What did you think of the Lions firing Caldwell?

I'm not sure that was the right move, but you follow the Lions far more closely than I, so you would be the guy to ask.

Now that he has been fired, who do you want to replace him?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Lions not going anywhere as long as Stafford is the QB

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/kkpugh726/albums

Lions not going anywhere as long as Stafford is the QB

Really? Stafford is good.

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Another Alex Smith is Stafford when it really matters they don’t win

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Just my opinion

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/kkpugh726/albums

Another Alex Smith is Stafford when it really matters they don’t win

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Just my opinion

Alex Smith was not the reason the Chiefs lost today. Not by a long shot. He played really well. Receivers dropped catchable balls and the play-calling was terrible. Why were they throwing on 3rd and short and why were they trying to run the ball with Smith instead of Hunt? Hunt only had 11 carries. What were they saving him for? That loss is solely on the shoulders of Andy Reid. I don't know what he was thinking with some of those play calls.

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What did you think of the Lions firing Caldwell?

I'm not sure that was the right move, but you follow the Lions far more closely than I, so you would be the guy to ask.

Now that he has been fired, who do you want to replace him?

Bullseye,  I am against the decision but I understand Bob Quinn should have the opportunity to hire his own HC if he believes that it's necessary for the Lions to get to the pinnacle.  Quinn believes the Lions should have done better than 9-7 in both 2016 and 2017.  He's willing to put his own neck on the line,  which shows guts.  It remains to be seen if turns out to be a decision that leads the Lions to the Super Bowl in the next few seasons.  

Looking at the Lions roster,  when factoring in injuries,  including relative health of both the Lions and opponents,  I don't think the Lions underachieved in each of the last 2 seasons compared to most NFL teams.  The Lions probably won 1 more game this season than the team should have,  when factoring in everything.   What proved very costly for Jim Caldwell was the both the December losses at Baltimore and Cincinnati and the Lions overall record against teams with winning records at the end of seasons under Caldwell.   The Bengals game was an exception to the Lions losing to a team with a losing record.  With 3 starters on the Offensive Line though against a very good Bengals Defensive Line,  matchups were a huge problem.  Another reason why Caldwell was let go is in all 4 of his seasons as HC,  the Lions running game was amongst the worst in the NFL.  Even with that and the pounding Matthew Stafford took,  it's remarkable how effective Stafford was.  Caldwell deserves a huge amount of credit for Stafford becoming one of the best QBs in the NFL,  especially in hiring Jim Bob Cooter first as QB Coach and then promoting him to Offensive Coordinator in the middle of the 2015 season.

 As a HC,  Caldwell has a noticeably higher floor than most HCs.  However, his ceiling isn't as high as some coaches.  In essence,  if he has a championship caliber roster that's healthy enough,  he would give a team a good chance of going all the way.   Yet,  if he has an 8-8 roster,  he probably will go around 9-7.   Based on this.  I would have kept Caldwell,  knowing that the Lions primary issue is the need to have more relatively healthy talent.   

Though the vast majority of Lions fans disagree with my preference to have kept Caldwell and now for Teryl Austin to be promoted from Defensive Coordinator to HC,  I prefer continuity.  Austin reminds me a lot of Caldwell in terms of leadership and communication skills.   Austin is a high caliber Def. Coordinator,  who had major talent limitations the last 3 seasons.  The Bengals interviewed Austin for their Defensive Coordinator position the other day.  The Packers were denied permission,  which is a good decision by Quinn.   

If the Lions as expected go out of the organization for a HC,  Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia is my preference.  Patricia has coached on both sides of the ball,  gets more out of Defensive talent than one would think possible  ( points allowed stat speaks volume,  he's learned under Bill Belichick,  and worked with Bob Quinn in New England for over a decade.   Patricia seems to be the favorite and there's a report that a verbal agreement between the Lions and Patricia is expected.   The Giants and Cardinals also interviewed him,  hence there's potential competition.   Right now,  my gut feeling is Patricia will be the Lions next HC.  With Texans DC Mike Vrabel the 2nd most likely HC.

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Lions not going anywhere as long as Stafford is the QB

I am trying to support Bortles, even though he is struggling.

But I would take Stafford here in a second.

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Another Alex Smith is Stafford when it really matters they don’t win

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Just my opinion

Alex Smith was not the reason the Chiefs lost today. Not by a long shot. He played really well. Receivers dropped catchable balls and the play-calling was terrible. Why were they throwing on 3rd and short and why were they trying to run the ball with Smith instead of Hunt? Hunt only had 11 carries. What were they saving him for? That loss is solely on the shoulders of Andy Reid. I don't know what he was thinking with some of those play calls.

