DrDawkinstein

Bruschi did a good bit on this exact thing, maybe last week. Talked about his first time going up against Rothlisberger, and how he knows all these opponents and rookies are lining up against Josh for the first time and looking across the line like "Oh... Oh *****... How do I defend this monster?" I'm fine with it. Get out of half and get the ball back. Would have been different if we werent getting the ball, or it was the end of the game.

Those 15 NFC players that reporter talked to set off a fire that is burning the entire league to the ground! Probably. As well as the chance that a line-drive FG gets blocked and possibly returned the other way. Or any other momentum a failed FG would give the Lions there. Even with doing nothing to end the half, the last taste in the Lions' mouths was missing the FG. Dont give them any spark, especially at the risk of your own players' psyche. Reset, come out strong in the 2nd half. Which we did.

While I bag on a lot of McD's decisions, I'm totally on board with how we handled those last plays before halftime. When we got the ball back with 3min in the half, I'm sure everyone thought "ok, lets run the clock down and get some points (even a fg) before half, then come back out for the 2nd half and do it again, and really put this game out of reach". Then we stall out, AND miss the FG. But then are lucky enough that Detroit misses their FG too. At THAT point, the mindset changes to "ok, lets just get out of here as it is, come back out after half and reset". Dont allow any dumb plays that could give Detroit a boost going into halftime like missing another FG, or an INT on a Hail Mary. Or even worse, with an aggressive coach like Campbell, it's likely he doesnt just rush 3 or even 4 on the Hail Mary, so there is a chance they come after Josh and something worse happens (a Josh fumble, or even an injury). Just get out of the half and regroup in the 3rd quarter. I didnt hate it.

I think Josh gets the nod for "Best Player" because he is asked to do so much more as a QB than any DE was ever asked to do. He has the ball in his hands and is making plays non stop. Bruce was great, dont want to diminish him at all. But he was able to take plenty of plays off and still look good. Josh doesnt have that luxury.

He's setting/breaking (multiple) records every week. It's the best season the MVP voters have probably ever seen. Tedy Bruschi is an MVP voter and said as much this morning. Bruschi and Rex spent the morning talking about how Josh is playing better than prime Brady and prime Manning.

Love him. Absolutely the unsung hero. I already stated it, but I'll re-apologize for calling him "this season's Trent Sherfield" back when we signed him and saying "If Hollins is getting many snaps, we're in trouble". I thought we brought him in as mostly a ST specialist. But dude is an all-around baller, and a great presence in the locker room. Need to get Shakir an extension too.

I appreciate the deeper discussion. I'll have to watch the replay this week, but pretty sure we backed off on the Lions 3rd and 4th possessions. Basically their first 2 TD possessions when we were up 14-0 and 21-7, bringing it to 21-14. Then we'd tighten back up and run more man/pressure once it was back to a 1-score game. And dont get me wrong. I understand the Lions have the #1 offense, and we werent going to shut them out. It's just annoying watching us move away from what was working so early in the game just because we jumped out to a decent lead.

I'm not tho. Sure, the Lions had to abandon the run, but our pressure/man scheme was just as successful against their passing game because we were getting to Goff before anyone could get open and before he could get the ball out. Even with the backups playing in our backfield. The shift to soft zone was just the usual "playing not to lose", trying to prevent a big play and a quick score, but it was that exact soft zone that let them move right down the field in 5 plays and 1min 50sec and score a TD.

Just need to dial it in for 7 more games. This team is absolutely capable of going on an 8 game streak. Hopefully starting now.

Just a heads up, 10am and all the morning shows are re-airing. So if you watched GetUp! switch to GMFB, and vice versa. Everyone slobbering Josh, rightfully so.

It was such a marked improvement once Williams was able to go back in.

The blitzes yesterday actually worked well. Benford got there. Milano got there. Whenever we rushed more than 4 we caused havoc and either got a sack, or pressured Goff into a quick throw away. There's something to be said for the blitz actually helping your decimated backfield by not giving guys enough time to get open when we're getting clear runs at the QB. We started off the game playing a lot more man and sending extra rushers, and it worked great. Then whenever we'd go up by 3 scores, we'd go into a soft shell and let them right back into the game. And I'm not talking about the end of the game. I'm talking like 2nd quarter. That's my main beef in this great win. We dont stick to our guns, play to win, and put our heels on their throat. Once we get any type of lead, we go soft, play to "not lose", which just allows the other team to move right down and score. Then once the other team was back close, we'd go back to man/blitzing and shut it down again.

You probably should go look for the post(s) then because any time I've mentioned any firing it has been completely contingent on having another coaching/defensive meltdown in the playoffs. And given the way Josh is playing, if the coaching and/or defense let him down again, it will be tough for anyone to argue differently. I've also posted numerous times about all the things I like about McD, and have even said if (when) we do win one with him at the helm then give that guy a lifetime contract and carte blanch to do whatever he wants.

Great coaching to realize the Lions were on their 5th and 6th LBs and had those guys in man coverage against our pass-catching RBs. Just an absolute coaching clinic on Offense yesterday.

Not true at all, and you really need to stop strawman-ing me. I've pointed this out to you before. Your over-sensitivity in these discussions discredits your argument as well. Just because we talk about the issues doesnt mean there is any hate. Dont come after ME just because the fact is Dungy didnt win a Super Bowl in Tampa. This thread isnt about which is the better person off the field.

Correct. We dont know what would have happened. We just know he didnt.

Not sure where this pearl clutching is coming from. This has been the norm for every pile and scrum in the history of the game, at every level. It's a known thing that most players even joke about. Happened at every level I played, and even in Rugby scrums. I'd come out of Rugby scrums with bite marks on my arms. No big deal.

Point stands, they couldnt win it with Dungy, regardless of what came after.

Why did we get away from it when we were up 14-0 in the 1st quarter?

Coke Bishop is his Chipp Strip nickname No, because they actively shift out of what is working on Defense in order to play "safe" (read: soft) and let the other team back into the game. Kudos for having a great game plan to stop Detroit. Criticism for getting away from it whenever we got up and let them hang around. Whenever we shifted to "protect the lead" the Lions would go right down and score a TD in like 5 plays. Just keep doing what works. It's classic McD, and it WILL bite us in the ass in the playoffs if he keeps it up.

Anyone have a twitter clip of the 2nd quarter 4th down play to Ty Johnson? That entire play was a thing of beauty. The way the whole offensive unit handled themselves from the time they broke huddle, came to the line, went through the hard count, and pulled off the play. Some really well coached, well executed, high level football.

Hey, how about that Ty Johnson?

No hate. But we've all watched Josh carry this team and put them in positions to win in spite of the coaching decisions and defensive performances he has to deal with. So some push back should be expected when someone wants to shift some/any of that Josh credit to McD when McD has far more issues doing his job than Josh does.

Considering Tampa had to fire Dungy and bring in Gruden to win a SB, and Dungy was only able to snag 1 Championship with Manning, I think you might be making more of the "fire McD" argument than you meant to...

So far you're giving McD genius-level credit for: 1. Wanting to have a balanced Offense instead of being one dimensional 2. Wanting to have a good OLine 3. Wanting to prevent turnovers I mean, these are basics that most Pop Warner coaches strive for as well. I'm waiting to see something unique and/or that can be directly attributed to his coaching. Like Reid being known for scheming guys open in his Offensive play calls.