2025 Detroit Lions: 4-1 Lions win battle of the big cats. (163 Viewers)

[SoBeDad]

How were the Malcolm replacements?

 

[whoknew]

Still feels great this morning.

 

[jon_mx]

How were the Malcolm replacements?

More importantly, how were Will Harris's replacements. Sutton got beat on that 41-yard PI call, but for the most part, the Lions secondary kept the KC WRs covered up. And Mahomes had time l, so keeping those guys covered was a great accomplishment. There were very few Will Harris moments.

 

[need2know]

thank you

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Interesting analysis of Goff vs. Stafford that highlights why I'm tempering my excitement for the Lions just a little. You can win with Goff if you set everything up perfectly for him, but he's probably not going to win games by himself

 

[jon_mx]

My ratings on the game.

DL. Might have been the most disappointing unit. They did get some pressure on Mahomes, but they failed to bring him down and let him run wild. KC OL did get away with a lot of illegal crap which made it rough (illegal formations, false starts, and holdings). Hutch's motor is still impressive. Not terrible, but not great. C+

LB. Did their job well. Kept the running game in check and covered up the TE for the most part. Not having Kelce made it easy. Campbell had his moments. B-

DB. I thought they covered up the recievers well and only had one time they let someone beat them deep. The pick-6 was the play of the game, but they did miss a couple other INT opportunities. Gardner-Johnson was everywhere. B

Keeping Mahomes to 20 points is a great accomplishment, but KC recievers were exposed for being not very good.

QB. Goff was very good. Hung in the pocket well and threw accurately. Missed a couple of plays, but no turnovers and playing smart is huge. B+

RB. Gibbs showed outstanding explosiveness and toughness. Great first game and can't wait to watch his role increase. Monty made some big runs, but did not do much with most of his opportunities. Not sure he was an upgrade, but a very adequate replacement. B-

WR. The Sun God did what the Sun God does. Goff did not see him wide open deep, but still had very solid numbers. Reynolds had a very good game, and is clearly WR2. LaPorta/Wright were very good and both made some nice catches. Jones Jr. had his worst night as a pro, several drops and a fumble. Raymond was nowhere to be found. The need to get Jamo out there was apparent. B

OL. Gave Goff pretty good time. They allowed some pressure though. Opened up some nice holes for running, but did not dominate the KC's DL. B

Outstanding game overall. A road win over the SB Champs is as good as it gets. Very solid performance, but also room for improvement everywhere. The Lions were not given that game, they won it.

 

[ChiefD]

Congrats fellas! Very interested to watch that train start building steam in Detroit. Should be a fun year for you.

 

[-OZ-]

DB. I thought they covered up the recievers well and only had one time they let someone beat them deep.

It will be interesting to see how they do against quality receivers next week. Lucky for them, they only play against 3 genuine quality WR groups before their bye, and one of those has Baker throwing. Which is almost the exact opposite of the chiefs. (Imagine Mahomes with Evans and Godwin)

Overreaction alert - The lions should be 6-2 or better by the bye.

 

[Da Guru]

For once Lions got some breaks in a big game. Dropped pass on last drive was a killer for KC.

DC had to go for it on 4th and 2. Looked like KC was in a run blitz and the DB knocked the ball down. Thought Ben would come up with a tricky play in that situation. Wanted the D to sack Mahomes. Mahomes d

Interesting analysis of Goff vs. Stafford that highlights why I'm tempering my excitement for the Lions just a little. You can win with Goff if you set everything up perfectly for him, but he's probably not going to win games by himself

By comparing one play? Go through every NFL game and see all potential big plays that are missed. Stafford never won by himself either. In Detroit he had one of the best WRs in NFL history as well as other weapons. Then in LA had MVP WR in Kupp but that was not enough and brought in OBJ and defense help.

As we saw with Mahomes last night no QB can win by himself.

Goff does not have the arm Stafford has but not many do, but Stafford makes boneheaded decisions at times, he had 17 INTs the year the Rams won.

 

[Wingnut]

Congrats Lions fans! I hope they keep the train running!

 

[BobbyLayne]

Congrats Lions fans! I hope they keep the train running!

would love to host you guys in January at Ford Field

it's just one. when you break your opponent in tennis, it's not a true break until you hold serve. you are not up a break until you consolidate the break.

going to enjoy this for a few days but it won't mean as much if they don't beat Seattle in 9 days.

kudos to Dan Campbell, man is carrying around his balls in a wheelbarrow.

 

[urbanhack]

Is there room on the bandwagon for a washed up Vikings fan?

I graduated from Ferris St. if that counts for anything.

 

[jon_mx]

MCDC made some interesting choices.

