LIONS FIRE SCHWARTZ OFFICIALLY

[tpaulus_2]

Besides, all we really need is a new C and a LG. Maybe a RT. But the LT is set and that's the most important part of the line.

I was all nodding, and agreeing, and then I read this sentence and now I'm concerned that you're smoking crack.

We had arguable THE single best o-line in football this year. Certainly a top-5 unit. I don't like Raiola, and a replacement is definitely needed for the long-term, but he played lights-out this year. Why on God's green Earth would we want to replace Rob Sims? He's been a rock at LG for us. Don't you remember the revolving door-o-crap we had at the position before we got him? And Waddle came in as a UDFA and has been a complete stud! Can't imagine wanting to even try to replace him after the rookie season he had. He's actually played well enough, and has the skill-set (freakishly long arms, quick feet) that I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually forces the Lions to swap he and Reiff on each end of the line. Dude was a straight-up gem this year.

If I were the new HC I'd be bringing back the exact same o-line, maybe a new, younger, less douche-baggy, center if one becomes available. Overall, though, we could trot the same 5 starters out next year and not have to worry about anything but injuries given how good of a group we have right now...

 

[jayfan]

But the GM drafts the players. Did Wisenhunt have GM duties in AZ? I don't think he did but maybe you know something I don't.

I actually don't know. I posted it in reference to what Cards fans were saying about Whiz in a forum of theirs.

 

[Voltaire26]

It was a good afternoon at work everyone was a little upbeat. Thank You Bill Ford Jr.

 

[gandydancer]

Never have seen/heard a reporter read Facebook posts to an NFL owner during a press conference before. I liked it.

Only imagine if us guys asked the questions at the pressers??? Tailored khaki boy would been arrested!

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

We had arguable THE single best o-line in football this year. Certainly a top-5 unit

Let's not go overboard. If Detroit had the best OL, to go along with the best WR and the 1st RB tandem in NFL history to have 500 yards rushing and receiving -- they wouldn't have finished 7-9.

They were a huge upgrade over recent years, but to try and talk about them as the best OL in football is a little much.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

You seem to be trying really hard to over-simplify the situation to better serve your point. He may have hired Schwartz, but he also wanted to fire him last year, but did not have the authority to do so. That tells me that while he runs his department (personnel) he doesn't have final say over coaching hires, as is the case in most of the NFL, where the owner is the true boss. And we all know our owner doesn't exactly have much of a track record for success.

How exactly am I over simplifying things? ANY decent GM had damn sure better have the ear of the owner or he isn't worth a shit. So why didn't our genius GM advise ownership NOT to extend the guy when he still had a year still left on his contract? Are you suggesting that it was the Ford's themselves who came up with that idea and also that we pay him top 10 coaching money and all Millenhew did was follow those instructions and played absolutely no part in those decisions at all? Get serious.

By Mayhew? I think not. Again, you're bending the facts to suit your argument.

I didn't bend a god damn thing. What exactly do you think the role of a GM is? Hired by the owner and reports to the owner. So I guess he should also be advising that owner. So apparently he didn't advise them not to offer a contract extension or that it was too much money. If anyone is bending facts its you with that lame ass excuse that Millenhew wanted to fire him last year. If he had done his fucking job like a good GM he would have stopped the Fords from extending the contract in the first damn place because then he could have fired him like he reportedly wanted to.

Compared to his contemporaries he hasn't done nearly as poorly in the draft as he gets credit for. He's made some really good picks (all of which were "no-brainers," of course) to go along with his string of missed picks on 2nd round skill players.

Do we really want to go down this path again because the first two were absolute no-brainers. Anyone who seriously wanted to take a guy who went from a QB to a TE and then a LT with the #1 overall pick when you have Jon Fucking Kitna at QB has got to need serious help, and if you wanted a LB instead then for god's sake stop sniffing glue. Millenhew's best pick was Fairley. When you are picking that early in the draft it shouldn't be that hard to do well. Outside of that, until this year, which may very well be because of Xanders he hasn't produced a thing at all in pretty much every other round with numerous misses in the second and third. Prove to me that his contemporaries have equally bad track records and I'll recant my statement on his bad drafts. Until then the track record of failure stands.

No, if you focus on (and embellish the hell out of) the negatives, then he doesn't come across as someone who deserves to stay. However, if you look as his tenure objectively and focus on what his job is (and it's not coaching or dealing with coach's contracts) then I think he's shown that he's absolutely someone who has shown that they deserve to stay.

