Brady Unlimited III: Wolverines in the NFL & NFL News

[Mike]

Yep. Going for the 4th and 2 up 24-10, while defensible, was the first domino that fell, collapsing the Lions season in a span of minutes. After the Lions held SF to the FG, their win % actually went UP to 91.5%. That was a win for the defense and I said at the time, "just trade scores with them and you'll never be in trouble. The only thing the Lions can't do is hand them free points."

Football is such a mental game, especially in these highly intense situations. I think Campbell passing on the first FG made his team nervous. Like they were playing desperate. He needed to realize that he had the better team and playing with the lead is a lot different than being the plucky underdog with nothing to lose. As soon as Reynolds failed to reel in that pass, you could feel it all unravel. The death blow, IMO, was Gibbs' fumble. They were still up 7, hadn't really been stopped by SF to that point, and could have at least possessed the ball for a bit and settled things down.

Once SF tied it, the loss was inevitable. I just hate it for Lions fans. I still haven't figured out what SF did to win that game other than sit around and wait for the Lions to repeatedly fuck up.

There was also another drop on 3rd and 12 that forced a punt and then the ensuing punt should have been downed at the one, but the Lions guy stepped into the endzone with the ball. The Niners went down and kicked the go-ahead FG.

The second drop was egregious. It hit him in perfect stride right in the belly and would have been a decent chunk for a first down. The first "drop" on the 4th and 2 was certainly catchable but I thought Goff really fired it in there like a low fastball. He should have caught it but it wasn't a gimme like the 3rd and 12 play. It was a classic example of a team chocking. As soon as it started going bad nobody could do anything right. The punt was one of the stupidest plays I've ever seen! I was already cheering the play and the guy just... steps into the endzone with the ball. It was a slow motion trainwreck. Just awful.

[Mike]

Former NFL lineman T.J. Lang was on Detroit radio this morning and had some good insight regarding the decision to pass on the FG in the 3rd quarter. The difference in being up 3 scores instead of 2 is significant in how the defense plays. If the Lions were up 27-10 rather than 24-10, he said they likely would have not been pressing and instead would have been playing more of a soft zone to keep everything in front of them and concede 6 yard runs and not bite on play action. Instead they ended up with the deep shot off the Lion's defender for a 51 yard gain to the 5 and ensuing TD that made it 24-17. That was the beginning of the end.

[froot loops]

Absolutely gutted and I'm walking around like a zombie today. I've been a Lion fan long enough to know that despite all the happy talk, this loss might be like a Buckner moment for the Lions and their fans. Something to rue about because they don't ever get a better chance.

[crashcourse]

purdy killed you guys too--good runs and some great catches by a few. sf Wrs

would have been a fun superbowl i would have been happy if either kc or detroit would have won

not so much sanfran

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well it's obvious what the Lions need is HARBAUGH*******

[iam416]

Yeah, I actually think both 4th downs were wrong from gameplay theory. Three scores matters. And at 27-24, a FG means you live to fight another drive no matter what SF did. If it were 21-10 and 24-24 respectively, then I definitely go for it.

But, honestly, the sheer volume of the disaster makes it hard to pick any one play. It was unbelievable.

[froot loops]

As good as Brad Holmes and Campbell have replenished the Lions roster, one of the original decisions to let Prater walk still haunt the org. The field goal kicker has been a carousel and they haven't had one they really trusted to kick anything mid 40s and beyond. If it is close he goes for it

Last week Badgely did hit a 54 yarder and it was a shock to everyone. But it was on a 4th and 10. He was on the practice squad in November.

Campbell is naturally aggressive so maybe it doesn't matter, but it would be interesting to see how would do things if he had a good kicker that could hit from distance and a better defense. They've never been able to say, "let's punt the ball and rely on the defense."

[iam416]

The kicker situation definitely needs factored in. He wasn’t forgoing 3; he was forgoing a chance at 3. That’s fair.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[iam416]

That’s fair, yet not fair.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well you are a fairy...so that makes sense...

[iam416]

awful

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup

[Mike]

Harbaugh's deal with the Chargers is 5 years/$80M, $16M/season, which you can actually live on in SoCal!

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/sources-16-million-per-year-for-jim-harbaugh

[CGVT]

Former NFL lineman T.J. Lang was on Detroit radio this morning and had some good insight regarding the decision to pass on the FG in the 3rd quarter. The difference in being up 3 scores instead of 2 is significant in how the defense plays. If the Lions were up 27-10 rather than 24-10, he said they likely would have not been pressing and instead would have been playing more of a soft zone to keep everything in front of them and concede 6 yard runs and not bite on play action. Instead they ended up with the deep shot off the Lion's defender for a 51 yard gain to the 5 and ensuing TD that made it 24-17. That was the beginning of the end.

Yep. At that point it was all about the clock

I think that the first one was the worst and had they taken the 3 there probably would not have been a second one.

SanFran came out with the ball in the second half and used up quite a bit of clock and only got three. The Lions used some clock and had they kicked the FG the score differential would have been the same as at the start of the half, 17 point AND they used up about 10 minutes of the game. 17 points with 20 minutes left in the game. The pressure is on San Fran and the momentum is quelled.

I get going for it on 4th though. If they get it, and they should have, they run some more clock and an eventual TD there might have been a nail in the coffin. And it is how they got to the championship game, but...

Fuck. It sucks to be a Lions fan