- The fake punt was by far the most sensational and gutsy, probably would have lost the game if that was not successful.
- Punting on 4th and 3 at the KC's 43 seemed out of character.
- Declining a penalty which would have made it 1st and 5, instead took the 8 yard gain to make in 2nd and 2.
- Taking the holding penalty to make it 3rd and 17 instead of 4th and 3 inside of Detroit's terroritory (around the 40?)

I was mildly uncomfortable with two of those, but Campbell has his thumb on the pulse of the team and makes descions based on how he feels about the team's mentality and performance. Dan understands the metrics and knows what the computer says, but each team and situation is different and Dan adjusts.

 

[IHEARTFF]

lots of mistakes should help MCDC keep your team's ego in check. long season. go get em.

 

[Da Guru]

MCDC made some interesting choices.

- The fake punt was by far the most sensational and gutsy, probably would have lost the game if that was not successful.
- Punting on 4th and 3 at the KC's 43 seemed out of character.
- Declining a penalty which would have made it 1st and 5, instead took the 8 yard gain to make in 2nd and 2.
- Taking the holding penalty to make it 3rd and 17 instead of 4th and 3 inside of Detroit's terroritory (around the 40?)

I was mildly uncomfortable with two of those, but Campbell has his thumb on the pulse of the team and makes descions based on how he feels about the team's mentality and performance. Dan understands the metrics and knows what the computer says, but each team and situation is different and Dan adjusts.

Dan Miller and Lomas were very surprised at not taking the first down. That did not seem like the right decision.

They both tip toed around it lightly.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

For once Lions got some breaks in a big game. Dropped pass on last drive was a killer for KC.

DC had to go for it on 4th and 2. Looked like KC was in a run blitz and the DB knocked the ball down. Thought Ben would come up with a tricky play in that situation. Wanted the D to sack Mahomes. Mahomes d

Interesting analysis of Goff vs. Stafford that highlights why I'm tempering my excitement for the Lions just a little. You can win with Goff if you set everything up perfectly for him, but he's probably not going to win games by himself

By comparing one play? Go through every NFL game and see all potential big plays that are missed. Stafford never won by himself either. In Detroit he had one of the best WRs in NFL history as well as other weapons. Then in LA had MVP WR in Kupp but that was not enough and brought in OBJ and defense help.

As we saw with Mahomes last night no QB can win by himself.

Goff does not have the arm Stafford has but not many do, but Stafford makes boneheaded decisions at times, he had 17 INTs the year the Rams won.

To clarify my point, I wasn't saying "win games by himself" in the sense of putting the team on his back. I meant it more like, making those one or two key plays not on the basis of scheme or play design but based on the QB's innate talent. If Stafford had done the same thing in the TB game that Goff did last night, Rams never win the SB. Yes, Stafford makes many boneheaded plays, but during their run he made enough to put them over the top.

Second, I wasn't basing my conclusion on a single play. I was saying the play confirmed what we've all known about Goff for years: He can execute very well with the right system around him. We all saw what happened when Belichick and Flores outschemed McVay in the Super Bowl.

Goff is only 27 and maybe he'll continue to improve. And even if he doesn't, the Lions could still win a SB with him! But having him at QB reduces their margin for error

 

[jon_mx]

Apparently Taylor's movement before the snap is allowed by referees because they do not call movements in the back leg, they look for movement in the front planted foot of the O-linemen in calling false starts (although it looked like he was standing up prior to the snap in several cases and just not adjusting his back leg). There are a couple other linemen who take advantage of this quark in how it is called. His positioning where is helmet was clearly behind the centers waist is something that should have been called.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Apparently Taylor's movement before the snap is allowed by referees because they do not call movements in the back leg, they look for movement in the front planted font of the O-linemen in calling false starts (although it looked like he was standing up prior to the snap in several cases and just not adjusting his back leg). There are a couple other linemen who take advantage of this quark in how it is called. His positioning where is helmet was clearly behind the centers waist is something that should have been called.

Was wondering about that. It seemed inconceivable that the refs were just missing it over and over. On the other hand, I guess they were just missing him lining up too far back

 

[Da Guru]

For once Lions got some breaks in a big game. Dropped pass on last drive was a killer for KC.

DC had to go for it on 4th and 2. Looked like KC was in a run blitz and the DB knocked the ball down. Thought Ben would come up with a tricky play in that situation. Wanted the D to sack Mahomes. Mahomes d

Interesting analysis of Goff vs. Stafford that highlights why I'm tempering my excitement for the Lions just a little. You can win with Goff if you set everything up perfectly for him, but he's probably not going to win games by himself

By comparing one play? Go through every NFL game and see all potential big plays that are missed. Stafford never won by himself either. In Detroit he had one of the best WRs in NFL history as well as other weapons. Then in LA had MVP WR in Kupp but that was not enough and brought in OBJ and defense help.

