I really think this game will come down to Miami's D-line vs. Detroit's O-line. Detroit doesn't run the ball very well, and if Miami is able to cut that off early as they did with San Diego, it's going to give them a chance to start getting after Stafford. I like Olivier Vernon against Riley Reiff, maybe even more so than Wake against LaAdrian Waddle. Bigger, strong tackles have given Wake more trouble than you'd expect - Gosder Cherilus, Seantreal Henderson - and Waddle fits their mold. I think the 3-headed DT rotation of Odrick, Mitchell and Starks could get some nice push against Dominic Raiola and Rob Sims. Larry Warford is a mountain of a man inside, next to Waddle at RT who is just about as big; If Miami can get push on those two guys, I think they can win. Conversely, Miami really needs to get bodies on Ndamukong Suh. Remember the Bengals game on TNF last year? Geno Atkins was pretty consistently wrecking things, especially in the run game, until he left with a torn ACL. Suh is even better, IMO, and stopping him is going to be paramount. I don't have much faith in Dallas Thomas/Daryn Colledge, Samson Satele or even Mike Pouncey doing that 1-on-1. Doubling him is going to have to be a priority in pass-pro. Branden Albert and Ja'Wuan James are going to have to really bring it this week as I think they're going to be isolated quite a bit on Ziggy Ansah (Albert) and Jason Jones/Devin Taylor (James). From what I've seen of Detroit, they, like Miami, don't really flip their DEs much.
No worries Travis, I saw were you where going with it. I'm interested to see if this offense can operate pretty fast. They did some really nice things in Indy in 2012 and 2013 despite having an average and a really bad O-line. I'm interested to see how fast guys like Wallace, Miller and Landry can operate on this turf if the pass-pro holds up.
Game 1 of his rookie season was also in a dome, in Houston Detroit isn't technically a dome though. Its more like a huge warehouse.
To me, the next two weeks against the Lions and the Bills are the pivotal part of the season for the Dolphins in regards to them making the playoffs this season. I think it is going to take at least 10 wins to make the playoffs as a wildcard team. I don't see the Dolphins beating the Broncos in Denver or the Patriots in New England. So that means the the Dolphins need to win 5 out of 6 against the remaining teams on their schedule. If they can win in Detroit and beat the Bills at home, they should be able to win at least 3 of the 4 games they play against the Vikings, Ravens, and Jets (twice). If they lose this week, they will basically be playing in a playoff game each week for the remainder of the regular season. The next two weeks are MUST win games for the Dolphins, if they expect to have a chance of making the playoffs in 2014.
This will be a tough game but if our team plays great like they did against San Diego, mistake free football, stop the run, and keep constant pressure on Stafford and get some sacks and some turnovers we will win 27-10!!! GO FINS!!!!
So the lions have beaten the giants (bad), jets (bad), Vikings (bad), falcons (bad), barely beat the saints who are not very good on the road, and the packers. I had not realized their cupcake schedule up to this point and kind of feel I've been giving them too much credit. I kno they're much healthier but IMO we might actually be the best team they've faced so far...
Detroit reminds me of the 07-12 Cowboys squads. Full of talent, but could never quite put it together. Wade Phillips and Schwartz were the respective problems, and with new coaching Detroit looks SHARP. Like somebody said, they could be 8-0 albeit few bad bounces. If we put pressure on their O, hopefully we can squeak out a W.
In regards to the run game, I think a lot of people are expecting the return of Johnson and the TEs to help out the run game. Defenses have had an easy choice to make with Tate being the only down field threat. Double Tate, stack against the run. Lions have been plain lucky as of late offensively. With returning players though, you can't double Tate and Johnson while dropping LBs to cover the TEs and stack against the run all at the same time, so teams will have to pick their poison against the Lions offense now. That's the theory anyway. Whether it works or not is going to depend on the o-line not getting Stafford killed, and Stafford himself not making poor decisions. Speaking of the o-line, you hit the nail on the head about Raiola. He had a great year in 2013, but I think he spent his load career-wise in doing so. He gets pushed around much more than he used to, so he requires more help, which we all know is a bad thing. In my opinion, the guys next to him don't look as good as they did last year only because they are picking up Raiola's slack. Suh, well, he's Suh. Regardless of his reputation, he gets doubled all the time and has learned how to get past it anyway. What made the line so good was that both Suh and Fairley were getting doubled, so one of the ends was pretty much free to do what they wanted, and more times than not, that was Ansah. The thing about Ansah that makes him so good though, is his ability to shed blocks. So even if you put someone one him, he's still going to get to the QB a decent amount of times during the game. Mosley is good, but he doesn't demand the same attention as Fairley, at least he hasn't shown that yet this year. The Detroit d-line isn't going to be what is was with Fairley, but even so, they will still be a handful.
