Detroit Lions Notes

Notes: Levy on Stafford: ‘I knew he was tough in 2009’

DeAndre Levy wrote about his admiration for Matthew Stafford this week.

By Jeremy Reisman@DetroitOnLion Oct 31, 2016, 3:00pm EDT

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Cleveland Browns v Detroit Lions

In his Sunday weekly column for the Detroit Free Press, DeAndre Levy fawned over Matthew Stafford and the career he’s had. Levy points to Stafford’s iconic play against the Browns in 2009 as the moment he knew “he was tough.”

We already discussed at length Jim Caldwell’s decision to onside kick the ball with 2:52 remaining. On Monday, Caldwell proclaimed this is something he has done in the past, which is true. All you have to do is go back less than a year:

More on Caldwell's onside kicks: The Lions tried an onside last year vs the Rams w/3 timeouts & over 2:05 to play. Lions recovered
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) October 31, 2016

The Lions have a tight end problem. A very bad tight end problem:

Opposing TEs have now gone for 50 catches, 517 yards and 8 TDs against the Lions this year https://t.co/hBTTAhnJUU via @freep
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) October 31, 2016

Pro Football Focus graded Johnson Bademosi and Kerry Hyder as the best players on defense against the Texans, while Travis Swanson and Taylor Decker led the way on offense. Check out their recap of the game here.

By adding 240 yards passing on Sunday, Stafford passed Ken Stabler and Terry Bradshaw on the all-time passing yards leaderboard. Stafford is now 55th overall.

The NFC playoff picture is wide open for almost every team after eight weeks:

10 of 16 NFC teams have either 3 or 4 wins right now.
— Pride Of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) October 30, 2016

Monday was an eventful day around the NFL. Happy trails to Andre Johnson, and I’m so, so, so, so, so, sorry Jamie Collins:

Titans wide receiver and former Texans star Andre Johnson is retiring from the NFL, according to a source
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 31, 2016

Blockbuster deal: Patriots traded LB Jamie Collins to Cleveland for a compensatory third-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2016

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