Talking Grit: A Detroit Lions Podcast
Talking Grit: A Detroit Lions Podcast
E47: “Pride Preview” Week 14 - Super Bowl Preview? - Lions Vs. Bills (with Joe DeRosa)
In this episode of Talking Grit, hosts Jason Harwood and Jacob Litton discuss their excitement after a mini bye week and dive into their analysis of the upcoming game between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. They discuss the health and readiness of both teams, recalling a past Lions-Bills game and what adjustments might be made in a similar situation. The episode features an in-depth interview with Joe DeRosa from Cover One Sports Network, who provides insights into the Bills' current season performance, their key players, and potential game strategies.
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Welcome back to Talking Grid. I'm Jason Hardwood and with me is Jacob Litten. It's good to be back here after a little mini bye week, right? I feel rested and ready to go. The Lions
Jacob:Yeah.
Jason Harwood:are a little rested, getting a little more healthy. It's going to be good because it's a big test this week with the Buffalo Bills come to town. Some are saying this may be a Super Bowl preview. We'll we'll see how that goes. That remains to be seen. Later on in this episode, we're going to feature an interview with Joe DeRosa from Cover One Sports Network. be impressed with his football knowledge, really enjoyed having him on. So I can't wait for you guys to listen to all that. But before we get to the interview and everything, how are you doing, Jacob?
Jacob:I'm great, man. I'm ready for this game. Top two scoring offenses going head to head.
Jason Harwood:Yeah.
Jacob:your popcorn ready.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. The over under, I think it's like 52 and a half or something like that. I didn't look this morning to see where it's at. Both of them average over 30 points a game. It's a, could be a, could be a shootout. We'll see, sometimes we say that and then at the end of the, then it becomes a 14 to seven game.
Jacob:Yeah, right.
Jason Harwood:We'll see, but I, I, I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait. And yeah, coming out quick here, man. It's going to be fun. I missed the last two home games, so it's going to be fun to use my tickets again and, go on there and, and get loud for 25 game. That'd be good. right, Jacob, let's get into this.
Jacob:Just want to review what happened the last time the bills came to town because it's kind of relevant and what we're talking about right now. So just real quick, I'm sure pretty much everyone remembers being disappointed on Thanksgiving in the bills game. But it's relevant, you know, especially with the game that we just had. So last time the bills came to Detroit, it was Thanksgiving, 2022. We had started that year one and six, we had a three game winning streak. It was against the Packers, the bears, the giants. So we had a, you know, a decent shot. Things were starting to turn around for us that year. The bills were eight and three. You know, it was another, it was a decent game for us. It was really, you know, back and forth. The most interesting part is how this game ended. So. In this scenario, we were down 25 to 22. We drove down the field with a two minute drill and we found ourselves fourth and one at their 33 yard line, 28 seconds left. We had two timeouts and we kicked the field goal to tie it at 25. We then kicked the ball back to the bills and they have three timeouts and 20 seconds, and they drive down and kick a field goal and beat us on Thanksgiving. So my question to you. If this exact scenario plays out again this week, would you go for it on 4th and 1 to try to score a touchdown to win the game, or do we play it safe and take the points? Because this time we were down, we were down by 3 this time, and you know, obviously against the Packers we were tied. The defense is also much better now, the team is much better now in general, so the odds are probably higher, not probably, odds are definitely higher. This year than they would have been back then.
Jason Harwood:You got two timeouts. You said right in this scenario.
Jacob:Two timeouts
Jason Harwood:Yeah, I think Dave Campbell's definitely going for it. Then Because I think he learns from situations like this, like he learns that, giving the, in the today's NFL, given a team 25 seconds or whatever, they'll, they could get into field goal position, especially with this offense. I don't think you're going to give the ball back to Josh Allen. I just don't think you're going So, I mean, obviously we're looking at it hindsight now, yeah, go for it. Cause we obviously lost that game the other decision. However, just, looking back to just last week, we weren't down. But we did not want to give Jordan love the ball back for him, a chance for him to get a field goal to tie it back up. So I think that, yeah, you,
Jacob:in Jordan Love is no Josh Allen,
Jason Harwood:He is not, he is not, but he could throw a deep pass. I mean, there's, I think that he could throw, he's got a pretty good deep pass. And it all takes is that, or a PI that, you know, if you don't. Completed. You're hoping that you get a PI on someone like Terry on or something like that.
Jacob:right?
Jason Harwood:not carrying those two, but I mean, it's not like Jordan love is, a pushover either. So I, I agree. I, I, I would go for it. But what about you?
Jacob:Oh, I'm on the fence. It's hard. I don't think you could be really wrong either way. But, you know, it was funny to find out or to look back on the game and realize that they only had 20. It was 23 seconds when they got the kickoff. They had 23 seconds left in three timeouts, and they still, you know, were able to drive down pretty easily on three plays.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, that was a different defense at that
Jacob:Exactly.
Jason Harwood:is better now, especially the secondary probably wouldn't let that happen. so, I mean, I could see it going the
Jacob:In that regard, yeah, sorry,
Jason Harwood:With two timeouts, plus, I mean, our offense is better than it was two years ago, too. So, I mean, we have a lot more weapons that we can utilize, better tight end. You got Jamo who could take them deep. Amin Ra was probably just coming into his own in that Buffalo game. Like that, it was that second half of that season that he started to take off. So, Some of the players might've been the same, but just, they're just much better and we're two years into this offense. I bet you, Dan Campbell trusts his offense much better now than he, he did at that point. Oh yeah,
Jacob:yes, it was also, you know, we had a losing record at that point and everything. Things are different now. So just a interesting thing to talk about.
Jason Harwood:no, that's good. I didn't even, I guess I haven't thought about, I mean, I thought about that game. But I haven't like looked into as depth as you did. That was, that was good. Jacob.
Jacob:Here's another one for you. So the last time we beat the bills was in 2006. So do you remember who the quarterback was in 2006?
Jason Harwood:That was, was that, was that
Jacob:It was
Jason Harwood:time?
Jacob:It was. It was Kitna.
Jason Harwood:Yeah.
Jacob:Kitna threw a touchdown pass to Roy Williams in this game. Kevin Jones rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown. And then we beat, we beat this Bills team with J. P. Lozman at quarterback. 17 to 20.
Jason Harwood:JP
Jacob:time we beat them almost 20 years ago.
Jason Harwood:we don't play at them very often
Jacob:Exactly. Right. Right.
Jason Harwood:Let's get out to this. Let's move on to this year's Buffalo team. Impact players, Jacob offense. Who you got?
Jacob:All right. And we got to start with the quarterback. Right? Josh Allen pro football focus ranked number 4 quarterback NFL top 100. He's the number 12th player on that list. Just obviously, he's the MVP front runner playing. You know, lights out just week in week out. Tight end Dalton Kincaid is ranked number 9 out of 79 tight ends. Running back James Cook is ranked number 19. They're wide receivers. Khalil Shakir is actually ranked number 20 out of 128 wide receivers. And then Amari Cooper, who came, you know, halfway during the season, he's ranked 54. Also worth mentioning, their left tackle, Deion Dawkins, he was rated number 96 on NFL's top 100. Pro football focus has him rated 38 out of 133. So not overly impressive on pro football focus, but obviously highly regarded in the league you know, to be an impact player on the offensive line.
