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Preseason game 2 of the 2015 season.
Bengals vs Buccaneers
Bengals played horribly with Dalton completing under 50% of his passes with 2 INTs and defense not looking so good.
Yet we were a Dalton injury and a few mental breakdowns from winning at least one playoff game after winning 12 games.
Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we are going to do that again. The point is preseason games are meaningless including how the team plays in them.
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(08-20-2017, 09:14 AM)PhilHos Wrote: Preseason game 2 of the 2015 season.
Bengals vs Buccaneers
Bengals played horribly with Dalton completing under 50% of his passes with 2 INTs and defense not looking so good.
Yet we were a Dalton injury and a few mental breakdowns from winning at least one playoff game after winning 12 games.
Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we are going to do that again. The point is preseason games are meaningless including how the team plays in them.
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I'm pretty sure that was the game 3 "dress rehearsal" game (the game where most teams are supposed to really "try" for the first half or more) but that's irrelevant. Your point still stands.
Very good points and I agree, in fact I still say we looked worse in the 2015 game. It's just that last nights game was so eerily reminiscent of the team we saw early on last year (particularly on defense). Based on that, nobody is feeling confident about where this team is heading. I thought we had moved past all that based on how last year ended. But no, there was still no defensive pressure, the lb core looked as lackadaisical as ever, DB's out of position, piss-poor run blocking, etc.
The only thing that really looked like it improved was the kicking game... So thank God for that, at least. I'll reserve my frustration for when the season actually starts but after last night, I'm not encouraged at all. I still say 8-8 at best.
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Obviously there is some value to how players perform in the preseason because that's how some jobs are won and lost. Agreed that the preseason record is not important.
With the OLine, I think we're getting a good idea of what to expect this season. I don't think they're going to magically gel, improve, and become a good unit. There is going to be a lot of struggling and growing pains with this line.
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(08-20-2017, 09:14 AM)PhilHos Wrote: Preseason game 2 of the 2015 season.
Bengals vs Buccaneers
Bengals played horribly with Dalton completing under 50% of his passes with 2 INTs and defense not looking so good.
Yet we were a Dalton injury and a few mental breakdowns from winning at least one playoff game after winning 12 games.
Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we are going to do that again. The point is preseason games are meaningless including how the team plays in them.
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I get that...but we had a really complete roster that year. This year, we don't.
The offensive line is below average to bad. The linebackers look slow. Shawn Williams is hurt.
We had the 2nd oldest starting defense in the NFL last year and it's starting to show.
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(08-20-2017, 10:07 AM)muskiesfan Wrote: Obviously there is some value to how players perform in the preseason because that's how some jobs are won and lost. Agreed that the preseason record is not important.
With the OLine, I think we're getting a good idea of what to expect this season. I don't think they're going to magically gel, improve, and become a good unit. There is going to be a lot of struggling and growing pains with this line.
Of course, we had a below average line last year and lost our 2 best players. It was obvious they'd be even worse...yet A LOT of fans thought they'd improve somehow.
Hey, atleast we have $18.6 million in cap space!
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(08-20-2017, 10:09 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Of course, we had a below average line last year and lost our 2 best players. It was obvious they'd be even worse...yet A LOT of fans thought they'd improve somehow.
Hey, atleast we have $18.6 million in cap space!
Agreed. All of the cap space is going to do a lot to improve the team this year. We'll sign a couple of castoffs, but that'll be about it. As the days keep ticking away leading to the start of the season, I can't help but wonder where the extensions are that they've supposed to have been working on. We all know they shut down talks during the season, so if Burfict or Eifert aren't signed soon, they saved a whole bunch of money for no other reason than for Brown to save a whole bunch of money.
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(08-20-2017, 10:13 AM)muskiesfan Wrote: Agreed. All of the cap space is going to do a lot to improve the team this year. We'll sign a couple of castoffs, but that'll be about it. As the days keep ticking away leading to the start of the season, I can't help but wonder where the extensions are that they've supposed to have been working on. We all know they shut down talks during the season, so if Burfict or Eifert aren't signed soon, they saved a whole bunch of money for no other reason than for Brown to save a whole bunch of money.
Hey man...without that cap space we'd risk breaking this thing up.
The reality is Green and Atkins are 29. Dunlap 28. We had the 2nd oldest starting defense in the NFL last year.
