LIONS FIRE SCHWARTZ OFFICIALLY

[gandydancer]

I especially liked when this week Schwartz let Stafford drop back with only a few seconds left before halftime like the fans wanted last week, and Stafford got drilled into the ground like they were looking for oil.

Just glad he didn't get hurt vs. the Vikes after that ass kicking he took.

I wanted them to try and beat the Giants in regulation. Smitty hammered me. SO yesterday while watching the game, I posted on the thread why not try that last week when they called the TO. Then when Matty got crushed. I was humbled and said out loud...."Good call smitty."

However week to week scenarios change. Same result does not happen. I have proof of this. Somehow the Lions won 7 times this year.

 

[Rollingthndr]

Millenhew's best pick was Fairley.

Not trying to pick a fight but this was one of his biggest misses. If he was looking for D-line, Robert Quinn was sitting there and was a consensus top ten pick. Dude will now be picking up a defensive player of the year award this season.

 

[RobBase]

Not trying to pick a fight but this was one of his biggest misses. If he was looking for D-line, Robert Quinn was sitting there and was a consensus top ten pick. Dude will now be picking up a defensive player of the year award this season.

Hindsight imo. Quinn had health concerns at the time, that without he prob be a top 5 pick way before Lions ever get a chance to snag him. Plus Schwartz had his bff KVB manning the RE at the time and nobody worth mentioning next to Suh in the middle.

 

[63bears40]

Outstanding!


Hopefully they keep Mayhew and Xanders at least for one more season since they know all of the players and where they stand. If they aren't cutting it with the new coach next year then we can let them go if need be, but I think it's important to save them for now to build around the core of players we have...

Just wondering. Do you really want to keep people who have been preaching the system, that hasn't got you anywhere? Just curious. Not here to start a fight.
But a new overall slate usually projects better to new system.
As a Bear fan I can attest to that. Our new HC brought in a DC ( Tucker ). Who instead of teaching his system, tried to learn our old 1. That really worked out for us.
Just sayin. Be careful what you ask for.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Just wondering. Do you really want to keep people who have been preaching the system, that hasn't got you anywhere? Just curious. Not here to start a fight.
But a new overall slate usually projects better to new system.
As a Bear fan I can attest to that. Our new HC brought in a DC ( Tucker ). Who instead of teaching his system, tried to learn our old 1. That really worked out for us.
Just sayin. Be careful what you ask for.

I don't think GMs preach a particular system very much. The wide 9 was Schwartz's thing, not Mayhew's or Xanders'...

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Originally Posted by TrustMeIamRight View Post
5 offensive lines I believe were better than Detroit's -- San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Denver and New Orleans.
Based on?

Philadelphia led the league averaging over 5 yards a carry on the ground, while the backup QB came in and ended the season with the 2nd highest QB rating in the history of the NFL for a season.

New Orleans finished the year averaging 26 points a game, even though they don't have a #1 RB and played a schedule that consisted of Carolina (twice), San Francisco, @Seattle, @NE, Arizona and @St. Louis. Brees came within 80 yards of another 5000 yards season and finished with 39 touchdowns.

Denver -- Lost their best OL in Ryan Clady and went on the set pretty much every record imagineable in the NFL for offensive production. I think that sums them up pretty good.

Seattle and San Francisco -- I could just group them together. Ranked 3rd and 4th in the NFL in rushing, even though teams game planned to stop the run, as neither team had any type of passing attack as Percy Harvin was out for the year and Michael Crabtree missed most of the year. They also played in the best conference in the NFL with, by far, the best defenses.


Do I think the Lions were much improved this year on the Offensive line? ABSOLUTELY 1000%. Do I think it helped that they played the 2nd easiest schedule in the NFL? Sure. I just can't justify calling them the best OL in the NFL, when they ranked 22nd in YPC, even though teams, once again, played the minimum in the box.

As was said earlier -- I definitely don't think they are a problem with this team. Quite the opposite -- I think they will be a strength going forward, especially if they find a quality Center in the upcoming draft. I just can't call them one of the best, when they averaged 4 YPC against 7 man fronts and their QB finished with 19 interceptions and ranked 30th in completion %. The lack of sacks given up looks great, but it has a lot to do with Stafford throwing the ball away or forcing a pass down field.

 

[tpaulus_2]

I see, so the offensive skill player's stats are what makes an offensive line good. My bad, I thought offensive line play is where offensive lines were judged...

 

[Microwahevo]

even though teams, once again, played the minimum in the box.

Whats the minimum teams put in the box, iyo?