As we saw with Mahomes last night no QB can win by himself.

Goff does not have the arm Stafford has but not many do, but Stafford makes boneheaded decisions at times, he had 17 INTs the year the Rams won.

To clarify my point, I wasn't saying "win games by himself" in the sense of putting the team on his back. I meant it more like, making those one or two key plays not on the basis of scheme or play design but based on the QB's innate talent. If Stafford had done the same thing in the TB game that Goff did last night, Rams never win the SB. Yes, Stafford makes many boneheaded plays, but during their run he made enough to put them over the top.

Second, I wasn't basing my conclusion on a single play. I was saying the play confirmed what we've all known about Goff for years: He can execute very well with the right system around him. We all saw what happened when Belichick and Flores outschemed McVay in the Super Bowl.

Goff is only 27 and maybe he'll continue to improve. And even if he doesn't, the Lions could still win a SB with him! But having him at QB reduces their margin for error

I totally agree that they are different QBs. Can Lions win a Superbowl with him? Like any team without Mahomes it is a tough road.

 

[BobbyLayne]

preliminary PFF grades

Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack in his first game of Year 2 of the Detroit Lions. But the edge defender picked up where he left off, creating a team-leading seven pressures in their 21-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hutchinson seemed to have jumpy Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in a blender more times than not, with his moves looping around back to the inside standing out.

Pro Football Focus had Hutchinson adding four hurries and three quarterback hits. Charles Harris (four), John Cominsky (three), Josh Paschal (two), James Houston (two), Benito Jones (two) and Levi Onwuzurike (two) had multiple pressures, as well. Nobody was able to wrangle Patrick Mahomes, though, with the Chiefs quarterback running for 45 yards, slipping away from that pressure all night long.

“That was tough. That was a battle especially from the defensive line perspective,” Hutchinson said from the locker room. “We were trying to keep him in the pocket and the scrambling. First time playing him, and you have a lot of respect on how he can move throughout the pocket. Big credit to our team for sticking it out, adversity, away game, first one of the season. I’m very impressed with what we did. We’re going to build off of this.

“That was the goal (to disrupt Mahomes). I knew it was going to be hard going into today. He likes to scramble on the defensive left side. It was a difficult job. I tried my hardest. I thought we did a good job. He got out a couple of times, but we expected it. We do what we could and we’re going to learn from this and move on.”

“I was trying to get after the quarterback,” Hutchinson said. “That’s my only goal is to do my job and get the quarterback. By the end, I was just playing quarterback spy. I was thinking, ‘I’m not letting this dude get out of the pocket.’ That was the mentality, and I thought we did a good job with that at the end.”

Five highest-graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. DT Alim McNeill (78.6)
2. LB Derrick Barnes (74.9 with a 90.6 run defense)
3. DL Josh Paschal (73.4)
4. EDGE Charles Harris (70.4)
5. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (69.4)

Five-lowest graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. LB Malcolm Rodriguez (31.9)
2. LB Jack Campbell (53.2)
3. CB Cam Sutton (57.9)
4. DT Benito Jones (59.7)
5. CB Jerry Jacobs (59.8)

Five highest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (88.4)
2. RB Jahmyr Gibbs (78.8)
3. QB Jared Goff (76.5)
4. RT Penei Sewell (75.5)
5. C Frank Ragnow (75.1)

Five lowest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. WR Marvin Jones Jr. (35.1)
2. TE Brock Wright (38.8)
3. RB David Montgomery (55.1)
4. LG Jonah Jackson (64.4)
5. TE Sam LaPorta (67.8)

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Watch the replay where St. Brown is slapping hands with all the jersey clad Lions fans who moved down to the rail at the end of the game. There is a kid wearing a Chiefs jersey with his hand out across from them. St. Brown walks by him like he's not even there. LOL.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Did they play in preseason?

• nope Jared Goff QB
• nope David Montgomery RB
• nope Amon-Ra St. Brown WR
• nope Josh Reynolds WR
• nope Marvin Jones WR
• 1 game Sam LaPorta TE
• nope Penei Sewell T
• nope Taylor Decker T
• nope Halapoulivaati Vaitai G
• nope Jonah Jackson G
• nope Frank Ragnow C
• yes all 3 Benito Jones DL
• nope Aidan Hutchinson DL
• nope Alim McNeill DL
• nope Charles Harris DL
• yes all 3 John Cominsky DL
• yes all 3 Derrick Barnes LB
• nope Alex Anzalone LB
• nope Jerry Jacobs CB
• nope Cameron Sutton CB
• nope Kerby Joseph S
• nope C.J. Gardner-Johnson DB

Brian Branch played only the first game, Jack Campbell played all 3.

