Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

My thoughts.
I think I saw way too many 3 to 4 wide receiver sets. The 'Skins should have focused on running the ball first so that the blitzers have to chase Portis and wear them down...
Also, this further shows there is huge need for a productive 3rd wide receiver on the team.
Also, what was up with the ad nauseum blitizing? The damage from the pass to Moore could have been minimized if linebackers were dropped back.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=The Goat;497501]All good points SS. I see Zorn's playcalling a little differently though[B]: he wasn't near aggressive enough. Sure, call the game like we need to hit them in the mouth, but to not take deep shots until the game is basically over. I know I'm gonna get crapped on but... this felt like Gibbs football all over again.[/B]

On to Rogers - he ain't Springs and not even in the same solar system as Bailey. Rogers cannot be our #1 corner beyond this year or we'll never be a contender.

Totally agree on Jansen but the FO bet the farm w/ him this year so we're stuck w/ a gaping hole at RT. We didn't draft shit for the OL and this is the result. (Heyer must not be healthy yet which tells me he's less and less looking like a long term Skin and Rhinehardt has yet to wear a jersey).[/quote]

The better team won last night. But why in the hell did we draft Thomas if we're not going to try and throw it downfield once or twice? I'm getting so freakin tired of all the 5-6 yards passes. Sure we can beat the Det's and Clev's throwing these little bitch passes but not the good teams. It's annoying watching an NFL team not try and push the ball downfield. Is this the 06 offense??? Pittsburgh threw it downfield and it helped them win the game. WTF Zorn??

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=GTripp0012;497635]You do want to have this game right before the bye week, because it gives your staff plenty of times to get things corrected.

[B]The Steelers' front seven is unbelievable. I've never seen a group that is so good at getting pressure on the QB AND can stay in it's run gaps[/B].[/quote]


Sorry but I'm not ready to call these guys the 85 Bears. They're good but c'mon. We got the ball twice deep in Pitt's territory and couldn't even get a first down. I think that's more of our offense being inept than them being unbelievable.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=skinsfan69;497641]The better team won last night. But why in the hell did we draft Thomas if we're not going to try and throw it downfield once or twice? I'm getting so freakin tired of all the 5-6 yards passes. Sure we can beat the Det's and Clev's throwing these little bitch passes but not the good teams. It's annoying watching an NFL team not try and push the ball downfield. Is this the 06 offense??? Pittsburgh threw it downfield and it helped them win the game. WTF Zorn??[/quote]

I don't know how aggressive an attack we'll see so long as Samuels isn't fully healthy and more importantly Jansen is playing. I mean I hate saying it because of all he's done for the team over the years but Jansen is an absolute liability on the field.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=skinsfan69;497642]Sorry but I'm not ready to call these guys the 85 Bears. They're good but c'mon. We got the ball twice deep in Pitt's territory and couldn't even get a first down. I think that's more of our offense being inept than them being unbelievable.[/quote]

No doubt. The Steelers are good but let's not go overboard. They're not that great. The Eagles and Giants beat them. The Steelers were on the road and stomped our butts at our home field. A good team rarely let's that happen. We've done it 2 times in a row. We've got decent team, i do believe, but we haven't taken that next step. We've still got 7 games to do that.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=SmootSmack;497643]I don't know how aggressive an attack we'll see so long as Samuels isn't fully healthy and more importantly Jansen is playing. I mean I hate saying it because of all he's done for the team over the years but Jansen is an absolute liability on the field.[/quote]

Jansen got owned last night. Woodley just abused him. Fine. But we were sacking their qb's too. Have Portis chip him a few times. Today's rules beg you to throw it downfield so why not do it 2-3 times a game? They got a PI call so why can't we? No excuse for it and I blame Zorn for that.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=skinsfan69;497646]Jansen got owned last night. Woodley just abused him. Fine. But we were sacking their qb's too. Have Portis chip him a few times. Today's rules beg you to throw it downfield so why not do it 2-3 times a game? They got a PI call so why can't we? No excuse for it and I blame Zorn for that.[/quote]