Jason Harwood:Yep. Yeah, I mean, it all starts with Josh Allen, right? He's the front runner for the MVP by a long shot right now, especially after the past two weeks he's had where he's thrown a pass, thrown a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass, and rushed for, well, last game he had six touchdowns, rushed for three and ran for three, or passed for three. Unbelievable. So
Jacob:He's already got the MVP locked up, there's just no way. I mean, even if he was to have a bad couple weeks, I just, yeah,
Jason Harwood:Yeah, he didn't really have to falter or the team itself would have to falter. But yeah, they've already got the division locked up. They're division winners that they're, they're sitting pretty, or he's sitting pretty in the MVP talk. As far as defense, you got Christian Benford, the cornerback rated fourth out of 118 cornerbacks. You got Greg Russo. Edge, defender 14 on PFF grade von Miller on the other edge 23rd. So, I mean, they have, I mean, some rushing off the edge. We've seen this before, like with the Texans hopefully Taylor Decker's back in this game and we'll get through the injury report. Cause that's going to be very important. And Matt Milano's back now. They got their linebacker back. He's not rated on PFF yet Just because he probably hasn't logged enough snaps, but you know, that's a big for their defense to get Matt Milano back
Jacob:definitely huge impact player, so I'm sure they're excited to have him back. They've already got their playoff spot, their division locked up. They're trying to keep things going, keep everybody healthy and just, you know, write it off to the playoffs.
Jason Harwood:Yep
Jacob:moving on to the bill season results as Jason tries to edit this real quick in our document, it's really hard to find good help these days.
Jason Harwood:It is I forgot to change the record, but yeah,
Jacob:Anyway, they're 10 and three. I already know that you don't even have to type it. They're 10 and three right now. There are three losses. Obviously the loss last week to the Rams. They lost at the Rams 44 to 42. They lost at Baltimore 35 to 10, and then they lost at Houston, 23 to 10. So they've lost three times. All three losses were away and they have to come to Ford field. So, you know, maybe that gives us a little more odds. Something goes on when they're not at home, not in the comfort of their own fans.
Jason Harwood:yeah No, it's they're gonna be coming into a loud environment. I fully expect that. I'm wondering how much You know, Buffalo is really not that far away. Not that there's going to be any seats to be had, but I'm wondering how, well, Buffalo is going to travel.
Jacob:we're our go to spot every time they have a snowstorm, right? When they can't go fast enough, they got to come to Ford field.
Jason Harwood:I was going to ask Joe about that, when they, when they have bad snow storm, they come right to Ford field I will have. Jacob in my car on the way up there. I am going to have a Buffalo in my car. Contemplate and make them sit in the trunk, but I think we'll let them sit up there,
Jacob:Strap them to the hood.
Jason Harwood:and our neighbors coming and they, they're not they have seats somewhere else in the stadium, My buddy, Jacob, his name is Jacob as well, different Jacob. And he loves the lions, but his son loves the bills.
Jacob:Yeah.
Jason Harwood:we're going to have, he's going to have his Jersey on. I already asked, is he going to be wearing a Jersey? And I said, you're going to have to wear a coat over that while we're walking into the stadium, because I can't be seen with a riffraff, but yeah, now get back to the bills. They had a tough loss last week, 44, 42. It'll be interesting to see, how they respond to this, another, I mean, it's not an easy going from a loss coming into playing the top NFC team in the league right now. So, they got to see if they're up to the challenge. I suspect that they're going to play hard. But. Hopefully the lions identify some stuff in the film of why the Rams were so successful offensively.
Jacob:yeah, definitely. I'm worth mentioning. Also, the bills are the only team to beat the chiefs this year, even though the chiefs haven't looked good and have been skating by a whole lot. The bills were the only 1 to actually get it done. They also beat the 49ers who are reeling because of injuries, but still notable win. The Bills are a good team. I mean, year in and year out, they're competing. And when you have Josh Allen, I mean, that's just, you know, what you can do, do a lot of different things.
Jason Harwood:No, I mean, Josh Allen makes a lot of things possible in the offense. But Joel in the interview will explain what's he was very good at explaining why Josh Allen is having a better year, as far as the injury report, bills are looking pretty healthy. They got Two starters that did not practice on their defense, Razul Douglas and Taylor Rapp. Keon Coleman was a full practice. Amari Cooper is a full practice. Damar Hamlin full practice. Dalton Kincaid has come back. We already mentioned Matt Milano and Chris Samuel was another wide receiver that was injured, but he had a full practice, so they're looking pretty healthy that's good. I want to beat, I'm going to beat someone at their best. So how about the lions? We've had some injuries, Jacob, where are we coming in now?
Jacob:We've got some decent news on our injury front here. Taylor Decker had a full practice. Aleem McNeil, who was in concussion protocol, he got in a full practice. We have limited practices out of Levi Anujarike and Josh Pascoe. And then the only one that did not practice that's on the injury report is DJ Reeder. So, we still really want to have DJ back. I think that he's trending up, correct? Have you heard the same thing?
Jason Harwood:yeah, he was on the sideline, like he didn't practice, but he was with the trainers, but part of me also wonders, we'll, we'll know more tomorrow and definitely by Friday, sometimes they'll give a veteran a rest day on Wednesday. So I'm wondering if, they're just giving him some extra time to heal up. So he will be very important to have in this game, DJ reader. So I am hoping that he's back let's talk about the bills offensive and defensive rankings. Overall, PFF has them ranked as the 17th team overall, which is surprising
Jacob:Yeah, right? Time out. What are we, what are we doing, Pro Football Focus? How is that?
Jason Harwood:yeah,
Jacob:things like this that make you question all their other rankings. Like, what, what metrics are you using with their 17th overall?
Jason Harwood:yeah, I, I mean,
Jacob:I should double check that. Did you type it wrong?
Jason Harwood:I could have, I could have man, you, you know me, I'm not
Jacob:You didn't wear your bicycles?
Jason Harwood:no, man, I don't have bifocals now offense. PFF has them ranked 10th. They are second and points per game scored 10th and yards per game that correlates a 12th and passing and 11th and rushing well rounded team. But, I still, I'm still thinking of why they're 17th ranked overall. Maybe it's because of their defensive numbers, Jacob. What were they on defense?
Jacob:That would be the only thing that makes sense. I still, I guess, if you do the math, it must average out right. Pro Football Focus has them rated 24th. Tied for 24th on defense actually. Point score though, they are 8th in the league. In terms of yards per game, they're 14th. And that breaks down passing defense, they are 9th. You know, in yards. And rushing defense, they are 19th. So the defense has not been as good as the offense, but you know, for most of the season, they've been playing good complimentary football, not unlike the lions.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. Well, when you look at their points scored, right. Cause that's what it comes down to. You need to score more points than the other team, their eighth and, defensive
Jacob:Is that the goal of football, Jason?
Jason Harwood:It is. It's simple.
Jacob:Okay.
Jason Harwood:they're second and points per score. So they score, a lot of points and they don't give up a ton of points. So, that's a good good way to have a good record. All right. let's get into our interview with Joe DeRosa and we'll, we'll see on the flip side. We want to welcome Joe DeRosa from the cover one sports network. He is our bills expert this week. We're going to learn a lot about this hot team. I mean, they're playing, playing really well. So, uh, Joe, thanks for coming on the show.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Thank you for having me, guys. I'm excited to talk about this matchup.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, it's, it's a big one, right? Usually you don't get a lot of these late in the season, man. These are two months. I know. Some people are talking, this is the Superbowl preview.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:I listen, I, I, I'm careful with that statement only because I feel like anytime I've ever said it out loud, it ends up not happening. Um, and as lions fans, I'm sure you understand, just give it both of our teams histories. It's so cool to be in that sentence that this could be a Superbowl matchup. And it's, I'm hoping for it because I think it would be a ton of fun. Just to really teams that both deserve a championship. And I, I was looking forward to this one for a while, and I'm sure you guys were too. It doesn't happen very often. And, you know, last time they matched up, it was super fun and just a really wire to wire game. And I'm really, really interested to see how they match up with each other. And if that ends up being in the super bowl too, that'd be pretty cool.
