Lions Injury Déjà Vu: How Detroit Adapts When History Repeats - EP 005

Chris Stone [: 00:00:02

Jir down the 10. J to the fight. Samir to the end zone. Touchdown Detroit Lions.

Chris Stone [: 00:00:07

Hand off. Barry turns to the left side, breaks.

Chris Stone [: 00:00:09

A tackle and he will take it into third. Touchdown. That's what I'm talking about. It is caught. Touchdown Detroit Lions. Amin Ross St. Brown. Oh baby, what a play that time.

Chris Stone [: 00:00:24

Aiden Hutchinson Robinson read that and blew it up big time. Stand by that defense.

Chris Stone [: 00:00:30

All right. Welcome in Lions Gray Mains fam. My name is Chris stone. I'm@cast ahead.net and the gentleman on the right side of the screen, he is the chief intelligence officer of Blue Kool aid and cornbread Dr. Brent Crider, DBC. Hey, did it feel like a loss against the Bengals?

Brent Crider [: 00:00:52

Yeah, you know it's sort of deflating because we, well, we'll get into all the reasons why but the, the Lions, the Lions had had quite a few opportunities to score and they didn't, they didn't score. The turnover on Manu not blocking anybody and, and just not taking advantage of all the situations. But again, these are good things, good problems to have. But you mentioned it last week Chris, when it feels like you lost and you, you know you're number one in the NFL and scoring and on track to, to be second all time on, on the the season scoring list. So, so I'll take that all day.

Chris Stone [: 00:01:33

Yeah, I think it's. Yeah. We have to kind of understand like it. We always feel like it's never good enough. We just came off of 15 and two season and then the, you know the, the book ended of, of the loss against Washington and then followed by Green Bay and then all just became right in the world and we all, we expect to go undefeated and we have to remember, you know, Bengals are an NFL team and we got our starting cornerback, our CB1 at the time who people love to talk badly about. But when he was out, Bengals scored three touchdowns on us and that, that changed the game a little bit, didn't it? We all kind of felt like we were just going to cruise to a 50 burger and unfortunately Jake Brown Browning had other things in mind especially when Terry on Arnold got hurt and we're going to get into the injuries later in the show. We're going to be bringing on Dan Keener. We also have Mike Terry in the back giving us all the data and fact checking everything that we say because I mean I don't say anything wrong but Brent, I mean we got it, we got to fact check Brent because you know.

Chris Stone [: 00:02:42

No, I'm kidding but we're in the House. And you know, ladies and gentlemen, we are Lions Gray Mains. Make sure if this is your first time joining us, hit us up in the chat. The chat is wide open. We, we want to identify the folks that, that are in here on the show. We're live on ax, we're live on Twitch, we're live on Facebook, we're live on YouTube, all the places soon to be tick tock. I know not everybody here is a tick tocker, but we got. We're gonna have live access there very, very soon.

Chris Stone [: 00:03:14

So we're excited about some new folks over there. So if you're, if you're here, hit us up in the chat. Let us know about your thoughts on the Bengals game, how you feel about, you know, how, how things are going with the secondary, how you feel. We're going to be talking about the upcoming game against the Chiefs because we did see the Chiefs last night and kind of felt like I was. I was hoping the Chiefs would win. Brent, I don't know about you, because then they kind of feel a little high on themselves coming in, but I think we have, we have some things to look at there. And speaking of the ch being wide open, our friend Wanda Rich is in the house. Hey, hey, hey.

Chris Stone [: 00:03:55

She says you mentioned the Lions defense can be elite on the last show. Please explain how that is the case. Now before we get into this Wanda, and we're going to roll it over to. To the elite Dr. Brent Crider on this. But before we go into this Wanda, and you'll appreciate this, I'm going to initiate a drinking game for, for Lions Gray Means, and I'm going to, I'm going to pull in our man Dan Keener as well, and he's, he's ready. He's ready to have. Have a drink.

Chris Stone [: 00:04:27

So get out your. Your blue Kool Aid of choice. You know, I've got, I've got some Lions G series cool blue for that. I also have some Town Club Honolulu Blue cream soda as well. And we're going to have a drinking game. So every time the word elite is spoken, take a drink. So the, the blue Kool Aid of your choice, and we're going to roll it over to. To the elite Dr.

Chris Stone [: 00:05:00

Brent Crider. See what I did? There we go. Everybody have a sip.

Brent Crider [: 00:05:05

Take a drink.

Dan Keener [: 00:05:06

Ah.

Chris Stone [: 00:05:07

Ooh, that Kool Aid tastes good. And we'll talk about this. The defense can be elite, and I think that's, that's the key, right, Brett? The defense can be elite, and I think it has a Lot to do with their health. So dbc, we'll roll this over to you, man.

Brent Crider [: 00:05:25

Well, where do we start? We've covered over the past few weeks the defensive line, the linebacking corps and the secondary. And look, one of the things that I think every elite. There you go. I owe one drink. Every elite team in a defensive team in the history of the NFL has had premium players at all levels of the defense. And the, the Lions are in a position to where they have top shelf. See what I did there? Top shelf, top shelf players at all levels of the defense. Now in the NFL, we know that health matters as much as anything because if you're not available you and you can't play, then you don't matter.

Chris Stone [: 00:06:16

Yeah.

Brent Crider [: 00:06:16

And so the, the, the beauty is that we haven't lost players for the year with the exception of rake straw to this point. We, we're, we. We're in a situation to where we are going to get players back and we'll, and when Dan comes in, we're going to do a deep dive again on cornerback situation. Um, but it looks like we may have avoided a catastrophic situation with Terry. On Arnold. We've got some reporting indicating that the injury is not as bad as it appeared to be. DJ Reed's on the injured list. He's got three more weeks on that to where he can start practicing again.

Brent Crider [: 00:06:55

And, and we're, you know, we, we were told that his injury was not as bad as originally anticipated it being. And what, what DJ said was it felt like the bone tore. The, the, the hamstring tore off the bone. And, and so the good news is it's, it's, it's, you know, probably a grade two sprained from all indications, meaning, you know, four to six weeks, he should be, he should be back on the field. Cornerbacks, I feel really good, especially after, you know, a lot of folks were criticizing Tarryon Arnold over the past few weeks and I, and I, and I like many others paid a lot of attention to Tarry on Arn and I had intended on doing an analysis, but there were, there were a number of folks that did a really great job of, of analyzing his play.

Dan Keener [: 00:07:45

Yeah.

Brent Crider [: 00:07:45

And when, when he was in the game, Jamar Chase had two receptions and something like 20 something yards. And, and so the good news is I, I feel like Teron Arnold is maturing. As we had discussed a few weeks back. I think D.J. reed has, has proven over time to be a really good player at corner. Now the Lions, when, when they have those guys on the field, they, they present some unique opportunities for the, for the, the rest of the defense. When you can lock down on the outside, you can, you can let your linebackers focus on that second level beyond, you know, the mid the midfield where when teams play play action pass, they love to throw to the tight ends. They love to throw the ends to the receivers.

