reactions to the Lions game

nittany ram wrote:

Spielmann mentioned that Patricia gave the league the blueprint for defending against the Rams offense. It will be interesting to see how Goff and the offense responds against the Bears next week.

He said that directly in response to the 2 screens where Lions DL pulled up and played the screen. They were obviously coached to recognize those plays. In both cases it could look at first glance like it was Goff making bad throws to the defender but it wasn’t, it was great plays both times by the defender. This led Spielman to talk about how the Lions had deciphered some Rams plays. One of the challenges of defending against the Rams is they mask so many plays by having them all look like each other pre-snap. If there’s a way to decipher that, it helps the D.

Fact is the Lions had extra time to prepare for the Rams. Their last game was a Thursday nighter. That’s not the same as a bye but it’s a 3 day head start. So Patricia and the Lions defensive staff had extra time to go over Rams film.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by zn.

jrry32

McVay

I am grateful for what we have. Do you know how many other teams would kill to have our HC? Do you know how many offenses would kill to have him calling plays? The man isn’t perfect. There’s no such thing as a perfect coach. But he is the best damn play-caller in the NFL. He might be the best damn head coach in the NFL. We’ll see on that.

We played poorly and still won 30-16. That’s what great teams do. Aaron Donald is a monster. Ridiculous that he has 16.5 sacks, 20 TFLs, and 4 FFs as a constantly doubled DT in only 12 games.

The Offense

The entire team was off today. Goff missed some throws he makes (and fumbled the ball away on a play where he had Woods open for a nice gain). The Lions got away with some penalties that screwed him on a couple of should-be big plays. And the receivers were off just a tad with the timing and routes. Simply put, we were just a little off as a whole today.

And let’s not claim Gurley was unstoppable. Gurley was getting stopped for large chunks of this game. When he was running well, we gave him opportunities. But there were plenty of drives where we were running Gurley into a wall.

Just tip your cap to the Lions. We had an off day, and their defense played well. Sometimes, the defense just executes well. That was true today. I don’t think it’s an omen or anything. Goff has had some games where he looked unstoppable this year, and two games where he was off. Those two games were the Broncos and the Lions. I expect he bounces back against the Bears. The kid tends to bring it in the games we need it the most.

The Defense

Our run defense improved? Our opponent is the biggest reason imo. But Suh and Donald were a lot more disruptive in the running game. That played a big role. Ebukam needs to be more consistent setting the edge. Fowler Jr. was excellent today at it. He seems to be settling in nicely. If he continues to set the edge well, that’ll solve some problems. Still, we really need an ILB next to Littleton who can fill gaps. Barron used to be that guy, but he’s just not playing like himself this year.

Honestly, I think I’d try Hager or Kiser next week. Ramik Wilson isn’t the answer. Barron doesn’t seem to be. Give somebody else a shot. I dunno. Wade sees these guys practice, so who am I to question him? I’m just frustrated with the lack of consistent play from the ILBs. And for fucks sake, Brockers, you need to wake up.

alyoshamucci

Game 12 Lions …

This was an ugly win, but those count too.

I have an inkling that we
1) Went vanilla to save some of our plays for better competition.
2) Figured out what Matt P was doing with his coverage but DID NOT ADJUST to bait teams into trying to use it against us in the future.

Am I sure? No. But it felt like it when I was watching.
What I saw from their coverage was that they seemed to drift into “high traffic areas” … places where we often throw the ball rather than covering our guys directly. I don’t know if anyone else saw that like I did … but it would explain why Jared was hesitating on his plant foot every drop back.

The Great

1) Aaron Donald is a Ram for the foreseeable future, and honestly could be MVP.

2) Having Talib back. Goodness.

3) (Gurley) Having enough confidence to go down on the 1 for time while knowing you could punch it in a couple plays later.

4) Cook over 1000 yards 4 years in a row, including 3 teams in 3 years …

The Good

5) The Robert Woods TD … unspectacular, but a play that not everyone can make. Small window for the target and not the easiest catch, but a play we make with confidence this year.

6) Pass blocking.

7) Run fits on defense.

8) GZ … consistent.

The Bad

9) Jarrrrrredddd … whew buddy … how many passes missed? And the fumble? You’re totally cool to put up a stinker once a year … but I’ve gotta call you on it.

10) How does Levine Toilolo have a career game against us?

11) Malcolm Brown loss … yes there’s an upside with the youngsters that is definitely needed … but I like the psychological security of Brown.

12) Pharoh Cooper … Im not into the running it out to the 20 thing. It’s dumb.

13) Refs missing holding calls consistently on our WRs.

14) Overall coming out flat. I’m not a fan. That has to be our last dud. We’re fighting for home field advantage.