HarveysWBs

Why can’t NFL teams consistently hire a guy whose only job is to be in the coaches’ pocket in late half scenarios to advise timeout usage? So many resources available, that seems like a no-brainer.

*sigh* we’ll never get clock management right

I know it’s a different era now, but it’s so frustrating after Seattle played so physical in the secondary for so many years.

Weak sauce defensive holding call. That’s some trash.

My goodness, this team might be a bit battle tested. We are imposing our will.

This is a weird situation, since there’s a really good chance we’ll end up right back here in less than a month to open the playoffs. Seahawks have great receivers, an outstanding secondary, and are just kind of good everywhere else. But we’ve historically been dog poo in this stadium, and while the teams and coaches are all different now, this is still a Seahawks team that will beat you if you don’t take care of business. Run the ball, Jordan needs to be accurate, and the defense can’t let Geno Smith annihilate them through the air. We should win, but a loss wouldn’t shock me.

C’mon Bills. You can’t have a 1st and goal at the three and come up completely empty. That ain’t going to get it done.

To be clear, I meant Lions LB Jack Campbell, who hit a sliding Allen in the head with his helmet and didn’t draw a flag somehow. De’vondre Campbell is a different mess altogether.

It would be pretty funny if the Bears offered Ben Johnson their HC job and he said, “nah.” That dude should probably have half a dozen offers.

Lot of whistle swallowing in Detroit. Again. Bet the LB Campbell finds a fine slip in the mail this week.

Yeah, I was thinking the same, and found it surprising they had him practice in full mid-week after the Lions loss virtually locked us into the wildcard. I was relieved that they shut him down yesterday, citing his speed numbers and not a behavior or knee setback problem. I think they’re going to do what they can do for him to be ready in January. It is the smart play.

I don’t think it should be assumed that Durbin makes it to spring training in our organization. He could be coveted by a team (oh I don’t know, let’s say the A’s), and we might move him in the next couple months for someone we’re not even thinking about right now, but nevertheless produces like a top-3 player at his position. That would be a wild ride. Pretty unlikely though…

Yeah, Kupp’s goose egg means it’s just about curtains for me. Not sure why I even bother with the game…

To this point, I spent Thanksgiving with my brother in law who is a huge Vikings fan. He said point blank and without a bit of sarcasm that he wants Kevin O’Connell fired, and I was stunned. What O’Connell got out of an aging Cousins and now Sam Darnold, and made an absolutely inspired D coordinator selection to lead a terrific overhaul on that side of the ball looks super-impressive to me as an outsider. Whereas my brother in law thinks the offense for the Vikes is basically a scripted show that falls apart in the second half because it’s all smoke and mirrors. The grass (or artificial turf I suppose) can look awfully green on somebody else’s field. As an addendum, I have a hard time imagining other people in the division being jealous of the Packers having Mike McCarthy. That’s partially my Packers fan-ness, but also the fact that, much like LaFleur, that guy rarely seemed to get the respect he deserved, in or out of Packers world. Of course, his Dallas tenure has done nothing to help that.

End result, this team wasn’t outclassed, and shouldn’t be if they meet a third time. Now they can focus on getting the details cleaned up and healthy in the secondary. Playing inside throughout the playoffs wouldn’t be the worst result. The locker room should feel confident and a little pissed—that’s a helpful attitude. Get to January and let’s see. Still don’t think this pass rush can win a title. Clay Matthews ain’t walking through that door.

The gambling almost doomed them tonight, and it probably will again with Campbell’s unnecessary risks. I still think its foolish.

I guess home team gets all the benefit of yes/no offensive pass interference. That’s cool.

Pass rush just isn’t ready for prime time. I still think that’s going to end us. The Lions third string front plays better and harder than many of our starting front 7 defenders. That has to change.

I think road warrior makes about as much sense as playing at home in the playoffs, based on recent history (though I have to wonder if Jacobs is the key to unlocking our cold weather offense after so many playoff letdowns). As long as we’re close tonight, I won’t be disappointed. But I actually don’t think the Packers would need very many crazy wrinkles or tricks to win. No giveaways and limiting penalties should keep them right there the whole way. If the Lions make more mistakes, we can beat them by two scores. They can be had. But I wouldn’t mind beating them later after a 16-1 regular season. That’s cool, too.

Like I’ve said before, expecting this team to win is bad for my health, and I’m always much happier when I expect a loss and am pleasantly surprised. That being said, I’ve actually talked myself into expecting a win here, or at least a very narrow loss. The Lions have looked very mortal of late, and have an absolutely ridiculous 7 preferred defensive starters out/on IR. They are still deep and well-coached, they have excellent (if at times reckless) safeties, and no doubt Za’Darius Smith is motivated to stick it to us again if he can, but we should have advantages on that side of the ball. Pound them with Jacobs, see if he stays hot in the red zone, and then burn them with play action, and I think the offense hums. On the other side, I am a little worried this thing turns into a barn burner. I will say that I think our defense is playing well, and a repeat of last week’s strategy wouldn’t shock me. Ja is still out, so I could see Hafley building another shell to force the Lions to get all their yards underneath and over the middle. Goff, like Tagovailoa, gets the ball out quickly, but I heard on a podcast this week that Goff is throwing it about a quarter to a half second slower over the last month than the first part of the season. I think we’ll line Gary up over their backup left tackle and hope that split second makes a difference. If the Packers play it clean, I think they’re a coin toss at minimum, and win or lose, I’m fine with just knowing they can beat the Lions in Detroit, should it be relevant in January. If Goff gets pressured and has a couple turnovers, though, I wonder if the Packers win this thing comfortably. And then come the Bills into Detroit next week, and my how different the narrative starts to look then… But it has to start tonight.

Well, well, well. The 49ers are finally paying the piper on their incredibly hubristic deal for Christian McCaffrey. I’m never glad that someone gets hurt, so that isn’t my point. But an already injury-prone, not particularly robust running back who you make the centerpiece of your offense because you think you can get by with JAGs at QB was always such an incandescently ridiculous gamble that it’s immensely satisfying to see it blow up in Lynch’s face. Of course, it almost worked last year, which would have been insufferable. But no one needs to tell a Packers fan what almost gets you. Enjoy the offseason, San Francisco. Good riddance.

Can’t believe the Vikings got left off the hook again. Really kills me we didn’t take care of either them or Detroit at home. Can’t count on anyone else.

Nuke the whole site from orbit.

I agree on decision making. He needs to clean that up. I don’t watch enough other teams to get a feel for how unusual this is in today’s football. In the Favre era, it seemed like every qb just gave the other team two or three balls that can be picked. Seems like there are a fair number of picks league-wide, but haven’t compared numbers year over year or anything.

This was inevitable. The bar is so dang high after thirty years.