 

[LPinSLC]

How would you grade the O-line? I mean what would you base it on? Stats? The reality is there are so many variables. Offensive weapons are relevant because it changes how the defense plays. The first game against the Packers without CJ and they were able to just tee off on Stafford. Same results last weekend without CJ. Run frequency will improve the stats for the line. How fast a QB gets the ball out will bode well for the pass blocking statistically. A well balanced team will garner respect from the defense, often relieving pressure on the Line. When Martz was in town the Line was constantly bashed. The line wasn't as bad as the stats suggested, the scheme was. Stats are/Can be misleading.

I don't really see how you can truly grasp the success or lack there of based on sacks allowed or ypc.

 

[broncosmitty]

What is the "Lions are the best O-line in the NFL" talk based on? Did you see Stafford get clobbered 5 times yesterday?

Has anyone actually said "best" OLine? I know our worst Olineman was graded out as the top player at his position. (By a website I've never visited.). But I don't think I've seen anyone try to pass Detroit off as the Jamocha Shake of Olines.

 

[broncosmitty]

5 offensive lines I believe were better than Detroit's -- San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Denver and New Orleans.

Thank you for your answer.

 

[Old Lion]

Lions O-line was in the top half IMO. Just going by visuals as I have seen every team play this year. You could make an argument for possibly top 10 at best though.

Philly has the best line from what I have seen. Seattle probably 2nd. SF and Denver were overrated but still top 10.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Lions O-line was in the top half IMO

, in pass protection. The passing on 3rd and 1 does say something IMO about the running blocking however.

If the question were posed to the group of how many times when the Lions needed a short yardage gain did fear, concern, and even that feeling of deja vu come over you right before the play when your mind was telling you, "we aren't going to get this"? I know I'm not alone in how many times I felt that way this season and its my belief that if we had that feeling from our couches the coaching staff also had it on the field.

Don't mistake that as a justification for throwing the ball though. Show a little confidence in your players that they can get the job done and they might surprise you. Whatever happened to that scheme last year when they lined up Reiff as a FB in short yardage? I cant remember the last time I saw Bell fall in any direction other than forward when running the ball.

Linehan was a complete moron but there had to be something more than his stupidity to why we didnt run the ball in those situations more. I cant help but think the %'s of times the run is successful in the NFL is a fair amount higher than the pass option.

 

[broncosmitty]

42.99%. That was Detroits third down conversion rate. Here's everyone else's: NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Third Down Conversion Percentage on TeamRankings.com

 

[broncosmitty]

40.5 % on third down when Staff passed. Here's everyone else's numbers: Football | NFL | Leaders - %First Downs, Pass on 3rd Down - washingtonpost.com

 

[broncosmitty]

Whatever happened to that scheme last year when they lined up Reiff as a FB in short yardage? .

Who would you prefer to play LT while RR Is at FB? I'd imagine we would have seen the über jumbo package had Williams not been lost for the season, but maybe not. Either way, that first link also has last years 3rd down stats. Spoiler alert: the numbers got better in 2013.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Who would you prefer to play LT while RR Is at FB? I'd imagine we would have seen the über jumbo package had Williams not been lost for the season, but maybe not. Either way, that first link also has last years 3rd down stats. Spoiler alert: the numbers got better in 2013.

I didnt mean pull Reiff from the LT spot to insert him at FB. Come on man. I meant that package, obviously with someone else in that role.

Regardless, those numbers tell a much different story than many, myself included, were thinking about our third and short run blocking. While the passing numbers arent very good the jump in total % to a top quartile team would indicate we were actually very successful in running the ball in those situations.

Which would then lead to the question of why we didnt actually run it more? Have we actually underestimated just how pathetic Linehan really is?

Any chance we can find out what the % of the total plays in that statistical analysis were runs vs pass? It almost feels like we passed more than we ran. If that is indeed the case then the success rate running the ball would be magnified even more at a higher success rate to move the total success rate up from a lesser amount of the total sample pool.

In more basic terms, we were a shit ton better running than passing in that case and Linehan might actually be (is) the worst OC in the league.

 

[Rob]

Stafford has had two shitty seasons. There is no doubt. His turnover rate is horrid. His completion percentage is low. His 4th quarter play was putrid.

The fact remains that in 2011 he showed us he can play at a pretty high level. In the first half of this season he was efficient. There is a good quarterback trapped in there somewhere.

 

[Naughtymax]

I thought the OL wasn't the problem this year - it was the almost total inability to adjust at halftime and to then react to the other team's adjustments. How many games this year did the Lions dominate in the first half to then get wiped in the last 30 minutes? In this case the team really did get out-coached in nearly every game this year.


The OL is OK, even good, and it should be better next year than it was this year.


Sign Lovie quick before someone else does.

 

[Valion78]

The problem I had with it the most is that the defense now knows exactly what you're doing with no running back in the backfield.