Good post. Honestly your ends don't bother me. They may get a pressure or two but I feel extremely confident with James and Albert as bookends. Suh is the only person defensively who has the ability to change this game for you guys in my humble opinion. Elite interior players have given us issues. It will take not only double teams but good playcalling early on to neutralize that. I did predict this game as a loss earlier this season. Now I think its much more of a toss up, but its going to be very difficult to go on the road and beat you guys. Our defense will need to maintain its elite play.
Obviously injury reports aren't out yet, but is Detroit expecting back Bush, Johnson and all 3 of the TEs that missed the Atlanta game? I did see C.J. Mosley is expected to be back; I'd assume he's starting in place of Fairley, correct?
i have no idea, what i started to recognize is, during football season, if we play a certain team and i want to get a feel about the other team fans, i will always look for message boards but the truth is not many teams have ones, the jacksonville game...lol impossible , now yesterday i tried to find a good lions board to get some news about their injuries, there are only 2 and both are not very up to date
Bush and Johnson both practiced yesterday. None of the tight ends did. My guess that at least 2 of the TEs returning is complete speculation, based on the injuries they had, how Caldwell responded to questions about them and the fact that one of the replacement TEs was moved back to the practice squad (which leaves 1 currently healthy TE on the depth chart). Their injuries: Ebron - Hamstring. Hasn't played since Week 6. Never needed crutches, so at best a grade 2 strain. Those usually take 2-3 weeks to heal. If he practices this week at all, I expect him to play. Fauria - Ankle. Hasn't played since week 3. Hasn't been in his walking boot since the beginning of October. Practiced on a limited basis prior to this week, and has been walking around like normal during interviews and such. He is expected to participate in practice this week. Pettigrew - Foot. Missed weeks 6 and 8. Not much is known on his injury, but he never needed crutches, walking boot, etc., and appeared to be as mobile as anyone else on the sidelines. Again, that 2 of them might be back is purely speculation, and just my opinion. I could very well be WAY off. Yes, Mosley is starting in place of Fairley. He and Suh will be rotating with Andre Fluellen and Caraun Reid throughout the game.
Indeed. There are 3 active Lions boards (1 should be called 'The Lions Homer Club'), and they don't get used very frequently. I just started mine maybe 2 months ago, so I barely have any users yet. PrideOfDetroit.com is usually the most active place for Lions fans, but it's not a forum per se, it's an SBNation site.
Bush and Johnson both practiced yesterday. None of the tight ends did. My guess that at least 2 of the TEs returning is complete speculation, based on the injuries they had, how Caldwell responded to questions about them and the fact that one of the replacement TEs was moved back to the practice squad (which leaves 1 currently healthy TE on the depth chart). Their injuries: Ebron - Hamstring. Hasn't played since Week 6. Never needed crutches, so at best a grade 2 strain. Those usually take 2-3 weeks to heal. If he practices this week at all, I expect him to play. Fauria - Ankle. Hasn't played since week 3. Hasn't been in his walking boot since the beginning of October. Practiced on a limited basis prior to this week, and has been walking around like normal during interviews and such. He is expected to participate in practice this week. Pettigrew - Foot. Missed weeks 6 and 8. Not much is known on his injury, but he never needed crutches, walking boot, etc., and appeared to be as mobile as anyone else on the sidelines. Again, that 2 of them might be back is purely speculation, and just my opinion. I could very well be WAY off. Yes, Mosley is starting in place of Fairley. He and Suh will be rotating with Andre Fluellen and Caraun Reid throughout the game.
MST nice to have you come by. Everyone here appreciates talking with other fans who want to talk football. If you keep up the commentary like you have here, you should be able to build it. After such a big win, against a non conference opponent and heading to the Bills, this feels like a let down game to me. I hope I'm wrong. Maybe since they are a leader in the NFC they won't be looked past.