Brent Crider [: 00:08:33

And so you know, with our, with our safeties who, I would argue our safeties are the best in the NFL. ESPN did a rating on, on safeties and both Brian Branch and, and and Kirby were rated in the top five safeties in the NFL. There's no other team that has a pair of safeties like the Lions have. Regardless, you know, Dan was a big advocate for drafting Hamilton a few years ago and he, he, by many, many are accounts is the top rated safety in the NFL. And so when you can play two safeties that are top five safeties and the combination of good, good cornerbacks, safeties, and then you go into, you start to look at our linebackers, I love that image. But you look at the linebackers and, and Jack Campbell has taken tremendous strides and in his play. There was one play that, that I remember Chris, during the game, during the Bengals game, you were saying who is he covering? But it situation where he wasn't pat the quarterback wasn't past the line of scrimmage. He has to maintain his discipline and, and stick with the receiver.

Brent Crider [: 00:09:42

But, but you know, it's one of.

Chris Stone [: 00:09:44

Those looks like you just let him go by him. It was a, it was a, it was a wacky, wacky play. And you know, it definitely out of character for him because he's proven that, that he can, he can play. I just feel like, you know, it if, because I know we've got a lot to get to tonight. I just feel like there are a handful of players. I think Jack Campbell's on the cusp of being that player. Right. I think we know Brian Branch is that player.

Chris Stone [: 00:10:11

I think we know Kirby Joseph is that player. I think we know Aiden Hutchinson is that player. I loved how our defensive line is playing around Aiden Hutchinson. I felt like our defensive line had a fantastic game against the Bengals and I think that was proven with the PFF grades as well. Obviously our secondary now is hurt and so it's tough to say, hey, this defense can be elite because these guys are hurt. And I think all of the news and the coverage to your point about Tarion, like, hey, what we saw was a really bad interference play from Tarion. But, but, and he got beat and he took a dive that he shouldn't have. And that interference call was, was not great.

Chris Stone [: 00:10:58

That was kind of that, that felt like last year. Terrion kind of. And you're going to get that. But then, you know, I think it was one or two plays later made a great play on the ball. And certainly that pick that Kirby made was going to be Tarrion's pick. And, and the reason why they were in that situation was because of the great coverage of Terrion Arnold in that situation. So I do want to bring in Dan on this because you know, we, we, we are covering the Bengals game. But I wanted, you know, what we're talking about tonight is, and a lot of that is in the secondary.

Chris Stone [: 00:11:36

We did get some good, I don't want to say good news, but I mean probably the best news considering, you know, on Terry and I think we're talking about him coming back in what, four weeks. Is that what we're, what we're potentially talking about?

Dan Keener [: 00:11:51

I believe they said that the timeline, if it holds from today's news that he would be good would be by the end of October. So that's two games in the bye week. And honestly, keep in mind, no transactions today from the Lions. They did try and poach a cornerback from the Saints roster, but the Saints countered and moved him practice squad, excuse me, Saints counter moved them him up to their main roster. So Brad is trying to get some more health, some more depth out there and some healthy guys. He's, he was a bigger kid, like six two, like 195 tackler, not much of a playmaker in terms of interceptions, but lots of tackles and he's played a lot of football so didn't get him. But he's trying, you know, Holmes is trying to bolster the ranks. I will say this so I just double check something before we hopped on.

Dan Keener [: 00:12:46

I was unaware of this, but the bye week does not count towards the four week window for a player that goes on injured reserve. Oh, so that means five weeks for anybody that overlaps that by week they're actually out. So that's probably why we didn't see somebody like Decker, even Reed for that matter. Well, read the re going into reserve. He did. Did, he did. Arnold wasn't put on IR today. Of course they didn't get somebody to replace him on the roster.

Dan Keener [: 00:13:20

So maybe that's the case. And we don't know what the deal is with Dorsey. He had a concussion, then he left the game with a wrist injury. I'm sorry he didn't Play, but they said he was, he was out. He got a wrist injury in practice last week, so. And I believe Campbell. Campbell said yesterday he's going to be out for a while and he may be out longer than, than Arnold is at this point, so. But he was not put on injured reserve either.

Dan Keener [: 00:13:47

So not sure where we're going. But we are trying to. You know, Lions are still trying to look for depth. You know, we, we signed Nick Whiteside in camp. Obviously Trey Flowers somehow made it onto the field, which not ideal. He was out there on that busted play when chase took that 60 plus yard touchdown. I don't know if that was his side of the field or a mix up or what happened there. Yeah, that was somebody.

Dan Keener [: 00:14:14

Obviously it's broken coverage somewhere.

Chris Stone [: 00:14:16

That felt like deja vu for last. I mean last year we had so many guys. We were signing Jamal Adams off the couch and he was playing right. It was just, it was crazy. You know how, how that was. And that's, that's what it felt like with Trey Flowers. It was like he just got signed and he didn't even. Like he came out with his mouthpiece not even connected to his face mask and it was flopping.

Chris Stone [: 00:14:38

It looked like he had just like got his jersey that afternoon. You know, it was, it was a little unnerving. And of course the Amiek Robertson, you know, listen, I love Amiek. He had a pick in the game. It was fantastic. He just guessed wrong against the best wide receiver in the game.

Dan Keener [: 00:14:58

And yeah, he played the wrong coverage.

Chris Stone [: 00:15:00

I mean that was, that was shortly after Tarion got taken out of the game. Right. And so I feel like how much. And I mean, Dan, Brent, either one of you guys feel free to chime in on this. How much of this is, you know, Shep learning this kind of stuff. Like, you know, like when you're CB1 goes out, like what are we. How are we changing the. We're not just saying, okay, next man up, just plug this guy in.

Chris Stone [: 00:15:28

Especially on this team, they got a lot of. Number of hybrid guys. Rock Rocky Scene has been playing. They were all out as well. Like all those guys are out there, right? Do you feel like there was a plan that Shep had for that and or are we just, you know, like. I don't know. I just feel like a Mick is better than that and he just made a, made a bad play there.

Dan Keener [: 00:15:52

To your point though, I think he did have a plan. The problem was his plan got blown up. You know, when, when that went in Avante, Maddox was already on the field. So he is our next man up. He's that hybrid corner safety role guy. He was already on the field when we lost. Whoever got hurt and got knocked out with cramps. Was that with the cramps in.

Dan Keener [: 00:16:19

So rocky scene went off with cramps the second time. That was the play that brought in, that brought in Trey Flowers and then, you know, obviously a me guessed wrong. So at that point in time you had plan C and D on the field already, Chris, from my perspective. So, you know, he had, I'm sure going to that game, he had a very set rotation of how he'd be bringing folks in. I did read somewhere, I think it was Brad Gallas who posted it about how the Lions played too high safety more in this game than they had all year long. So that's probably your counter to losing so many of your pure cornerbacks. But yeah, that, that I, I think he has a plan. I think he stuck with it and it is what it is.

Dan Keener [: 00:17:07

We have who we have right now and we pick guys up. But kind of like this Hutch thing, getting his extension signed when if you don't get somebody on your roster, a good replacement, if you have aspirations of being a playoff team and you want to sign somebody like go get a Tariq Woolen from, you know, Seattle or whoever you needed to do it before you had injuries to the point where you're getting decimated and the price goes up.

Chris Stone [: 00:17:34

Yep.

Dan Keener [: 00:17:35

So it could have been a, he could have been a six rounder two weeks ago. Now he might be a fourth, which I don't believe we even have a fourth. So.

Chris Stone [: 00:17:43

Right.