Jason Harwood:This is I'm like we were talking before we get on here. I'm going to the game. I am just super excited for to see what the crowd reaction is going to be. yeah, it's gonna be awesome. Before we get started here, Joe, I just have to ask this question to you. How many tables have you jumped through?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:I so zero. Um, I do. Oh, my roommates from. So, so this is the thing I do. Oh, my roommates from college, a table for me to jump through because long story short, I wasn't a huge fan of the Josh Allen pick when it was made. I was of the belief that the project would be a failed project. I also did not know ball at all back then. And when I was talking to my roommates, I said, if this man leads us to the playoffs, I have to jump through a table. He did numerous times. I have not jumped through the table yet. So I do still have to do it. So I'm pending one table, but for now it is at zero, unfortunately.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad that I don't ever have to jump through a table. I don't think I could break the table, but I'm glad I don't have to jump through it.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Well, I gotta say too, I, I like, um, over the summer had my first ever back injury. Um, and now I'm a little more scared to jump through the table after that happens. So I'm going to try and figure out a way to do this. That still doesn't give me any further damage, uh, while also satisfying the bet. So we'll see how that one goes. And hopefully it goes. You know, not as bad as I would expect it to.
Jason Harwood:Well, I mean, I don't know what the stipulations you said, break a table. I mean, you could take a sledgehammer to that thing and that'd be technically breaking the table. Right.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Yeah, that is very true. Sledgehammer. I could just throw it off like a, like a bridge or something. We'll, we'll get creative with it. You know, maybe I'll just jump with a pillow on my back. You know, there's,
Jacob:There you
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:we didn't lay out the groundwork in that much detail. So
Jason Harwood:that's all right. There's a bunch of loopholes. It sounds like,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Absolutely. So
Jacob:Off, how does the loss to the Rams last week affect the bills team now?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:I want to say that that game was a bit of an outlier. I said this on my show last night. I don't mean that in the sense that this bill's defense Is Doesn't have holes because they do, or that there are flaws with this team that don't exist, they absolutely do. But what I do think was after the clinch, they go on the road to a NFC West team that desperately needed a win, right? And your conference, it's as competitive, even in your own division, you have what are likely going to be the first and second wildcard teams in the Vikings and Green Bay, so they're fighting like hell to get that final seed. And I think that what happened was. You went as the road team to Sean McVay and co a very talented offense that was fully healthy. doesn't match up or you don't match up well with them and you simply got punched in the mouth. And if you watch this game back, you know, extensively, that's exactly what happened. The Rams just manipulated the bills in every which way, whether it was using misdirection motion, angles for better blocking, whatever you can think of, they did it. And This game to me is a bigger tell of my hope or concern for a playoff run than the last game, because if that really was an outlier game and they go into this game against the Lions and play comfortably, you know, mitigate you a little bit like some teams have been able to do, although mitigating the Lions is still like 24 points spotted, then I think You know, I'd feel a little bit better, but my worry right now is if this game and the same result happens, because the lions, even though they're not the same team are very similar in their approach to offense and how they attack defenses. And if the bills struggle against this matchup, just the same as they did with the Rams, that's going to expose a very fatal flaw. The bills have that. I just don't think they can overcome in a long playoff run. So to answer that question. I don't think it means much, but this game will mean a lot more if it's a similar result.
Jason Harwood:Okay. That's good.
Jacob:I mean, it was much different from the last two, you know, there's three losses for the bills this year. The first two losses, the offense was kind of shut down, you know, just didn't look like things were working and then you kind of flip it this time and you know, Josh Allen was at six touchdowns, you know, the offense, you know, was putting points on the board. It just wasn't enough there in the end. Okay.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:the game was the block punt that came on a stall drive in the first half. So. This Bill's team now is a bit different than those Ravens and Texans losses team, because one, the Amari Cooper trade, they have a receiver. That's good against man coverage that changes the way they're passing attack and operate. And also in that Ravens game, they were missing to Ron Johnson and they were missing Terrell Bernard in the Houston game. They were missing to Ron Johnson. And now in this matchup, you have Matt Milano to Ron Johnson, Terrell Bernard, like their defense is fully healthy, but again, you know, It's all about the matchup and the scheme they're facing. And I have my concerns, even with the fact that they're healthier now on offense and defense of again, a similar result to that Rams game. So yeah, it's, it's weird to see them lose that big after just so many weeks of consistent ball and just playing a really, really good tight game on both sides.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, the, the score was shocking, both ends being, I knew they both could pull up points, but there was, it is, I, we're, I was wondering on my end, is this going to light a fire under Buffalo or is this, like you said, the other way is, you know, this, cause they got a tough game. The next one is, you know, it could go the other way too, but
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Yeah, it's, it's tough, man. And, and that is really the tell of this game and why I stress it. If you fall apart in this game. You know, after clinching your division, it's good to have the playoff spot, but seating still matters and losing a game to a Super Bowl contending team in the lions. That's not something you want for that clubhouse. So, you know, I said clubhouse cause I'm in baseball mode, just the same as football mode right now with winter meetings. But, um, I, and I assume I'm going to assume you guys are tigers fans. So, uh,
Jason Harwood:Yeah,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:yes, listen, I'm a Yankee fan, but I, I admire the comeback after the flarity trade for you guys. Sorry, I'm getting off topic. Um, but
Jason Harwood:you're all
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:it, it.
Jacob:okay. Okay.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:It's, it's a big, um, a big test for this Bill's team mentally too. Cause again, if we, if we see a big loss, I do think that would breed some concern for how you finish the season, but the playoff spot is locked up. Seating will be what it is. Just get healthy, get right before the playoffs and you still have a chance.
Jason Harwood:All right. My question is, I have already know the answer. Josh Allen's, MVP this year. I know that's,
Jacob:Okay.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:and them kind of responding to league wide trends and defense. Cause, you know, as many people have just spoken about from our own network and around the national spec, the defenses in the NFL, we're really trying to change their dynamic to take away explosives downfield. And this bill's offense predicated themselves on that, right? You saw that. 2020 2021, a lot of downfield, a lot of air yards, high a dot, super in depth passing attack. And what happens is once you start facing these teams that are now running these two highs and taking those deep halves of the field away more consistently, it kind of begins to stifle your productivity as an explosive team. And you have to pivot from that. And it's not the only thing. There's a lot more that goes into it, but you can look at Kansas city and how they've kind of transitioned offensively and kind of see the. The model of what the bills were trying to do, similar to kind of what Detroit's doing. LA's doing where it's becoming more of, we want to build this thing from our run game up. And for Josh Allen, why I stress efficiency is because that's exactly what this offense is doing. And because their run game this year has been so much better than years past. So physical, so dynamic. James Cook has been excellent, but Ray Davis has been good. Ty Johnson has been good. The run blocking is as physical at ever, and they can go toe to toe with so many units that is putting Josh and less conflict, not all the time. Sometimes they meet their match and they get into long downs and distances, but it's an offense that changed the dynamic from Josh has to be Superman and go downfield and throw a bunch every game too. We can crack this glass and break emergency Josh out in case we need him. But if we're efficient in our approach, we're We don't need to put too much on him. And that Superman Josh can just come out in the times where you do need him. Maybe a play is covered. And, you know, a great example of this is that Miami game from week two, right? They ran the ball extremely well. Miami had no answer. Josh had like 135 yards passing, but the throws he made that he had to make. We're the elite Josh throws. So now his stats might be as vault, not be as volumous as like years past or like Joe Burrows are right now or other guys, but he's making just efficient plays. He's smart with the football. The turnovers have gone down significantly. He's still making high level throws all throughout the field. It's just now getting paired with an offense that can compliment that ability and therefore less pressure on him. More opportunity for him to make those key plays and key moments. And you have the stat line you have, and you have the discourse you have. And he, in my eyes, like you said, he's the front runner right now. Do I think he has it locked down? I think he's close. I think a good game against the lions solidifies it. So it's, it's been fun to see this transition for him. And I think his best ball is ahead of him because this approach to me feels far more sustainable than years past where it was just downfield downfield so much.
