Wednesday Notes: Lions Re-Sign Jennings, Release Figurs

But apparently Schwartz and Co think that Jennings has more upside and ability than Figurs…..so that’s good enough for me at this point.

I watched the mic’d up session….that was a great thing to see and hear. I also listened to the WNER radio show….and once again I think the Matt Mix (or whatever) guy is ill suited to be a radio show host. He called POD “DetroitPride.com” instead of PrideofDetroit.com….I mean come on (he makes it sound like we are running a gay pride parade here or something….nttawwt). I also think that many people are being very cautious and maybe even overly conservative pertaining to how many more games the Lions can win. My expectations have gone from 6 wins to AT LEAST 6 wins, and I think that 8 or 9 wins is entirely possible. We can beat the Bears (we might even be able to beat them twice), and we can beat Minnesota. I do not see Green Bay as unbeatable (at least once). We can beat the Browns (even though they dominated us in the preseason), we can beat the Rams, and the Seahawks are weakened and beatable. That would be 7 wins right there, even if we split with the Bears, Packers, and Vikings. Maybe we beat Chicago at Soldier Field and at home, and maybe we even pull off a win against a team or two like Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco, or Baltimore.

I honestly think that the toughest games left on our schedule will be against the Steelers, Cardinals, Ravens, Packers, and 49ers (in California). I do not think that any of these teams are unbeatable, and I think that the Lions could possibly win against any of them. If we lost all of these games (including the 2 against Green Bay) and won all of the others, we would be 8-8! Now that, my friends, would be what I call improvement! Looking at the 6-10 prediction, what teams were we supposed to beat? Washington, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati (who has been playing with a purpose lately), and San Francisco (who has also played rather well lately)? So why is it so hard to believe that we WILL win those games and then also beat Seattle, Chicago again, and Green Bay at least once? Can you say 9-7 even?

I understand not wanting to jinx the team, or to get too excited over one win, but is there any good reason why anyone should think that we will win less than 6 games? Is there any good reason to think that it is not possible that the Lions could win between 6 and 9 games? If we continue to play like we did last Sunday, with our defense stopping the run and our offense making big plays without turning the ball over (at least keeping turnovers to a minimum where the opposing defense is making great plays on the ball, rather than us just making bad decisions and handing it to them), I truly believe that the Lions WILL win MORE than 6 games…..and I will stop myself at that, because I too do not want to jinx them by saying what I am thinking…..:o)

I loved every minute of it. To answer my friend KDawg’s question about expecting more than 6 wins, I’d agree, that there is no reason to think that IF we play as well as we did last week that more then 6 wins is out of the realm of possibility. However, we have to continue with this form, and that can be very tough, so much so that very few teams have done it.

Right now, after only one victory, I’m sticking to 5-11. But if we get one or two more W’s in the next three weeks then I’d be inclined to think 7-9 or better.

you were ashamed to be a Lions fan?

Anything more than 3 wins is gravy…
I want lots and lots of gravy.
Chicago is a winable game. I expect an old-school black n blue division slugfest.
Great interview, Sean

….gotta love him. He’s stellar….and he’s special. I see much in the way of success in the way this team seems to have rallied around him. I’m really happy to see his demeanor in tough times.

And the Titans are MISSING him.

was probably the best thing Ive watched in a long time…

Good interview, Sean.

I liked the Schwartz mic’d up. It was funny at the part where he remembered he was mic’d up. Good guy, smart guy, great attitude. I’d follow him. Just like QB’s, head coaches need to be leaders. Schwartz is.

I see the release of Figures as a tentative endorsement of Aaron Brown, and a filling of needs. Dennis Northcutt and Brown were healthy and doing ok at PR and KR, to the point that the speedy Yamon Figurs wasn’t being used (Schwartz had even been asked about that last week). Meanwhile, the special teams coverage units were still a bit of a weakness (though improved). Figurs apparently doesn’t help there, but Adam Jennings is an excellent gunner/coverage unit guy. It sounds like Schwartz is making sure all his active roster spots contribute something useful, and will use his practice squad (rather than the active roster) primarily to cover injuries (might explain the adjustments there). Meanwhile, Schwartz simultaneously made sure to give Aaron Brown a stern warning to improve, so he doesn’t get complacent. And adding Darby to the active roster implies a deeper DT rotation (or more time for Fluellen at DE)……Sammie may be nursing a minor injury, and Grady may be tiring. Releasing Butler might imply that ‘Grew is coming along and we may not need a 4th TE. Schwartz might not be using all his active CB’s, so may just use the practice squad slots for extras, rather than the active roster (released Marcus McCauley).

The phrase Schwartz uses before the game has got to be one of my favorites now. “Mount Up, Get To Your Post” basically get your head in the game, and make it happen. Very refreshing, to hear a coach from the Lions actually drilling to this team and not giving the Coddle phrases. I don’t believe the Lions will have any quiters on this team like last year. If a player isn’t performing, or contributing, that player is gone, period, end of story.

We regulate any stealing of his property
And we damn good too
But you can’t beat any geek off the street,
Gotta be handy with the steel
If you know what I mean, earn your keep
Regulators! Mount up!

Seems like after one win everyone is drinking the kool-aid again…

I’m not gonna be pessimistic here… I’ve love them to win 7 or 8 games… But I still see them only winning about 5.