Win or go home

[Old Lion]

A 1-2 start will most likely mean no playoffs this year based on the rest of our schedule. Best case I could see us winning 9 of 13 and that is a perfect scenario. Most likely we will not even make it to 9-7 if we lose this week and 8-8 would be the mid point again. It is possible, but not likely that this could be the game that breaks our backs. I don't think mentally there will be any recovering from a second straight loss after last week.

A win on the other hand, moves that whole scenario up 1 game which makes the mid point 9-7 and gives us some momentum and confidence going forward (for a couple more weeks anyway). I think the next 3 weeks we will know where are season is going. We play @WAS,CHI, @GB. If we win the next 2 and lose @GB we are 3-2 with @CLE,CIN,DAL to follow. We can definitely win 2 of those 3 as well. That would make us 5-3 at the break. Our final 8 I cant see us going much better than 5-3 so that gives us a chance at 10-6. We will need at least that to make the playoffs.

Basically by losing last week, we need to win 2 of 3 two times to get back on track and it is doable, but much much harder than if we had just closed out last weeks game.

 

[RobBase]

Factoid: Lions have never won in Washington. Ever.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Even though its still way early in the season I think any hope of the playoffs went out the window last weekend. This
team continues to prove they can't beat the teams they are supposed to beat and I can't remember the last upset victory we had over one of the league's better teams. That doesn't bode well for a playoff run. Hope I'm wrong but it just doesn't seem likely

 

[tpaulus_2]

Jeebus H Chistoff you're a negative bunch!

That was a shitty loss to a team we should have beat, but the season is by no means over. C'mon here people!

 

[tpaulus_2]

A 1-2 start will most likely mean no playoffs this year based on the rest of our schedule. Best case I could see us winning 9 of 13 and that is a perfect scenario.

I'll agree that starting 1-2 will likely mean no playoffs, particularly playing in the NFC.

Most likely we will not even make it to 9-7 if we lose this week and 8-8 would be the mid point again. It is possible, but not likely that this could be the game that breaks our backs. I don't think mentally there will be any recovering from a second straight loss after last week.

Agreed. This weekend @ Washington is a "must win" as far as the playoff picture is concerned. The Redskins are pretty bad so far this year, and even though they're the home team we should win this one. We need Nick the Nerf back though- our defense wasn't the same without him.

Basically all three of our 1st games were/are winnable, and we beat the toughest of the 3 (Minnesota) and lost to the next toughest. Washington is by far the worst team out of the 3 this year. Their defense is turrible so far.

A win on the other hand, moves that whole scenario up 1 game which makes the mid point 9-7 and gives us some momentum and confidence going forward (for a couple more weeks anyway). I think the next 3 weeks we will know where are season is going. We play @WAS,CHI, @GB. If we win the next 2 and lose @GB we are 3-2 with @CLE,CIN,DAL to follow. We can definitely win 2 of those 3 as well. That would make us 5-3 at the break. Our final 8 I cant see us going much better than 5-3 so that gives us a chance at 10-6. We will need at least that to make the playoffs.

Basically by losing last week, we need to win 2 of 3 two times to get back on track and it is doable, but much much harder than if we had just closed out last weeks game.

Agreed. Good analysis on the schedule...

 

[tpaulus_2]

Even though its still way early in the season I think any hope of the playoffs went out the window last weekend.

Hope I'm wrong

Me too.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Factoid: Lions have never won in Washington. Ever.

Then we're clearly due, right?

I don't think Washington's secondary has ever been this bad, which bodes well for us.

Megatron had a big game, Burleson has still been effective, Bush looks to be ok on the injury, and even Pettigrew decided to turn the corner and revert to 2011 form with that sick catch at the end of the game last week. Plus, Bell got all his drops for the season out of the way last week, so there's nowhere to go but up from here...

 

[Mebert]

2-18 in washington

 

[gandydancer]

Factoid: Lions have never won in Washington. Ever.

Factoid... they will never win there unless the Redskins build new stadium in DC. They play in Maryland.

 

[RobBase]

2-18 in washington

Factoid... they will never win there unless the Redskins build new stadium in DC. They play in Maryland.

 

[gandydancer]

2-18 in washington

Those two were in the 30's at Fenway park when they were the Boston Redskins.

