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Tell us why you believe the Detroit Lions will be better this season than last.
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00:00Good morning, 97.1. Later this hour, Lane Kiffin defends adding NFL players.
00:06Does he have a point?
00:09You heard the Tigers. They lost. That's 9 of 10.
00:13Valdez, the worst pitcher in Major League Baseball in the first inning.
00:17He's given up the most runs.
00:20Lovely. No strikeouts last night. How many years has he signed for?
00:23Yeah, we got him for another two.
00:25Great. At least at a bargain, right?
00:27No, it would be a record-breaking contract for left-handers.
00:31Sorry, we'll just move on.
00:32Football season's right around the corner.
00:35We want you to tell us why we're wrong.
00:38So ESPN has a list of the most improved teams for the upcoming season.
00:43And they list the Lions.
00:45You're bullish. I'm bullish. We think this is going to be a bounce back here.
00:48We think they're going to be better than 9 and 8. Come on.
00:51Tell us why we're wrong.
00:53Because we get pushback.
00:54Anytime you and I get excited about this team for this season.
00:57So let's do this.
00:59You can be with us. Great.
01:01We'll frolic and have a good time.
01:02But I want to hear from the people who don't see it.
01:04Who don't see a bounce back coming.
01:06Who don't think the Lions will be one of the most improved teams in the NFL this season.
01:11Yeah, I mean, we could go through all the lists of reasons why we think that they are going to
01:16be better.
01:16And I know that ESPN goes through it extensively in their article.
01:21But it's an improved offensive line.
01:23It's a healthy defense.
01:25Eventually, with Branch, don't know about Kirby Joseph, but a much more productive defensive line.
01:31I think there's a lot of reasons why you look at this and say, last place schedule.
01:35Now I think the debate becomes, last place schedule.
01:39What do wins mean?
01:41And how good are the wins if they, let's just say in the first five games, they beat all of
01:48the likely suspects.
01:50The Jets.
01:52Cardinals.
01:52Yeah, the Cardinals.
01:53The Saints.
01:54They beat the Titans at some point in schedule.
01:56Right.
01:56But they lose to the Bills.
01:58We get into the bye week and they're up four and one.
02:01What do we really know about this team?
02:03Or maybe you beat Carolina.
02:04They were at a losing record, but they won their division.
02:08So I think that is a part of the argument of where people are looking.
02:15You could have a better record, but maybe you're just not that good.
02:20I got a hard time believing they're not going to be better than nine and eight.
02:24Now we can debate, are they Super Bowl caliber or not?
02:28I think they're going to have to prove some things, but I don't understand that statement yesterday.
02:34Yes, John, based on the DJ, won't be the tight end.
02:37They're going to win the Super Bowl.
02:38That's what the video is all about.
02:41But I don't get the people who are hesitating on improvement.
02:46The schedule is a benefit.
02:48We saw it last year with the Bears.
02:49We saw it with the Seahawks.
02:51We saw it with the Patriots.
02:53That schedule matters.
02:54When you get a couple gimme's, there's no gimme's in the NFL, Jim.
02:58When you get a couple favorable matchups, it could be the difference in two or three wins.
03:02It could be the difference in finishing last in a division and having a playoff spot and winning a division.
03:06And I want to give people the comparison because you play a lot of the same opponents in the division,
03:11right?
03:12But there are crossover games and the crossover is pretty jarring.
03:15So the Lions are going to play the Titans in the AFC South.
03:20Well, the Bears are going to play the Jags and the Packers are going to play the Texans.
03:26Right.
03:26Do you think that's helpful for the Lions for the upcoming season?
03:29Yes, I think advantage Lions.
03:30I'll go a step further.
03:31We're going to cross over with the NFC West.
03:34The Lions will play the Arizona Cardinals early in the year without Cade May.
03:37So it comes at a good time.
03:39By comparison, the Bears are going to play the Seahawks and the Packers are going to play the Rams.
03:45Do you think that might play out over the course 16, 17 weeks?
03:49I mean, yeah, you could add another one or two to yours that the other teams aren't going to get.
03:52Right.
03:52So that's going to show up.
03:53And if you don't think they're winning nine games, they won nine games with Graham Glasgow playing center last season.
03:57So I'm of the belief that what's the win total ten and a half that they're going to be over
04:01their win total and they're going to win this division.
04:03They're the favorites to win this division for the people who say pump the brakes and don't get it.
04:07We're going to need you to show your work or help us out or maybe it's a blind spot what
04:12we're missing.
04:13Well, I always like to play the devil's advocate and like, OK, what is the argument that the other side
04:20might see?