Agreed completely.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

What did you think of the Lions firing Caldwell?

I'm not sure that was the right move, but you follow the Lions far more closely than I, so you would be the guy to ask.

Now that he has been fired, who do you want to replace him?

Bullseye,  I am against the decision but I understand Bob Quinn should have the opportunity to hire his own HC if he believes that it's necessary for the Lions to get to the pinnacle.  Quinn believes the Lions should have done better than 9-7 in both 2016 and 2017.  He's willing to put his own neck on the line,  which shows guts.  It remains to be seen if turns out to be a decision that leads the Lions to the Super Bowl in the next few seasons.  

Looking at the Lions roster,  when factoring in injuries,  including relative health of both the Lions and opponents,  I don't think the Lions underachieved in each of the last 2 seasons compared to most NFL teams.  The Lions probably won 1 more game this season than the team should have,  when factoring in everything.   What proved very costly for Jim Caldwell was the both the December losses at Baltimore and Cincinnati and the Lions overall record against teams with winning records at the end of seasons under Caldwell.   The Bengals game was an exception to the Lions losing to a team with a losing record.  With 3 starters on the Offensive Line though against a very good Bengals Defensive Line,  matchups were a huge problem.  Another reason why Caldwell was let go is in all 4 of his seasons as HC,  the Lions running game was amongst the worst in the NFL.  Even with that and the pounding Matthew Stafford took,  it's remarkable how effective Stafford was.  Caldwell deserves a huge amount of credit for Stafford becoming one of the best QBs in the NFL,  especially in hiring Jim Bob Cooter first as QB Coach and then promoting him to Offensive Coordinator in the middle of the 2015 season.

 As a HC,  Caldwell has a noticeably higher floor than most HCs.  However, his ceiling isn't as high as some coaches.  In essence,  if he has a championship caliber roster that's healthy enough,  he would give a team a good chance of going all the way.   Yet,  if he has an 8-8 roster,  he probably will go around 9-7.   Based on this.  I would have kept Caldwell,  knowing that the Lions primary issue is the need to have more relatively healthy talent.   

Though the vast majority of Lions fans disagree with my preference to have kept Caldwell and now for Teryl Austin to be promoted from Defensive Coordinator to HC,  I prefer continuity.  Austin reminds me a lot of Caldwell in terms of leadership and communication skills.   Austin is a high caliber Def. Coordinator,  who had major talent limitations the last 3 seasons.  The Bengals interviewed Austin for their Defensive Coordinator position the other day.  The Packers were denied permission,  which is a good decision by Quinn.   

If the Lions as expected go out of the organization for a HC,  Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia is my preference.  Patricia has coached on both sides of the ball,  gets more out of Defensive talent than one would think possible  ( points allowed stat speaks volume,  he's learned under Bill Belichick,  and worked with Bob Quinn in New England for over a decade.   Patricia seems to be the favorite and there's a report that a verbal agreement between the Lions and Patricia is expected.   The Giants and Cardinals also interviewed him,  hence there's potential competition.   Right now,  my gut feeling is Patricia will be the Lions next HC.  With Texans DC Mike Vrabel the 2nd most likely HC.

As an outsider looking in, I have no real basis for disagreement.

I think your analysis of Caldwell is spot on.  He doesn't strike me as a particularly domineering personality, and his understated persona would seem to preclude the Denny Green, Jim Mora, or Bill Cowher type outburst.  I think that hurts the perception of him regarding his effectiveness.

We are also in agreement regarding the value of continuity.  When you support a team that is not performing up to expectations, advocating continuity can be a tough sell. Again, as an outsider looking in, the Lions are not far from contention.  If you look at the marquee positions that are typically valued most by teams, the Lions have them.  Stafford fits the mold  as a franchise QB, though he hasn't had the post season success.  I think Taylor Decker will be the blindside LT for a decade for you guys.  Ziggy Ansah exceeded all of my expectations of him to become a very good pass rusher at RDE, and Darius Slay, while not a dominant, shut down corner IMO, is good enough to say that a position that was once a long time weakness has been solidified.  With those things in place, if a coaching change is to be made, I would think promoting Austin would be in the team's best interest.  He could keep the defensive system in place and still use the players in place in the best way. Bringing in a guy from outside may or may not accomplish that.  There is always the risk he would purge good players to get people to fit his system.  Were the Lions a dumpster fire, I could understand wanting to completely scrap everything.  The way I see it, if you kept the same or similar systems, you'd need a bigger stud every down back on offense who can pound it in between the tackles and get tough yardage, maybe another young DT and DB on defense.  I would be interested in your evaluation on those needs.