My biggest concern for this, and the next three games, is the Detroit offense keeping pace with the opponents offense. I have confidence that the Lions defense can keep them in this game, but something needs to spark the offense into scoring early and often. The past two games, while impressive and exciting, were quite lucky for the Lions. I just don't see the Dolphins, Cardinals or Patriots making the same kind of late game mistakes that the Saints and Falcons did.
Bush and Johnson both practiced yesterday. None of the tight ends did. My guess that at least 2 of the TEs returning is complete speculation, based on the injuries they had, how Caldwell responded to questions about them and the fact that one of the replacement TEs was moved back to the practice squad (which leaves 1 currently healthy TE on the depth chart). Their injuries Ebron - Hamstring. Hasn't played since Week 6. Never needed crutches, so at best a grade 2 strain. Those usually take 2-3 weeks to heal. If he practices this week at all, I expect him to play. Fauria - Ankle. Hasn't played since week 3. Hasn't been in his walking boot since the beginning of October. Practiced on a limited basis prior to this week, and has been walking around like normal during interviews and such. He is expected to participate in practice this week. Pettigrew - Foot. Missed weeks 6 and 8. Not much is known on his injury, but he never needed crutches, walking boot, etc., and appeared to be as mobile as anyone else on the sidelines. Again, that 2 of them might be back is purely speculation, and just my opinion. I could very well be WAY off. Yes, Mosley is starting in place of Fairley. He and Suh will be rotating with Andre Fluellen and Caraun Reid throughout the game.
Woof. Sounds like your stretch of 3 beginning Sunday is akin to Miami's. After Detroit, Miami hosts Buffalo on Thursday night and goes to Denver after that. Where are the Cards and Pats games at? Hopefully you get at least one of those at home. I'm interested in watching Calvin Johnson vs. Patrick Peterson. That was a pretty good in-game battle the last time they matched up. Thanks again for posting here. Always nice to see good commentary from other team's fans.
Arizona and New England are both road games. I'm not terribly optimistic about them. Maybe it's my bias as a Lions fan, but I like watching Calvin Johnson against anyone. The better corners can limit him, but he still usually ends up with 1 or 2 circus catches. If nothing else, just him being on the field warrants attention from 2 people, so it opens up the field for others. Most people who don't watch the Lions regularly don't truly understand how much of an impact he makes just by being on the field.
Prior attempts to respond to this post failed, so here we go again, this time a short version. Bush and Johnson both practiced yesterday, none of the tight ends did. My guess that 2 of the 3 tight ends will return is because they moved one of the replacement TEs to the practice squad, and both Ebron and Fauria have participated in a limited capacity before this week. They are both also right at the maximum estimated recovery time for their respective injuries. Caldwell won't say much at all about them, but my guess is that Ebron or Fauria (or both) will be back for Sunday. And yes, Mosley is starting in place of Fairley. He and Suh will be rotating with Andre Fluellen and Caraun Reid throughout the game.
It's certainly the most active forum, and they have a lot of content, I'm just not a fan of the look of it (or any scout.com site for that matter, they just look cheap). PrideOfDetroit has a much more pleasant user experience, but again it's not really a forum.
If there is another thread to ask in please direct me or move this, but does anyone know if there is a Fins section at the game this weekend? Looks like I might make the trip up from Central Ohio. Still looking for tickets which are really getting up there in price. Looks to be a big game. Thanks guys.
Glad to have you around. Always nice to get info on opponents from a fan. Must be quite the turnaround when it's the Lions D you trust.
I didn't see the GB @ Det game...how did they manage to keep GB to 7 points?!?!?! I know GB had some serious OL issues earlier in the season, did they just get pummeled all game?
Just watched it. Fairly even game, neither offense could get anything going. Packers fumbled deep in their end Lions scooped and scored, Pack got an INT at their one and were safetied the next play, both offenses had one TD drive.
Hmmm...so if Detroit's offense couldn't get anything going against GB's D, our D should have opportunities there. Stumping Rodgers and the boys though...Lazor better mix that sh*t up and cause a ton of confusion.