Jacob:Losing Stefan Diggs and Gabe Davis, it looked like it was really going to affect the offense negatively, but they are scoring more points per game this year than they have in the past. Do you think that's just, uh, you know, I know you already kind of touched on it. You think that's just Josh Allen taking the next step? Do you think a weight has been lifted by not having a receiver in his ear demanding targets and being able to just take what the defense is giving him? Yeah. know,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Mm hmm.
Jacob:now that they got a Mari Cooper at the beginning of the season. Didn't look right, but you know, what are your thoughts on that?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:I think it's a mixture of those things. I think the presence of Stefan Diggs did have a lot of pressure because Diggs was a demanding receiver and that's not me, you know, casting any dispersions on him as much as that's the kind of player he is. He's a fiery guy and he wants the ball. And he said that, and,
Jason Harwood:Uh,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:we'd want the ball too. So I totally get it.
Jason Harwood:Uh,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:on from Diggs and having a group that Josh is now having to lead versus.
Jason Harwood:Um,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:digs was older than Josh and Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley were older than Josh. And it was kind of a young quarterback with a vet room of receivers. Now it's Josh is leading most of these players. Obviously, Matt Collins is older than him, but Matt Collins is Matt Collins. He's a fun guy. I think he, I don't think he minds being led by a younger dude. I think these receivers, this offense really in general, this is the dynamic shift where they are turning to Josh and saying, Hey, you This is your time to lead this team. This is your time to be a leader. The onus is on you. There are no excuses. And in that result, granted, they did need to make that pivot with the Amari Cooper trade. Cause there were struggles against certain defenses and they needed the help. I think Josh has done an excellent job. And I think that, that more unison, like, That everybody eats. I'm sure you two have heard of approach that the bills are implementing has kind of, in a sense, created more community in this offense and less pressure, more of a willingness to just do your assignment and get the job done. And you know, when you have a receiving room that will be willing at any moment to make a pass or get a key block, it just kind of breeds this mentality of like, we're all in this together. No one's above the other, despite obviously different talent levels. And that's probably just Translated well to how Josh is playing, and I think Josh has matured as a result of that and gotten to a point where he's just playing again, efficient, sustainable ball and just taking that role of a leader in stride.
Jason Harwood:Joe, we got the right guy. We, we, you're the, you're, you're
Jacob:Okay,
Jason Harwood:answers. I want
Jacob:well said.
Jason Harwood:Miller. Von Miller, it's
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:it.
Jason Harwood:been in for 25 snaps last week. Is that typical for him? I mean, is that what they're limiting him to? His snaps to just get the most production, or is that something that we might see him more this week in Detroit?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:So if you see him more, it won't be at by a significant amount. Um, he, at this point in his career, um, has become a bit of a pass rush specialist there. It's not that he doesn't get involved in run defense at all, but his bread and butter right now is just being a true pass rush threat. And the problem with the last game was. In the limited amounts of time he got on the field, he was good, but he wasn't getting his opportunity to be a true pass rush threat because they were just moving the ball so well in this game. I would expect the amount of Von Miller snaps to correlate to if the Buffalo bills defense is stopping the lion's rushing attack. Cause if they're not, and you guys keep ending up in like. Second and third, uh, second and three, or like, you know, third and two, or just really short downs and distances. It mitigates the threat of the bills D line that is actually good, which is Vaughn Miller and Greg Russo. And I pulled up the stat, but when you go to all qualifying edge rushers in the NFL right now, that are at least 20 percent of total snaps for edge rushers. Vaughn Miller is currently sitting at 17th and pass rush productivity, just PFF stat that basically measures multiple metrics for pass rushing, whether it's. Pressures generated sacks, like really just how effective you are on the edge. Von Miller is still an effective edge rusher as well as Greg Rousseau. And if they are in the opportunity to rush golf and actually said pressure consistently in their four man packages, cause they're mostly a four man rush team, then I think you'll see an uptick in that count and you'll see more, but. My long winded answer to your question is yes, that is a common thing with him. He is more of a pass rush specialist now with some run defense snaps if they need him.
Jason Harwood:Okay.
Jacob:All right, well, let's move on to the next 1 then kind of goes with what you were saying. How do you think the Buffalo defense is going to attack the Lions offense?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Oh man, um, hope, pray, get on their knees and beg them to have Gibbs and Montgomery be inactive for a game and then just, you know, You know, work with that, but listen, this lion's offense is a fricking juggernaut. They're so good. And what makes them good is the fact that they can pass off their run, which is so effective, but also the ability to disguise all of these things at any time. And for a bill's defense that just got pants by the Rams for doing this exact same thing, I am concerned. With how they would match up. But what I will say is I think the bills this past game did a bit more of stacking the box in an effort to try and mitigate the space that you could create from the downfield blocking, because the thing is with like the Rams, the Rams are so good at taking the appropriate angles that if you give them that space and don't stack the box, all of a sudden, you know, it's, it's one tick too late and you can't get a proper lane and you get pushed out of the way. I think they're going to do that again and try to load the box up and maybe crash a safety down and just try to have as many options as possible because I think Gibbs and Montgomery are physical and explosive, even though one excels in one more than the other, they both have those traits. So it's going to be trying to keep the close quarters nature of this defense, or I should say, be a bit more close quarters where you're just closer to the line and trying to defend anything up the middle or the perimeter, but. Again, it's on this defensive line. And I talked about the pass rushers, but the real struggle for the Buffalo bills has been their interior defensive line. And, you know, in 2022, when we played each other, that ed Oliver game is what we call it because at Oliver was just a single game wrecking crew, but this year there's been a weird regression for him. And it's hard to explain why my assumption is because the one tech play next to him hasn't been consistent enough. Also, ed started the year a little bit banged up and. Had to get into his own. And I think that slowed him down. The bills, defensive line has to penetrate. They have to be able to get through. They have to be able to maintain integrity on the interior and be able to hold on double teams because this lion's offensive line is a stellar. Physical unit that just complements this offense further. If they get pushed back, it's going to make things. Infinitely more difficult for the very talented linebacker room, which by the way, I think you could expect to see some three linebacker sets. We're more of a base nickel and we keep Tehran Johnson out there. I think you could expect to see some four, three where you got Matt Milano, Terrell Bernard, and Dorian Williams all trying to sell out to stop the run. And if they can. Then I think that plays into the bill strength, which is their past defense. They have a great cornerback room. Granted, Russell Douglas might not play. I think they're a very tight knit secondary with good communication and good disguising. So really it's stop the run up front. If you can, then great. Jared golf's going to have to hold the ball, which is how they'll generate sacks because again, there are four man pressure team, occasional blitzing, maybe some run blitzing, but. If you can't get any push with the interior defensive line in the front, I think it's going to be a struggle for the Bill's defense. So, I see them attacking with run blitzes, pass blitzes, and really just heavier boxes than they usually run.
Jason Harwood:All right. How about flip that? How is the offense? How is the Bill's offense going to attack the Lions defense? I'm going to
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:So, this Bill's offense is similar to, like again, those offenses I mentioned before, like the Lions, like the Rams. Their run game is creed. It's it's what helps them get into the game script they want to get into and what helps them be multiple.