I don't know for sure, but I got the sense that there were times that Campbell wanted to go deep but suddenly had no choice but to just dump it off asap.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=SmootSmack;497648]I don't know for sure, but I got the sense that there were times that Campbell wanted to go deep but suddenly had no choice but to just dump it off asap.[/quote]

The Steelers were crowding the line of scrimmage and playing a three deep zone for most of the game. There was a long pass attempt to Thomas, but the DB had him covered deep. There were several plays where the Steelers sent the house, and you could see that the DB's were already 15-20 yards deep, so Campbell had to take a lot of underneath stuff.

I think they should have done a lot more screens and quick slants to make the Steelers pay for leaving the area between 5-10 yards from scrimmage wide open. Pittsburgh seemed content on stopping the run and the deep ball, which is why the majority of the successful plays the offense had were screens and dumpoffs to Cooley and Portis. If anything, they should have stuck with that.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

our Fans are so fragile. We got man handled last night, by a very good team. We were tired, beat up and maybe looking to the bye week. The good news is, we were 6-2 in the first half after losing the 1st game. We go 6-2 the second half, thats 12-4!!

To the game, seriously....Carlos has to be tought how to catch the freaking ball. He drops way too many easy int's. I guess that why he isn't a WR, but he has to make that play. That would put us up 13-3, instead of getting the punt blocked and down 10-6. I think its a different game at that point.

2nd, dont give Zorn crap for being Zorn. You loved it when we were winning games and us un-conventional game calling, so dont rag him if we lose. That is the way he is and they way he is going to be win or lose. At this point, starting 6-2 first 8 games, I'll trust him.

3rd - Jon Jansen. funny how people want him in the line up when he is playing awesome the first half of the season. He was not the only one getting beat last night. Samuels was getting beat with speed rush on the outside. Thomas was beat, Rock Cartright was hideous on his blocking attempt. Have you forgotten that our strength is running the ball. We didn't do that last night, fell behind on a couple of plays and basically played into the steelers hands. I think Jansen has played pretty good this year. They confused us, they out muscled us.

Hey, we lost the game. I think we needed the break. I dont think there is any shame in losing to the Steelers, they are a VERY good football team. We are sitting 6-3 right now. Tell me who realistically thought we would have been 6-2 at half way? i sure didn't.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=#56fanatic;497653]our Fans are so fragile. We got man handled last night, by a very good team. We were tired, beat up and maybe looking to the bye week. The good news is, we were 6-2 in the first half after losing the 1st game. We go 6-2 the second half, thats 12-4!!

Hey, we lost the game. I think we needed the break. I dont think there is any shame in losing to the Steelers, they are a VERY good football team. We are sitting 6-3 right now. Tell me who realistically thought we would have been 6-2 at half way? i sure didn't.[/quote]

Good points. There's certainly no need to freak out but that's business as usual after a loss. It actually wasn't that bad of a loss in the context of it being an out of conference game. The division games and in conference games are far more critical. This is a team that's been going hard since the beginning of August. I think more than anything they just need a mental break. And of course it will help them physically as well to rest up a bit.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=Mattyk72;497662]Good points. There's certainly no need to freak out but that's business as usual after a loss. It actually wasn't that bad of a loss in the context of it being an out of conference game. The division games and in conference games are far more critical. This is a team that's been going hard since the beginning of August. I think more than anything they just need a mental break. And of course it will help them physically as well to rest up a bit.[/quote]

Why make excuses? Sure we're banged up. So is Pittsburgh. They were without a starting safety, two starting O-lineman, and lost their franchise QB for the whole second half. And they beat the snot out of us in our house. It was disgusting. Being dinged up is a weak excuse. Every team in the NFL is hurting by week 9.

We didn't score a TD at home. We didn't score a point in the final 54 minutes of the game. That's awful and inexcusable, especially at home. I don't care how good they are on defense, if we want to be a top tier team in this league we've got to do better than that. And god help us if we weren't focused on this game and thinking about licking our wounds during the bye week. If that's the case, we've got problems.