04:21And it could be the fact that you have questions that left guard.
04:26You could even argue that you have questions at right guard and right tackle.
04:30You've got a rookie starting at right tackle.
04:33You've got a second year player that needs to show great improvement in Tate Rattledge.
04:38And you're not playing.
04:40You're not starting the season with your big time free agent signing in Cade Mays.
04:44You've got a backup.
04:45You have an undecided and you have development on the interior of that offensive line.
04:51Then you look at the defensive front, which we are both bullish on.
04:55And you say, OK, well, Aiden Hutchinson is a known commodity.
04:58But Aleem McNeil, when he came back, it was one good game, came out of the gate strong and then
05:03tapered off.
05:05Tyleek Williams is you could sit there and say, well, he dropped all this weight.
05:09He looks a lot better.
05:10Well, what the hell was he doing last year?
05:12How did he?
05:13Why did he come in plumped up?
05:15Well, that's the key thing with the weight, because when it first got reported, he lost 50 pounds.
05:19You're thinking, oh, my God, is this guy going to be like chiseled?
05:22Well, no, he gained a bunch of bad weight and then had to lose it to get back down.
05:26So, yeah, I mean, there's still questions for him.
05:29But if I took it one at a time and went through all of it, so the offensive line, you
05:33mentioned, you know, rookie here and question mark here.
05:36Cade Mays isn't going to miss a single division game per the timeline.
05:41The offensive line last year got him to a winning record, and we knew it was a problem.
05:45If it's better, even marginally better, there are more wins to be had up front.
05:49The secondary concerns me.
05:51I've never run from that.
05:52I don't think Joseph's playing this season.
05:54Branch, I worry about an Achilles in space at that position this season.
05:58Can I help them out?
06:00I'm going to have to get to the quarterback.
06:01It's why I fixate on the defensive line.
06:04And so, again, I'll go back to the defensive line.
06:07We talked about Alain McNeil, Tylee Williams, depth at the defensive tackle spot, unproven depth.
06:13And then you've got DJ Wanham.
06:14Yeah, it was a great sack against the tight end against Washington.
06:18But then you have an unproven commodity in Derek Moore.
06:22Zach Fumble, great, but it was the end of the first half of a preseason game.
06:27And, you know, Hassanen, you want to talk about unproven.
06:31Oh, yeah.
06:32Like, you just don't know what you're going to get out of that position opposite Hutch.
06:37And again, I want to play devil's advocate a little bit.
06:40But it's part of the discussion.
06:42Depth at linebacker.
06:43Yeah.
06:44Is a major issue.
06:45With Jimmy Rolder down, you bring in Devin White, who's clearly aging, but I think is still a terrific player.
06:52But that's what one of the things that I think those that are on that other side of the fence
06:57are going to bring up.
06:58Jack Campbell, all world.
07:01But who else do you have playing a linebacker?
07:04Derek Barnes didn't have a great season last year.
07:06No.
07:06Malcolm Rodriguez, to me, isn't a starter.
07:09He's a depth guy, and I think he's a good NFL player as a depth guy, but not as a
07:14starter.
07:16I guess what level of doubt?
07:18Because there's always a healthy amount of doubt.
07:20There's an unknown.
07:21It's a new season.
07:22Every team's got question marks.
07:23What amount of doubt is appropriate?
07:25Because they finished last in the division last season.
07:31It was bad.
07:32Is that still the expectation for some Lions fans?
07:34Like, even with the question marks, I look around this division, and I'm thinking,
07:39well, Bears are going to go from playing a last-play schedule to a first-play schedule.
07:42And today, they came out with the opposite.
07:45You know, who takes the biggest step back?
07:47Bears are at the top of that list.
07:48Oh, yeah.
07:48And I've been saying that since the season ended.
07:50They won seven one-score games a year ago.
07:53And they did it with plus 22 in the turnover margin.
07:58It's the second best of the last decade.
08:00A lot of fortunate bounces.
08:02Every player that had at least two picks is gone, including the NFL leader last season,
08:07Bayard, at safety.
08:09That's a team that...
08:10Caleb Williams is a fantastic upside.
08:12He's a 58% passer last year.
08:15So now they're going to play a tougher schedule.
08:17They're not going to get plus 20 in the turnover margin.
08:20Yeah, they have regression written all over them.
08:22Who takes a bigger step back?
08:24Chicago Bears or the New England Patriots?
08:31Bears, the division's tougher.
08:34Like, I think the Patriots will also take a step back, but still make the playoffs.