Our window is shutting.
And we are losing impact players faster than we can replace them in the draft. We'd need to find about 3 starters a year...and we aren't doing that.
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..
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It's hard to not overreact after watching preseason games, but you're completely right. The entire preseason is pointless in terms of rating teams. The Lions went 4-0 in the season they went 16-0(i think).
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(08-20-2017, 09:14 AM)PhilHos Wrote: Preseason game 2 of the 2015 season.
Bengals vs Buccaneers
Bengals played horribly with Dalton completing under 50% of his passes with 2 INTs and defense not looking so good.
Yet we were a Dalton injury and a few mental breakdowns from winning at least one playoff game after winning 12 games.
Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we are going to do that again. The point is preseason games are meaningless including how the team plays in them.
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Fans of every team seem to overreact in preseason. Just because their team played well or bad doesn't mean anything really. Neither side is game planning for the other team. They're just out there running plays. It's mostly to see who's going to be where on the depth chart. We will see how good/bad the team is come week 3 or 4 of the regular season.
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(08-21-2017, 09:00 AM)rezolve11 Wrote: It's hard to not overreact after watching preseason games, but you're completely right. The entire preseason is pointless in terms of rating teams. The Lions went 4-0 in the season they went 16-0(i think).
Well 4-0
And then 0-16. But yes
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I wonder if Dalton will also have visions of the halcyon days of 2015 (well, you know...before it all came crashing down like every decent Bengals season) while he's lying on his back seeing stars thanks to our "NOW MORE ECONOMICALLY FRIENDLY!" o-line.
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I'm worried about a questionable defense that is banged up before Game 1.
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(08-21-2017, 09:00 AM)rezolve11 Wrote: It's hard to not overreact after watching preseason games, but you're completely right. The entire preseason is pointless in terms of rating teams. The Lions went 4-0 in the season they went 16-0(i think).
The Lions did go 4-0 in the pre-season before going 0-16 in the regular season. However, they went into the season with:
- huge questions at QB and other important positions
- a 4-0 preseason where they didn't look particularly good even though they outscored their opponents
- a middling offense
- a QB in an over the hill Kitna who had 18 TDs to 20 interceptions and an amazing 17 fumbles with 6 lost in 2007
- Drew Stanton and Dan Orzovolosksvovkssoskski waiting in the wings for when Kitna finally fell apart
- the 32nd ranked defense in 2007
Basically, I'm saying that if you legitimately thought that people looked at the Lion's "winning" all 4 pre-season games and started thinking "Wow, this team is great!" I've got a sandbox in Florida to sell you. There is a big difference between looking good in the pre-season and going 4-0.
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(08-21-2017, 06:43 PM)Nately120 Wrote: The Lions did go 4-0 in the pre-season before going 0-16 in the regular season. However, they went into the season with:
- huge questions at QB and other important positions
- a 4-0 preseason where they didn't look particularly good even though they outscored their opponents
- a middling offense
- a QB in an over the hill Kitna who had 18 TDs to 20 interceptions and an amazing 17 fumbles with 6 lost in 2007
- Drew Stanton and Dan Orzovolosksvovkssoskski waiting in the wings for when Kitna finally fell apart
- the 32nd ranked defense in 2007
Basically, I'm saying that if you legitimately thought that people looked at the Lion's "winning" all 4 pre-season games and started thinking "Wow, this team is great!" I've got a sandbox in Florida to sell you. There is a big difference between looking good in the pre-season and going 4-0.
But would it actually surprise you if some people thought the Lions were great? You know a lot of people only look at the numbers. Oh! The Lions went 4-0 in the Preseason! Super Bowl incoming!
You know?
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(08-22-2017, 08:14 AM)rezolve11 Wrote: But would it actually surprise you if some people thought the Lions were great? You know a lot of people only look at the numbers. Oh! The Lions went 4-0 in the Preseason! Super Bowl incoming!
You know?
The Browns are 2-0 in the preseason right now. How many people do you think are betting on them wining it all? Are they starting to worry you? Do you picture Brock Osweiller hoisting the Lombardi yet? Do you really think in 2008 any sane people were picturing Dan Orlovski hosing the Lombardi while Tom Brady/Pig Ben/Peyton Manning looked on with a frown?
I mean...it's possible, but that's just crazy talk.
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