Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Lions Links for Tuesday 12-17-24

Articles:

Lions have 'a lot of confidence' in Gibbs to carry the load:  https://www.detroitlions.com/news/lions-have-a-lot-of-confidence-in-gibbs-to-carry-the-load



Aidan Hutchinson 'on track' to return for Super Bowl for Lions: 'No other way':  https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/12/17/aidan-hutchinson-super-bowl-update-detroit-lions/77046509007/



NFL legend humorously slams Dan Campbell for his onside kick decision:  https://lionswire.usatoday.com/2024/12/17/dan-campbell-lions-onside-kick-criticism-jj-watt-bear/


Notes: Lions to Wear Throwbacks Week 18, Bridgewater Planning Return:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/notes-lions-to-wear-throwbacks-week-18


Jared Goff: 'Don't Be Depressed, We're Fine':  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/goff-addresses-multiple-injuries

Film Review: Bills' Use of Motion, Misdirection Gashes Lions' Defense:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/film-review-bills-motion-misdirection-gashes-lions-defense


Linebackers Among Lowest PFF-Graded Lions Against Bills:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/linebackers-among-lowest-pff-graded-lions-against-bills

Lions-Bills key stats: Detroit’s offense was no match for its defense:  https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/12/17/24322541/lions-bills-key-stats-detroit-offense-no-match-for-defense

Bills vs. Lions stock report: 11 movers after Week 15 loss:  https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/12/17/24323483/bills-lions-stock-report-week-15


Lions’ options to replace David Montgomery via other teams’ practice squads:  https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/12/17/24322619/detroit-lions-options-replace-david-montgomery-signing-practice-squad



Lions have been hit hardest by injuries; NFL says overall amount has decreased:  https://www.wxyz.com/sports/lions-have-been-hit-hardest-by-rash-of-injuries-though-nfl-says-overall-amount-has-decreased

Why your NFL team won, lost in Week 15 (Buffalo Bills 48, Detroit Lions 42:  Why the Bills won: Josh Allen delivered yet another MVP-like performance against the Lions in a huge win on the road. The Bills quarterback completed 23 of his 34 pass attempts for 362 yards and two touchdowns with four big-time throws. He also earned a 92.5 PFF overall grade, adding 68 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Allen is a force of nature, and performances like this, with four touchdowns and more than 400 total yards, are a reminder of his dominance.  Why the Lions lost: The Lions‘ defense has been plagued by injuries in 2024, and the unit struggled against the Bills‘ offense all day. The defense was gashed on the ground, allowing 197 rushing yards on 34 attempts, with the Bills averaging 5.4 yards per rush and rushing for four touchdowns. The Lions‘ defense missed eight tackles against the run, too, and struggled to slow the Bills.):  https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-why-your-nfl-team-won-lost-week-15-2024

Dan Campbell: Lions have 'a lot of confidence' in Jahmyr Gibbs but must be 'careful' not to overwork RB:  https://www.nfl.com/news/dan-campbell-lions-have-a-lot-of-confidence-in-jahmyr-gibbs-but-must-be-careful-not-to-overwork-rb

