Commanders 1/18/25

It’s over… the best Detroit Lions season in my lifetime and a lot of our lifetime is over. 15 and two regular season number one seed in the NFC bounced in the divisional round at home to the wildcard commanders. I’m truly in shock right now editor’s note about this. I’m currently talking all of this through my phone text to speech and we’ll just post the raw text ramblings to sub stack. I’m away from my computer currently at my parents’ house sitting in their garage currently 0° outside and I’m just drinking two bottles of spotted cow. I initially started the sub stack as a way to just get my feelings out after we lost a buffalo our most recent loss. Try to keep upkeep things light you know just a way to honestly just get my thoughts and feelings out after that game, but everything that went wrong Replaying replay in my head, the crucial downs, the crazy Josh Allen plays this. Just ripping it live 10 minutes after the game ends no TV no press conferences. This instant reaction is going to be a hard one. It’s going to be a hard week. San Francisco is tough. This is shocking. Normally, I’d post a bleacher report meme to describe how I feel and honestly, I’ve already tweeted multiple of them, but it hurts. It doesn’t hurt as bad as I want it to hurt because I’m at my parents the place where my childhood bedroom walls are literally painted Honolulu blue and silver the Washington commanders out Detroit Lion’d the Detroit Lions. just no words no thoughts they were the better team. I have a saying it’s a bad day to have a bad day and the Detroit Lions with their five turnovers unfortunately had one of those bad days and it happens in sports happens everybody you just hope that you’re not on the receiving under that happens everybody except the Kansas City Chiefs because Patrick Mahomes is perfect and they’re a well-coached well executed team. The Detroit Lions are not a team built to play from behind. They were behind the eight ball and from the jump. They had to play from behind wasted Jamir Gibbs master class today. It’s one of those things man you put up 28 points typically you win those games in NFL but just like what I said with the bills game it’s impossible to win a football game when your defense gives up 4548. I don’t even remember how many points the game ended very poetic with the Jared Goff interception his fourth turn over the night. Ultimately, you can say the pendulum shifted when he had the fumble in the red zone red zone turnovers will kill you the same things that cost us. This game were the same ones that cost us against Tampa Bay in week two and ones that should’ve cost us against the Houston Texans to win in the NFL when you lose the turnover battle five to nothing you hate to ride on these players, I was younger. I would’ve said they are professionals. This is their job, but they’re playing the kid’s game. We shouldn’t let what happens during a child’s game. Affect our emotions as deeply as they do but here, I am the thing about watching the last game of your team season. It’s literally watching your funeral and your helpless, you can do nothing to change it things happen though I don’t want to say spring will rise a new and we’ll get excited when we see the draft and I’ll get into the weeds later of who the lines will be drafting at I don’t know what pick probably like 27 I guess not going to look that up will be time for Mark. The off-season just happens two weeks later than it started for most years the inevitable losing of both your offensive and defensive coordinator. Where do you go from here naturally, I think they will promote someone like tanner Strang or Mark Brunelle too offensive coordinator that’s if Ben Johnson doesn’t poach them and makes them the offensive coordinator at his next destination in the same on the defense side. You think they would promote Calvin Shepherd to defensive coordinator someone who’s been coaching the linebackers for the past couple of years and what we seemingly think was happening during those games on the lines were blowing teams out early on in the year, Tom Brady said this on the broadcast and it’s something I believed in I would say there are 31 frauds in the NFL and there’s one champion the way that he put a 31 teams go home sad and only one team goes I’m happy and we just happen to be part of the 31 again… continuity wise you have to question what key free agent you’ll lose and things like that. I’m sure there are some guys from the first draft class that aren’t going to get a second deal with this team blanking on names right now, but I’m sure you can look through that draft class and find a guy. I’m not sure iffy comes back Kevin Zeitler is a free agent. I’m confident with Chris Mahogany taking over the starting right guard position. Carlton Davis is a free agent. He has some void years some funny money so hopefully you would like to see the lions do something with that or maybe they roll with Terrion Arnold and his Rakestraw was on injured reserve all year is your number one number two I’d like to see Amik Robertson come back. I’m sure there will be a time maybe Tuesday Wednesday to look at free agents and cap situation. Believe the lines are set up well with cap 68 million in cab you take away. The rookies go down the light 56 million still a lot to work with big personal decision wise. I don’t know what this team really needs Other than not getting 18 defensive players on injured reserve and losing two more today we talked about in lion circles season was over when Aidan broke his leg on that miraculous freak injury. What was the combination of everything else? Carlton Davis breaks his jaw Marcus Davenport‘s elbow snaps Only McNeil tear his ACL so on and so on injuries are no excuse for today. Washington, one said it was a raced to 40 and they beat us. They beat us to 20 they beat us 30 they beat us to 40 so that’s it. It’s done done. The season is over. There’s some solace in knowing that you lost by multiple scores because you were able to see the end happening in real time you knew it was going to be a clock game and the clock was not your friend the greatest season in Lions franchise history is gone. Dan said at the NFC championship game once you make it there once it’s harder to get back there. He’s not wrong you run into a team like Washington is a coach just as aggressive as you play caller who presses all the right buttons and an injury, riddle defense a recipe for disaster combine that with your quarterback, fumbling the ball in the red zone, throwing an interception in the end zone, your quarterback sailing a pass that turns into a Pick6 in your wide receiver on one of your brilliant players that you’ve cooked up all day all year for multiple years on an end around