Do you even know what the word embellish means? What exactly have I embellished? I cant wait to hear this answer. And while you are at it why don't you tell us all exactly what HIS job is? Why do owners have GM's instead of just doing it themselves like Jerry Jones? He spearheaded the search for the last coach same as he is this one. Who was it that he endorsed to the ownership for them to hire. Oh, that's right, it was Jim Schwartz, the guy everyone is thrilled to have gone. Or did he not have anything to do with that either because that's not HIS job? What's our record during HIS tenure? Pretty sure its also the same as what Schwartz's record was. That was enough to get his ass shown the door with the endorsement of pretty much every Lions fan. If HIS job is just to bring in the players then HIS players might not be as good as people think because they are 11-21 in the past two seasons. Blame the coaching staff, they are absolutely accountable for that horrible record. But so is the guy who put that guy in place, failed to stop ownership from extending him, until this past draft has done nothing noteworthy there, and was also part of the Millen regime. He's the beneficiary of the Ford's not making the changes that need to, and should be made.

then I think he's shown that he's absolutely someone who has shown that they deserve to stay.

and I think he hasn't shown me one thing that warrents him staying any more so than Schwartz.

 

[jdwills126]

I think you hit it spot-on, and it's hardly a problem. Mayhew has put together a talented roster, and Schwartz just wasn't a high-level coach.

It bothers the shit out of me that people can't separate what a GM is supposed to do from what a coach is supposed to do. GMs are supposed to assemble talent, coaches are supposed to use said talent to win games. If the consensus around the league is that we have a very talented roster, then I think it's clear where the blame for Schwartz's record over the last few years falls...

I can't give Mayhew the credit the Lions roster deserves. He has bombed repeatedly on the draft, especially the second round. And the total amount of dead money the Lions have speaks more to failures more than success.

He is also the man responsible for Schwartz and the extension he signed.

As for the recent draft I would like to know how much that was Mayhew as opposed to Xanders.

I think Mayhew and Lewand need to take responsibility in where this team is at. Not having a viable #2 receiver had as much do to with missing the playoffs as anything.

 

[TBBishop]

With Dominik fired, I think the Lions should let Mayhew go and snag him right up.

Mark Dominik is a fucking accountant. He had no business being anywhere near the front office of a franchise. People look at the roster and say they have a ton of talent, and they do, but the pieces don't fit. Last year the owners basically told him he could spend money again and he looked around the roster and said "We need a wide out". The concensus was Vincent Vackson was the best on the market so he basically said "Vincent, I will pay you more than anyone else to come play for me". Never mind that Mike Williams is a big bodied, possession receiver in the same mold as Jackson and it left them with no speed threat. He paid Carl Nicks more than anyone else would pay him also. This year he said "We need to fix our D backfield". Last year he drafted Mark Barron. This year he went and got Dashon Goldson who is the same type of player as Barron, a hard hitting run oriented Safety (who has gotten them I think they said 6 15 yarders this year). Most teams of course want their safeties to be either a run stuffer or ball hawk. You of course don't want 2 run stuffers or 2 ball hawks unless they can do both. He traded for Revis, what was it, a first and a third plus $16 mil per year? For a corner coming off of major knee surgery? But that wasn't the stupid part. The stupid part was making that trade and committing that much of your resources and then sticking the "best cover corner in football" in a zone scheme. Of course Revis was a moron for OKing a trade to a team who ran a lot of zone. I mean IMO about the only things he's done right was getting Gerald McCoy which was a no brainer and finding Lavonte David. I mean around the league he seems to be very respected and all I've heard this year was how great this roster is that he put together. Yet and still he's unemployed right now. That tells you how good a roster he really put together. I mean even the Glazers noticed and they are clueless. We Lions fans like to point out Mayhew's misses. Dominik has more misses in the same amount of time AND hasn't gotten to the playoffs even once. Couple that with 2 awful coaching hires and there is good reason for Dominik to STAY unemployed.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Let's not go overboard. If Detroit had the best OL, to go along with the best WR and the 1st RB tandem in NFL history to have 500 yards rushing and receiving -- they wouldn't have finished 7-9.

They were a huge upgrade over recent years, but to try and talk about them as the best OL in football is a little much.

Strongly disagree on this one, and I'd suspect I'm not alone. Our o-line got a lot of recognition this year and all the numbers are there to support us having one of the best few o-lines in the league. This one is much more fact than opinion.

Megatron, as much as I love him, was not the best WR in the NFL this year. Top 5 still, imo, but not the single best this year on the whole.

And our RBs were indeed the first combo to both have 500 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.