Dan Keener [: 00:17:44

You know, you got to. That's something to keep in mind too, is that Holmes is not going to overpay, but he also needs to consider that, you know, the longer he waits, if we get more injuries, we are definitely going to have to pay a premium.

Chris Stone [: 00:17:56

Brent, do you think coming into, you know, coming into Kansas City and then Tampa Bay that we're going to be, you know, not only are we looking at two of the premier quarterbacks in the league in Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, also quite mobile quarterbacks as well. And that, that absolutely puts stress on not just linebackers trying to track these guys down, but, you know, it keeps the, keeps them in the pocket longer, scrambling around and there. And your cornerbacks have to cover longer. How worried are you going into Kansas City and then Tampa Bay with the, with the cornerbacks?

Brent Crider [: 00:18:35

We have, I think to the point Dan made about too high safety. I think the plan going into the Game even being down just DJ Reed was to play more too high safety. When you, when you've got the receivers that the Bengals have, you have to take away the deep ball because that was going to be how they were going to score their points, and it proved out to be the case. And, and so, you know, too high safety is, is probably what you're going to see more of in Kansas City and against Tampa Bay than what you would have seen with DJ Reed and, and Ta out on the field. So look, Dan Campbell addressed this in his press conference. He, he very clearly said, look, we're, we're not just going to roll guys out there and expect them to perform at the same level as DJ and Terry on. And, and we're gonna, we're gonna coach them up, we're gonna put sch them in the best position to be successful. And so what I think you're going to see more, you're going to see more zone, you're going to see potentially some cover too, and you're going to see two high safeties in that cover too, because you've got to, you've got to take away the deep ball.

Brent Crider [: 00:19:45

Patrick Mahomes, you saw it last night, he throws the deep ball as well as anybody. And, and you know, Baker Mayfield is, is an absolute gunslinger. He's got weapons all over the field.

Chris Stone [: 00:19:57

Tough as nails. Yeah, absolutely.

Brent Crider [: 00:19:59

Yeah. So, so these are be two much more difficult games for the Lions than they would have been if we had been able to lock down, you know, the, the outside receivers. But the Bucks, in fairness, they've got some injury concerns that we'll get into next week in more detail. But, but you know, their, their leading receiver is, is still injured from hamstring injury. Not sure if Mike Evans will be back for the, for the Lions game. You know, you got, you got another stud receiver that's coming off of a broken ankle. Dislocated, broken. And, and you know, he's really just kind of getting his legs back under him.

Brent Crider [: 00:20:36

So I buka is. Is really having a fantastic, fantastic rookie season. Not a surprise, because, you know, Baker Mayfield, I got a lot of time for Baker Mayfield. He's as fire as they come. He can throw the football. He's tough as nails. And so the, the Lions, when they play Tampa, are going to have to be concerned about the same thing that they're going to be concerned about with Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs, I mean, you hate to talk this early in the season about must win games, but the Chiefs are finding themselves quickly In a position to where they're, they're going to, they're going to not have home field advantage.

Brent Crider [: 00:21:15

And part of the recipe for success for the Chiefs has been year after year after year after year is home field advantage. A buy and home field advantage bringing teams to Arrowhead Stadium in January. And, and, and so you know they're, they're clearly not in a position to where if they lose, you know, a couple more games to where they're going to have the number one seed and host teams in Kansas City. Doesn't mean that, that Patrick Mahomes can't go anywhere and win. But the Chiefs did not look like the Chiefs of old to me last night. And watching them over the last few weeks, just a little bit. The Chiefs are not what the Chiefs were when they won those Super Bowls. And, and doesn't mean that the Lions will win.

Brent Crider [: 00:22:04

Doesn't mean the lines will lose in Arrowhead. But there are some, some things that, that are concerning from a Chief's perspective. There was a video last night of, of you know, the, the All Pro reportedly, you know, and arguably the best defensive tackle in the NFL just standing there on that touchdown that you were just playing. And, and so it much like what we're seeing with the Ravens, there's a lot to be critical of now that the, the Chiefs are not the dumpster fire that the Ravens have become. No. At this point. Yeah, but, but the Chiefs are certainly not the, you know the team, the elite team that we, we've seen over the past few years. So I think, I think there's a, there's a case to be made that the Lions we, we.

Brent Crider [: 00:22:52

I really do believe the Lions are going to score their points. I, I just can't see that Chief's defense shutting the Lions down when, when the Jaguars offense looked incredibly efficient last night. But the Jaguars should have had two more touchdowns in that game. That fumble on the one inch line that, that, that they had and then, and then you know they, they really, really move the ball at will on that Chief's defense.

Chris Stone [: 00:23:20

The pick return for a touchdown was a big deal. I mean you know, 99 yard. I mean that swing is just hard to overcome even when you are the Chiefs. And I just feel like you know, there's the defense in my opinion probably will be a lot like what we saw them against Lamar and a little bit like they played Caleb where you know let's, let's not you know, send the house, you know, guys flying at this guy because he's just, he's slippery. You saw, you saw Patrick Mahomes, very slippery player. And when he can get through that line and kind of, you know, do his thing, jump around and throw the ball in some weird way and hit guys, that's when you can get, you can get caught with Patrick Mahomes, but he's going to, I mean you're going to see Patrick Mahomes make a play or two like that every game. There's not a lot you could do about it. You could, you just, you know, you know, try to get them, try to get them down and hope your cornerbacks can cover long enough.

Chris Stone [: 00:24:20

Mike Terry did hit us back here with some information. We do have a fourth round pick from what, from what Mike says, we've got our own picks in rounds one through five and round six is unclear. Acquired through trade specific, not confirmed. And then seventh round is an unclear conditional pick from previous trades. So we have a little, looks like we have a little juice to play with in terms of, you know, getting a reek Wolin or somebody. I'm not super, you know, but no team is trading good cornerbacks. I mean, I know that they're sniffing at this guy who's on the Giants in his, you know, just coming off an injury and of course, you know, what better player for, for Brad Holmes than a guy that's coming off an injury right now? We won't, we won't say that but.

Brent Crider [: 00:25:24

In any couple of things to point out, Chris, on the Chiefs defense. Yeah. That, that we were, we were hitting on there. One is the, the, the Jaguars were able to, were able to throw the ball effectively. I, I really do think that the Chiefs had the benefit of a few calls which you know, I guess super bowl champions and teams with the reputation that they have often do get calls. And, and thanks Mike for posting the, the, the penalties there. It's there it even, even during the play, the announcer, the ref who's on, you know, studio alert there was saying that's pass interference. The, the Chiefs receiver set the pick three or four yards down the field and the, the Chiefs were arguing it was one yard pick and therefore it was a legal pick.

Brent Crider [: 00:26:17

I, I think, I think all of us would look at that and go that was clearly. I mean the guy went into the end, in the edge of the end zone and started blocking and set a really good pick would have been great in the NBA. Fantastic NBA pick, you know, for power four, you know, setting the pick for, for a swing coming off. And, and so, you know, the Chiefs had the benefit of A few calls that, that, that you know, great elite, great teams take a drink oftentimes have, you know, get the, get the, the benefit of those calls so we can expect 80,000 fans. The Lions fans will invade again like, like a couple of years ago. And it's a lot of fun that the Arrowhead crowd is, is, you know, good people. Midwestern value.

Chris Stone [: 00:27:05

Loudest stadium I've ever been in this.

