...I may have completely lost faith in the NFL.  I just saw the NY Jets with the NFL's largest market, most lovable portly coach, and prettiest quarterback throw a desperation deep pass to the endzone in hopes of a cheap pass interference....and they got it.  Don't tell me ever again "the refs didn't lose the game".  It is officially the NBA now in the National Football League.  I will definitely continue to watch the rest of the season because I love the Lions and I believe in them.  I believe we will soon be able to overcome these turnovers and penalties and win games consistently.   But I fear that rooting for the Lions will soon become like rooting for the Pistons....we don't have LeBron or D-Wade or <<insert superstar duo here>> so we will never get to truly compete for a championship and talent has nothing to do with it when free throws are awarded based on fame.

This is not about complaining that the Lions lose due to the refs....this is complaining that every week, several teams lose due to the refs (or several teams win due to the refs if you like that better).  Offensive Holding and Defensive Pass Interference are the target of my argument.  They are either the cause of the problem themselves (If you believe the league is honest and the refs really want to be objective and those two penalties are just really hard to call correctly) or they are the purposely ambiguous tools given to the refs by the NFL to manipulate outcomes (if you are in the conspiracy frame of mind).  Either way, Offensive Holding and DPI are literally the same thing as fouls in the NBA as far as I can see...you can't really define them and refs appear to call them when they feel like it.  In the NBA, a foul call (or non call) in a close game in the final minute can and does alter the outcome of a game and you'll never convince me otherwise...I cannot watch NBA basketball anymore.

In the NFL, Offensive Holding and DPI that kill a scoring drive or hand a team a score can and do affect the outcome as well, especially at the end...and those 2 penalties are handed out (and not handed out) with no apparent rhyme or reason and it makes it hard to watch the NFL anymore.  Objective penalties that affect a game are one thing; it's how a league handles subjective calls that makes fans trust the sport or not...and the NFL has been failing miserably lately.

I'm not giving up on the Lions and I never will...but I cannot say the same for the league they play in.

I keep reading reactions to "the call", and the prevalent story, at least from networks and the league and the papers seems to be something along the line of "Letter of the Law....you may not like the rule but the officials called it correctly...no room for interpretation or common sense....rules are rules, etc."

My problem with this is that it exposes a giant double-standard amongst rules in the NFL.  I don't know the exact wording of the rule on offensive holding, but I will bet my hat that officials see it according to the "letter of the law" every other play but let common sense prevail and don't call it.  Same goes for Defensive holding and both defensive and offensive pass interference.  If the NFL truly believed in the "letter of the law", the game would come to a crashing halt due to penalties every other play.

I guess my point is that I have every right to think that we got jobbed by that call.  It's not an objective call, no matter how much the NFL wants to jedi mind trick me into believing it is.  It's a subjective call.  It's no different than calling or not calling ticky tacky pass interference on a game winning play.  It is no different than calling or not calling ticky tacky offensive holding on a game winning play.  Call a catch a catch.

I guess there is one difference...Offensive Holding and Pass Interference are legitimate and necessary rules to enforce somehow, while judging the "process" of a touchdown pass is just a giant steaming pile of bear crap in the first place.

In a related story, Bear craps in the woods and Jim Schwartz listens to Iron Maiden.

Pisses me off Delmas wasn't in the mix.  Oh well.  Talk about your Captain obvious moments.  It was amazing how many people in the media were all in awe of this guy and wouldn't or couldn't comment on the Bruce Banner when he's angry transformation after college.   Too bad he isn't a Jet, I don't really hate Houston for any reason.

Seriously, this deserves a poll:

And, no, I am not talking about finally getting to the end of 'Lost' this spring.

For me, the first pick of the draft for the Lions is a journey.  I can't just pick a horse in the beginning and stick with him....The Lions are my horse to stick with, and I reserve the right to jump all over the place on the draft pick.

I went through my CJ Spiller phase because I dreamed of Chris Johnson in Honolulu blue...doesn't work I have moved on.

I went through my Dez Bryant phase because I dreamed of our Larry Fitz and Anquan Boldin combo....doesn't work I have moved on.

I just want our first pick to be special.  Elite and Special.  Picks 10+ are for solid.  Pick 2 is for special.  That is why I cannot get onboard with Okung.  He just seems like the annual answer to the same question...."who's the best LT prospect?".

That leaves Suh, McCoy, and Berry.  I don't know who I will settle on.  I shouldn't say 'settle' because I know I will end up loving a truly elite and special football talent, so I guess I will look at it like 'who will I choose?'

In the end, the Lions will pick who the Lions pick, but everyone loves to feel invested and involved this time of year.

http://twitter.com/Adam_Schefter/status/11310103323

Is there any chance whatsoever, that Dez Bryant is high on our BPA list?  According to Schefter he ran a 4.32 last week?

