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On Lions, Big Ben, Rich Rodriguez And Tom Brookens
As I wrote in my column for Monday (see link below), I put the Lions' loss to the Seahawks Sunday almost entirely on quarterback Matthew Stafford's shoulders. Other than his foibles, I didn't think the Lions played poorly.
They ran the ball and defended it. They bounced back strongly from the disappointing loss to the Rams the previous week to take a 17-0 lead. They didn't let the game get out of hand in the second half. They still had a shot in the waning minutes until Stafford's fifth interception.
The Lions did sellout defensively. They did play and hit hard - several players got hurt as a result. Special teams weren't good. Too many long returns. Jason Hanson's kickoffs aren't very good, either. He did routinely kick a 50-yard field goal, but he might still not be 100 percent from his training camp injury. Or maybe father time is catching up to him.
The disappointing part is the Lions let real progress slip away. They should be 3-5 and pointing to a bright future. Instead, they're 1-7 and the Same Old Lions.
Random Thoughts
- A lot of people panned the Maples Leafs for the Phil Kessel trade. They may be wrong. They are a much better team with him. We saw why Saturday against the Red Wings. Speed does matter. Kessel's got that.
- A Ben Wallace Hat Trick - Two points, no assists, 16 rebounds. Yeah. That was his line Sunday vs. Philly. At 3-4 with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince hurting, the Pistons are doing all right under the circumstances.
- Rich Rodriguez is in serious trouble at Michigan. His team constantly folding at the first sign of adversity in these games is worst sign of all.
- Tom Brookens is a teriffic person, who had done well as a manager in the Tigers minor league system. Yes. I do believe he is being groomed as Jim Leyland's eventual replacement.
My column in Monday's Oakland Press about Matthew Stafford http://tinyurl.com/yg9s6ss
They ran the ball and defended it. They bounced back strongly from the disappointing loss to the Rams the previous week to take a 17-0 lead. They didn't let the game get out of hand in the second half. They still had a shot in the waning minutes until Stafford's fifth interception.
The Lions did sellout defensively. They did play and hit hard - several players got hurt as a result. Special teams weren't good. Too many long returns. Jason Hanson's kickoffs aren't very good, either. He did routinely kick a 50-yard field goal, but he might still not be 100 percent from his training camp injury. Or maybe father time is catching up to him.
The disappointing part is the Lions let real progress slip away. They should be 3-5 and pointing to a bright future. Instead, they're 1-7 and the Same Old Lions.
Random Thoughts
- A lot of people panned the Maples Leafs for the Phil Kessel trade. They may be wrong. They are a much better team with him. We saw why Saturday against the Red Wings. Speed does matter. Kessel's got that.
- A Ben Wallace Hat Trick - Two points, no assists, 16 rebounds. Yeah. That was his line Sunday vs. Philly. At 3-4 with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince hurting, the Pistons are doing all right under the circumstances.
- Rich Rodriguez is in serious trouble at Michigan. His team constantly folding at the first sign of adversity in these games is worst sign of all.
- Tom Brookens is a teriffic person, who had done well as a manager in the Tigers minor league system. Yes. I do believe he is being groomed as Jim Leyland's eventual replacement.
My column in Monday's Oakland Press about Matthew Stafford http://tinyurl.com/yg9s6ss
posted by Pat Caputo at
12:00 PM
9 Comments:
Pat,
Do you think ND should fire Charlie Weis after losing again to Navy? I've been a huge Weis supporter through all the ups and downs of his tenure but enough is enough now. What do you think about Brian Kelly as a coach? Being a journalist in the state of Michigan, what's your take on his personality and how it would fit at ND?
Thanks
16 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks from Ben. Dominant defensively.
Hey Pat, the Leafs trade is risky but the reward is there. As long as the Leafs do not finish in the bottom three this year than it was a great trade (Kessel #5 overall). This summer the Leafs will have lots of salary cap space so they should keep improving and losing their 1st round pick in 2011 shouldn’t hurt as much. Burke also has a track record of bringing in star players( Longo and Pronger ECT.)
The first sign of adversity? Give me a break. I'm so tired of "journalists" jumping on the bandwagon with this RichRod thing. I guess its chic to say cliched things like they "fold" or they "don't play with heart," or my personal favorite: they're "soft."
The game went down to the wire and they lost by two. How is that folding? In the Illinois game it wasn't really over until they fumbled in the red zone.
John,
He has to be in trouble. They just have too many edges for their coach and too little in terms of results. I've liked Notre Dame's last two coaches - Weis and Ty Willingham. But the bottom line is the bottom line.
Caputo
Michael C,
Hey, I thought it was a mistake to sigm Big Ben. I was wrong.
Caputo
Barry,
I liked what the Leafs did this off season defense, but lack of speed a problem. They have to play better in goal, obviously.
Caputo
Anonymous,
I disgree. The three losses by U-M have been capitulation.
Caputo
I think Rich Rodriguez will get fired after the season if he doesnt beat Ohio State. In his two seasons at Michigan coach there have been very few things to get excited about, and I dont think you will see the patience out of the Michigan administration that you have out of Notre Dame's with Charlie Weiss.
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