I'm not suggesting anyone freak out. We've made it through nine games with 6 wins and no horrible injuries. But we better step the eff up, especially offensively, after the bye week.

Carlos- marry the jugs machine. For real. The fact that you have been playing football your whole life and can't catch is just sad man.

Jansen- get the heck outta the starting lineup. I love all you've done for the Skins, but it's painful to watch you get tossed around like a rag doll.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

I'm not making excuses, just pointing out some reality.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=Mattyk72;497670]I'm not making excuses, just pointing out some reality.[/quote]

It is valid that we're worn out and banged up. But so was our opponent. And they had to play on the road, and without Big Ben the whole second half. So our reality in that regard was as bad as theirs.

I understand losing to a Super Bowl contender and being 6-3 is nothing to hang our heads about, but the fashion in which we got our asses kicked concerns me.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=GMScud;497669]Why make excuses? Sure we're banged up. So is Pittsburgh. They were without a starting safety, two starting O-lineman, and lost their franchise QB for the whole second half. And they beat the snot out of us in our house. It was disgusting. Being dinged up is a weak excuse. Every team in the NFL is hurting by week 9.

We didn't score a TD at home. We didn't score a point in the final 54 minutes of the game. That's awful and inexcusable, especially at home. I don't care how good they are on defense, if we want to be a top tier team in this league we've got to do better than that. And god help us if we weren't focused on this game and thinking about licking our wounds during the bye week. If that's the case, we've got problems.

I'm not suggesting anyone freak out. We've made it through nine games with 6 wins and no horrible injuries. But we better step the eff up, especially offensively, after the bye week.

Carlos- marry the jugs machine. For real. The fact that you have been playing football your whole life and can't catch is just sad man.

Jansen- get the heck outta the starting lineup. I love all you've done for the Skins, but it's painful to watch you get tossed around like a rag doll.[/quote]

Well done. They are beat up too. We're at home they are not. We're a #5 D they are #1. The Steelers had just as many excuses to lose as we do, but they won.

The Skins do need to step up or we'll be in some trouble. We haven't really played well offensively in some time and we aren't winning consistently at home.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

Was it any worse than getting thrashed 52-7 by the Patriots, or 36-0 to NY in 2005?

Both teams recovered to make the playoffs, and this team will too. Good teams get beat, and even get blown out on occassion. It's how the team responds to a loss that's the most important thing.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

To the Jansen bashers. Didn't we just see last night what we already knew about him? He is vunerable to speed rushers off the edge (a liability compounded by a good 3-4 team with linebackers as good as Woodley and Harrison and a DC like Dick LeBeau). Admittedly I have not been on the site all that much during the first half, but I thought we were willing to live with some of the liabilities that Jansen possesses in order to benefit from his sound run blocking? But now his pass protection is exposed and we want him to fake an injury and retire? You really think Stephon Heyer would have fared much better against Woodley and Harrison last night? Do you base that upon the fact that he got dominated by Tuck in the first game or that he got dominated by the no-name Detroit ends last week? I am just shocked that people are shocked that Jansen struggle to block Pittsburgh's speed rushers. He is what we thought he is, but he is also a better run blocker than Heyer (and I still question how much better Heyer is in pass pro at this point - though someone who has broken down film can enlighten me).

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[B]FANS[/B] Are you serious. You let Steeler fans come in to our stadium and wave there stupid towles. Phaethetic

[B]Jansen[/B]: Your time as a starting tackle is over, and I can confidently say you will not be here next year as part of the Redskins

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

We had a bad night. It's not the end of the world. But I want to see us throw more passes downfield to try and score some TD's. The offnese has got to start putting up TD's! If Thomas isn't any good and Kelly is hurt then maybe we need to see Fred Davis on the field. Having Yoder in there isn't doing us any good. We need more playmakers on the field.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=GMScud;497669]Why make excuses? Sure we're banged up. So is Pittsburgh. They were without a starting safety, two starting O-lineman, and lost their franchise QB for the whole second half. And they beat the snot out of us in our house. It was disgusting. Being dinged up is a weak excuse. Every team in the NFL is hurting by week 9.