Patricia is certainly smart enough to be a head coach.  It's my understanding he is literally a rocket scientist.  As a coordinator, he has done quite well under Belichick.  Of course, I wonder about the lack of success that Belichick assistance have had, BO'B notwithstanding.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Bullseye,  I am against the decision but I understand Bob Quinn should have the opportunity to hire his own HC if he believes that it's necessary for the Lions to get to the pinnacle.  Quinn believes the Lions should have done better than 9-7 in both 2016 and 2017.  He's willing to put his own neck on the line,  which shows guts.  It remains to be seen if turns out to be a decision that leads the Lions to the Super Bowl in the next few seasons.  

Looking at the Lions roster,  when factoring in injuries,  including relative health of both the Lions and opponents,  I don't think the Lions underachieved in each of the last 2 seasons compared to most NFL teams.  The Lions probably won 1 more game this season than the team should have,  when factoring in everything.   What proved very costly for Jim Caldwell was the both the December losses at Baltimore and Cincinnati and the Lions overall record against teams with winning records at the end of seasons under Caldwell.   The Bengals game was an exception to the Lions losing to a team with a losing record.  With 3 starters on the Offensive Line though against a very good Bengals Defensive Line,  matchups were a huge problem.  Another reason why Caldwell was let go is in all 4 of his seasons as HC,  the Lions running game was amongst the worst in the NFL.  Even with that and the pounding Matthew Stafford took,  it's remarkable how effective Stafford was.  Caldwell deserves a huge amount of credit for Stafford becoming one of the best QBs in the NFL,  especially in hiring Jim Bob Cooter first as QB Coach and then promoting him to Offensive Coordinator in the middle of the 2015 season.

 As a HC,  Caldwell has a noticeably higher floor than most HCs.  However, his ceiling isn't as high as some coaches.  In essence,  if he has a championship caliber roster that's healthy enough,  he would give a team a good chance of going all the way.   Yet,  if he has an 8-8 roster,  he probably will go around 9-7.   Based on this.  I would have kept Caldwell,  knowing that the Lions primary issue is the need to have more relatively healthy talent.   

Though the vast majority of Lions fans disagree with my preference to have kept Caldwell and now for Teryl Austin to be promoted from Defensive Coordinator to HC,  I prefer continuity.  Austin reminds me a lot of Caldwell in terms of leadership and communication skills.   Austin is a high caliber Def. Coordinator,  who had major talent limitations the last 3 seasons.  The Bengals interviewed Austin for their Defensive Coordinator position the other day.  The Packers were denied permission,  which is a good decision by Quinn.   

If the Lions as expected go out of the organization for a HC,  Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia is my preference.  Patricia has coached on both sides of the ball,  gets more out of Defensive talent than one would think possible  ( points allowed stat speaks volume,  he's learned under Bill Belichick,  and worked with Bob Quinn in New England for over a decade.   Patricia seems to be the favorite and there's a report that a verbal agreement between the Lions and Patricia is expected.   The Giants and Cardinals also interviewed him,  hence there's potential competition.   Right now,  my gut feeling is Patricia will be the Lions next HC.  With Texans DC Mike Vrabel the 2nd most likely HC.

As an outsider looking in, I have no real basis for disagreement.

I think your analysis of Caldwell is spot on.  He doesn't strike me as a particularly domineering personality, and his understated persona would seem to preclude the Denny Green, Jim Mora, or Bill Cowher type outburst.  I think that hurts the perception of him regarding his effectiveness.

We are also in agreement regarding the value of continuity.  When you support a team that is not performing up to expectations, advocating continuity can be a tough sell.  Again, as an outsider looking in, the Lions are not far from contention.  If you look at the marquee positions that are typically valued most by teams, the Lions have them.  Stafford fits the mold  as a franchise QB, though he hasn't had the post season success.  I think Taylor Decker will be the blindside LT for a decade for you guys.  Ziggy Ansah exceeded all of my expectations of him to become a very good pass rusher at RDE, and Darius Slay, while not a dominant, shut down corner IMO, is good enough to say that a position that was once a long time weakness has been solidified.  With those things in place, if a coaching change is to be made, I would think promoting Austin would be in the team's best interest.  He could keep the defensive system in place and still use the players in place in the best way. Bringing in a guy from outside may or may not accomplish that.  There is always the risk he would purge good players to get people to fit his system.  Were the Lions a dumpster fire, I could understand wanting to completely scrap everything.  The way I see it, if you kept the same or similar systems, you'd need a bigger stud every down back on offense who can pound it in between the tackles and get tough yardage, maybe another young DT and DB on defense.  I would be interested in your evaluation on those needs.

