Game 1: Lions at Packers - Sunday, Sept 7 3:25 PM

[HarryDoyle]

You know I really love about this game? This is the worst Parsons will look all season.

[Brian]

Tony Romo said the Packers are just good all around and Josh Jacobs said this is more fun than college. 

[BrewerFan]

10 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

You know I really love about this game? This is the worst Parsons will look all season.

Knock on Wood...hopefully. 

[Joseph Zarr]

I mean...

[jason21nl]

16 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

You know I really love about this game? This is the worst Parsons will look all season.

Was talking to my buddy about this.   He isn’t even in football shape.  What a beast!

[BrewerFan]

1 minute ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I mean...

And aside from what he did, he just makes everyone else that much better. 

[Joseph Zarr]

2 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

And aside from what he did, he just makes everyone else that much better. 

Undeniably so. As I was saying earlier, he has completely energized and galvanized the entire team. It's incredible.

[homer]

did the Lions attempt a pass longer than 20 yards?

[homer]

I thought Colby Wooden looked good.

[Joseph Zarr]

2 minutes ago, homer said:

I thought Colby Wooden looked good.

Absolutely. He's so quick at that size. He seems to have finally adjusted to the increased mass too.

[Joseph Zarr]

 

[BrewerFan]

5 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Undeniably so. As I was saying earlier, he has completely energized and galvanized the entire team. It's incredible.

Those of us who watched the '96 team... they had TWO great players. Reggie and Butler... and then just so many other guys who just did their jobs. Sean Jones was a good player in his prime, but... he was just good enough with Reggie. Newsome, Tyrone Williams, Doug Evans, they weren't great, just solid. 

This defense has better supporting talent if you take Reggie and Micah out of the equation in MY opinion. Gary, Cooper, Williams and then McKinney, he's not Butler, but he's an AP caliber player.

Not saying this defense will be better. Reggie was a monster. But it could be.... and it SHOULD be good enough that if Love plays clean and smart, we should be right there with anyone for a SB. 

[homer]

15 minutes ago, homer said:

did the Lions attempt a pass longer than 20 yards?

There was a 32 yard completion to LaPorta but he had a lot of yards after the catch. I'd be surprised if they attempted anything over 15 yards.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

Tony Romo said the Packers are just good all around and Josh Jacobs said this is more fun than college. 

Micah Parsons said Holy Crap the sky is the limit with this team. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Tough to top that as an opener. Interior run blocking didn't do too much but we have time. 

[LouisEly]

Lions didn't do enough in free agency

[LouisEly]

2 hours ago, yourout said:

Not sure what is the biggest loss for the lions. 

The O lineman or the offensive coordinator.

Yes

[Joseph Zarr]

You have to love this peripheral development.

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Lions didn't do enough in free agency

I don't know how they don't get in there and out-bid the Packers for Parsons. Just the idea of Parsons and Hutchinson coming off the edge... with that offense and their OL which IS still a very good unit. Mahogany was one of the steals IMO of the draft two years ago and was playing at a REALLY high level at the end of last year... when he came back from whatever illness he had. So he was going to be a starter. They used their 2nd rd pick on Ratledge who people thought was going to be a stud. And then you lose a guy like Ragnow in June... not a whole lot you can do there, but Glasnow is... a good player. 

I said before, just Alim McNeil and 2 1sts is beating that deal. 25 year old DT... coming off injury, but still. 

Or even without McNeil, they should have been able to add more. They used their 1st on Tyliek Williams, a 1st rd pick. He's a run stuffer. 

So outside of DE... I didn't really think they had a weakness. They did add DJ Reed, but... I thought that was a REALLY good roster. I still do. 

 

But... you need players who tilt the field and make the game easier for everyone else. Detroit has elite safeties, best safety duo in the NFL. Hutchinson will get better. DTs, Jack Campbell is a stud... but I thought when it game to Garrett, Crosby, Hendrickson...and then Parsons, they should be willing to give up a lot as they're so desperate... and they let the Packers get him. 

2 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

You have to love this peripheral development.

Speaking of which, we had 3 guys with pass rush grades over 73. 

I do think it's a little funny hearing Parsons talk about Van Ness and his speed, so he is going to keep working with him. I mean, it's great, don't get me wrong, but Parsons bends and moves just different. That speed Van Ness and Gary have is great... for big, physical DEs, but Parsons is so unique. 