Jason Harwood:at
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:That Rams game, the amount that they threw in that game was the most I've seen them throw in weeks. And it's not that they don't, it's just that they had to because game script got away from them. But if the bills are able to run on the lions, which I know the lions are dealing with a pretty big swath of injuries in their front seven. I know your interior D line is banged up. Obviously Aiden Hodgson said, which as a football fan. It pains me that he isn't on the field because I love Hutchinson. I think he's so talented and I hope he heals up for you guys because he's an exceptional player, but him, the interior defensive line, the linebackers are banged up. And for that reason, I think they're going to test the waters with their ground game early and often inside perimeter runs with James Cook, trying to get pushed with the offensive line. The thing about this bill's offensive line is even though I have questions about it in pass pro, they can run block their tails off. They are very physical. Spencer Brown, Osiris Torrance, Dion Dawkins, McGovern, even though it's kind of inconsistent, David Edwards, they're all very good run blocking alignment. They're going to try and get an establish their run game on the ground early. And if they can, that is how the bills control this game. Because then what they'll do is they're going to show you run looks and throw out of them. Just like the lions do they'll motion and try to create space and leverage with that. They'll try to run play action, even though I don't think they do it enough. It all starts with that run game. So I expect them to give a healthy dose of James cook. If the run game gets shut down on our end, a similar game to the Rams, where they try to throw, which is exactly what the lions want, because that secondary is very talented, very difficult to defend or very difficult to attack. Very disciplined. Aaron Glenn has done a phenomenal job with that unit. So they got to run. And if they run well, I think that's going to open things up for Josh. It's going to open things up in the middle of the field. The lions are one of the stack box teams in the league. So if you can get Behind them at the line of scrimmage and get good downhill push with this physical line. I think you have a chance to really control the time of possession and generate some opportunity. So all in all, I think this is going to be a shootout guys. I really do, but it's a matter of who blinks first and who stops what first. And if you guys take this running game from the bills away, I'm not saying we can't move the ball. I'm not saying we can't score, but it's a higher Hill. It's more of an uphill battle for the bills at that spot.
Jason Harwood:I have a question from I want your outsider perspective on number one, the going forward on fourth down at the end of the game when the game's tied. I don't know if you were watching the Green Bay game last
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Green Bay game. Yep.
Jason Harwood:went, I, you know, it's a national game. So I wasn't sure if you're watching. What is your personal opinion on that? And then I have follow up question, just like the whole. The outsider opinion of Dan Campbell as a coach. I just want to have your, what's your thoughts on that as
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Yeah. The fourth down call. Um, it was a fourth and one, right? I
Jason Harwood:and one tie ball game, you know, it's basically, we could kick the field. There's 45 seconds left is, you know, so it's either we kick the field goal, go up, you know, but that, you know, we, Dan, we went for it and we obviously won the game because I'm just wondering what you're like, just out, you know, football perspective, obviously you're very intelligent football. I'm just wondering what your opinion on that is.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:thought it was the move. Um, and I think the percentage favored it. Uh, my thing is when you're at that spot in the game, it's kick a field goal and play it safe and hope you win it and put the hands in your defense or let's go for the throat. Right now, if you didn't get it, yes, they would have had an opportunity. Although I think your defense probably could have stand tall because also you were very close to the goal line. I like the call. I liked going for it. I like going for the win. And that is just Dan Campbell's philosophy, which I really like. I think he is an aggressive guy. I think he's always willing to roll the dice, but he has so much faith in that unit that he coaches that he's going to let them get their shine and get their chance. Do I think at times it's too much? Sometimes. And earlier in that game, when you were on your own side of the field and he went for it, I was like, Dan, we can punt. It's okay. This time it's okay. I just don't think this is the right move. And ultimately it went to a Packers touchdown. That's the kind of thing as well as like that San Francisco NFC championship game where I'm like, I love the aggression. I love going for it. And most times he's right. And you live by the sword, you die by the sword. But I think If he can just fine tune it a smidge where he just like, he wants to believe in his guys, but like, let's also keep the situational football in mind here too. He'd be as far as a game managing coach, like one of the best in the league. I think I already think he is, but even further. So, but I love him. I think he's awesome. I think what he's done for this franchise, the city. I mean, I went to the NFL draft this year, right. And I was there with cover one and we checked it out and I had a great time. I loved downtown Detroit. It was so much fun, but the buzz. That this organization has right now. I saw lions jerseys everywhere, everywhere. I was at some diner. I don't even remember the road. I don't remember the name, but there were like these five dudes that walked in with lions jerseys. And I loved every bit of it. They were so hyped up, like so ready for this draft. And like what Campbell brings. As a coach, I think has just resonated with the team, but that city, and it's just instilled so much hope and confidence and they're kicking butt and winning games so handedly. They literally sent the Jaguars basically to relegation. It was like unbelievable what they did to them. Like they are. So much fun. And that all starts with Dan Campbell, and I'm a huge fan of him as a coach. I'm a huge fan of how he galvanizes the locker room, how he gets behind his players, and I love the decisions. I love the Fort Down decision in that game. My only gripe is just sometimes I think it's the wrong time to go forward on Fort Down, especially if it's not the clear cut gimme that you could possibly get with your running back. So. You guys should be very happy with him. I think he is the coach that can get you over the hump and lead you to a Super Bowl. You know, there's a lot of discourse around our coach right now that has been not fun to be a part of because like the end of game decision making and it's whatever, like Dan Campbell, I hope he doesn't ever have that discourse around him because he's such a likable guy and he's doing such a great job. So I'm, I'm in, I'm really excited for the future of the Detroit lions, man. It's, it's a, a fun time to be a fan for you guys. Everything's working right now. And if it can't be us, I hope it's you.
Jason Harwood:All right,
Jacob:I appreciate that.
Jason Harwood:to be back on the show again.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Appreciate it, boys.
Jason Harwood:All right. We got one last question, Jacob. Why don't you hit him up with that?
Jacob:Alright, last question. What are your predictions for the game? So just any kind of prediction, it doesn't have to be a final score, it could be
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Mm hmm.
Jacob:at all, just something that you think is going to happen.
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Ooh.
Jacob:can predict
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Uh, let's If I had to be Joe Stradamus for you guys, let's see. I would say I think that I think that this is gonna be a shootout. I'll give you that one, like I said before. I I just foresee it as I could easily see this game hit hitting like the high thirties or even just like one team wins, like 31 to 28 or something along those lines, kind of similar to our last matchup. These are again, this is a defense that just got pants by a very similar style of offense. I expect adjustments to be made, but adjustments. Doesn't offset talent deficiency. So I think that this rushing attack is going to have a field day with this bill's interior D line. You guys like running in between the tackles. I know David Montgomery is a bruiser. It could get those extra yards. I expect the lions to really just hammer and hammer that unit until they can run play action off of it and give Jared golf, just that outlet to hit the middle of the field. So it's a matter of if this bill's offense can match and they can match with anybody, and this is the most healthy. That they're going to be, by the way, because they're going to get Keon Coleman back. They're getting Dalton Kincaid back. All lines healthy. Running backs are healthy. They got everybody now. So it's all hands on deck for a Superbowl preview. I expect this game to be a shootout. I think, you know, I won't give you a score prediction. I follow, um, one of the guys in our network, uh, has a creed that you shouldn't predict this or that he doesn't predict the score. I won't do it, but I do expect a high scoring game. I think both offenses are going to be firing. I think we know. What this matchup means for both teams, even if it's not a interconference game. So something to the tune of like the higher thirties or 30 to 20 something is where I expect this game going. I hope I'm wrong in the sense that it's a, it's an easy win for us, but that is impossible with the Detroit lions. There, I have too much respect to ever predict that that could ever be a case for a team like the lions this year. So high scoring shootout, these quarterbacks are going to be doing, but I think really it's the running games that are going to be doing. I think there's going to be a lot of success on the ground for both teams.