We didn't score a TD at home. We didn't score a point in the final 54 minutes of the game. That's awful and inexcusable, especially at home. I don't care how good they are on defense, if we want to be a top tier team in this league we've got to do better than that. And god help us if we weren't focused on this game and thinking about licking our wounds during the bye week. If that's the case, we've got problems.

I'm not suggesting anyone freak out. We've made it through nine games with 6 wins and no horrible injuries. But we better step the eff up, especially offensively, after the bye week.

Carlos- marry the jugs machine. For real. The fact that you have been playing football your whole life and can't catch is just sad man.

Jansen- get the heck outta the starting lineup. I love all you've done for the Skins, but it's painful to watch you get tossed around like a rag doll.[/quote]



amazing how fans can turn into "the sky is falling" after losing one game. Yeah, we got beat, and beat bad. We went up against a very good team. We are still figuring out who we are. Our strength is to run the ball, and they stopped it. We couldn't throw because they sent the house every play and we didn't have enough time in the pocket. seriously.. relax. We were one of 4 teams ( i think ) with both offensive and defensive units in the top 10. I think that is pretty freaking stellar for a first year coach who has never called a game prior to this season (detroit doesn't count!)

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=SC Skins Fan;497683]To the Jansen bashers. Didn't we just see last night what we already knew about him? He is vunerable to speed rushers off the edge (a liability compounded by a good 3-4 team with linebackers as good as Woodley and Harrison and a DC like Dick LeBeau). Admittedly I have not been on the site all that much during the first half, but I thought we were willing to live with some of the liabilities that Jansen possesses in order to benefit from his sound run blocking? But now his pass protection is exposed and we want him to fake an injury and retire? You really think Stephon Heyer would have fared much better against Woodley and Harrison last night? Do you base that upon the fact that he got dominated by Tuck in the first game or that he got dominated by the no-name Detroit ends last week? I am just shocked that people are shocked that Jansen struggle to block Pittsburgh's speed rushers. He is what we thought he is, but he is also a better run blocker than Heyer (and I still question how much better Heyer is in pass pro at this point - though someone who has broken down film can enlighten me).[/quote]

People go back and forth on Jansen by the minute it seems, it's getting to be ridiculous.

Truth is the entire line stunk it up last night, but what concerned me more is we didn't see enough max protect. Zorn really seemed to toss out convention with all the 3 and 4 WR sets. I understand the rationale of "spreading them out", but as we saw that doesn't faze Pitt's aggressive blitz schemes at all. I think we needed more double TE sets, and Zorn clearly bailed on the running game too soon.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

I think the problem might be an expectations gap. The game last night went kind of how I thought it would, Jason Campbell getting big time pressure, offense struggling, defense hanging tough. If you think the Redskins are the best team in the league (or no worse than the top three) then you were surprised last night. If you realized they were probably not as good as the Steelers and certainly not good enough to overcome turnovers (two INTs, blocked punt) then you aren't preparing to jump off of a bridge right now. Try to stay grounded and the falls won't hurt so much. If you want to take some positives why not start with the fact the defense only gave up 224 yards (only three more than the Steelers D gave up to the Redskins) and played well for the most part. The game was a lot like the Giants opener and the Skins rebounded fairly well from that.

Please, step back from the ledge.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=Mattyk72;497692]People go back and forth on Jansen by the minute it seems, it's getting to be ridiculous.

Truth is the entire line stunk it up last night, but what concerned me more is we didn't see enough max protect. Zorn really seemed to toss out convention with all the 3 and 4 WR sets. I understand the rationale of "spreading them out", but as we saw that doesn't faze Pitt's aggressive blitz schemes at all. I think we needed more double TE sets, and Zorn clearly bailed on the running game too soon.[/quote]

As for Jansen, I just haven't seen it from him this year. Dating back to preseason.