Brent Crider [: 00:27:07

Stadium in the, in football. And they are going to come and they've got revenge on their mind. They know that the Lions beat them. There was a lot of talk about that after the fact. The Lions, you know, were very proud of what they had accomplished and I think the Chiefs are proud and they will remember that just like the Lions of laid Wood a few times, remember what they did to Dallas last after losing, you know, a close game that we shouldn't have lost. And the Chiefs felt like they probably shouldn't have lost that game. They were down to, you know, Chris Jones and, and Travis Kelsey. So the, the reality is that the Chiefs are going to come motivated to play and they, as I said, it's going to become a desperate situation for them if they don't win some games and you know, run off a few wins in a row because they're, you know, their dreams of getting back to the super bowl this year are going to be dramatically impacted if they don't have that home field advantage.

Brent Crider [: 00:28:09

So winning, winning is going to be very important to them this week. The Lions, they're going to see a wounded, a wounded cat. They're going to see the fact that we've got our corners down and Mahomes has got some weapons. The receivers, Worthy and Brown and Kelsey and Smith, Schuster, they, they've got receivers that can get down the field. And so the key to this game is going to be how well those corners can hold up that, that, that safety over the top coverage as well as pressure. Can we get pressure on Mahomes like we did a couple years ago and, and make it so that he is, is not able to just sit back there and pick, pick the secondary apartment we saw what the Bengals with a, with a, you know, a guy who arguably shouldn't even be playing in the NFL could do in the second half against, against those, you know, those second, third and as Dan called it, you know, fourth string corners. And so, you know, this week the keys to the game are going to be how well that secondary can hold up, how much pressure we can apply containing Patrick Mahomes because once he breaks contained and Gets out on the edge. He is a master at behind the back passes and you know, free throw shot passes, chess passes and, and finding deep receivers that break open late in.

Brent Crider [: 00:29:36

In the secondary. So with that I think those are, those are probably the keys to the game defensively for the Lions.

Dan Keener [: 00:29:44

Hey Chris, if you want to some late like breaking news. We now know who the officiating crew is and it's very favorable to the Lions really. So just came out it is officiating crew is Craig Wolstad Rolst. It's W R O L S T A D I'll have. I'll post it tomorrow.

Chris Stone [: 00:30:06

All the, all the stuff on it@thegraymains.com.

Dan Keener [: 00:30:09

Everyone graymains.com it's elite. I need a drink. I'm sorry if, if you want to bring up that tail the tape on the penalties that I posted in the chat there. If you take a look at the bottom of that thing it shows which team is you know the teams and how they're susceptible. So the, the. That's the wrong one. That's the. The you want the second one down.

Dan Keener [: 00:30:37

That's the lineup. There you go. So if you look at the penalties, look at the top two penalties for the Chiefs bottom right. What do you see there?

Chris Stone [: 00:30:44

Quantity of 10 for offensive holding and a quantity of 5 penalties for false start.

Dan Keener [: 00:30:52

All right, so we've played the Chiefs before and we all know the legend that is Juwan Taylor, Mr. Lines up in the backfield and jumps every time. Well guess what? This year the NFL is finally calling Mr. Taylor for his violations of penalties. He has seven penalties this year so far and four offensive holdings, two false starts and two illegal formations. So this guy here is finally getting called for the stuff that everyone has been and I guess I could say we're not family friendly. Are we bitching about with him? For the last three, four years, you know he has been constantly giving a huge given a huge get off advantage over a defensive end because the they just simply weren't calling him for breaking protocol. Right.

Dan Keener [: 00:31:46

And leaving early and lining up late. So he's going to be going up against Hutchinson and he is going to be probably flagged. And the reason I say that is because I just went and pulled the data and I'll post this tomorrow. But the top two penalties called by this crew this year have been offensive holding and false start. So that's right in the wheelhouse, Mr. Taylor. So I do expect the Lions. You know we have a few of those too.

Dan Keener [: 00:32:17

You know that's Our second and third most penalties in our team. But I do expect that we're going to see a heavy dose of the Lions and Campbell's not going to be afraid to talk to the officials and point out to them that, hey, you need to keep an eye on Taylor because, you know, we. Where we're lining up across from him, he's been getting with murder and, you know, we expect that he's going to leave early and he's going to line up wrong. So essentially, you know, this, this is in the wheelhouse of this crew. So I am expecting to get an advantage there at least that we haven't had last week. We were at a disadvantage. That crew they actually had, they lead the league in penalties, number one and number two, they also lead the league by far in the amount of penalties they call against. Call against the visiting team.

Dan Keener [: 00:33:05

So that surprised me, but it came true. You know, we had eight for whatever it was last week. And, you know, the, the Bengals didn't have hardly near that. I think they had like five or six. You know, they weren't even close, but they were all smaller variety. So I do expect to see an advantage this week with the officiating, you know, and, and that hopefully will help negate some of the deficiencies we have in our defensive backfield. I believe also that. I will say this.

Dan Keener [: 00:33:34

I do believe they're going to get Rashid Rice back from suspension. I don't think he played Monday night, even though he was.

Chris Stone [: 00:33:42

When he was suspended, I did the math and thought that that did not include our game, so that he was going to be back the week after our game. I might be.

Dan Keener [: 00:33:52

So maybe we don't get him. Maybe this is this week six we're doing. So maybe he is not back this week. Looking at the stats from last night, I didn't catch the game in its entirety, but looks like there was somebody on their roster who had some big plays deep. TYQUAN Thornton had three catches for 90 yards. He averaged 30 yards of catch. So I don't know who this kid is. Kelsey, of course, had seven catches and 61 yards, but he's going to be somebody that I think we can have controlled with our linebacking crew.

Dan Keener [: 00:34:25

You know, they've just gotten better and better between Anzlonian Barnes and Campbell. Campbell's very underrated as a, as a linebacker that can cover. I know we've made fun of him and Brent has made fun of him or said he hasn't. This is the best. But between those guys and our safeties I think Kelsey Brent says he's elite. Brent said he's not pass coverage. He doesn't. I thought you were making fun of him.

Brent Crider [: 00:34:50

No, I think Campbell like Taron Arnold is getting a bad rap. If can break down the film. Campbell is, is top shelf, guys. I mean Jack Campbell is. Is going to be an all NFL.

Chris Stone [: 00:35:03

I'm going to start adding top shelf to the list of drinking game things.

Dan Keener [: 00:35:08

Like you can't based on whatever you say. If you say top shelf, you better be drinking something good on that instead of well liquor.

Brent Crider [: 00:35:15

Yeah.

Chris Stone [: 00:35:16

We need the blue Kool Aid on Yeho. Yeah, exactly. So thank you for the Pappy's. Mike Terry says Pappy's so. Yeah Brent, thanks for the clarification. Rice is eligible to return Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders. So hey not happy that that was. Yeah, I was like and I wasn't 100 sure.

Chris Stone [: 00:35:40

So thanks for fact. See guys, this is what you get on Lions gray mains. You get like not just people like putting stuff out there and you know, then having to go back and you know, we correct ourselves live. That's kind of.

Brent Crider [: 00:35:54

And breaking news. Dan coming out with breaking news. Yeah, the. But. But go back to Dan's. Yeah. To go back to Dan's point. Taekwond Thornton Dan, if that's who you were talking about.