Jason Harwood:All right. All right. Well, I want to thank you, Joe, for coming out. Why don't you tell the listeners where they could find your stuff?
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you guys having me on. This has been a lot of fun and, you know, excited to see the future of this show and excited for the future of the Detroit Lions. Um, and I say that cause you're not in the AFC, so I can root for you. Um, you can find me on Twitter at show underscore DeRosa. Uh, I have a show on, uh, on cover one sports network, our YouTube channel, cover one, and my show is called under review, which goes live every Tuesday night at 7 30 PM Eastern time. And. I'm also again on blue sky social at Joe DeRosa dot B sky dot social. And as for the network, we encourage any lions fans, any fans of the show, sports fans in general, come check us out. If you're interested in learning more about another team, we have some great content creators on our network. Our guys go live with film room segments and other various discussion shows that we have video content, written content, cover one, we're on all social media platforms, so check us out. It's a good time. We have a lot of fun over there. And again, guys. Thank you so much. I had a blast. I appreciate you. Let me be on the show.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, we appreciate you coming on and, you know, spend your time with us. I, I did your under review show, after we had, uh, agreed to be on the show and I was like, I got to check this guy out. Thoroughly impressed with energy and just everything. So if you want to learn more about the bills this week, jump on over to that channel because you will learn more we could offer in this 30 minute segment. So thank you again, Joe,
Joe DeRosa | Cover 1:Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it.
Jason Harwood:All right. Joe's a good guy. That was fun interview. Jacob was easy on him with the questions. So maybe he'll come back.
Jacob:He was cool. Good to talk to.
Jason Harwood:Keys to victory. What you got?
Jacob:All right. Number one key to victory is a slow down Josh Allen, right? I mean, that should be everybody that looks at Buffalo. That's, that's the key. That's their only key to victory. Their main one is just let him run the offense. Let him work his magic and we need to stop that, right? I really wish we could find a way to take away his scrambling ability, but that's just generally not possible when you play man defense. As much as we do, we could maybe try to have a linebacker spy him, but that's going to be tough to pull off. You know, if we successfully slow Josh Allen down, then we win this game, right? We're getting guys back on defense. You know, hopefully things are going to mesh a little better than they did last week. But that's what it comes down to. The number one key is just having the defense come up with enough stops and slow down Josh Allen enough that we can outscore them and win the time of possession in turn. Right.
Jason Harwood:Yep. So I, of course we need to, somehow corral Josh Allen. But my thing is we just need to control the rush game on both ends. We need to stop their run rush game and we need to be able to run the ball ourselves, control the clock, like you just said, get time of possession and then. Don't allow them to run the ball. And so they have to get more predictable passing situations and where we can have a better chance of success. Josh Allen can be good in either situation, but I'd rather have a chance where he's has to pass. And I can trust our secondary enough to, either come up with a stop or, come up with a pick or something.
Jacob:Definitely. I have that in my keys. Also, just also, you know, just to speak on what you said, don't give up on the run. You know, last week we stuck to the run. It hadn't been working as successfully as it usually does for us, but we kept kept grinding. We kept going. You know, I think Gibbs had 14 carries money at 15 or vice versa. They both had, you know, a decent amount of carries, you know, the week before that against the bears, we killed it in the first half and then we completely went away from the run in the second half and that kind of allowed the bears to come back. You know, I think we're gonna find success running the football. We just have to make sure that we don't give up on that, and we keep pounding.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, that's the one thing that could keep it from being a shootout, right, is if we're running the ball really well and just trying to control the clock and then we just have to get some stops, but that, that's if we can get some stops against this, this this other offense, they're, they're talented over there. One thing that. I'm hoping that we could do. And what's going to be a key to victory is getting pressure with just four. Josh Allen kills it against the blitz. So we need to be able to just get, pressure with four, which honestly we've been able to do. We are success rate of getting pressure is better with four than it is with the blitz. So hopefully that continues this week. Get Zadarius in there. We got, we got some big ends that can tackle Josh Allen. Cause it takes a big man to. I mean, Josh Allen's a load.
Jacob:No comment on that no, you're right. You gotta be able to deal with four because if we do send the fifth person, you saw it last week with Jordan Love and you see it a lot with Josh Allen. If that fifth person comes and you leave that lane open, he's not going to hesitate to just take off wherever you came from and find that hole anyway. He's not going to, you know, in the years past, maybe he dances around a little bit too long and forces a ball up this year. He's not doing that at all. If you're gonna bring an extra person, if you don't find him and hit him right away, he's taking that lane and he's gonna scramble and probably get five to ten yards out of it at least. So You know, I have a spot on, you got to be able to rush for it. We have to be able to get home and actually, you know, pressure him and make him throw the ball in these situations where he's being pressured to not be able to just scramble out.
Jason Harwood:Yep. And I think. With going with the rushing and just for is to maintain the integrity and do not, know, collapse behind Josh and allow him and Elaine to run out front because if we get him in those third and long situations, we don't want to so demoralizing if they rush and get a first down on like third and eight it's going to happen in this game. I guarantee it's going to happen two or three times. He's going to do that. But going to be able to have to shut down a drive at some time and not let him rush out. And you could do that by having rush integrity, staying in your lanes, trying not to get rushed past Josh Allen, where he's got a lane to scoot up. Hopefully Aleem is back and DJ reader, and they can get the pressure up front. And we could force them into a mistake or two or just to throw the ball away or whatever.
Jacob:Yeah. I mean, that's the thing about having people on defense that know a defense and have been around for a while, even having pass go back, but the linebackers, you know, you gotta know the defense and know what we're doing here and not over pursue or not get caught in the wrong spot. Cause with a team like this, an offense like this, they're going to find the holes.
Jason Harwood:That is true. And we're going to have to be able to shut their run to game down. So that's going to be the, that's, That's going to be a key to victory. I, and it's a good thing, the line, we, that's what we need DJ reader back. We were able to keep the run game, pretty in check with the Packers, but they weren't as disciplined with it, I don't feel like in both games to stick with the run games. Like like I think Buffalo can be, you
Jacob:I mean, they've got their own kind of thunder and lightning thing going on with James Cook and Ray Davis out of Kentucky. I mean, they're both decent running backs, so I won't say they're as good as Gibbs and Montgomery, but I mean, they're, you know, they're good running backs.
Jason Harwood:no, and Buffalo is disciplined enough to stick with it too. So that's the, key. Like what you're saying about last week, we stuck with the run, even though it wasn't as successful as it usually as, I mean, you have to keep the defense honest. And that's one thing you could do is just, just keep rushing it. another player that, I don't know if there's a key to victory or just watch out is. Yeah. Thanks. is a menace from the slot. He is going to be a tough challenge for Amik. So that's going to be a matchup to watch the Amik on Shakir. And hopefully Amik's played well this year. I'm just hoping that, he's going to have to play at a really high level this week to, to be able to stop him.
Jacob:think a lot of the reason that Shakira is so successful though, too, is that you know, these plays that tend to go on a little bit longer, a few extra seconds, you know, when the routes over and that's tough to guard. You know, when the routes done, you check down and then. You know, you hit a little juke route, and it's just you and the cornerback out there. There's no way for the corner to know which way you're going. And Josh Allen, you know, has been able to find him and look for him when he's doing these scramble drills, so Yeah, I mean, I have faith in a meek. We just have to, you know, it's tough for anybody to try to play defense on that when it's just you to an open field and for a mix credit. I don't believe, you know, he doesn't get past interference calls or anything like that. He might give up the play, but he's not, you know, not being penalized. So I guess not being as grabby as some of the other cornerbacks, which is a good and a bad thing.
Jason Harwood:One other thing I want to be aware of here is that the bills used zone defense, the like fifth most in this league. awesome is that golf destroys zone coverage. He's one of the best in the league at destroying zone coverage. So that if the bill stick with that, that could be a huge advantage for the lions.
