FanPost

Goffean Goffense and Boyle Bumbles... It's ugly. What we learned. (DET @ PIT, CLE.)

So time's been keeping me down as of late, and I suppose it doesn't matter all too much since these two games were a tale of... well... thankfully the same game. Or at least same type of game... It's time for what we learned. This week is a combined affair of AFC North opponents on the road. Thankfully, there wasn't too much different from each game other than the ending decision and now we get to bask in the glory of mistakes, hilarity and questionable decision-making.

Grab your popcorn.

While I support Campbell, give the play-calling back to Lynn please.

The scores of both games can be deceiving. While the Lions only were outscored by a combined 3 points, we did not deserve to win either of the games we played. Both games we played absolutely ugly football offensively. Our defense showed up in a big way in both games, but we didn't walk away with a single victory in either game. Yeesh.

Force-feeding the running backs was (and is) a great way to show we're not committing to Goff or Boyle anytime soon, so that's a lone positive. The problem is that we weren't asking for Boyle to come in; we were asking for Blough to come in. At least I was. Kinda poetic that Blough may be given a nod on Thanksgiving against Chicago yet again... who else remembers his first completed pass?

75 yards to Kenny Golladay for a score on Thanksgiving. That was a couple seasons ago.

Campbell, while I know you won't see this, I still support you. You've been thrown into the fire. But you're making rookie mistakes. I don't think I saw a pass thrown in either game that was further than ten yards downfield. Maybe there were two? Three max? Hard to say.

Blame it on the weather. Blame it on the quarterbacks or the plethora of injuries. Something's gotta change.

Swift is finally emerging.

Despite the completely biased play calling, it was working pretty well, and against two solid defensive lines no-less. That's impressive. How about D-Swift becoming the first Lions rusher to have 100+ yards on the ground in back to back games, becoming the first Lion to do so since Kevin Smith in... 2004? Yikes. That's as brutal as it is impressive.

It's nice to see a bright spot anywhere on the roster. Swift has definitely had some ups and downs and his emergence is admittedly being overshadowed by another running back who's already rushed for 1,000 yards this season and was drafted just after Swift. While I'm certainly not disappointed with Swift, gotta wonder what it could've been.

Give Glenn some credit; he's been doing his work damn well as of late.

Call it aided by the weather or Baker's miscues or Big Ben being out or other injuries, Glenn's been working his backside off since the bye and it's keeping Detroit in games. After getting blown out of the water by Philly (who admittedly looks incredible now,) the Lions have only surrendered 29 points in the past two games. That's an incredible swing and I fully intend to give Glenn the respect he deserves for that.

He's working with fifth and sixth string corners who've never started games before in their lives and still making the best of the situation. Pressure was especially decent against Cleveland when it mattered most.

I'm impressed AG. Keep cooking.

The Draft Scenario gets an interesting (and unexpected) boost... how will Detroit use it?

Let's first start by saying that at 0-9-1, Detroit should have the top pick secured... well, at least if they keep playing like this. Call it hard fought if you'd like, there's still a goose-egg in the win column. I've decided that if the defense can play like this and find a modicum of a pass-rush, then maybe it's not the end of the world if we can't get any safety help... or linebacker help... or edge help... ouch.

I don't think it's much of a question right now what the biggest issue is. Say it together:

One...

Two...

Three!

Quarterback.

Look. I knew Goff was bad. I knew Boyle was bad. But holy crap are they difficult to watch. Call it bad playcalling, bad blocking or bad receivers, I don't care; neither one of them are cut out to be starters or anything close to it. Both showcased their talents in the past two weeks (or the lack thereof,) and it reminds us all why Quarterback is the most valuable position on the field.

It also slammed into me that this year's class of quarterbacks is an absolute joke and no quarterback deserves to be taken inside the top five, maybe even top ten. I've got Matt Corral at the top for me, but surprisingly I still have Willis as my second best. Granted it's outside the top 20 but the point stands. Before you ask, I will never ask for Kenny Pickett in the first round. This is a dude playing in a mediocre conference who turns 24 by the time he'll take his first NFL snap.

Hard pass.

But on the bright side, the odds of getting the number one pick got a titanic boost over this weekend in a totally unexpected way; Tyrod Taylor and the Texans showing up and somehow stopping the freight train without the freight train; The Derrick Henry-less Tennessee Titans. How the Texans knocked out the Titans on the road no-less is beyond me. But it provides Detroit with a golden opportunity.

Prior to this week, if Detroit had won any game, they would be vaulted out of the first overall pick due to strength of schedule. The tie against the Steelers only meant Strength of schedule was essentially eliminated as a deciding factor. Now though, because the Texans won, there is no 1-win team remaining. That means that Detroit can now win a game and still control the number one pick.

Let's be frank, can we even see the Lions winning two games all season? Not really? I guess the Lions love to toy with fate, so let's check out the current draft order:

1. Lions (0-9-1)

2. Jets (2-8)

3. Jaguars (2-8)

4. Texans (2-8)

Every other team in the league controls at minimum three wins. With the remaining schedule as is:

- Vs Bears

- Vs Vikings

- @ Broncos

- Vs Cardinals

- @ Falcons

- @ Seahawks

- Vs Packers


How many wins can we honestly have left? Maybe Falcons? Maybe Packers if they're resting everybody and the backups too? The odds of the Lions winning the first overall pick are incredibly high right now. Something at least went Detroit's way... it's something to hold onto.

Now let's go beat the Bears and give the fans something to smile about on Thanksgiving eh? Last year it was Deshaun Watson getting Patricia and Quinn axed. Whatcha got this year boys?

Where would you rank the quarterbacks of this years class? Let me know.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.