Brent Crider [: 00:36:06

I think.

Dan Keener [: 00:36:06

Yeah, the wide receiver number eight.

Brent Crider [: 00:36:08

He was at Baylor. He was a second round pick three years ago and he, he's a, he's a really good athlete. He'd probably be starting on a lot of teams but the Chiefs have very good depth at receiver and, and so he doesn't get a lot as much playing time as. As I think he could if he, if he were on another team. But Rasheed Rice will be back in a couple weeks and, and so the Chiefs, they're. They're going to. They're going to come out this week and I think they're going to play a really tough game. They're going to.

Chris Stone [: 00:36:40

You know, this is not, this is not going to be easy. And they are favored by the way by a point or a point and a half and they are favored and I think that is. I don't think. You know, I don't feel like, you know, oh God, I don't feel disrespected at all. That is a absolute tough place to play. I know we went in there a couple, a couple years ago in week one and walked away with a win. Great point there, Brent. They did not have Kelsey but they did not Have Jones either.

Chris Stone [: 00:37:11

I do feel like Jones is probably getting his rear end reamed in, in the film room for, for taking that play off, which, you know, Lawrence ended up scoring on. It was a big factor in the game. So I do feel like, you know, he's gonna, he's gonna come back and he's gonna be Chris Jones. And so that, and Jones is an interior. They move him around a lot, but that it's. He causes some real problems in the inter. So I'm a little stressed out about that, but I wanted to, if I may, guys kind of pivot a little bit over because we are talking about some deja vu and some injuries. One of the key injuries, injured players that we got is Taylor Decker at left tackle.

Chris Stone [: 00:37:55

Obviously the blind side of Jared Goff. And one of the things that we were. When we talked about the pregame live and those that are listening or watching, we do go live before the games and we will do that again this Sunday. Right. Because we were playing Sunday night. Yeah, you're right. So we'll, we'll do a pregame. We usually go live for about an hour.

Chris Stone [: 00:38:17

It's. It's much more loose. There's not a, there's not a ton of data. We're. We get pumped up for the game. We give predictions and we have a lot of fun and, and felt like this past Sunday was a lot of fun. So please join us on Sunday. Watch for that as well.

Chris Stone [: 00:38:33

Of course, all of that stuff. You can follow us on Gray Mains at. At gray mains thegreymains.com and we'll make sure that where. Wherever you're at and you're comfortable to watch and listen, you could do that as well. But back to this, which is the Taylor Decker injury. And I love how Campbell addressed it, guys. He basically said, hey, listen, it just felt like every time we were giving him, Taylor the, the time off and then, and then having him play on Sunday, it felt like it was not improving. They were, they were kind of like pushing a rock up a hill.

Chris Stone [: 00:39:10

And so he just felt like, listen, we're going to give him another week and see what we have there. I don't think he, I don't think he said that it was definitive that Taylor Decker was out on Kansas City, but I think we're starting to assume that this may be the case that they're trying to figure that out. So that he talked about Manu, he talked about the other options that we talked about this past Sunday, that we talked about that happening because when he got downgraded and then became inactive, we were like, oh, God, let's make sure we've got a plan. And the one thing that we didn't want to see was Trey Hendrickson coming around that edge seemingly unblocked. Turnstiling Giovanni Manu. And there it was. And the worst things that can happen is a turnover in that situation, which that happened and then even worse would have been an injury. So you don't like to see your quarterback get hit like that.

Chris Stone [: 00:40:05

Right. And so I think when we're talking about left tackle and our options there, guys, do we. Let's just assume Taylor Decker's not playing against Kansas City. I know that gives me a little bit of a pit in my stomach, but do you think it's. Let's put Manu in there again. Let's learn from what happened. Even though we got the lowest PFF grade I think ever from an offensive lineman.

Dan Keener [: 00:40:30

Fourth. Lowest.

Chris Stone [: 00:40:31

Fourth lowest ever.

Dan Keener [: 00:40:32

I looked it up.

Chris Stone [: 00:40:34

Yeah. And so I think, do we learn from those mistakes? Do we give him more help? Do we attach Brock right to his left hip? Do we, you know, do we. Do we game plan around that, knowing that there is, there is thing because, you know, the Chiefs are salivating if, if Deckers out there, I'll roll this over. Brent, what are your thoughts here on. On the tackle position and how we're going to approach that?

Brent Crider [: 00:40:59

You know, what comes to mind being that we're Gray Mains is Larry Turnstile Tharp. I don't know if you guys remember that style.

Chris Stone [: 00:41:10

Wow.

Brent Crider [: 00:41:11

He was, he was well known for, you know, being a turnstile for defensive ends to just go right around him. And, and we don't have Barry Sanders in the back anymore to, to, to break tackles, you know, immediately upon taking the hand off, like was the case back in the day. But the, the. The fact of the matter is that the, the situation with Manu is, is not good. If, if we don't have Decker against this chief's defense, we're going to find ourselves in a position to where Goff is. Is going to take a lot of hits. You know, we had, we had talked about how he hadn't been sacked since the opening day game and, and the Bengals had four sacks. All credit to the fact that they have one of the.

Brent Crider [: 00:42:04

The best defensive ends in all of football. Hendrickson proved why he, he's what he is. Watching that guy get the edge is impressive. So what we, what the Chiefs don't have is, is that elite edge rusher like Hendrickson now when you look at Manu, he, I watched him a few times like after, after golf, almost got killed. It looked like he got hit by a truck. Was, was the fact that, that in the run game, Manu is such a big body. Giovanni Manu is a big soul. And so his ability to lock up and create lanes, you know, he's.

Brent Crider [: 00:42:53

Despite having the third worst rating ever for an offensive lineman, he's not elite.

Chris Stone [: 00:43:00

Is what you're saying.

Brent Crider [: 00:43:02

He is the antithesis of that.

Chris Stone [: 00:43:06

Everybody spit your drinks back in your cups.

Brent Crider [: 00:43:09

He is the well talking top shelf and he is the well. Right. But we, we. I frankly, I think the one thing we haven't talked about is our quarterback Jared Goff is, is playing at a level that no Detroit Lions quarterback has ever played at. And Dan posted to the, you know, we, for those of you that, that are listeners, we have a slack group that we've been, we share information. It's fantastic. Dan was kind enough to set it up a few years ago and we, we share thoughts and publish articles and share, you know, information there. And, and I was, I was looking at Jared Goff stats after Dan posted that, you know, Jared Goff has these outstanding passing statistics when pressured and his reputation in the past, whether it was deserved or not, just like Tarryon Arnold is the worst cornerback in the history of the world.

Brent Crider [: 00:44:13

Discussions that, that, you know, have we've been listening to over the past month. Jared Goff is. His quarterback rating is 120.7. You know, we're talking about one of the best quarterback ratings. And, and if it, if it sustains for a full season in the history of the NFL. I mean, few quarterbacks have ever achieved a quarterback rating of 120.7 over the course of a season. We're only a third, almost a third of the way through the season here. But, but Jared Goff is having a fantastic year.