I realize you're probably just in a bad mood like the rest of us, but I stand by my statement about our o-line being possible the best in the NFL this season. Our season was a bust, but don't sell us short where praise is actually do...

 

[RobBase]

I was all nodding, and agreeing, and then I read this sentence and now I'm concerned that you're smoking crack.

We had arguable THE single best o-line in football this year. Certainly a top-5 unit. I don't like Raiola, and a replacement is definitely needed for the long-term, but he played lights-out this year. Why on God's green Earth would we want to replace Rob Sims? And Waddle came in as a UDFA and has been a complete stud! Can't imagine wanting to even try to replace him after the rookie season he had. He's actually played well enough, and has the skill-set (freakishly long arms, quick feet) that I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually forces the Lions to swap he and Reiff on each end of the line. Dude was a straight-up gem this year.

Dang bro I'd hate to see how excited you could get be if you were a Patriots fan or something.

 

[TBBishop]

I actually don't know. I posted it in reference to what Cards fans were saying about Whiz in a forum of theirs.

Only a couple of coaches on the market have won big AND left their last jobs on their own terms. If we're looking for a coach who's never fallen out of favor with a fan base then you're not going to find anyone any more qualified than ME!!! Plus evertime the opportunity arises I tell everyone who will listen (read) how that fucking snake Jon Gruden was awful at developing young players (among other things) yet everyone still talks about bringing in that Massengil!! Plus who are we talking about him not developing? John Skelton? That USC Heisman fucking scrub that I can't even remember his name right now? Obviously I wasn't in Phoenix and I can't speak upon what the Card fans are posting but he certainly helped develope Roethlisberger (don't care if it's spelled right) and has done wonders for Rivers and I think his second stint will be special in Detroit or elsewhere. Hopefully in Detroit. Fucking Matt Leinart, a waste of oxygen as a pro QB!!

 

[RobBase]

Strongly disagree on this one, and I'd suspect I'm not alone. Our o-line got a lot of recognition this year and all the numbers are there to support us having one of the best few o-lines in the league. This one is much more fact than opinion.

I don't know what it would be based on. I thought we were hanging Stafford for all his INT's but now our O-l;ine is the best in the NFL? Maybe I've been high this whole season but I don't remember a lot of INT coming after Stafford scanned the field for 4-5 seconds behind this Greek God of an offensive line you're talking about.

 

[broncosmitty]

Let's not go overboard. If Detroit had the best OL, to go along with the best WR and the 1st RB tandem in NFL history to have 500 yards rushing and receiving -- they wouldn't have finished 7-9.

They were a huge upgrade over recent years, but to try and talk about them as the best OL in football is a little much.

I didn't see anyone say they had the best hands, the best decision makers, the most accurate QB, the best defensive backs, the best kicker, the best pass rush or cheerleaders. If you've got five offensive lines that performed better than Detroit's I'd like to know who they are, please.

 

[RobBase]

If you've got five offensive lines that performed better than Detroit's I'd like to know who they are, please.

We just lost to a team who's QB is Matt Cassel, who just fired their coach, and who sacked our QB 5 times and you guys want to tell us the 7-9 Lions have the best O-line in football.

Really.

 

[RobBase]

How many yards would AP run behind the Lions O-line? 3000? 4000?

 

[Microwahevo]

We just lost to a team who's QB is Matt Cassel, who just fired their coach, and who sacked our QB 5 times and you guys want to tell us the 7-9 Lions have the best O-line in football.

Really.

You really think the players gave a shit? Gave it their 100% all and really gave a shit? Over the course of the year in games that mattered, they played very good. I'm not in a position to say best O-line of the year, but that unit sure is up there.

 

[broncosmitty]

We just lost to a team who's QB is Matt Cassel, who just fired their coach, and who sacked our QB 5 times and you guys want to tell us the 7-9 Lions have the best O-line in football.

Really.

That's sounds like deflection. (We sure as hell didn't have the best receiver in football against the team who's QB was Matt Cassel.). Five teams. And.... Go....(alpha, bravo, Charlie, delta and echo.)

 

[broncosmitty]

How many yards would AP run behind the Lions O-line? 3000? 4000?

None, he's hurt.

 

[RobBase]

You really think the players gave a shit? Gave it their 100% all and really gave a shit?

I would think an O line assembled of Greek Gods as is being described here would show pride in every snap, every game. Would Zeus not throw his mighty lightening just because his FF team was 7-8? I doubt it.

 

[Microwahevo]

I would think an O line assembled of Greek Gods as is being described here would show pride in every snap, every game. Would Zeus not throw his mighty lightening just because his FF team was 7-8? I doubt it.