Answering the NFL's biggest questions ahead of Week 16 (1. How worried should we be about the Lions?
The Bills and Lions are arguably the two best teams in the NFL, but I'm still shocked at how this one went down. I don't care that the final score was 48-42; it felt like the Bills dominated this matchup from beginning to end.  The Lions were at home with extended rest hosting a Bills defense that was absolutely demolished by the quarterback Detroit traded away a few years ago. Buffalo suffered numerous notable injuries in that Week 14 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. The Lions were surely going to win this game since the Bills were without their top cornerback and both of their starting safeties, right? Wrong. The Lions were the better team on paper, too. I even looked at these two squads position by position. The only areas where I thought the Bills had the advantage (on paper) were at quarterback, linebacker and cornerback. Maybe I should have put running back as well. Who saw Ty Johnson leading Buffalo with 114 receiving yards on five catches and James Cook bouncing back with 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns?  We could talk about how having the better quarterback means everything in a matchup, but I was taken aback by this Lions defense. Buffalo punted just once all game, and that punt came halfway through the third quarter. The Bills offense racked up 559 yards of total offense, 28 first downs and went 5 of 7 in the red zone. Buffalo basically had just ONE unsuccessful possession in terms of the offense setting itself up for points. This defense belongs to the best team in the NFL? The Super Bowl favorites?   There's reason to believe the Lions defense will look like that for the rest of the year -- and maybe worse. Detroit lost several important players for the season due to injury on Sunday. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill (ACL), cornerback Carlton Davis (jaw), cornerback Khalil Dorsey (leg) and running back David Montgomery (MCL) are all headed to injured reserve.   McNeill is one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the league, Davis is Detroit's top corner, and we all know what Montgomery provides for the offense. The Lions will soon have more than 20 players on injured reserve as they continue on their mission to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC. I mean, look at some of these names.  Lions without McNeill, Montgomery and Davis
From SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh: Lions Wins Division Conference Super Bowl
With McNeil, Montgomery and Davis:  It surprised me to see the Lions were still co-Super Bowl favorites on Monday, and I would bet these odds change in the coming days. I don't think the Lions are even the best team in their conference moving forward.  The Philadelphia Eagles have now won a franchise-record 10 straight games. During this win streak, they rank No. 1 in scoring defense (15.1 points per game allowed), total defense (239.5 yards allowed per game) and sacks (33). This team just out-gained the Pittsburgh Steelers 401 yards to 163 yards. The Eagles passing game finally took off as well, as Jalen Hurts completed 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. Both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith crossed 100 yards receiving and caught touchdowns.  So yes. I am worried about the Lions with their defensive performance and all of the injuries. It's the Eagles who I like more in the NFC. ):  https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/answering-nfls-biggest-questions-how-worried-should-we-be-about-the-lions-who-would-win-oroy-among-non-qbs/

Week 15 Winners and Losers: Eagles Silence Locker Room Questions, 49ers Face Crossroads (Losers - Lions’ Super Bowl hopes:  After the Lions lost Aidan Hutchinson for the season, some were quick to wonder whether coach Dan Campbell still had a Super Bowl contender. I wasn’t among that group because the Lions were still loaded with depth and talent across the roster, which helped them win 11 consecutive games.  But now I’m concerned about the Lions’ Super Bowl hopes because the injuries to key players haven’t stopped. The lack of depth on the defensive side finally caught up to them against Josh Allen and his juggernaut Bills offense. The first loss in three months, however, is the least of the Lions’ concerns after losing more key players, including on the offensive side.  Stud defensive tackle Alim McNeill sustained a season-ending knee injury, extending the lengthy list of injuries on that side of the ball. Also, cornerback Carlton Davis III broke his jaw and will likely miss time.  Detroit got by for weeks without its star edge rusher in Hutchinson partly because of McNeill’s presence in the interior of the defensive line. They still have edge rusher Za’Darius Smith and defensive tackle D.J. Reader, but they’re older players who will now be asked to provide vintage performances on a weekly basis.  To make matters worse, the Lions lost running back David Montgomery, who sustained a torn MCL and will likely miss the rest of the season. He’s the heart of the offense as both its early-down igniter and red-zone closer. Jahmyr Gibbs is a star running back, but he no longer has the luxury of facing opposing defenses that have been worn down by the hard-running Montgomery. It will be on offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to alter the scheme to fit the skill set of Gibbs.  The Lions should spend the rest of the regular season trying new methods on the field, especially on defense, because relying on man coverage with backup players won’t get it done, as we saw against the Bills. It’s not ideal to tweak coaching philosophies this late in the season and it could come at the expense of the No. 1 seed and NFC North title. But these changes could pay off in the playoffs next month. Jared Goff still has plenty of weapons to win shootouts and mask defensive weaknesses.):  https://www.si.com/nfl/week-15-winners--losers-eagles-silence-locker-room-questions-49ers-face-crossroads

Lions’ Dan Campbell Had Fired-Up, NSFW Rant During Local Radio Appearance:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions-dan-campbell-nsfw-rant-during-local-radio-appearance



Nick Wright Challenges ‘Civilian’ Jared Goff To Become a ‘Superhero’ To Overcome Lions Losing Key Players to Injuries:  https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nick-wright-challenges-jared-goff-to-become-a-superhero-overcome-lions-injuries-2024/