08:38I don't know about Chicago.
08:41You?
08:43I think it probably is the Bears.
08:45I think...
08:45Because you got the Dolphins and Jets baked in, right?
08:48Yeah.
08:48And you're still going to...
08:50You're always going to have this debate.
08:51Drake May or...
08:53Drake May or...
08:55I'm drawing a blank.
08:57Yeah, Caleb Williams.
08:58If you're a Drake May guy.
08:59Yes.
09:00And so, you know, that's part of the equation.
09:02Obviously, they got A.J. Brown, but you've got Romo Dunze and a talented group of receivers.
09:08But they lost their center.
09:10That's another thing that, you know, with no Dolman, the Bears are going to have to try
09:16and find a way to continue to block up front.
09:19We learned that lesson losing a Pro Bowl center.
09:21All Pro Center, in our case, and what it meant.
09:24Text coming in.
09:24The Bears won the division with 11 wins.
09:26The Lions were last with nine.
09:28Two games makes a huge difference with that schedule.
09:32Great point.
09:33Yes.
09:33Good way to put it.
09:35John makes a good point about the debate with the last play schedule.
09:37In other words, how real would they be?
09:39However, the Patriots with the last play schedule made it to the Super Bowl.
09:42So, however you get there, who cares?
09:44Motown math.
09:45I agree.
09:46Yeah, you won't complain if you have home field in the postseason.
09:49They also had some things go their way in the postseason.
09:52Like Bo Nix go down with an injury in the AFC title game?
09:55Yeah, you're going to need some breaks.
09:56Yeah.
09:57They had all of them.
09:58This ESPN article got real geeky about some things.
10:01I know.
10:01And it pointed out something about the Lions that I didn't realize last year,
10:04that they recovered on offense and defense only 29% of the fumbles.
10:11ESPN says that's only the fifth time since 1990 that a team has had a fumble recovery percentage
10:18that bad.
10:20And they still went 9-8.
10:21And they're pointing out that that is an extreme anomaly and that it's something that
10:26completely equals out the next season, which they believe will lead at least to one-two
10:31wins.
10:31Just something as simple as that.
10:33Yeah, I think we talk about where's the roster better and we talk positions and units and
10:37all that stuff.
10:38That's fine.
10:40The things that fluctuate year to year, turnovers year to year fluctuate, schedule can bump
10:45you up a couple or knock you down a couple.
10:47Those things are all in the Lions' favor.
10:49The other thing is one-score games.
10:51Like, yes, good teams find ways to win.
10:53But it's rare that you play with fire and win as often as the Bears did a year ago.
10:57Seven wins in one-score games.
10:58The Lions only had two wins in one-score games.
11:01They're two and five in one-score games.
11:03That is another one of those tends to even out over the...
11:06You're in all these games.
11:07They're all one-score games.
11:08That tends to even out.
11:10And sometimes it just simply does come down to can you convert a first down?
11:14Can you possess the football longer than the other team?
11:17Or can you protect your quarterback if you're down by that one score?
11:20Or can you protect your quarterback enough to be able to get downfield for a chance at
11:24a field goal, a game-winning field goal?
11:26Or if you need six or more, to be able to put the ball in the end zone?
11:31Tex says, why aren't the Lions going to be as good as you guys think?
11:34The secondary's crap.
11:36Two question marks at safety.
11:37The center's out before the line can gel.
11:39Teams are going to hang points on us.
11:41Can Jared have enough time to get that offense rolling?
11:43It's a seven-to-nine win team.
11:45Start living in reality.
11:47Wow.
11:48I would say the biggest thing, probably right now, question mark, as to why they wouldn't
11:52be better, if they would finish nine and eight or worse, is if this Laporta thing is something
11:57that's going to linger.
11:59There's a direct correlation last year.
12:00They were under .500 when Laporta didn't play.
12:03A three and five last year?
12:04Yeah.
12:05Yep.
12:06I think this team may be one win better than last year, but don't see them winning the
12:09division.
12:09I still don't trust their defense.
12:11Might be one of the worst secondaries in the NFL.
12:13With a last-place schedule, if you're only one win better, I don't think you are probably
12:20equal to or less than maybe you were last year.
12:23Some people don't think this Lions D-line is the next Steel Curtain, signed Mike in Royal
12:27Oak, who wonders, am I stupid or dishonest?
12:32It's a fun reset from yesterday.
12:35All right.
12:35We'll get phone calls, feedback, and text.
12:37It's 97.1.
12:37We'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls,
12:38we'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls, we'll get phone calls,
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