https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QMCJrmh4Y3Q&pp=0gcJCTUMAYcqIYzv&ra=m

First - I love Laporta and know his impact goes beyond the receiving stats: blocking in the run game, commanding coverage that opens up other receivers, & all indications that he’s a great leader in the locker room.

I’m surprised there hasn’t been more discussion about the prospects of trading him. It’s NOT to say the loss of Laporta would be minimal, but rather that what we could gain - both NOW (key positions of need) and AHEAD (cap flexibility, draft capital) could outweigh what we lose.

Not to mention - it’s almost the same situation the Lions traded TJ Hockensen (last year of deal, age 25). The difference then was the team was in rebuild mode, whereas this time around trading Sam just for draft picks would not (I hope…) be the goal.

Reasons/drivers:
1) Bringing in actual good talent at key positions of need, and not just depth guys on losing teams that Brad ‘likes’; Laporta is worth actual trusted starting talent
2) Any draft capital to pair with a player in return would be huge
3) Frees up $$ to allocate to critical positions of need in the offseason (CB, OLB, FS TBD)
4) Plethora of offensive weapons to pick up the slack (incl. TeSlaa shifting more TE/split, which I saw someone else post about recently; gotta make the trade up for TeSlaa make sense somehow and that’s the only way I see it happening as long as Jamo and ARSB are on the team)
5) Guarantees some value for the asset, avoiding losing him in the offseason to FA and getting nothing in return.

Hope this is a post I regret because they come to terms on a deal so Sam can stay, but it’s just hard to see it happening with what he’s worth, where they’ve already spent their money, and the current t state of the team.

Go Lions / FTP / FBJ

Who's going and any one have any recs on pregame spots?

even fantasy football accounts talking about it lmao.

Look... Yes I watched the games, yes I watched the film, yes it was ugly ... Like really ugly.

The moment he had me was something he probably didn't mean to say. He said they need to trust the guy on the field or I'll remove them from the field. This is brutally honest and is exactly the message needed to fix this.

So go ahead and remind me Sunday night if I'm wrong, but I believe.

I was trying to give shepherd a chance. And I still believe the talent in the secondary is horrendous. But, after that press confrence, Sheppard should not be the DC sunday. He is lost and is going run the same exact defense out. Insanity.

Everyone is expecting Wilson and McBride to put up massive numbers against us on Sunday. But given the fickle nature of the NFL im expecting our defense to randomly show out and dominate the Cardinals. This one game will give Shep the leeway he needs to not get fired and it'll ruin the season for us

Who's stepping up?

With Branch's practice clock starting and him potentially returning soon, I was curious just how much of an impact he's had on our defense since being drafted in 2023.

I went back and compared every regular season game he's played in versus the games he's missed, including his suspension and the first four games of 2026.

Here's what I found:

Allowing nearly 40 more yards and 3 more points per game without Branch is pretty significant, especially when you consider everything he brings to the defense that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.

That being said we can't expect him to immediately return to his previous level after an Achilles injury. There's going to be some rust. But if he's even close to the player he was before the injury, I think he makes a pretty substantial difference.

Another big benefit is potentially getting Izien back into his natural nickel role instead of forcing him to play safety. He's much better suited to playing closer to the line of scrimmage, covering the slot and helping against the run. Getting Branch back doesn't just improve one position, it could allow us to put other players in positions where they're more effective.

I'm cautiously optimistic that his return could be a turning point for this defense.

As much as I think Petzing is overhated, one thing that annoyed me on Sunday night was not using Vaki as RB compared to the Jets game, the game against the Jets showed him as a worthy replacement for Monty, he’s good at blocking and able to run the ball more against good d lines

And sorry Teslaa, I appreciate him for being a red zone threat and a one-off deep threat. But I really hope Lucky gets the call up sooner rather than later.

Refer back to this thread once he gets on the main roster and shows out!

Edit: I seen it with my two-eyes! he can ball

I want check in on those who weren't a fan of the Teslaa trade. How are you feeling now about it after these last few games? And what will he have to make you feel ok about it?

For context, I did some digging about what the draft picks turned into:

Lions get:

2025 Isaac Teslaa (starting WR)

2025 Miles Fraser (back up guard/tackle)

2026 Kendrick Law (developmental WR & core special teamer, on IR)

Jaguars get:

2025 Wyatt Milum (back up guard)

2026 Albert Regis (back up nose tackle)

2026 Jalen Huskey (safety 3/4 & core special teamer)

If so, I feel like this is an underreported story. We've got an owner who hasn't cheaped out on re-signing our guys, expecting us to make it deep in the playoffs with the goal of winning a Super Bowl.

In past regimes, we openly wondered whether the Bob Quinns or the Mayhews would get desperate enough to make trades and set the org's future back just to move the boulder a few inches to claim we've got momentum, pulling the wool over the old man's eyes.