Does Matt Stafford's opinion matter at all, or were Mayhew and Schwartz just being nice in public?....He recently wrote in an interview somewhere (hmmmm who did that interview?):

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POD: Are there any players you played with or against in college that you would like to see the Lions draft this year?

MS: I played against Dez Bryant and I think he's a great receiver who would make a great addition to our team.

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I know it will be generally viewed on this site as ridiculous, but is it totally and ludicrously ridiculous to imagine Calvin, Dez Bryant, Burleson, and Pettigrew lining up in 3-wide formation this season?

Grab a G/CB in 2nd and third in some order and we're not in terrible shape.

I know, I know....Hooray, get out of the Hot Tub and come back to 2010........I'm a homer for elite skill positions in the top 10.

This is  a cool story....offering him a one year contract to play this year if he can get let out 2 months early...

He was a Millen pick in a late round, so he's got that "not going" for him, but he was a really popular story and I think it will be worth seeing what he can do in camp.

The story is on Mlive

http://blog.mlive.com/highlightreel/2010/03/detroit_lions_offer_former_dra.html

Not a Chicago Bear, but a real bear.  I could sleep all winter and wake up in the spring ready for the draft with all the combine info assimilated and not have to spend the next several months scouring the internet every 20 minutes for new information I'll never find on an event almost 4 months away.

Seriously, does anyone else torture themselves like that too?  Hell, the 2 weeks leading up to the last draft was worse than waiting for Christmas as a nine year old.

I always get into arguments with fans who want to draft "from the inside out".  While I agree that the lines need to be build from the draft, I completely disagree that it automatically makes sense to use round 1 picks to do so.

I compiled data on the 4 top seeds this year and threw in the Patriots to show how their offensive line was drafted.  I also threw in the Lions for comparison.

I think the Lions' line is "on paper" as good or better than all of the included teams if you go by draft status only.  Obviously, in reality that is not the case.

NFL.com for depth charts and mostly wikipedia for draft position info (I think wiki is accurate enough for an innocuous statistic like draft position).

I just think that getting O-line in the top 5 or top 10 is a huge myth and has no bearing on being a championship contender.

Continue reading this post »

Or just the same old shuffle?  The press conference quote from Schwartz seems a little more pointed than usual:

"We're still going to look at a lot of different things in the secondary," Schwartz said Monday. "We're going to look at every possibility there because we need more production out of our secondary with pass defense, but also run defense."

Are we going to see some unknown players called up or signed to start at CB?

Maybe some blasts from the past like Schweigert?

Is Ernie Sims going to change to Safety? (crazy out of the box speculation)

Is Sims going to be traded for a solid CB? (more crazy speculation)

Or will it all settle down and just be Henry, Buchanon, James, Delmas, and Manuel?

I am curious about the whole practice time with an injury issue...specifically with Stafford.  Killer is saying that Stafford did not practice Wednesday and Thursday.  But he also says that the media does not get access to the whole practice...specifically the team drills.

So the obvious question to me is...Do teams hold individuals out of the "media" practice and then somehow practice them behind closed doors without anyone finding out?  I imagine keeping that secret would be really difficult even if the media is not present. 

But then again we've kept the fake moon landing a secret for 30+ years.  OK, just kidding about the moon landing...or am I?

Are like two brothers playing fantasy football in the same league and one of them tanks for the other to create an uber team.

Randy Moss was ridiculous.

Now New England gets 2 first round picks in 2011 (possible Rookie wage scale by then) including the inevitable high Raider pick for a guy they would lose to salary next year anyways.

And the Raiders pick up a 29 year old pro bowler for a FIRST round pick?  The Raiders are not exactly one piece away from contending which would make this move almost explainable.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4450767

What does this have to do with the Lions?  Just wanting to feel like the playing field is level and these guys make it hard to feel that way.  I am probably overreacting but it still sucks.

But I think it plays to Stafford's favor:

1)  Calvin, Bryant, and Pettigrew all might be rusty to some degree and need some warming up and gametime to really get going.  That's when Stafford gets his time

2)  Stafford has better chance to see 2nd string defense or maybe less jacked up first string defense

3)  Stafford has opportunity to 'save the day' if Culpepper is poor, average, or anything less than lights-out.

4)  Starting Culpepper 3rd preseason game traditionally points to him being starter....Jim "misdirection" Schwartz is our coach.....therefore Stafford is more likely aimed at starting in New Orleans in my opinion.

I think we honestly got a hat trick yesterday, picking up the best talent at 3 different positions.

I also believe that when Schwartz and Mayhew pick someone, they know know exactly what they are doing a whole lot more than I do. 

now, picking Bey at 7 was something to laugh at, but our 3 picks were all sound at the very least.  You can be disappointed that certain people weren't picked when available (Oher, Rey, Animal) but Schwartz and Mayhew clearly had the opportunity to grab them and chose not to.