Might of even been Portsmouth Spartans then

 

[gandydancer]

Sorry MISTER Stafford for doubting the capabilities of a pimp

I felt as if man boobs the pimp was going to jump out kick my ass...

 

[jdwills126]

Trying to project the schedule is a questionable effort at this point. We handled the Vikings and they very well could beat the Bears.

The Packers didn't look good against the 49ers and the 49ers looked awful against the Seahawks, who should have been beat by Carolina, and so on and so on.

If 4 weeks ago someone would have said the Redskins would be looking awful after last season I would have doubted it.

So trying to guess how good teams on our schedule are after 2 weeks is iffy at best

With that being said I doubt Detroit has the talent to be a playoff team. They need Bush to stay healthy and on the field, they need a DB that can help Houston, a TE that can be consistent, and a coach that gets his head out of his ass! I will not mention the stupid penalties as that is a coaching issue IMO.

The schedule has little to do with whats wrong with Detroit.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Jeebus H Chistoff you're a negative bunch!

That was a shitty loss to a team we should have beat, but the season is by no means over. C'mon here people!

Agreed. This weekend @ Washington is a "must win" as far as the playoff picture is concerned. The Redskins are pretty bad so far this year, and even though they're the home team we should win this one.

Do you not see the irony here TP? You agree that this weekend @ Washington is a "must win" as far as the playoff picture is concerned but we are a negative bunch by saying that the Arizona game was every bit as much of a "must win" as this weeks game???? Then you go on to say that this is a game we should win. I say that last weeks game was one we should have won and I'm negative?? I just don't get that.

If we lose this weekend in a game you consider a must win for a playoff run does that also make you amongst the negative bunch? Your statement clearly implies that our playoff hopes are in real trouble if this is a "must win" game. We would still have 13 more games to play and theoretically could win out and be 14-2. Playoff teams win the games they should win and that didn't happen last week.

The Cards game was every bit a "must win" game as the Redskins game. It was also a "should win" game. We continue to find ways to lose to teams that we should beat. Teams that quite frankly we have to beat in order to make the playoffs. If we cant beat the Cardinals then we are not a playoff caliber team. When is the last time this team won a game in which it would be considered an upset?

That doesn't bode well for making the playoffs if you cant win the games on the schedule that your are supposed to win, and you cant ever seem to upset a team and win a game where you're the underdog. That's not a fabricated scenario, and as much as you may hate the analogy, that is in fact the reality of the situation. Either this team wins every game they should win or they have to start winning in some upsets, which is what they have consistently proven they cant do in either situation. I don't think pointing that out is being negative. Sorry.

 

[Old Lion]

Trying to project the schedule is a questionable effort at this point. We handled the Vikings and they very well could beat the Bears.

The Packers didn't look good against the 49ers and the 49ers looked awful against the Seahawks, who should have been beat by Carolina, and so on and so on.

If 4 weeks ago someone would have said the Redskins would be looking awful after last season I would have doubted it.

So trying to guess how good teams on our schedule are after 2 weeks is iffy at best

With that being said I doubt Detroit has the talent to be a playoff team. They need Bush to stay healthy and on the field, they need a DB that can help Houston, a TE that can be consistent, and a coach that gets his head out of his ass! I will not mention the stupid penalties as that is a coaching issue IMO.

The schedule has little to do with whats wrong with Detroit.

What I was inferring is that the AZ was a must win if WAS was the team they were last year which they are not. A win there makes it still possible and we definitely can win that one the way they are playing.

As far as the scenarios you mentioned there are other circumstances in those games. Home field has a lot to do with it too, the weather, etc.. The bottom line is that after 2 weeks we can see more clearly the talent levels of teams regardless of who won or lost.

 

[jayfan]

A 1-2 start will most likely mean no playoffs this year based on the rest of our schedule. Best case I could see us winning 9 of 13 and that is a perfect scenario. Most likely we will not even make it to 9-7 if we lose this week and 8-8 would be the mid point again. It is possible, but not likely that this could be the game that breaks our backs. I don't think mentally there will be any recovering from a second straight loss after last week.

A win on the other hand, moves that whole scenario up 1 game which makes the mid point 9-7 and gives us some momentum and confidence going forward (for a couple more weeks anyway). I think the next 3 weeks we will know where are season is going. We play @WAS,CHI, @GB. If we win the next 2 and lose @GB we are 3-2 with @CLE,CIN,DAL to follow. We can definitely win 2 of those 3 as well. That would make us 5-3 at the break. Our final 8 I cant see us going much better than 5-3 so that gives us a chance at 10-6. We will need at least that to make the playoffs.