But you're right, and I sort of mention it in the original post, that there should have been some more conventional thinking. If anything I thought we might even see some 3 TE sets with Yoder, Cooley, and Davis all in there. I also expected to see more out of Alexander yesterday.

At the end of the day though, through 9 games we have twice as many wins than losses including some very key division and conference wins. There are several areas of concern and areas that need improvement heading into the final 7 games of the season but those early season victories have put us in good shape.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=#56fanatic;497690][B]amazing how fans can turn into "the sky is falling" after losing one game.[/B] Yeah, we got beat, and beat bad. We went up against a very good team. We are still figuring out who we are. Our strength is to run the ball, and they stopped it. We couldn't throw because they sent the house every play and we didn't have enough time in the pocket. seriously.. relax. We were one of 4 teams ( i think ) with both offensive and defensive units in the top 10. I think that is pretty freaking stellar for a first year coach who has never called a game prior to this season (detroit doesn't count!)[/quote]

So you obviously didn't read my post, yet quoted it and said I think the sky is falling.

I specifically said "I'm not suggesting that anyone freak out." :doh:

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=skinsfan69;497641][B]The better team won last night[/B]. But why in the hell did we draft Thomas if we're not going to try and throw it downfield once or twice? I'm getting so freakin tired of all the 5-6 yards passes. Sure we can beat the Det's and Clev's throwing these little bitch passes but not the good teams. It's annoying watching an NFL team not try and push the ball downfield. Is this the 06 offense??? Pittsburgh threw it downfield and it helped them win the game. WTF Zorn??[/quote]

Cannot disagree w/ this; however, I'm pretty convinced that a more aggressive gameplan would keep us competitive against a team like Pitt. I think the debate is whether it is Zorn or Campbell keeping it so conservative. The piss poor pass protection cannot be the whole story because we've been very conservative even in games where the opposing d was not getting to JC - it's a matter of gameplan...

My buddy thinks JC is avoiding the deep shots and checking down before things can develop down field. Certainly looks that way @ times but don't we all remember last season when Gibbs/Saunders put the games in JC's hands we started taking more shots (before the injury of course). Why would an NFL QB have less confidence about his deep ball than the year before?

That's why I'm more inclined to believe Zorn is keeping things conservative out there. In short, opposing d coordinators have started to figure Zorn out - I think that's why we struggle to put up points against average defenses and can only get into the 20's against the worst defenses in national football. There's something to be said for "running up the score" the way NE did last year or (not surprisingly) the way Philly has against lesser teams this year.

My guess is w/o a new direction on offense we score even fewer points per game from here out and go 3 and 4 or maybe 2 and 5.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

I think the biggest thing the Skins haven't done well, not only last night, but all season, is take advantage of opponent's mistakes. The Skins had the ball inside the Steelers 40 twice in the first 5 minutes of the game, and managed to scrape together 6 plays and 6 points. They had an opportunity to put the Steelers away early, and couldn't do it.

It's not the end of the world...I believe I had the Skins at 4-5 wins tops at this point of the season, 6-3 is still good for 2nd place in the Beast, with 4 wins most likely getting the Skins into the playoffs. They have to come out hungry and ready to battle.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=The Goat;497757]Cannot disagree w/ this; however, I'm pretty convinced that a more aggressive gameplan would keep us competitive against a team like Pitt. I think the debate is whether it is Zorn or Campbell keeping it so conservative. The piss poor pass protection cannot be the whole story because we've been very conservative even in games where the opposing d was not getting to JC - it's a matter of gameplan...

My buddy thinks JC is avoiding the deep shots and checking down before things can develop down field. Certainly looks that way @ times but don't we all remember last season when Gibbs/Saunders put the games in JC's hands we started taking more shots (before the injury of course). Why would an NFL QB have less confidence about his deep ball than the year before?

That's why I'm more inclined to believe Zorn is keeping things conservative out there. In short, opposing d coordinators have started to figure Zorn out - I think that's why we struggle to put up points against average defenses and can only get into the 20's against the worst defenses in national football. There's something to be said for "running up the score" the way NE did last year or (not surprisingly) the way Philly has against lesser teams this year.