Brent Crider [: 00:44:49

And I, and I thought just for giggles, you know, because we can go back to the new conversations and what do we do about the offensive line in a second. But Jared Goff's ratings, quarterback ratings is higher than Everybody in the NFL except Lamar Jackson, who has an unbelievable 130.5 quarterback rating despite the Ravens melting down. Lamar is, is, is a, is a great, great quarterback. And, and we, we. There's a lot of conversation in the media. The media is really playing up this. Dak Prescott for mvp. I was watching really get up, get up this morning and, and, and these guys love Dak Prescott.

Brent Crider [: 00:45:36

Dak Prescott's the MVP of the of the league, folks. Jared Goff is playing at levels beyond what. What Dak Prescott is even capable of playing at.

Chris Stone [: 00:45:48

Ask. Ask Jared Goff what he thinks about it, and you know what he'll tell you? I don't care.

Brent Crider [: 00:45:54

You know, he doesn't care. He. He wants to win. He wants to play.

Chris Stone [: 00:45:58

That's our quarterback right there. That's it.

Brent Crider [: 00:46:01

Exactly.

Dan Keener [: 00:46:01

Does he want to be elite, Brent?

Brent Crider [: 00:46:05

I think he wants to be elite in the sense that he wants to be a leader and. And wants the Lions to win and whatever he can. Can do to contribute to that. Some days you got to make plays, right? I mean, as a quarterback, the ball's in your hand every play except for the snap to Montgomery for the touchdown pass.

Chris Stone [: 00:46:22

I think all these numbers are overrated. I really do. I mean, it's like, listen, Joe Burrow is an outstanding quarterback. Like, he is just. He's. But he's one of 11 players on that side of the ball that play, and he's. He's not, you know, obviously, he's. He's not.

Dan Keener [: 00:46:41

He's not in more than a minimum wage.

Brent Crider [: 00:46:43

Right?

Chris Stone [: 00:46:44

And so.

Brent Crider [: 00:46:45

But.

Chris Stone [: 00:46:45

But to your point, Brent, I think Jared Goff is in a lot of. I don't subscribe to the Lions fans that say where is. Why is Jared Goff not, you know, being mentioned in the MVP race and all of those kinds of things? I'm okay with that. I actually think this team seems to thrive without it. I actually think us being. Being underdogs going into Kansas City, they thrive on this. The leadership of Dan Campbell, that team. And it's like.

Chris Stone [: 00:47:17

I want to bring in this comment really quickly, Brent, so please put a pin in that. We want to get back to this. The two fan is joining us. Thank you again for joining us tonight. Professional team sports are challenging to coach. Managing the emotions of the team is where the magic happens. Having said that, what matters most about last week, the win or the way they played?

Brent Crider [: 00:47:41

This is.

Chris Stone [: 00:47:41

This is an excellent question because it kind of ties into. What we're talking about here is like, are we, you know, we have a team here, right? This is. This is. This is, you know, led by a. Led by a coach that a lot. I, you know, I think 30 other, you know, teams would love to have, but they're not going to say it right. I know the Cardinals right now would rather have mcdc as a head coach because he's not pushing players and, you know, getting fined on the sidelines. I digress.

Chris Stone [: 00:48:09

But this is a great question, Brent. What Are your thoughts here? You know, what matters most about last week? The win or the way they played?

Brent Crider [: 00:48:18

What, what does Dan Campbell say? Every, after every game? Wins in the NFL are hard. Winning in the NFL is hard. It is, it is. The most elite athletes in the world. The, the margin between victory and defeat in the NFL is so small. There are five or six plays off oftentimes that decide the game because of, because of that, that razor sharp edge between winning and losing a game. And so the. You don't think the Miami Dolphins would, wouldn't love to have Dan Campbell coaching their team? Wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't.

Brent Crider [: 00:48:57

You know, 28, potentially 29 other teams love to have Dan Campbell coaching their team? Of course, 100% because Dan Campbell's focus is on the team. And you know, I know, I know Keener here is a Ohio State guy and here it comes guy, but it's all about the team. The team, the team. And I will, I will absolutely go to my grave believing that Dan Campbell's focus for this, this group of gentlemen is to win. And if we win, ugly, so what if we win? If we win, luckily, so what? A win is a win. And what does winning do? Winning breeds a confidence. Winning breeds a conviction that you can do it at any time, that you could do it every week and that you can do it for the long run. And so what, you know what I love about the two fans question.

Brent Crider [: 00:49:50

And by the way, thanks too fan, for joining. We're, you know, we're deeply appreciative of, of you and Wanda and all the other folks who are constantly engaging and post comments. We, we genuinely appreciate you guys so much. But the, at the end of the day, the best teams in the history of football have been about playing for each other. And this team, J o another example, he, he, they interviewed him the other day. Do you care that you don't get the ball? And, and it's the media stirring up stuff, right? They're trying to stir up controversy, they're trying to get a story. And what does JMO say? I, I don't, I don't really care.

Dan Keener [: 00:50:32

He just got paid though. Of course he doesn't care.

Chris Stone [: 00:50:34

Yeah, I do love watching him block, man. I love watching JMO block.

Dan Keener [: 00:50:38

Absolutely.

Chris Stone [: 00:50:39

So he's always down the field blocking man.

Dan Keener [: 00:50:41

You know where he learned that at Chris? He didn't learn at Alabama.

Chris Stone [: 00:50:45

Oh, I knew that was.

Dan Keener [: 00:50:46

You don't get on the field if you don't block. Ohio State.

Brent Crider [: 00:50:48

See, he learned it from Monroe St.

Chris Stone [: 00:50:50

Brown team the team, the team. That was Woody Hayes, right?

Dan Keener [: 00:50:53

Two years.

Chris Stone [: 00:50:54

Wasn't that Woody Hayes that said that?

Dan Keener [: 00:50:56

Probably. I don't know. Somebody, somebody back in the 70s said that. I don't know. I don't know. I don't really care. What's a win is a win. That's the important thing there.

Brent Crider [: 00:51:05

Exactly.

Dan Keener [: 00:51:05

But Brent, hit it.

Brent Crider [: 00:51:07

But the bottom line, guys, is that what, what Dan Campbell is creating is a culture of, of people who care more about each other. You know, Dan brought up the, the, the military history part of, you know, Mike and, and myself having spent years in, in the Navy and in the Air Force. And what we, what you learn is, and what they do from. In basic training is break you down. They take away your, your being an individual. And I, I watched an amazing speech by the Raiders coach. You know, I love that guy. I didn't like him when he was at usc.

Brent Crider [: 00:51:47

It certainly wasn't a fan when he was with Seattle.

Dan Keener [: 00:51:49

Pete Carroll.

Brent Crider [: 00:51:50

But Pete Carroll gave a speech about how you indoctrinate players in, in the military and in the NFL. And they're unlike any other, any other culture. The NFL has the challenge of, you know, these are millionaires, multi millionaires, 100 millionaires, almost billionaires nowadays in some cases. And, and so culturally, what you used to be able to do to the NFL players was much like what you could do to, to guys in the military, gentlemen and ladies in the military. And, and what Dan Campbell has managed to do, and we've talked about this in shows past. William, it's my pleasure. But what Dan Campbell has been able to do, mcdc, as he is affectionately known, is he has got everybody focused more on the team and winning. And it may be your week.