Rough on the execution last night but that will improve. That came into the season 100% healthy and left KC with everyone intact.

 

[Da Guru]

preliminary PFF grades

Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack in his first game of Year 2 of the Detroit Lions. But the edge defender picked up where he left off, creating a team-leading seven pressures in their 21-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hutchinson seemed to have jumpy Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in a blender more times than not, with his moves looping around back to the inside standing out.

Pro Football Focus had Hutchinson adding four hurries and three quarterback hits. Charles Harris (four), John Cominsky (three), Josh Paschal (two), James Houston (two), Benito Jones (two) and Levi Onwuzurike (two) had multiple pressures, as well. Nobody was able to wrangle Patrick Mahomes, though, with the Chiefs quarterback running for 45 yards, slipping away from that pressure all night long.

“That was tough. That was a battle especially from the defensive line perspective,” Hutchinson said from the locker room. “We were trying to keep him in the pocket and the scrambling. First time playing him, and you have a lot of respect on how he can move throughout the pocket. Big credit to our team for sticking it out, adversity, away game, first one of the season. I’m very impressed with what we did. We’re going to build off of this.

“That was the goal (to disrupt Mahomes). I knew it was going to be hard going into today. He likes to scramble on the defensive left side. It was a difficult job. I tried my hardest. I thought we did a good job. He got out a couple of times, but we expected it. We do what we could and we’re going to learn from this and move on.”

“I was trying to get after the quarterback,” Hutchinson said. “That’s my only goal is to do my job and get the quarterback. By the end, I was just playing quarterback spy. I was thinking, ‘I’m not letting this dude get out of the pocket.’ That was the mentality, and I thought we did a good job with that at the end.”

Five highest-graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. DT Alim McNeill (78.6)
2. LB Derrick Barnes (74.9 with a 90.6 run defense)
3. DL Josh Paschal (73.4)
4. EDGE Charles Harris (70.4)
5. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (69.4)

Five-lowest graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. LB Malcolm Rodriguez (31.9)
2. LB Jack Campbell (53.2)
3. CB Cam Sutton (57.9)
4. DT Benito Jones (59.7)
5. CB Jerry Jacobs (59.8)

Five highest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (88.4)
2. RB Jahmyr Gibbs (78.8)
3. QB Jared Goff (76.5)
4. RT Penei Sewell (75.5)
5. C Frank Ragnow (75.1)

Five lowest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. WR Marvin Jones Jr. (35.1)
2. TE Brock Wright (38.8)
3. RB David Montgomery (55.1)
4. LG Jonah Jackson (64.4)
5. TE Sam LaPorta (67.8)

Thought Campbell would be a little more noticeable last night. Never really heard his name called all night.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Watch the replay where St. Brown is slapping hands with all the jersey clad Lions fans who moved down to the rail at the end of the game. There is a kid wearing a Chiefs jersey with his hand out across from them. St. Brown walks by him like he's not even there. LOL.

I love how petty he is

 

[Leroy Hoard]

BTW, NFL Network has the replay coming up at 3pm. That shot should be at about 5:58pm.

 

[BobbyLayne]

preliminary PFF grades

Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack in his first game of Year 2 of the Detroit Lions. But the edge defender picked up where he left off, creating a team-leading seven pressures in their 21-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hutchinson seemed to have jumpy Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in a blender more times than not, with his moves looping around back to the inside standing out.

Pro Football Focus had Hutchinson adding four hurries and three quarterback hits. Charles Harris (four), John Cominsky (three), Josh Paschal (two), James Houston (two), Benito Jones (two) and Levi Onwuzurike (two) had multiple pressures, as well. Nobody was able to wrangle Patrick Mahomes, though, with the Chiefs quarterback running for 45 yards, slipping away from that pressure all night long.

“That was tough. That was a battle especially from the defensive line perspective,” Hutchinson said from the locker room. “We were trying to keep him in the pocket and the scrambling. First time playing him, and you have a lot of respect on how he can move throughout the pocket. Big credit to our team for sticking it out, adversity, away game, first one of the season. I’m very impressed with what we did. We’re going to build off of this.

“That was the goal (to disrupt Mahomes). I knew it was going to be hard going into today. He likes to scramble on the defensive left side. It was a difficult job. I tried my hardest. I thought we did a good job. He got out a couple of times, but we expected it. We do what we could and we’re going to learn from this and move on.”

“I was trying to get after the quarterback,” Hutchinson said. “That’s my only goal is to do my job and get the quarterback. By the end, I was just playing quarterback spy. I was thinking, ‘I’m not letting this dude get out of the pocket.’ That was the mentality, and I thought we did a good job with that at the end.”