My guess is w/o a new direction on offense we score even fewer points per game from here out and go 3 and 4 or maybe 2 and 5.[/quote]

To me it just looks like Zorn is calling a lot of short passes, 3 step drop stuff. And because of this, we're having to have these long drives to score TD's... it's just too tough to consistently do this in the NFL. Do we ever have any 3-4 play drives????

Even though we drafted 3 guys to help us score more points, we're still not doing it. You could argue that this years offense is worse than last years as far as scoring TD's is concerned. I'd really like to see Kelly and Davis get on the field.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=GMScud;497676]It is valid that we're worn out and banged up. But so was our opponent. And they had to play on the road, and without Big Ben the whole second half. So our reality in that regard was as bad as theirs.

I understand losing to a Super Bowl contender and being 6-3 is nothing to hang our heads about, but the fashion in which we got our asses kicked concerns me.[/quote]

I'm sorry GMScud but I have to go with Mattyk72 on this one. In the last week Blache, Zorn, and several players talked about how worn out they are.

And their wear and fatigue is not the same as the Steelers. Our guys have been learning new ways of doing things on both sides of the ball, not just brushing up on things they already know, and this wears on you.

Also, we had the longest training camp of anyone, more preseason games than anyone but the Colts, and some intense road games to start the season.

While I am concerned about a number of issues raised here - offensive line, catching interceptions, etc. - it seems to me that the guys were just shagged. Did you notice that the performance went down the more tired they got during the game? I think 6-3 is just fine, considering all of the conditions, and I think the guys will look really good after their rest.

As for all of the Pitt fans there, that was disgusting. Player fatigue had nothing to do with that. Anyone who sold their tickets should have their season tickets taken away and given to a Redskin-worthy person.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=skinsfan69;497822]To me it just looks like Zorn is calling a lot of short passes, 3 step drop stuff. And because of this, we're having to have these long drives to score TD's... it's just too tough to consistently do this in the NFL. Do we ever have any 3-4 play drives????
[/quote]

We can call it the Midwest offense, but that is how the WCO Zorn wants to run is executed.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=rypper11;497918]We can call it the Midwest offense, but that is how the WCO Zorn wants to run is executed.[/quote]

Well it's not working. We're not converting 3rd downs and we're not scoring TD's.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

o-line has a bad game the qb has to scramble and find a receiver--campbell does not scramble well and holds the ball to long--i have never been a big fan of campbell.

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[QUOTE] I have to go with Mattyk72 on this one. In the last week Blache, Zorn, and several players talked about how worn out they are [/QUOTE]

and they have also had to teach them how to play like the coaches want them to play.
look at it like entering school and graduating as a senior in 1 year.that would be hell on the teachers and the students!

Re: Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)
 

[quote=mooby;497482]I pretty much agree with all your other points but I also want to bring this up. We may have beat some pretty good teams on the road this season (Philly, Dallas) but this game was so reminiscent of the Patriots beatdown last year (minus the high scoring) that it brought back all too familiar bad memories. And the reason I have been hesitant to get too optimistic is because 6-2 in the first half of the season guarantees nothing. I remember a Lions team starting 6-2 last year, with a pretty decent offense and a 'bout average defense, but finishing 7-9. The second half of the season is when things get more important and tonights game was a bad start.

I'm not one of those, "oh no we're down 16-6, season over" type people but I am one of those people that starts to get concerned when we get our asses beat thorougly on national t.v. by a Super Bowl contender. Now by no means do I think the season is over, and in the long run it's better to lose to an AFC team because in terms of tiebreakers and things like that it's not that bad, but we're in a really tight division race right now and we failed to get it done, let alone put out a decent offensive performance.[/quote]

that lions team racked up a 6-2 record against the lowest strength of schedule in the league... our strength of schedule was the highest at the 5 game mark, and is still pretty high. we're not an illusion, but we're not guaranteed anything either.