2024 NFL Defense Rankings: Insights on the Surging Eagles and Texans, Struggling Lions and Bills, and More (5. Detroit Lions - Defense+ is a season-long look that works best over a larger sample size. So while the Detroit Lions’ impressive season-long showing has them as a top-five unit, the reality is that they’ve probably reached their breaking point with all of the injuries that have rendered the defense unrecognizable.  Sunday’s disaster against Josh Allen and the freight train Buffalo Bills offense resulted in a 62.9 (D-) grade. It was the second-worst grade of any team in Week 15 and easily the Lions’ worst of the season (their prior low was 70.8 in Week 7 vs. the Vikings).  Unfortunately, this is part of an emerging trend for the Lions. Detroit remarkably excelled in the wake of Aidan Hutchinson’s injury. From Weeks 6-12, the Lions finished as a top-six defense in five out of seven games, including three straight top-three finishes from Weeks 10-12.  However, Detroit’s last three weeks have resulted in 22nd, 14th, and 31st-ranked finishes, respectively. The Lions rank 25th in defensive success rate (53.9%) since Week 13 after ranking fourth in that same category (62.0%) from Weeks 1-12.  The big concern is in run defense, where the Lions posted the worst success rate (45.2%) and EPA per rush (-0.27) of any defense in Week 15. Alim McNeill’s season-ending torn ACL feels like a death blow in this regard, as Detroit’s inability to be competitive at the line of scrimmage bodes poorly for potential matchups against offenses like the Eagles and Green Bay Packers in the playoffs.):  https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl-defense-rankings/

Power Rankings:


QB Rankings:

QB Stock Market Week 16: Has Josh Allen's time finally arrived? (3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions:  Let's take another look at Goff's numbers versus the Bills: 38/59, 494 passing yards, 5 passing TDs, Zero turnovers.  It still doesn't quite compute that the above stat line was a losing one. But it was. Goff did all that despite 25 quarterback pressures, and with an average time to throw of 2.9. The Bills' secondary is banged up, but their defense — on the whole — doesn't slouch. This was one of the best individual performances of Goff's career.  And still, it's something of a failure. It wasn't close enough to perfection.  We can scrutinize the end of the game — including coach Dan Campbell's indefensible decision to try an onside kick with 12 minutes left. But Goff is probably going to study the beginning of the game, which was actually when the Lions fell into a hole they couldn't lift themselves out of. Detroit punted on both of its first two possessions, while the Bills scored touchdowns on each of theirs. That's why Campbell kept referring to "urgency" in his postgame comments. Because Detroit lost this game in the opening 13 minutes. The AFC's elite is in a different class than the NFC. The Lions just learned that. And if they're going to make it to the Super Bowl, it's a valuable lesson for when they see (in all likelihood) the Bills, Chiefs or Ravens.):  https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/qb-stock-market-week-16-has-josh-allens-time-finally-arrived

2024 NFL QB Rankings: Insights Behind Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, and Bo Nix, Among Others (3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions - Grade: A-.  Score: 91.7.  It is funny how the NFL works. Just a few weeks ago, Jared Goff was throwing five interceptions in a victory, and now, he is throwing five touchdowns in a loss. Goff was good in this game but not at the same level we saw in some other games this season, grading out as a B- on the week. The main culprit was some inconsistencies under pressure (0.38 EPA/DB), despite being excellent from a clean pocket (0.94 EPA/DB).  That is essentially reflective of what we have seen from Goff this season. He leads the league in EPA/DB from a clean pocket (0.50) but ranks 14th when pressured (-0.23 EPA/DB). His third down conversion rate of 42.9% and 3.0 TD/INT both rank 10th, leaving some further room for improvement.  Goff has been on a solid run in recent weeks. He now has a B- or better grade in seven of his 14 games this season and has not had an individual game graded below a C- in 2024.):  https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl-qb-rankings-2024/

Video:

Taylor Lautner reacts to Aidan Hutchinson saying he will be back if Lions make Super Bowl | 'GMFB':  https://www.nfl.com/videos/taylor-lautner-reacts-to-aidan-hutchinson-saying-he-will-be-back-if-lions-make-super-bowl-gmfb

Are Lions the pride of the NFC? | 'GMFB':  https://www.nfl.com/videos/are-lions-the-pride-of-the-nfc-gmfb

Could Lions' injuries be a knockout blow to their Super Bowl chances?:  https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=43021201
Posted by LionsFan at 8:55 PM

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