Five highest-graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. DT Alim McNeill (78.6)
2. LB Derrick Barnes (74.9 with a 90.6 run defense)
3. DL Josh Paschal (73.4)
4. EDGE Charles Harris (70.4)
5. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (69.4)

Five-lowest graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. LB Malcolm Rodriguez (31.9)
2. LB Jack Campbell (53.2)
3. CB Cam Sutton (57.9)
4. DT Benito Jones (59.7)
5. CB Jerry Jacobs (59.8)

Five highest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (88.4)
2. RB Jahmyr Gibbs (78.8)
3. QB Jared Goff (76.5)
4. RT Penei Sewell (75.5)
5. C Frank Ragnow (75.1)

Five lowest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. WR Marvin Jones Jr. (35.1)
2. TE Brock Wright (38.8)
3. RB David Montgomery (55.1)
4. LG Jonah Jackson (64.4)
5. TE Sam LaPorta (67.8)

Thought Campbell would be a little more noticeable last night. Never really heard his name called all night.

outstanding PBU

made a key stop, came back next play with the great breakup, and IIRC the pick 6 followed that play

• Jahmyr Gibbs: 7 Carries, 42 yards, 2 receptions 18 yards
• Sam LaPorta: 5 catches, 39 yards
• Brian Branch: 3 tackles, 1PD, 1INT, 1TD
• Jack Campbell: 2 tackles, 1PD

Laporta had a crucial block on Nick Bolton on the Montgomery TD

Ease them in? For the most part, yeah, but they all contributed.

Right now Barnes is outplaying Jack but you can see 46 is getting better, dude is going to be a good player IMO

 

[jon_mx]

Did they play in preseason?

• nope Jared Goff QB
• nope David Montgomery RB
• nope Amon-Ra St. Brown WR
• nope Josh Reynolds WR
• nope Marvin Jones WR
• 1 game Sam LaPorta TE
• nope Penei Sewell T
• nope Taylor Decker T
• nope Halapoulivaati Vaitai G
• nope Jonah Jackson G
• nope Frank Ragnow C
• yes all 3 Benito Jones DL
• nope Aidan Hutchinson DL
• nope Alim McNeill DL
• nope Charles Harris DL
• yes all 3 John Cominsky DL
• yes all 3 Derrick Barnes LB
• nope Alex Anzalone LB
• nope Jerry Jacobs CB
• nope Cameron Sutton CB
• nope Kerby Joseph S
• nope C.J. Gardner-Johnson DB

Brian Branch played only the first game, Jack Campbell played all 3.

Rough on the execution last night but that will improve. That came into the season 100% healthy and left KC with everyone intact.

Campbell knows what he is doing. He gets what he needs through scrimmages with other teams. Being a player gives Csmpbell better insight into appropriate preparations. Campbell and Holmes think outside the box.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Did they play in preseason?

• nope Jared Goff QB
• nope David Montgomery RB
• nope Amon-Ra St. Brown WR
• nope Josh Reynolds WR
• nope Marvin Jones WR
• 1 game Sam LaPorta TE
• nope Penei Sewell T
• nope Taylor Decker T
• nope Halapoulivaati Vaitai G
• nope Jonah Jackson G
• nope Frank Ragnow C
• yes all 3 Benito Jones DL
• nope Aidan Hutchinson DL
• nope Alim McNeill DL
• nope Charles Harris DL
• yes all 3 John Cominsky DL
• yes all 3 Derrick Barnes LB
• nope Alex Anzalone LB
• nope Jerry Jacobs CB
• nope Cameron Sutton CB
• nope Kerby Joseph S
• nope C.J. Gardner-Johnson DB

Brian Branch played only the first game, Jack Campbell played all 3.

Rough on the execution last night but that will improve. That came into the season 100% healthy and left KC with everyone intact.

Campbell knows what he is doing. He gets what he needs through scrimmages with other teams. Being a player gives Csmpbell better insight into appropriate preparations.

There's also no film allowed from joint practices. You work on side by side fields and get twice as many reps as normal. You are getting players 2x their normal reps and nobody has film to look at.

Use the preseason to evaluate rookies, UDFAs, and guys you're not sure about (or want to showcase bc you know you don't have room for them.)

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

I'll be honest: I have no effing idea what the correct strategy is for using your players in the preseason. So I'll just grant MCDC -- and Mike Tomlin -- the presumption that they know what's right for their respective teams

 

[Moonlight]

Lions got a lot of breaks helping us get that W but I’ve experienced years of those kinds of breaks going the other way and leading to Ls so this win felt very much earned.

preliminary PFF grades

Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack in his first game of Year 2 of the Detroit Lions. But the edge defender picked up where he left off, creating a team-leading seven pressures in their 21-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hutchinson seemed to have jumpy Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in a blender more times than not, with his moves looping around back to the inside standing out.