Patricia is certainly smart enough to be a head coach.  It's my understanding he is literally a rocket scientist.  As a coordinator, he has done quite well under Belichick.  Of course, I wonder about the lack of success that Belichick assistance have had, BO'B notwithstanding.

 Unfortunately from our point of view,  Teryl Austin is no longer in the mix of becoming the Lions HC,  as Bob Quinn enabled him to become the Bengals DC.  Great move by Marvin Lewis.  I'm predicting T.A. will be an NFL HC by the 2020 season,  either with another team in 2019 or in 2020 with the Bengals if Marvin Lewis retires from coaching.

 There have been reports in the last few days that Matt Patricia prefers the Giants HC compared to the Lions HC job.  There's so much speculation and many variables in the remaining 4 teams HC searches.  For the Lions,  if Patricia decides to accept a potential HC offer from the Giants,  right now Texans DC Mike Vrabel would likely become the Lions HC.  Vrabel's Patriots connections,  including working under Bill O'Brien in Houston,  would probably be the difference for Bob Quinn compared to the other candidates still in the mix.   Pat Shurmur probably would be next after Vrabel,  though he could easily end up in Arizona.  

The Lions have to make a decision regarding Ziggy Ansah,  as he's scheduled to be an UFA in 2018.   Ansah has been plagued by injuries the last 2 seasons.  Against the Packers in the season finale,  he looked healthier than any time this season.  Ansah recorded 3 sacks in the game and had an overall impact that reminded me of the player from the 2014 and 2015 seasons.   Unless the Lions go to a 3-4 most of the time,  I think Ansah will either be Franchised or a contract will be worked out that would satisfy both parties.  The Franchise Tag is the most likely option because of the injuries Ansah dealt with the last 2 seasons.

I think Darius Slay is a top 5 NFL CB because of his greatly improved ball skills ( 8 interceptions this season )  and that he covers the opponents top receiver most of the time.  The efforts Rashean Mathis provided with Slay in the first 3 seasons of Slay's career are a major factor in Slay ascending to amongst the best at the position.

Even with Ansah,  I think the Lions need another DE with natural pass rush skills.  A pass rushing DT is certainly needed. 

LB is a position that should be looked at closely.  Jarrad Davis appears to have a very bright future.   However, Tahir Whitehead is an UFA,  who doesn't appear to have good enough pass coverage instincts and is average at best as a blitzer.  His primary  strength is against the run.  Jalen Reeves-Maybin shows promises but needs to add bulk strength.  

The key at CB opposite Darius Slay is the assessment of Quinn and the new coaching staff of Teez Tabor.  He displayed potential,  after being caught in a game day roster logistics situation in most games earlier in the season.   Yet,  Tabor's timed speed is far from what teams look for at the position and his lack of experience showed on a number of plays. My hope is he's a Joe Haden type of NFL CB, not just because they went to the same school.   Both Nevin Lawson and D.J. Hayden are UFAs.  Lawson is probably the better of the two CBs but his height (5-10", if that ) works against him.  Jamal Agnew has very good potential as a slot CB and is already a Pro Bowl Caliber Punt Returner.  

S Glover Quin had a Pro Bowl caliber season and had his contract extended even before the regular season began.   Tavon Wilson played well at SS before suffering a season ending shoulder injury on Thanksgiving Day against the Vikings.  He's a scheduled UFA.  Quandre Diggs,  who was used as the primary slot/ nickel CB moved to S after Wilson went down.   Though Diggs was somewhat inconsistent in coverage,  his ball skills and playmaking were very good at SS.  A pleasant surprise.  He might be viewed as the solution moving forward,  despite being undersized for the position.  Diggs is the younger brother of former Chargers CB Quentin Jammer.  Great intangibles!   I don't think the Lions will spend big dollars for another Safety.   Either Wilson will be re-signed or Miles Killebrew will be expected to compete with Diggs for the starting spot opposite Quin.  With a lesser priced FA or a mid/ late round pick probably added to the equation.

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