past throws it and it’s intercepted it wasn’t you live by the sword you die by the sword game like San Francisco was last year You simply were outplayed outcoached outscored quickly thinking about the Lions cap situation jumping back to that they’re a couple guys you gotta give extensions to Kirby Joseph being one of them Aidan Hutchinson being another you have to decide on his fifth year option this off-season Jamison Williams you have to decide on his fifth year option is third year who became 1000 yard receiver really got out of his own way off the field for the most part great player I think would get a lot of money on the market. If you let him go there, I’m not sure if you can let them go there, but I’m not sure if you can pick up his fifth-year option or extend them. Taylor Decker is a guy who you recently extended and I’m not sure quite about him he’s played well. He’s played like a 15/16 best left tackle in the sport basically for a decade at this point but use closer to retirement than years to his debut. I’m not sure what you do there. This team is kept a very pragmatic approach so I don’t think they will put all their chips in the basket this year this off-season for 2025. We will see that’s not in their approach way too early look at 2025. You’re not going to win 15 games next year Your division gets better of a new coach Caleb Williams second year Jordan Love’s going to play well I don’t know what the Vikings do, but they are never bad. It will be tough in division outside the division you’ll be playing the AFC West, who had three playoff teams and the AFC North, which had two playoff teams and the Cincinnati Bengals You’re also first place team so you’ll be playing a first place schedule again the road will be harder next year naturally does this team acquire pass rushers again soft season make something work do they draft a guy like James Pierce in the first round? I really don’t know what the team needs. We got to talk about the elephant in the room. Jared Goss performance today was not good enough and he will be the first to tell you that how is he going to do first year in a new system? How is anyone on this team going to do first year in a new system The pieces are all still there then still there who else is going to be there what’s to say Ben Johnson doesn’t take Hank Fraley with him to his next destination to be his offensive coordinator there goes your online coach. Are we going to see some of the players where penny school gets out in space and is your lead blocker things that the best right tackle in the sport can do Being so agile and what not and that’s what this off-season reality is for the Detroit Lions. Where do you go from here? You look at teams around the league whoever also in a situation like this the Baltimore Ravens acquired Derek Henry this past year well that’s not a position or a guy that we need They also same situation as us they got better. Got a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. You look at the team like the Buffalo Bills on the flipside they kind of been all in for the past couple of years and they moved on from their wide receiver, one and digs and really started over with that receiving core. I don’t think we’re starting over per se, but there will be change with play call with verbiage unless this is all Dan’s offense which late in the 2021 season we saw that he was calling down the stretch calling some place that we know in love today what is our coaching staff look like How do we pick up the pieces from here? Do you want to be optimistic about certain players some of the younger skill guys gives LaPorta year 3JO year four Saint Brown year five Arnold year three Rakestraw year two. But this is the reality that all 32 teams face you enjoy your moment in the sun and wonder what the plan is next year for some teams. Do you have GM coaches on the hot seat? Need to make a splash move playoff or bust or they’re gone, and they make a rational decision inside and bad free agents. I don’t believe that is Detroit. They will continue to do the same things. They’ve done for the past four years that has brought them to this point and you hope to marginally get better and continue that climb you look at a team. That’s well run like the San Francisco 49ers who we’re in a situation like ours this year They had some tough decisions to make, and they still have tough decisions to make their season with all their injuries resulted in missing the playoffs. Sustainability is hard in this league. It’s designed to be paradoxical. That’s just the nature of the business. It’s hard to be a consistent winner. You look at the teams in this league who have been consistent winners. The Chiefs have Mahomes the Patriots had Brady. The ravens have Lamar the bills of Josh Allen. Everybody has a bad day Jared golf this year’s had three bad days Tampa, Houston, and Washington today. It’s hard doing a championship. There’s something to be said about DNA and when you have it you have it as long as Kansas City has Patrick Mahomes on center, they have a shot even when you get out gained on the ground even when you get out gained on the air they always have a shot. Hey, maybe Jared Goff to us is what Jared Goff was on the Rams, not trying to sound spoiled or entitled because he is a damn good quarterback, but a civilian he is he is not Josh Lamar. He is below that he is a on schedule timing deep in tactician Who will carve you up. He is tough as nails, and he took a shot today. That was honestly I thought he was concussed and when that happened, I thought that was the end of our season, but he’s a fighter came back resilient, and he will continue to be that guy for us. It’s a lot easier to get worse at quarterback than it is to get better in this league. That’s just the league and you can win with a guy like Jared Goff hell we did it 15 times this year we did 13 times last year. We just got murdered on defense. We had guys taking snaps out there who I had not seen play once this year even when we had Jamal Adams and Kwon Alexander. For a cup of coffee, a guy like Muhammad, who bounced from practice squad to practice squad. Was a vital player for us down the stretch guys in their 30s like DJ reader and Zadarius Smith probably playing more snaps than they should given where they are in their careers, and they fought hard. Everyone fought hard, but the talent discrepancy was there in Washington exploited us because of it we were able to survive games because our office was playing perfect the signs for the defense was there constantly giving up 30 points a game or one saving grace was our offense was able to score every time they touch the ball in today we had five turnovers so that’s it. It’s all she wrote that’s life. on to 2025.