Jacob:Yeah, I mean, if they're playing zone and they're playing off, I think we're going to have a kind of a situation like we did against the Seahawks where. It's going to take 3 4 yards before you even touch our running backs when we're coming up out of the holes. They're going to have to crash down, and you know, when they crash down, that's when we try to find JMO. You know, running across is That's the way our offense works. When it's firing on all cylinders, we're tough to stop, you know. It's kind of why this is probably one of those shootout games. I hope it's not. I hope we control it, and I hope I'd be much more comfortable with a 20 14 or something like that, rather than 42 44.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. I'm expecting to have no voice on Monday because we'll
Jacob:Yeah.
Jason Harwood:cheering on defense. And then I think there'll be a big place to cheer. To be super happy about. So I, this is, I don't, before the season started, I didn't think Buffalo was going to be playing as well as a I had concerns about them losing stuff on digs and all that, going in, this has turned out to be probably the top game that we're going to have at Ford field this year. It's, it's, as far as. I guess I know the division games are always hard, always hyped, but this is going to be game of the week, 425 CBS is sending their whole crew down for the game. I mean, it's, this is a huge game.
Jacob:only lost three games this year, but they've lost in different ways. So the first loss that I had was against the Ravens, 35 to 10 and Josh Allen at 180 pass yards, 21 rush yards and no touchdowns. They held James Cook at 39 yards. So that was just, you know, one of those ugly games. Not unlike what happened, you know, when we played the Ravens, where it was just like nothing was going right, and they kind of just caught us, then they lose the Houston Texans, 23 to 20, you know, Josh Allen only completes nine passes in that game. Can you believe that that's possible? They have a game where Josh Allen completes nine passes? You know, for whatever reason, they just couldn't get it going, but then, you know, they have a winning streak, and then this last loss was not like the other two at all. Josh Allen, you already said, he had six touchdowns, 342 passing yards, 82 rushing yards. I had him on my fantasy team, so I was okay with it. You know, yeah, so I mean, when you look at the keys to victory or how to beat the bills, it seems like, you know, obviously shutting down the offense is the main one, but if we have to outscore them, we'll outscore them, right?
Jason Harwood:Yep.
Jacob:I mean, we can win any way possible.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, it'll be set up. However, I, I think I'm not sure how this game is going to go to be honest with you. Cause I really feel like we're going to be rushing the ball. So I don't know how, yeah, I'm not sure. I'm still undecided. I, if it goes the way the lions go, it's not going to be as high scoring. As their game last week both the lions Packers game and the bills Rams game. I, I think the lions would rather play, a 24 20 type game. But we'll see, we'll see if we have to outscore them. I, I have, have faith that the lions offense is going to do it.
Jacob:Right, real quick, over under I think is at 53. If the over under is at 53 right now, right now are you leaning over or under?
Jason Harwood:I'm going to go under, I'll go under, what about you? You're going
Jacob:I actually agree. You know, because just generally it seems like these two teams and the fireworks and the offenses and everything, it just tends to seem to be what happened. It doesn't ever turn out that way. And hopefully that is because, you know, we're running the ball effectively and, you know, running down there's just not as much time for these big plays. But yeah, I also would go under.
Jason Harwood:Yep. Yeah. But I won't be surprised if it's over, but yeah, I, I tend to always go under cause like you said, anytime you think that the game's going to go one way, it, it zags. But all right, Jacob, Gibbs and Monty you won last week. So I picked Gibbs and gave you Monty and you got that. So who are you going with this week?
Jacob:It's always a toss up, but it's always a fun toss up, right? I think Montgomery's outrushed Gibbs for the last, like, two or three weeks in a row. You know, Gibbs always has the potential to break one open. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say Montgomery again. I'm gonna take Monty.
Jason Harwood:You're going to take my name, I get Gibbs. I'm sorry. Either way, I'll be rooting for him. Either way. All right, Jacob. All right, let's get into grip picks and all let you go through them because you bested me again. So go ahead.
Jacob:Again, week after week after week after week.
Jason Harwood:know.
Jacob:Alright, obviously we didn't pick Thursday Night Football Packers at Lyons. We don't ever pick the Lions games. We both would have been right there anyway. Chargers at Chiefs on Sunday Night Football. We both picked the Chargers. Yet again the Chiefs, by the skin of their teeth got it done at the end of the game. That was actually a pretty good football game. So we both got that one wrong. Monday night football, Bengals at Cowboys. I said the Bengals. You thought the Cowboys were going to get it done. I do want to say to your credit, you made a point of saying that you thought that Rico Dotto was going to have a good game, that he was going to run over the Bengals. And he actually really did. He had a great game, but muff punt there at the end. Really weird situation. The Bengals score a touchdown late and they end up beating the Cowboys. So that brings our standings right now. I am 28 and 12 and you are 24 and 16. Bringing up the rear.
Jason Harwood:That is pretty bad. Yeah. So
Jacob:They got four games this week though.
Jason Harwood:I know, what is it with the cowboys blocking kicks and then touching the ball? And who touched that ball? Jacob, who's the one that touched it?
Jacob:Our warrior, the former Lion,
Jason Harwood:I want you to say it. Cause I could never say his name. Amani touched the ball.
Jacob:Orewarriye.
Jason Harwood:Oh man. Good.
Jacob:I feel, you know, you feel bad for him. Former Lion, I still want him to have success and everything, so It's tough.
Jason Harwood:Yeah.
Jacob:Hindsight's shoulda let the ball go.
Jason Harwood:Should've.
Jacob:if that was something where he didn't know the rule, you know, or I mean, the ball's there, it bounces, it's just a really bad attempt at it, I don't know.
Jason Harwood:I think it's a
Jacob:Sucks.
Jason Harwood:rule.
Jacob:At the same time, it was not his fault that they gave up a deep touchdown. I mean, it wasn't even a deep touchdown, it was a short pass to Jamar Chase, and then the Cowboys just whiffed on it, and then he ran all the way. So you can't blame him for that.
Jason Harwood:No, no. All right, Jacob. Let's get into this week's games. Yeah, there's two Monday Nighters this week, so we got four games to pick. First game is Rams at 49ers. Who you got in this one?
Jacob:It's gonna be a good game, right? Cause the 49ers can't afford to lose again. If they wanna win the NFC West, they've gotta win these games. The Rams obviously coming off a huge win against the Bills. The 49ers coming off a huge win. Albeit far less impressive against the Bears. I think it's gonna be a good game. I am gonna pick the Rams though.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, I'm with you. I think the Rams keep it rolling. they are the way the Rams are playing. I don't know if I want to play them in the playoffs again.
Jacob:Yeah, right.
Jason Harwood:I'm hoping that that we avoid that and just the whole Stafford thing. I just don't want to do it again.
Jacob:Yeah, right. I know.
Jason Harwood:The next game is going to be an important game for us just because of division Packers and Seahawks. I'm going to go with the Seahawks on this. Although that's another team Seahawks. I, they always seem to have the Lions numbers. I know we took them took them out this year, but I, chance of playing them in the playoffs. I would like to avoid them, but I think the Seahawks are going to beat the Packers, they're going to Packers are going to lose again.
Jacob:You can't avoid everybody in the playoffs, Jason. We have to beat somebody.
Jason Harwood:Nope. Everyone's going to just drop dead.
Jacob:Alright, yeah,
Jason Harwood:Yeah.
Jacob:three point favorites at Seattle. I'm gonna try some reverse psychology here, and I'm gonna pick the Packers to win
Jason Harwood:All right.