Pro Football Focus had Hutchinson adding four hurries and three quarterback hits. Charles Harris (four), John Cominsky (three), Josh Paschal (two), James Houston (two), Benito Jones (two) and Levi Onwuzurike (two) had multiple pressures, as well. Nobody was able to wrangle Patrick Mahomes, though, with the Chiefs quarterback running for 45 yards, slipping away from that pressure all night long.

“That was tough. That was a battle especially from the defensive line perspective,” Hutchinson said from the locker room. “We were trying to keep him in the pocket and the scrambling. First time playing him, and you have a lot of respect on how he can move throughout the pocket. Big credit to our team for sticking it out, adversity, away game, first one of the season. I’m very impressed with what we did. We’re going to build off of this.

“That was the goal (to disrupt Mahomes). I knew it was going to be hard going into today. He likes to scramble on the defensive left side. It was a difficult job. I tried my hardest. I thought we did a good job. He got out a couple of times, but we expected it. We do what we could and we’re going to learn from this and move on.”

“I was trying to get after the quarterback,” Hutchinson said. “That’s my only goal is to do my job and get the quarterback. By the end, I was just playing quarterback spy. I was thinking, ‘I’m not letting this dude get out of the pocket.’ That was the mentality, and I thought we did a good job with that at the end.”

Five highest-graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. DT Alim McNeill (78.6)
2. LB Derrick Barnes (74.9 with a 90.6 run defense)
3. DL Josh Paschal (73.4)
4. EDGE Charles Harris (70.4)
5. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (69.4)

Five-lowest graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. LB Malcolm Rodriguez (31.9)
2. LB Jack Campbell (53.2)
3. CB Cam Sutton (57.9)
4. DT Benito Jones (59.7)
5. CB Jerry Jacobs (59.8)

Five highest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (88.4)
2. RB Jahmyr Gibbs (78.8)
3. QB Jared Goff (76.5)
4. RT Penei Sewell (75.5)
5. C Frank Ragnow (75.1)

Five lowest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. WR Marvin Jones Jr. (35.1)
2. TE Brock Wright (38.8)
3. RB David Montgomery (55.1)
4. LG Jonah Jackson (64.4)
5. TE Sam LaPorta (67.8)

Regarding Montgomery noticed that he picked up his man in pass blocking but was passive in execution. Was getting pushed back into the pocket more than you would like to see. Part of it is difference in weight but it appeared it was more a matter of his man hitting him than he hitting his man. This is good for avoiding a whiff but not so good for collapsing the pocket.

Now that is about as deep as my football analysis gets.

 

[Moonlight]

Watch the replay where St. Brown is slapping hands with all the jersey clad Lions fans who moved down to the rail at the end of the game. There is a kid wearing a Chiefs jersey with his hand out across from them. St. Brown walks by him like he's not even there. LOL.

I love how petty he is

Yeah I dont think you want to get on his wrong side.

 

[BobbyLayne]

KC got a good performance from their defense. Batting down balls, maintaining good pressure, blitzed way more than Detroit.

The offense looked sloppy but they’ll have better games. In that environment, playing the defending champs in a place no NFC team has ever beaten Mahomes, they did enough.

That’s one. Enjoy it for a few days, but make sure you play better in the home opener. Seattle is good and that’s a tough out. Will have to execute better or we’ll be right back to .500.

 

[Moonlight]

Biggest thing for me was that they were the team that made the plays in the 4th quarter and put the game away
Andy Reid basically said in his press conference that the way the
Lions ran the ball at the end and scored the TD was why he didn’t punt on 4th and 25.

He didn’t think they would get the ball back and he was right.

 

[Moonlight]

Tom Grassi losing his mind when Brian Branch gets a pick 6

yeah, same guy

a Packers' fan reaction to Detroit drafting Brian Branch

(after GB let Detroit move up 3 spots for pick 159...Brad Holmes declined the first offer for pick 152 which became Colby Sorsdal....Packers needed a S and gave us the pick to take BB)

When watching the Lions video of how their draft went there was the point when Holmes expressed surprise that Branch was still on the board. It very much seemed that Branch was one of the few guys Holmes had identified as a first round talent.
After they drafted La Porta they tried to trade up with each team.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Sorry Chiefs

 

[jon_mx]

Lions got a lot of breaks helping us get that W but I’ve experienced years of those kinds of breaks going the other way and leading to Ls so this win felt very much earned.

preliminary PFF grades

Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack in his first game of Year 2 of the Detroit Lions. But the edge defender picked up where he left off, creating a team-leading seven pressures in their 21-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hutchinson seemed to have jumpy Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in a blender more times than not, with his moves looping around back to the inside standing out.

