroit's wins have come against teams with a higher win pct than the teams Green Bay has beaten, but both teams wins have come against losing teams.

What does all of this mean?

Pretty much nothing. Just something to look at and try to fill the void between Sundays.


I disagree. Our victories come against teams with an average win percentage of .370

Detroit's wins are against teams with an average win percentage of: .422

I think was can beat these Lions. But the fact remains that they have beaten better teams. We have been beaten by better teams.
 

Carl

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I disagree. Our victories come against teams with an average win percentage of .370

Detroit's wins are against teams with an average win percentage of: .422

I think was can beat these Lions. But the fact remains that they have beaten better teams. We have been beaten by better teams.

They also didn't play in Seattle or New Orleans. I'd say Detroit would lose both of those like we did. The vast majority of teams would, actually.
 

Mklangelo

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This stuff is getting old. I say, it matters who you beat.

And if you have any pretensions of going to the Conference Championship, you better be able to go into a good teams house and take em' down.

Again I think we CAN beat Detroit and Philly.

As for New England, I'm glad we have that game at home.
 

PackerfaninCarolina

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I'm still not selling the Lions as a Super Bowl team, but they are a playoff-caliber team which is a step up from the past. You don't need Stafford to be an elite QB to go far in the modern NFL, just look at Flacco and the Ravens or even Rothlisberger and the Steelers. Neither is at the same level as Manning/Brady/Brees but both had really good defenses to compliment them. Stafford has a pretty good defense (not elite either) but also the best WR in the league, and a shot in the arm with Golden Tate.

I've always felt Flacco is a very underrated QB. He doesn't always look like Brady or Manning passing back there, but he can read defenses and is a pretty smart QB. Most of the time too he won't attempt any crazy throws, which occasionally puts him at an Orton-ish conservative level, but for the most part he can hit the big ones and has picked defenses apart just standing in the pocket before.
 

PackerfaninCarolina

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I think that the Packers will win the north division but it may come down to the last game of the season vs Detroit.

Their coach, Caldwell, appears to have brought discipline to the Lions, which many pundits claimed was the reason for them losing close games and/or not being focused for important games. If Detroit stays focused (and I think this is likely) they will be a formidable foe down the stretch and in the playoffs.

I actually would not mind this as Detroit would get to step in as a pro tempore rival in this scenario, and rivalries are what make up football. I mean hey, who else is there for a division rival? The Bears have officially copped out on us this year.
 

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