Brent Crider [: 00:52:48

We hear, we hear Knuckles and Sonic talk about this all the time. They don't care if they carry. They both, of course, want to carry the ball. Make no mistake about their fierce competitors. But they know that their time and their week and their day is going to come at some point. And, and you know, what I'm seeing from the receivers is, and I'll tell you right now, I do not think for a second that, you know, Michigan or Ohio State or any college program teaches the receivers to block. Like the Lions have made that a priority because Amon Ross ain't brown. Fierce, fierce blocker.

Brent Crider [: 00:53:26

Look at, look at the rookie Tesla from Arkansas. That guy is. He earned his reputation at the Senior Bowl. So, so, Dan, to your point, you know, you may be 100% right. There are college programs that focus on it more than others, certainly. But, but the Lions have made that a priority and that's all about sacrificing because you've got these premier position guys, one of the three top paid positions receivers, and they're prima donnas in many, in many instances. And those guys are out there fighting and blocking and ultimately the Lions running game is the success that it is because of that. And so, you know, to the two fans question, you're absolutely, you know, hitting on the right nerve and that is that Dan Campbell has made it a priority for these, these folks to win regardless of how ugly it might be.

Brent Crider [: 00:54:17

And so you know what, what I think the greatest success that the Lions are going to have is going to be they may not have the best players in every position. We can talk about levels of greatness and, and go, you know, debate that all day, but they've got, they've got really good players at all levels of the offense. And the best part about it is they're focused on being the best team that they can be.

Chris Stone [: 00:54:45

I love it. I love it. And just to tie that in and we're going to roll it over to Dan because he's got a point here. But Wanda, thank you. You are not a pest. There is no such thing as a pest on this, on this show. We appreciate each and every one of you who are joining and listen, anybody's got any comments or questions, you see how it is. We, we pull you up.

Chris Stone [: 00:55:09

Unless you're a bot like we're seeing here on Twitch tonight, you don't see our screen bot. How dare you be a bot on our screen. Dan, I know you, you had a point to, to what Brent was talking about.

Dan Keener [: 00:55:23

Yeah, it kind of ties back and he was talking about the, you know, he's going about the culture and we were joking about a wins. A win is a win. Right. But you know, back to this deja vu theme that tonight's pod is about. You know, we started it with the injuries and you know, I do have a comment about the line also here in a minute. But the one thing we can't do and yes, a win is a win is a win, but we can't do what we did last year, which was not prepare for the long haul. And we got, we lost in the playoffs because of injuries on our D line and of course somebody didn't wasn't giving it their all and he wasn't on the field, unfortunately, he was distracted. But we can't do that again this year.

Dan Keener [: 00:56:09

It's Benedict, I believe is how you Benedict Johnson, you've been called Johnson. So, so, you know, we need to, we need to make sure that, you know, Brad and Dan need to make sure that they don't fall into that same trap of, oh, we're winning, that's great. You know, we're winning ugly, we're winning big, we're dominating. You know, I don't want to see them fall into that same trap where they don't try and address deficiencies because, you know, he, he gets a couple guys, he gets some depth. What happens, we're down. If you could, if you use rake straw as another example, we are down what, three of our top five or four of our top five cornerbacks right now.

Chris Stone [: 00:56:49

Yep.

Dan Keener [: 00:56:49

You know, and, and that's not good, you know. Yes, we'll get them back. Last year we lost guys at the end of the season for extended periods. This year it feels like we're getting some bonus with getting guys like McNeil back and we should get Reed back, we should get, you know, Arnold back and so on. But we can't be complacent and just take accept wins. We have to stay ahead of the curve this year to be a championship team. So that's kind of the point I wanted to make is that we really need to make sure they, they stay on that. It's not, you know, nothing we could do about it.

Dan Keener [: 00:57:21

But I think Brad's actions today, trying to grab somebody off of Saints practice squad, that, that, that showed he is still committed to trying and bolstering depth.

Chris Stone [: 00:57:31

Yeah, it's, it's kind of the, the insurance play. Right. It's like, you know, they didn't, they did certainly didn't plan on having DJ Reed go down for, for, you know, a period of time. And they certainly did not plan to have tarry on, go down and you know, but they did, they did pull in Trey Flowers. So they've got, they, they've got, got some depth there. But it's, it feels like, you know, we need a little more insurance than that, you know, and experienced insurance. Yeah. And you know, from a cat perspective, I mean, we talk all the time how Brad is, has been, you know, very shrewd, I think, and not doing, you know, grabbing big names at trade deadlines.

Chris Stone [: 00:58:17

Everybody's like, oh God, you know, like, remember when we needed an edge rusher, guys? Who's talking about that now? Right. Our defensive line is, is, is great aqm, obviously, you know, just having some, you know, having a great past few games especially, you know, pressuring to that. So I'm, I am. I do feel like that is a bit. That's really the deja vu, right? The end of last season is now becoming the middle of this season and hopefully, you know, you know, we, the luck turns around for us and we, you know, but what happens if we lose, you know, more guys, right? We don't have, you know, Dorsey's hurt right now and you know, I mean who's to say that Rocky scene decides to like cramps is no longer cramps and you know, now it's like a serious injury. What are we doing then? Are we putting Brian Branch at corner? You know, it's Maddox. Maddox.

Brent Crider [: 00:59:14

There's an interesting discussion here guys because what, what Dan Campbell has, has brought to the Detroit Lions is a physicality that only few teams have, right? We, the Detroit Lions play physically and they bring it every game. And all this discussion about the preseason and holding players out and, and I think one thing, and Dan makes a great point, absolutely a great point about being smart. And so even, even Taylor Decker sitting out, I'm not sure, I'm not sure that the Lions would have done that last year or two years ago. And, and so the, the, the good news is the Lions are going to be physical. The bad news is that it's going to take its toll over the course of a long season. And so if we are in a situation to where we're, we're experiencing some of those, those injuries earlier in the year, the good news is, knock on wood, we've only had one injury that was season ending. Rake straw. And then of course Levi owns a work.

Brent Crider [: 01:00:24

It owns a weird. Okay. I always have trouble saying his name. There you go. We, we had two guys. Levi's was not football related supposedly. He should have had it taken care of early in the. And he'd probably be, probably be playing.

Brent Crider [: 01:00:40

There was a discussion about that. But the good news is the injuries that we have had are not season ending injuries like last year where we had a lot of season ending injuries. So the good news is Lions are going to play physical. That's going to take its toll on teams that are, that are not as talented, number one. And you know, when, when Dan talks about dragging you to the deep water and drowning you, that's, that's what he's talking about is we are going to out physical you. We are going to be more physical, we are going to be more aggressive and we are gonna, we're gonna choke the life out of you. I don't care if you have, you know, three Ass cheeks and, and two toes. I'm gonna beat your butt is what he said.

Brent Crider [: 01:01:26

And so that, that mentality, what comes with that is this physical nature that is gonna, that's gonna manifest itself in more injuries. Our key here is how do we get to the playoffs and, and, and be as healthy as we can be and not lose people for the year. So, so Dan, bringing up the, the fact that we've got to let you know, Taylor Decker get right. It's more important to let Taylor Decker get right. Jared Goff hopefully doesn't get hit by. Hit by any more buses in the games. But the, the reality is that, that we, we have to hope and, and I think somebody made a comment there that, that, that we are, we are going to be in a situation to where we can be as healthy as possible in, in the playoffs and late in the season.