Pro Football Focus had Hutchinson adding four hurries and three quarterback hits. Charles Harris (four), John Cominsky (three), Josh Paschal (two), James Houston (two), Benito Jones (two) and Levi Onwuzurike (two) had multiple pressures, as well. Nobody was able to wrangle Patrick Mahomes, though, with the Chiefs quarterback running for 45 yards, slipping away from that pressure all night long.

“That was tough. That was a battle especially from the defensive line perspective,” Hutchinson said from the locker room. “We were trying to keep him in the pocket and the scrambling. First time playing him, and you have a lot of respect on how he can move throughout the pocket. Big credit to our team for sticking it out, adversity, away game, first one of the season. I’m very impressed with what we did. We’re going to build off of this.

“That was the goal (to disrupt Mahomes). I knew it was going to be hard going into today. He likes to scramble on the defensive left side. It was a difficult job. I tried my hardest. I thought we did a good job. He got out a couple of times, but we expected it. We do what we could and we’re going to learn from this and move on.”

“I was trying to get after the quarterback,” Hutchinson said. “That’s my only goal is to do my job and get the quarterback. By the end, I was just playing quarterback spy. I was thinking, ‘I’m not letting this dude get out of the pocket.’ That was the mentality, and I thought we did a good job with that at the end.”

Five highest-graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. DT Alim McNeill (78.6)
2. LB Derrick Barnes (74.9 with a 90.6 run defense)
3. DL Josh Paschal (73.4)
4. EDGE Charles Harris (70.4)
5. DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (69.4)

Five-lowest graded defenders (with enough snaps):

1. LB Malcolm Rodriguez (31.9)
2. LB Jack Campbell (53.2)
3. CB Cam Sutton (57.9)
4. DT Benito Jones (59.7)
5. CB Jerry Jacobs (59.8)

Five highest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (88.4)
2. RB Jahmyr Gibbs (78.8)
3. QB Jared Goff (76.5)
4. RT Penei Sewell (75.5)
5. C Frank Ragnow (75.1)

Five lowest-graded offensive players (with enough snaps):

1. WR Marvin Jones Jr. (35.1)
2. TE Brock Wright (38.8)
3. RB David Montgomery (55.1)
4. LG Jonah Jackson (64.4)
5. TE Sam LaPorta (67.8)

Regarding Montgomery noticed that he picked up his man in pass blocking but was passive in execution. Was getting pushed back into the pocket more than you would like to see. Part of it is difference in weight but it appeared it was more a matter of his man hitting him than he hitting his man. This is good for avoiding a whiff but not so good for collapsing the pocket.

Now that is about as deep as my football analysis gets.

When he got plowed over and then tried to trip the guy was the worst attempt at blocking in the game.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Of the 1,485 non-special teams snaps last night, Brad Holmes acquired 1,190 (80.1%)

Offense 70 snaps x 11 players= 770 snaps
​

Snaps from traded players = 70 (9.1%)
(Goff, 70)

Snaps from BH FA/Waiver signings = 162 (21%)
Montgomery (55), J. Reynolds (49), M. Jones (39), Raymond (19)

Snaps from BH draft picks/UDFA = 246 (31.9%)
Gibbs (19), LaPorta (58), Wright (27), Mitchell (6), St. Brown (66), Sewell (70)

Snaps from previous regime = 292 (37.9%)
Cabinda (11), Decker (70), Ragnow (70), Jackson (70), Vaiti (70), Nelson (1)

Defense: 65 snaps * 11 players = 715 snaps
​

Snaps from traded players = 0 (0%)

Snaps from BH FA/Waiver signings = 310 (43.4%)
C. Harris (52), Cominsky (27), B. Jones (40), Anzalone (61), Sutton (65), Gardner-Johnson (65)

Snaps from BH draft picks/UDFA = 402 (56.2%
Hutchinson (59), Houston (21), Paschal (17), McNeill (43), Onwuzurike (22), Barnes (27), Campbell (25), Rodriguez (14), Jacobs (65), Branch (44), Joseph (65)

Snaps from previous regime = 3 (0.4%)
W. Harris (3)

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Ninja Holmes

 

[jon_mx]

Brian Branch as DROY we from +3500 to +1400.
Dan Campbell as Coach of the year, went from +1000 to +600
Detroit as SB Champs went from +2200 to +1400.

 

[jon_mx]

Will Harris, 3 too many snaps. Did Tracey Walker get banged up?

Glad to see Houston being a big part of the rotation.

Gibbs needs to see more snaps.

 

[Bozeman Bruiser]

Brian Branch as DROY we from +3500 to +1400.
Dan Campbell as Coach of the year, went from +1000 to +600
Detroit as SB Champs went from +2200 to +1400.