I guarantee you that the reason they skipped Oher and Rey has absolutely nothing to do with Schwartz and Mayhew being idiots or bums or any sort of evil plan to suck the last drops of joy from every last citizen of Michigan.

We have 2 good 3rd round picks today and we have 4 defensive starters from Free Agency already.

You never know about draft picks, but there is a perfectly reasonable chance that we will have an up and coming star QB, a star TE, and a menacing safety patrolling the backfield because of Day 1 of the 2009 draft.

Is offer Jason Smith a slightly higher offer than Matt Stafford.  Use the argument that Smith will drop to 2 and who knows where Stafford will drop after Number 1 to justify it.  Then you really see what the conflict of interest is with Smith and Stafford having the same agent.

This argument only holds if they are truly interested in all 3 players.  If they truly believe in Stafford then they should sign him period like Drews and FB argue (my interpretation of your argument).

However, if they really want options they should be able to play Smith and Stafford against each other by offering Smith a higher number like I said.  The agent naturally wants to sign the QB number 1 to have a better chance of setting a record contract.  If we offer the Tackle more then it gets interesting.

Since we are only playing the game with Stafford and Curry, I believe we truly want Stafford and are using Curry to keep the price "ridiculous" instead of "super ridiculous".

Either that, or they intend to take Curry and make Stafford look like the bad guy so they can claim it wasn't all their fault for passing on Stafford.  Probably not though.  Too complicated.  Occum's Razor...they want Stafford and they'll get him.

Teams (and frequency) that have picked an Offensive Lineman in the top 20 picks since 1999:

Cardinals - 1

Bills - 1

Panthers - 2

Bears - 1

Bengals - 1

Browns - 1

Broncos - 2

Lions - 3

Chiefs - 2

Dolphins - 2

Vikings - 1

Patriots -1   (Woody at Center)

Saints - 1

Giants - 1 (Petitgout at Guard)

Jets - 1

Raiders - 2

Eagles - 1

Seahawks - 1 (Hutchinson at Guard)

Rams - 1

Bucs -1

Skins - 1

Teams like Titans, Chargers, Colts, Steelers, Ravens have Zero top 20 OLineman in past 10 years.  Eagles  have been successful with their 1 top 20 pick.  Giants, Seahawks, and Patriots weren't even Tackles.

The teams that have more than one top 20 OLine pick are Lions, Raiders, Dolphins, Chiefs, Broncos, and Panthers...not exactly cream of the crop.

It doesn't add up.  OLineman in top 20 picks the last 10 years have not made a real difference.  Granted the 'trend' to grab linemen like gold bars is only 2 years old so we'll see if the bottom dwellers from the last year or two get some bang for that buck in the next few years.

But I certainly do not see any data to indicate that top 20 OLine picks have produced successful franchises over the past 10 years.

Successful teams must be finding their Left Tackle somewhere other than top 20 picks.

This can't be the first time this was pondered, but do you think the Lions may consider the option of:

1)  Draft their choice of Curry, Smith, or Monroe at 1.1

2)  If Seattle passes on Stafford, trade 20 and 33 to Oakland (chart says between 7 and 8 so maybe some sort of round 6/7 filler applies) and draft Stafford before Jacksonville.

3)  If Seattle takes Stafford jump up to get Sanchez at 7

4)  Just keep 20 and 33 if opportunity for Stafford and/or Sanchez at 7 never occurs.

I guess the reverse applies as well...take Stafford 1 and be prepared to jump up and grab Raji, or Jenkins, or dare I say it.......Maclin?

Wants to trade their 2 Round 1 picks for our 1.1 now that they lost Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan isn't getting any younger?

Doesn't first pick of Monroe or Jason Smith makes sense for them?

Or does Oher and/or Andre Smith drop to them anyways?

I would think we take 1.21 and 1.28 straight up for 1.1 but I imagine the 'chart' says we need to take more than that.

Or is OT not even that big a need for them?

Anyone else warming up to this guy or is this just the fad this week?

I don't know if he actually is what the internet seems to be saying he is (no nonsense, straightforward, raw talent, go out and hurt somebody, squared away, has his act together...) but I sure like the sound of it.

Plus, if you put out an initial "lowball' first pick offer (like a couple bucks more than Jake Long signed for) to Andre Smith, Matt Stafford, and Jason Smith.....doesn't Jason Smith immediately say 'Heck yeah" before the ink even dries?

This is assuming of course that the Lions love him and don't believe Stafford is a clear number one.

What am I missing?

With all the talk of building the line and how horrible a QB will be with our line, what is actually changing?

Backus isn't going anywhere.

Raiola isn't going anywhere (at least this year)

Cherilus isn't going anywhere.

They just gave Peterman what I assume is Starter money (maybe $3mil per is backup guard money?)

So all of our line woes are going to be addressed by hiring one new starting guard?