Basically by losing last week, we need to win 2 of 3 two times to get back on track and it is doable, but much much harder than if we had just closed out last weeks game.

I agree, Old Lion. Things are looking very similar to last season, at this point. Like this season, last season, we won game 1 at home, then lost game 2 on the road to the 49ers (expected), and stayed on the road for game 3. Game 3, v. Tennessee. Considering the remainder of the schedule, that was really a must win, and we lost.

Losing consecutive games to Zona and Wash, though both on the road and non-division, would really make life difficult the rest of the way. Gotta beat the teams that are on your par or below.

 

[RobBase]

How bad ass would it be next year if we played whirley ball....................with a football.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Do you not see the irony here TP? You agree that this weekend @ Washington is a "must win" as far as the playoff picture is concerned but we are a negative bunch by saying that the Arizona game was every bit as much of a "must win" as this weeks game????

I don't think it's ironic at all. At 1-1 we're very much in the playoff picture. However, if we drop to 1-2 against three very beat-able teams, then I feel that the playoffs become a much tougher goal to attain.

I totally agree that we should have beat Arizona, but to say the playoffs went out the window with that loss seems a bit much to me.

Then you go on to say that this is a game we should win. I say that last weeks game was one we should have won and I'm negative?? I just don't get that.

We totally should have won, the negative reference was to the comments about our season being shot. We're at .500 right now, and as such our season is very much alive.

That being said, I don't think we'll make the playoffs this year, but that's just my personal dislike of our coaching staff. Schwartz is useless as a head coach. I've defended Linehan before, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that he's great between the 20's and horrible in the red zone. I don't mind Cunningham one bit- if he could run his own schemes our defense would be much better, imo.

If we lose this weekend in a game you consider a must win for a playoff run does that also make you amongst the negative bunch? Your statement clearly implies that our playoff hopes are in real trouble if this is a "must win" game.

I think our playoff hopes have been in real trouble since week one when the same old discipline issues reared their ugly head, but I'm going to take the wait and see approach. Yes, all three of these games so far are/were winnable, but two are on the road, so if we come out of that stretch 2-1 then I think we're in good shape. It's not like Arizona is some terrible also-ran. They have a much better defense than we do, and they upgraded at their weakest spot from last year (QB). They're far from a "bad" team, but they're also not an upper-level team. We should have beat them.

We would still have 13 more games to play and theoretically could win out and be 14-2. Playoff teams win the games they should win and that didn't happen last week.

They don't win all the games they should, they win most of them. They also take games against teams that they're not supposed to beat.

The Cards game was every bit a "must win" game as the Redskins game. It was also a "should win" game.

Imo we needed to win one of those two. Saying that we need to start the season 3-0 to make the playoffs is a pretty tough standard to set.

We continue to find ways to lose to teams that we should beat. Teams that quite frankly we have to beat in order to make the playoffs. If we cant beat the Cardinals then we are not a playoff caliber team.

I think you're selling the Cardinals short.

When is the last time this team won a game in which it would be considered an upset?

That would be 1990 never.

That doesn't bode well for making the playoffs if you cant win the games on the schedule that your are supposed to win, and you cant ever seem to upset a team and win a game where you're the underdog. That's not a fabricated scenario, and as much as you may hate the analogy, that is in fact the reality of the situation. Either this team wins every game they should win or they have to start winning in some upsets, which is what they have consistently proven they cant do in either situation. I don't think pointing that out is being negative. Sorry.

I don't disagree, but like I said, we can't be expected to win all of the closely-matched games. Arizona is much closer to an 8-8 team, not a 3-13 kind of squad like the Jags. We still should have beat them, but to expect a definite win on the road against a decent team is a bit too much, imo.

I'm still very disappointed and bitter about that loss, but I don't think it spells the end of our season. Now if we go and lose again this weekend and drop 2 out of first 3 against beat-able teams then I'll have no argument to speak of.

 

[tpaulus_2]

How bad ass would it be next year if we played whirley ball....................with a football.

Yes! That would be perfect!

 

[tpaulus_2]

I can throw a football through a basketball hoop from across the gym with pretty good regularity, so I'd be all about that shit!