I am not good at degenerate math. If I put $100 on Detroit to win in February does that mean I get back $1400?

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Watching the replay I love the unpredictable HC. Punt from the KC 40 (downed at the 9) combined with the fake punt from deep in their own territory. Fantastic range for the other team to figure out.

 

[Moonlight]

Brian Branch as DROY we from +3500 to +1400.
Dan Campbell as Coach of the year, went from +1000 to +600
Detroit as SB Champs went from +2200 to +1400.

I am not good at degenerate math. If I put $100 on Detroit to win in February does that mean I get back $1400?

If you are serious, doesn't effect what the odds were when you placed the bet. You get back the 2200,

 

[General Malaise]

5 more games until Jameson Williams is back. Can't wait to see the Lions with a deep threat like him added to the mix. Josh Reynolds had some key catches but Williams should be a whole nother kettle of fish for Goff. Bombs away!

 

[General Malaise]

Brian Branch as DROY we from +3500 to +1400.
Dan Campbell as Coach of the year, went from +1000 to +600
Detroit as SB Champs went from +2200 to +1400.

I am not good at degenerate math. If I put $100 on Detroit to win in February does that mean I get back $1400?

If you are serious, doesn't effect what the odds were when you placed the bet. You get back the 2200,

Yeah it's not like horse racing where your ticket fluctuates with the updated track odds. You're locked and loaded!

 

[General Malaise]

Watching the replay I love the unpredictable HC. Punt from the KC 40 (downed at the 9) combined with the fake punt from deep in their own territory. Fantastic range for the other team to figure out.

After the fake punt, the Ford family should have had a contract extension prepared and in Dan Campbell's hands by halftime.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Did Tracey Walker get banged up?

Been running the same 5 together all summer

• LCB Sutton
• RCB Jacobs
• Slot Branch (matching 11 personnel - did miss a few plays after the cramp I think)
• S Gardner-Johnson
• S Joseph

I love to see the continuity, especially when none only Jacobs & Joseph played together before last night. Cohesion and communication are critical.

Walker is probably not 100% but he'll get on the field - I'm cool with them short benching Week 1 bc they wanted to maximize their starters communication skills.

Looking forward to seeing Moseley getting worked in, should be an upgrade from Jerry (if he's 100% healthy....big if.)

 

[BobbyLayne]

Watching the replay I love the unpredictable HC. Punt from the KC 40 (downed at the 9) combined with the fake punt from deep in their own territory. Fantastic range for the other team to figure out.

After the fake punt, the Ford family should have had a contract extension prepared and in Dan Campbell's hands by halftime.

Ceedy (CJGJ) was live streaming from the flight home last night. Dude is hilarious.

The balls on that mother****er huh? Oh, hey....KC....that get back is a MF ain't it?
Dude is an elite trash talker.

***************

Campbell has tried 8 fake punts in 35 games. Worked 7 times. On the one that didn't, guy was open and P Jack Fox hit him but the dude (Godwin Igwebuike) dropped it.

I'm no advanced analytics guy but I think 87.5% conversion rate is good, no?

 

[BobbyLayne]

4 passes, 4 runs on the fake punts

Fox is 3/4 for 44

the 4 runs have gone for 28, 13, 42* and 3.

again, no analytics guy but 21.5 yards per rushing attempt seems pretty good

*from their own 26 on 4th & 8 versus Minnesota last year

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Watching the replay I love the unpredictable HC. Punt from the KC 40 (downed at the 9) combined with the fake punt from deep in their own territory. Fantastic range for the other team to figure out.

After the fake punt, the Ford family should have had a contract extension prepared and in Dan Campbell's hands by halftime.

Ceedy (CJGJ) was live streaming from the flight home last night. Dude is hilarious.

The balls on that mother****er huh? Oh, hey....KC....that get back is a MF ain't it?
Dude is an elite trash talker.

***************

Campbell has tried 8 fake punts in 35 games. Worked 7 times. On the one that didn't, guy was open and P Jack Fox hit him but the dude (Godwin Igwebuike) dropped it.

I'm no advanced analytics guy but I think 87.5% conversion rate is good, no?

Big balls, small sample size

In all seriousness, that fake punt was absolutely a case where you throw out the analytics. It's Week 1 and you're trying to set a tone for your season. Reminds me of Daboll going for the win on the 2PC in his first game as Giants HC last year. IMO Campbell was telling his team that he wasn't going to let the high expectations box him into playing tentatively. Doing it early in the game made it feel like an act of confidence rather than desperation. Even if it had failed, even if it had cost them the game, I would still have said it was the right call. Sometimes the losses in Week 1 lead to victories in Week 18 ... but I'm glad this one also led to a victory in Week 1.