The one thing I'll say about Detroit's offense, is that for as unimpressive as they have been, they have made some decent improvements since that game. And the most recent stretch of games was with injuries to Johnson, Bush, Fauria, Ebron, Pettigrew, Bell, Riddick and Waddle. The offense is starting to click, and Golden Tate has pretty much silenced all his critics. With a bunch of players coming back and being rested after the bye, the pieces are there for Detroit's offense to finally start being the dynamic and explosive force they were expected to be. That being said, the pieces have been in place for a couple years now, and they still squandered opportunities. I'm trying to be optimistic about the offense, but it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt after being let down so many times.
This game is definitely going to be a good game but I believe the Dolphins have the edge. Our Defenses are almost equal with the edge going to Detroit. The Offense is where we have the bigger edge. And we also have the edge on turnovers and big plays. I am gathering all this info on season average team stats, the fact of the matter is the Dolphins have been on the rise recently, so I don't think our team stats can be taken as the "norm" so we are even better than our team stats show but even with our season average we are one of the best teams this year. I am not a Lions fan so I can't speak to what their "norm" should be, but just from knowing their record and looking at their stats I am inclined to say their season average stats are their "norm". Let's take a look at it. Numbers in Parentheses are statistical team rankings for the league. Mia Points For (9) 26.4 Det Points For (24) 20.2 Mia Points Against (3) 18.9 Det Points Against (1) 15.8 Mia Total Offense (11) 365.8 ypg Det Total Offense (20) 338.8 ypg Mia Passing Offense (19) 228.5 ypg Det Passing Offense (9) 259.1 ypg Mia Rushing Offense (4) 137.2 ypg Det Rushing Offense (31) 79.6 ypg Mia Total Defense (3) 304.6 ypg Det Total Defense (1) 290.4 ypg Mia Passing Defense (2) 201.1 ypg Det Passing Defense (5) 216.4 ypg Mia Rushing Defense (12) 103.5 ypg Det Rushing Defense (2) 74 ypg Mia Turnover Differential (7) 6 Det Turnover Differential (14) 1 Mia Big Play Differential (5) 13 Det Big Play Differential (8) 9 Mia Toxic Differential (4) 19 Det Toxic Differential (7) 10 Toxic Differential is combining the numbers for turnover differentials and big play differentials. For more details see my thread about it. The way I see it with season averages the dolphins have the advantage. Detroit is slightly better on Defense but the Dolphins are substantially better on Offense and the game changing variables of turnovers and big plays. We also have to keep in mind that our first few games of the season have dragged our averages down, we are not that same team anymore, we are better! I don't know if that could be said of Detroit, maybe it could, I would have to speak to someone that knows that team as well as I know my team. I think its safe to say that we are better than our average stats show and Detroit is what their average stats show. IF that statement is true, I give the Dolphins the edge in every category. Either way, it's going to be a great game and if we beat Detroit, not only will we be a playoff team, but we will be one that advances in the playoffs. I said that same statement about the Chargers to my brother before we played them. I saw that as a game that would determine whether we are a playoff team and we all know what happened in that game. Now we have a chance to show consistency against a very good opponent. We beat the Patriots, should have beat the Packers, We humiliated the Chargers, now its time to take care of the Lions and put away any doubts that anyone has about this team. I am not afraid of anyone on our schedule. I think we match up well against Denver too. The division games will be tough because they always are, if we match the tenacity of our division opponents, we are more talented and we will come out on top in those games too. Mia 20 Det 13
In my opinion the game comes down to Suh and Calvin Johnson. Can we limit Suh dominating our interior line and keep Calvin from going off? If we do...a win shouldnt be too difficult IMO.
I think stopping Suh is the only one of those things that is going to make an impact. Detroit has gone 4-1 since Johnson got hurt, 3-0 when he hasn't played at all. Last year, losing Johnson crippled the offense. Having Tate this year has saved their butts. Stafford trusts Tate now, so if Miami can effectively shut down CJ, he still has Tate to go to. The thought process is that defenses will have to worry about Johnson, Tate, Bell/Bush and the TEs. It's not feasible for a defense to dedicate coverage to all of them at once, so Stafford should be able to do something with the ball. It worked well against the Giants, but the Dolphins are not the Giants. Quite simply, it all depends on Stafford playing better. While he has made some improvements from last year, I just don't see him leading this team like he was expected to. On paper, this should be a close, low scoring game. The cynical Lions fan in me expects to see a Lions loss though.
The Lions have the better defense but we have the better offense? Matt Millen must be spinning in his grave/bed/booth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