Chris Stone [: 01:02:16

Yeah, fleeting exp says we're going to lose more guys. It's the NFL and they play tough. The trick is not to lose them for more than a few weeks. Which is, which is very true. Dan, I know you, you, you sent us this Adam Schefter tweet here.

Dan Keener [: 01:02:31

Yeah. So Schefter basically came out and said, you know, we've seen last week I had some fun with some Bengals fans and if you're listening, thanks for having fun with me. I'm an Ohio guy, by the way, Bengals fan. So.

Chris Stone [: 01:02:43

Oh, don't expect a little fun with you. Remember, I have the eject.

Dan Keener [: 01:02:47

Hey, I am a Detroit sports through and through, but I live in Ohio. So you know, but you know, one of the things that came up is that, you know, I was joking that the Lions broke both the Browns and the Bengals because we played them, we stomped them and they both made trades because guess what, their division sucks. I mean, the Steelers, I think are leading their division at what, three and one, three and two. You know, the Browns, the Bengals, they both were expected to be better. And of course the Ravens, holy smokes, you know, they're supposed to been a Super bowl contender, but injuries have just absolutely decimated them. So the tweet here is basically Schefter said between now and the trade deadline, which I don't know off top of my head when it is, maybe Mike can look it up. There it is the November 4th. So we've got about three weeks, a little over three weeks left.

Dan Keener [: 01:03:36

Schefter thinks there's going to be two, two to three trades a week as teams bolster their, their rosters. And we've had Last week, week Cam Robinson went to the Browns, you know, because they obviously realized they're with their. Their offensive tackles are not adequate. And this week, you know, you had what, two Today you had. You had Flacco going to the, to the Bengals. His Bengals clearly aren't going to get better with, with Browning. They know what he can't do. They need somebody that can help them win a game or two until they get burrow back.

Chris Stone [: 01:04:10

Yeah.

Dan Keener [: 01:04:10

And then I believe the other trade was the Ravens sent their underperforming defensive end, who only has something like four tackles and no sacks and one quarterback hit. They sent him off to San Diego, I think, for a safety because they're, they're back. Their defensive backfield is just decimated. So they need an experienced safety back there with guys being down, including Kyle Hamilton. And I think basically four of their top five DBs are out or injured. So, you know, Lions need to consider that. They need to make sure that we lose anybody else. We're prepared to make that trade, and if it costs us some draft capital, I guess so be it.

Dan Keener [: 01:04:52

Because we're in a position this year to go to the playoffs and make some noise. As long as we. We don't want to repeat last year, we go in and lay an egg.

Chris Stone [: 01:04:59

Right.

Dan Keener [: 01:05:00

Next two weeks are going to be important. You know, we could come out of this 0 and 2. It's not unreasonable. You know, Tampa's. Even with their injuries, there is still a dangerous team. Baker Mayfield has turned into just the kind of guy that you're just like, you hate his guts, but you wish he was on your team.

Chris Stone [: 01:05:17

Yeah.

Dan Keener [: 01:05:17

You know, he just makes plays and, and makes trash plays, but so does Patrick Mahomes. You know, he's made a living.

Chris Stone [: 01:05:24

Scrappy, tough player.

Dan Keener [: 01:05:26

Scrappy. But they can also. They can also throw a perfect pass. So I, you know that that's kind of where there. I did want to go back. One of the things, Brent, you were talking earlier about the line, you know, you guys are focusing on Manu and whether we keep him there. You know, we do have options. Right.

Dan Keener [: 01:05:43

The nuclear option is you take Penny and you move into left tackle. And the problem is you expose your rookie right guard to an inferior lineman next to him. And that probably doesn't. Is probably not a strengthening the offensive line as a whole type move. But we do have Skipper out there. Skipper has played in the last two years, and maybe, Mike, you can look this up. Skipper has played it for Decker at least twice, maybe three times. He has started games over the Last couple years since we've started this run of being a good team.

Dan Keener [: 01:06:20

And if he's healthy, because I know he was injured and was out, he might be an elevated call up. And frankly, I kind of thought he might have been called up this week. They called up Cochran instead. So maybe he hasn't been healthy. But, you know, between that and the DBs being decimated and had to call one of them up, we might be missing him. So if we see him practicing and see his name come out of the beat writers that are on the ground there up in Allen park, he. Maybe he's the guy they bring up to bring in if Manu struggles again. But.

Dan Keener [: 01:06:53

But, you know, Brad, I think you made a great point. They don't have a dominant pass rusher. You know, this. This is the game to make the adjustments. They know where he struggles now. And let's just say that the four sacks were not all on Manu. They. These.

Dan Keener [: 01:07:07

Morton tried to have Frickin. Right, or Zilster or whoever. I don't know who it was. They tried to have a tight end. Hendrickson.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:14

Yeah.

Dan Keener [: 01:07:15

On the strip sack. Are you nuts? You can't bring a guy over from the right hand side in motion and try and take him out and unblock Trey Hendrickson. It doesn't work. I thought that we sent that trash to Chicago with the rest of the trash.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:27

So, yeah, there were. There were two whiffs for Manu, but, yeah, we can't.

Dan Keener [: 01:07:31

He had two whiffs for sure.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:32

We can't. Yeah, I agree. We can't have Trey Hendricks. I mean, that is.

Dan Keener [: 01:07:37

That.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:38

That definitely was.

Dan Keener [: 01:07:38

That.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:39

That was not something that they wanted, you know, at that point. So you wonder if. If you know what happened there. But, yeah, guys, I know we're at the top, Top of the hour. It looks like 11 starts for. For skipper since 2022. I. I don't know about Skipper.

Chris Stone [: 01:07:59

I'm just. I, you know, I'm not in this.

Brent Crider [: 01:08:01

I.

Dan Keener [: 01:08:01

Listen, I'm at.

Chris Stone [: 01:08:03

Yeah, I mean, but like, I, you know, he didn't. He didn't quite make the team. Got hurt. Like, it. There's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of stuff there. Listen, I'm. I root for the guy big time. He's huge.

Chris Stone [: 01:08:17

Really super likable guy. You know, at this point, we need somebody better at left tackle who, who can back up Decker and maybe for another show, we're talking about, you know, what we do when Deckers. When Decker retires. Right. I mean, I think this is an intimate conversation, you know, like, kind of felt like we somewhat had a plan maybe with Ragnow retiring and Ratledge and you know, moving Glasgow there. But, you know, know, Graham Glasgow and Taylor Decker might not be on the Detroit Lions next season. They may not be playing. So we have to gotta be thinking about stuff like that and who those players are and with that.

Chris Stone [: 01:08:57

Folks, we appreciate you joining us. We did. We went a little bit over, but we have people like Fleeting Exp here hanging out with us over time, you know, we know, we know Brent wants to get to watch the Tigers game. He's got one eye on it already, so. But we do appreciate everybody, Wanda, William the two fan as well, for joining us. And as always, we always end this way. We don't say go Blue. We don't say go.

Chris Stone [: 01:09:34

We don't say oh. We say go Lions.

Brent Crider [: 01:09:37

Go Lions.

Chris Stone [: 01:09:38

Thanks, everybody.

Chris Stone [: 01:09:39

Busted outside left Jameer down to the 10. Premier to the fire. Jameer to the end zone. Touchdown and off.

Chris Stone [: 01:09:46

Barry Search to the left side.

Chris Stone [: 01:09:47

Breaks a tackle and he will take it in.