Jacob:have picked them to lose the last couple times in our grip picks and every time I pick them to lose they win So I'm gonna try something different here I still want them to lose, but I'm gonna pick them to win. You know, the Seahawks are in first place right now. They need to keep winning to lock up the division. And the Packers, the Packers have a better record than the Seahawks, and they're at like 95 percent odds of making the playoffs. So maybe the Seahawks have more riding on that one, plus they're at home. Hoping for a Seahawks win, but my my grit pick here is gonna be Packers.
Jason Harwood:All right,
Jacob:Put some bad juju on Green Bay.
Jason Harwood:NFC North is being represented. Well, lions have the game of the week at four 25 Packers at Seahawks, on Sunday night football and Monday night football, it's bears at Vikings, who are you taking in this one? Jacob.
Jacob:I mean, how, how funny, how great would it be if the Bears actually pulled that game out?
Jason Harwood:Oh
Jacob:Right?
Jason Harwood:It'd
Jacob:I don't think it's gonna happen. Obviously, Vikings at home, climate controlled dome, the Vikings have a better team, the Vikings are gonna win the game.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. I. I don't have guts to do the reverse psychology thing that you did, but I would love to see the bears win this thing. But I do think that the Vikings are going to keep the pressure on the Lions and win this game. And in a game that probably most of America doesn't care about, and it's a second Monday night football game, Falcons at Raiders. I'm gonna go with Falcons in this game. Just because. Who are the Raiders going to have at quarterback in this one?
Jacob:That, that would actually be the reason that you might pick the Raiders, right? The Falcons are 4 point favorites at Las Vegas, but the Raiders are actually gonna turn to Desmond Ritter. Yeah. The former Falcon quarterback the Raiders are just taking it week by week, right? I mean, the Falcons have been, the Falcons have had a disappointing year, but they're still in the playoff race because you know, the NFC South is wide open still. So the Falcons have to be taking it way more serious than the Raiders are. You know, obviously I'm sure Desmond Ritter just wants to light them up and wants to have the game of his life, but I don't see that happening. I definitely think the Falcons are gonna win this game,
Jason Harwood:All right. We all the same, except for the Packers and Seahawks game. So at most I can gain
Jacob:and that's the same at heart. But I, yeah, you know, I hope you gain one on me there.
Jason Harwood:All right, let's move into the great guarantee. I could start off here. am going with Josh Allen is going to be responsible for two turnovers. There's gonna be a fumble, some are just two turnovers. That's Josh Allen's gonna cough it up somehow. Maybe it's hope. Maybe it's reality. I don't know. We'll see, but that's what I'm going to go with.
Jacob:That's actually almost, you went a little bit extra with it, but my great guarantee is gonna be that we're gonna get an interception this week.
Jason Harwood:All
Jacob:Not calling who, but you know, it's been almost a month since we've had a pick. I know the defense is hungry for it. And this is a game where turnovers like that's gonna be crucial, so I feel like somebody's gonna get one. But if I'm out in the second one to be different from you, I'm gonna say that one of our running backs catches a touchdown pass.
Jason Harwood:you want, okay. Are you
Jacob:That's gonna be a bon no, that's just gonna be a bonus just between me and you. My great, my official great guarantee is gonna be the interception.
Jason Harwood:All right. All right. I like it. You're going
Jacob:We couldn't both have the same thing, I gotta have two.
Jason Harwood:All right. I've went with two a couple of times, so yeah, that's cool. this game is going to be an exciting game all the way through. I'm looking for the energy to be up in Ford field from the get go, starting at 425. people will be, I don't think it's going to be terribly cold. So there'll be out there tailgating. People will be ready for this game and it's going to be fun.
Jacob:Definitely. I mean, this is, you know, we got this game at home, next tour away, and then we're shaping up to be a big one at home against the Vikings after that, so this is the last AFC game we have, so the stakes only go up from here, so it'd be nice to get this victory,
Jason Harwood:Yeah. Cause I, not to get too far ahead of things, I get the bears of the bears, but they seem to play us tough every time. And then depending on what the weather in that game, it'll be,
Jacob:right?
Jason Harwood:like we're built to play in a cold weather though, with our offensive line and our running back. So that doesn't, that doesn't. But the bears always play us tough. Just would be really nice. Dick Campbell said that he likes having the pressure of all the teams behind us winning because it keeps us edge with the lions. They can't let their guard down. Which is right. Cause he said, this is playoff football, essentially. Now, I mean, we're getting, we're in the playoffs. But you know, seeding and all that stuff, because if we slip a little bit, you go from being the number one seed or all the way down to the fifth seed, because, know, all of a sudden you got the Vikings right in our tail. If they were to win the division, we'd fall all the way down to the fifth. And then trying to get a home game after that, it's not going to happen.
Jacob:Right. No, we, we want the one, we want the buy.
Jason Harwood:Yes. Yep. Give Alex another week to rest up and be ready to play. And who knows who else can come back at that point. But yeah let's say they do get the number one seed blocked up. Jacob, do you think in week 18 that they rest any of their starters? If everything's locked up by then?
Jacob:I actually think that they might, or they might even treat it as like a preseason game where we let them dress, we let them get a little bit of work out there and then let Hindenhooker take the second half or something like that.
Jason Harwood:Yeah. I, Dan would play the starters for at
Jacob:You still want to prepare, right? You still want to prepare and go into the same, you know, mindset, you know, prep, get all that ready just like you would week in, week out.
Jason Harwood:Right. Yep.
Jacob:having, cause at that point you'd have back to back where you'd have weeks of them not playing, not prepping the same, like, you know, you don't want to get caught sleeping, you know, the first game back, which I don't think we will, but.
Jason Harwood:No, but you, I mean, you want to stay on top of your top of your game. So yeah, for that reason alone, I don't think that they would rest them for the whole game. They get them out there, but and also be, you can't rest everybody. You only
Jacob:Yeah, right.
Jason Harwood:roster. So you have to, you're going to have to play players. So, I mean, we were in a similar situation last time where the last year with the game against the Vikings at the end, the year didn't mean that much. We already had the division locked up. We were locked in our, our seed and then LaPorta got hurt and then Kalief went down and got injured too. So, but you know, Kalief's gonna, if he were, I know he's injured right now, but if, he's just the type of guy that's going to have to play regardless, cause he's
Jacob:Right. Get more playing time. Yeah.
Jason Harwood:You'll just get more. So, I mean, you got to keep that in mind that you can't just rest everybody. You can't do that. So, but anything else,
Jacob:Nah man, I'm ready for it.
Jason Harwood:where are you going to be when this, are you going to be at home much in the game or are you going out or what's the deal
Jacob:We'll see. We are going to Frankenmuth that day, that morning, so I'm gonna be hours away, I might be watching on my phone for the whole game, I don't know.
Jason Harwood:is Deanna going to drive home and you'll be on in the passenger seat,
Jacob:If we're late. Yeah, right, right. Right. Right. If we're late.
Jason Harwood:Yeah, that's how I usually, so Lions games, I always drive to the game then Sarah drives home because if it's a one o'clock game, we're right, the boys and I are watching red zone on our phones on the way home.
Jacob:Yeah,
Jason Harwood:and then, or I'm, or we're watching lions highlights or whatever, we're doing something with football on the way home. So Sarah always drives home and I always drive there. So yeah, you need to work that out right now, Jacob and Kev you, you drive to Frankmuth and you make sure Deanna drives back.
Jacob:right.
Jason Harwood:All
Jacob:Oh, one way or another. I'm watching the game.
Jason Harwood:That's right. Well, I'll see Deanna on Saturday, so I'll make sure to tell her that's
Jacob:Yeah. Right.
Jason Harwood:All right, man. All right. For Jacob, again, big thanks to Joe DeRosa for joining from Cover One Sports Network. Awesome guest. Hope you guys enjoyed that. I'm Jason. Let's go lions.
