I don't see the Lions stopping the Dallas passing attack. But can the crippled offense keep up? I think we need to go 4-1 over the last 5 games to have any chance at a playoff berth. Then what? The gritty Lions seem to have been oiled down. Something is missing from the last two years.
First of all I have to thank you again for the work you put in on DFN. It's great. And I am amazed at how much info you produce daily. Thank you for all of it.
Now a question I have to start wondering about: Who is out there that the Lions might be looking at for an OC for next season? They have to do that. Campbell is a terrific head coach. But it's too much to do both jobs for most people. He's a better HC when that's his full time focus.
Who is out there who is young-ish, smart, creative, sharp, with strong standards?
18 head coaches call offensive play, including all the coaches in the nfc north. over 2/3 call offensive or defensive plays. it is now the norm. I am not sure we have enough data to draw any conclusions on campbell calling plays. the offense clearly upticked when he stepped in last time and groomed ben johnson for a season. this time he is averaging over 31 point a game which is 1st in the nfl.
Yes- I know that more HCs call the plays today than at any time. Some of them- Sean Payton, are among the best play callers in history. Some, like Mike McDaniel are clearly in over their heads doing both. McDaniel is probably a great OC. But not a great HC while playing OC. Zac Taylor and Kevin Stefanski both do it- meh. Taylor has Joe Burrow, then he doesn't. Burrow makes him look good. Stefanski has no QB so it's impossible to say. I believe we focus narrowly on what we do best. And that we were better with the inventive and hard pushing mind of a Ben Johnson focused solely on our offense, with Dan Campbell overseeing it, changing what he wanted changed, but not being burdened with putting it all together. Take away Jamyr Gibbs large chunk gains, and our offense is clearly laboring this year. Something is amiss.
I am just making an argument to your point "But it's too much to do both jobs for most people." andy reid, sean payton, sean mcvay have won super bowls doing it and others have taken their teams to the super bowl. in the case of the lions, as i said, there is not enough data to conclude much but to put 24 points on a good gb defense without your #1 receiver and a dropped td pass is impressive. the current lapse is less about coaching and more about a weak offensive line and executing 4th downs(which has a lot to do with dropped passes and poor run blocking)
This weeks game will be the biggest challenge to date for avoiding back to back losses. Dan and the Lions better be focused and ready…
I don't see the Lions stopping the Dallas passing attack. But can the crippled offense keep up? I think we need to go 4-1 over the last 5 games to have any chance at a playoff berth. Then what? The gritty Lions seem to have been oiled down. Something is missing from the last two years.
First of all I have to thank you again for the work you put in on DFN. It's great. And I am amazed at how much info you produce daily. Thank you for all of it.
Now a question I have to start wondering about: Who is out there that the Lions might be looking at for an OC for next season? They have to do that. Campbell is a terrific head coach. But it's too much to do both jobs for most people. He's a better HC when that's his full time focus.
Who is out there who is young-ish, smart, creative, sharp, with strong standards?
18 head coaches call offensive play, including all the coaches in the nfc north. over 2/3 call offensive or defensive plays. it is now the norm. I am not sure we have enough data to draw any conclusions on campbell calling plays. the offense clearly upticked when he stepped in last time and groomed ben johnson for a season. this time he is averaging over 31 point a game which is 1st in the nfl.
Yes- I know that more HCs call the plays today than at any time. Some of them- Sean Payton, are among the best play callers in history. Some, like Mike McDaniel are clearly in over their heads doing both. McDaniel is probably a great OC. But not a great HC while playing OC. Zac Taylor and Kevin Stefanski both do it- meh. Taylor has Joe Burrow, then he doesn't. Burrow makes him look good. Stefanski has no QB so it's impossible to say. I believe we focus narrowly on what we do best. And that we were better with the inventive and hard pushing mind of a Ben Johnson focused solely on our offense, with Dan Campbell overseeing it, changing what he wanted changed, but not being burdened with putting it all together. Take away Jamyr Gibbs large chunk gains, and our offense is clearly laboring this year. Something is amiss.
I am just making an argument to your point "But it's too much to do both jobs for most people." andy reid, sean payton, sean mcvay have won super bowls doing it and others have taken their teams to the super bowl. in the case of the lions, as i said, there is not enough data to conclude much but to put 24 points on a good gb defense without your #1 receiver and a dropped td pass is impressive. the current lapse is less about coaching and more about a weak offensive line and executing 4th downs(which has a lot to do with dropped passes and poor run blocking)
Agree with all you stated.
I don’t feel good about this game. I really hate the Cowboys but they look really tough right now and, unfortunately, we don’t
Dallas is primed to deliver a beating.