 

We used to play the Cowboys and whoever our Edge going up against Tyron Smith was, it was like they were running into a brick wall. He was just too big, too physical, too athletic. Clay struggled, Perry did nothing. Sewell is in that same class and Parsons, 1 week of practice and he made a big impact in the game(he also set the edge vs the run a couple times). 

I wouldn't be surprised if he forces 10 sacks this year by OTHER players... who get a sack because the QB is rolling away from Parsons. LVN should be one as he's a high effort player, Gary is just a really good pass rusher, Wyatt is someone we're just waiting on and he looked good, best vs the run. Had a  big sack wiped out due to a penalty, but I thought he got another.

 

-I also think Edgerrin Cooper will be an All Pro this year. If NOT, he'll have an AP caliber season. He was just flying around. 

It's Week1 vs a team that is going to have a lot of adjustments and Detroit will be better, but as this team gets more confident... thought they played a bit tight at times, didn't really let Love finish a drive or series or the half, as @CheezWizHedsaid, they'll be getting Lloyd back(though Brooks pass pro was amazing today), Watson at some point...and if Tom is healthy, well, all those pre-season "Power Rankins," having the Packers in the top ~5, they seem very justified! 

[OldHeidelberg]

I think the Lions passed on Parsons because they have to give Hutchison a similar contract. I would agree there is a go all in argument for that franchise though.

That win sure felt good. After years of chasing this result in the draft we may finally have reached critical mass on defense where we just have too many good players not to be good. Now Wooden and LVN looks like studs? They were talking a lot on post game radio about Cooper, how he shut down Gibbs. This was probably the best offense in the NFL and we shut them down. Only negatives were the brief Love meltdown and the Tom injury but Zach has bounced back quickly before.

[Fear The Chorizo]

What jumped off the screen for me the whole game yesterday was how fast the Packers looked defensively - as others mentioned, there was nothing over the top on them, and they always seemed to have multiple defenders in position to make a tackle on a receiver about to catch a ball.  Plus, the front 7 excelled at getting off blocks at the point of attack all game long.  Detroit is no slouch at skill positions offensively, and they didnt have any wide open spaces to create easy chunk plays yesterday.

Credit goes to coaching/game planning for sure, but I think alot of it is just the athleticism the Packers can run out on the field in their front 7 + safeties right now - and thats with Parsons in training wheels yesterday.  Van Ness lined up all over, and even dropped into some coverage on a few blitz schemes.  Cooper and Walker paired with Gary and now Parsons is just chaos for an offense to figure out how to block - and it frees up opportunities for guys like Van Ness and Wyatt to beat 1 on 1s inside.

Last season Detroit toyed with the Packers up front on both sides of the ball - quite the opposite yesterday.

[homer]

Cooper's play against the run may offset the loss of Clark (assuming the new guys aren't as good as Clark is at 30 years old).

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I think the Lions are cooked. Not trying to read too much into Week 1, but your window doesn't stay open that long. You lose both coordinators, and your QB is not what I would call a great, but kind of just a guy that benefitted a lot from a system that's now not the same.

Still likely a playoff team, but I think they're in regression mode now. They had a legit title team for 2 years, choked once and got injured the next year.

I have my eyes on tonight's game. I have the Bears as a sleeper team, but the Vikings are a very well-run org now and if McCarthy is legit they will be a powerhouse. Their season really hinges on him IMO.

[RobDeer 45]

Well that was a lot of fun!  The defense was flying all over the place, swarming to the ball.  Goff getting rid of the ball so quickly helped them a ton.  I was impressed with how much fun they looked like they were having.  I also agree, Detroit may have seen their best days already, but I believe they will be much better than yesterday, once they get some time to mesh with the new coordinators.  Love looked good.  I think he will look better once he gets a little more timing with his guys in game situations.  A few of his throws were off by small amounts but it appeared to be based on timing.

[CheezWizHed]

10 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

It's Week1 vs a team that is going to have a lot of adjustments and Detroit will be better, but as this team gets more confident... thought they played a bit tight at times, didn't really let Love finish a drive or series or the half

And to think that this is basically Preseason game 4... Our offense has barely played in game situations together - Love only played a little in game 1, Reed has been mainly out, Banks and Jenkins rarely played together.  

And the defense will integrate Parsons into the D and get Hobbs back.

Obviously, the defense was excellent out there, but the offense still played really well at times... and looking at the other times in light of barely playing together in game situations... there is a lot to look forward to.