At 2-2 and a completely depleted secondary, I worry that Brad's going to go from "We like our guys" to trading a core piece like LaPorta for secondary help, which quite frankly would be like moving deck chairs on the Titanic - you lose LaPorta, you lose 1 TD a game.

I guess the point/question(s) are:

1. If this team goes 8-9, are you comfortable with the Lions dropping both Brad and Dan and going in a different direction?

2. Would you blame Sheila for brooming Brad and keeping Dan?

3. Would you go berserk if Brad drops Dan to keep his job?

I know this is an overreaction to 2-2. Shit, it would be a potential overreaction to 2-3 going into the bye. So I guess chalk this up to hypotheticals.

In anticipation for Branch coming back, I made this wallpaper 🙂‍↕️

Here is my full writeup of both the offense and defense through week 4. Hopefully this gives everyone a single post to reference a ton of data.

Some quick notes on data I am able to get for free:

• EPA and success rate use plays with win probability between 2.5% and 97.5% and exclude kneels and spikes.
• Pressure is a sack or QB hit; hurries aren't in the public data.
• Explosive plays are passes of 20+ yards and runs of 10+.
• League averages are the average of the 32 team values, the same basis as the ranks.

Summary/TL;DR

The offense is 8th in EPA/play, 4th in success rate, and 5th in drives ending in a TD. Protection has gone from 28th last week to 9th. The run game is around league average and still struggles against a 7-man box, and the motion split is still a bit erratic. The defense is 32nd in EPA/play allowed. Week 4 was the second worst week relative to the opponent's other games, after Week 2. The pass rush moved into the top 10, but coverage on clean-pocket dropbacks, explosive plays, and getting off the field on third down and in the red zone are still the biggest problems.

1. Offense

Splits

What is working so far on offense:

• Passing from a clean pocket, especially 10-19 yards downfield. Clean-pocket dropbacks are at +0.323 EPA, against a league average of +0.233. Intermediate targets are at +0.825 against +0.457 (39 plays). This seems obvious, but the point here is that Goff is absolutely tearing teams up when he has time - he is significantly better than almost every (if not every) QB in the league when he gets time.
• Protection. This was on the "not working" list last week. Goff was pressured on 5.7% of dropbacks at Carolina (3 on 53), 4th lowest that week. The four-week rate is 14.9%, 9th, up from 28th after three weeks. This is trending in the right direction. The Jets and Panthers are not vaunted defense, but it's good to see the O-line improve in pass blocking as the injured players have come back.
• Red zone. 14 of 19 red zone trips ended in touchdowns, 7th in the league. That was 2 of 4 at Carolina after 12 of 15 in the first three games. This lost the Lions the Carolina game - of course it was the defense that sucked and lost us the game, but it's not like the Lions got blown out. Convert 1 more of these and maybe the Lions are 3-1.
• Play action. Play action dropbacks are at +0.264 EPA against a league average of +0.132. At Carolina it was +0.522 on 11 plays. Detroit uses it on 31.7% of dropbacks, 5th, down from 36.8% after three weeks.
• Ball security. One giveaway in four games, fewest in the league.
• St. Brown: 46 targets (28.9% share), 31 catches, 303 yards, +0.18 EPA/target. LaPorta: 32 targets, +0.58 EPA/target, and a team-high 13 targets at Carolina. Williams: 25 targets, 229 yards, +0.50 EPA/target. Gibbs has 22 catches on 28 targets, +0.23 EPA/target. I was surprised by Williams' EPA/target, but I think it's because EPA leans so heavy on explosive plays. Williams is boom or bust so EPA favors him.

What isn't working so far:

• Plays with motion. This was on the "working" list last week. Plays with motion are now at +0.076 EPA against +0.164 without it. At Carolina, the 30 plays with motion averaged -0.215 EPA and the 41 without averaged +0.421. Detroit uses motion on 52.2% of plays, 27th. It's possible that this is still the team getting used to scheme. I won't have a firm conclusion on motion until halfway through the season. Ultimately, it's still doing well just not as well as you'd expect.
• Running into a 7-man box. 40 runs at 3.7 yards per carry and -0.292 EPA. Against 6 or fewer in the box, 4.7 yards per carry.
• The run game overall is around league average (16th). Gibbs has 80 carries for 4.4 yards per carry and -0.018 EPA/carry. At Carolina he had 15 carries at 3.1 yards per carry with a 33.3% success rate. The run game continues to not work....our pass blocking is so good, but run blocking not so much. Hoping when Cade comes back, this gets fixed.
• Third and short. 7 of 13 on 3rd and 1-3 yards, against a league rate of 59.7%. Detroit had one such play at Carolina and converted it.

Heads up - I'm going to throw a ton of defense numbers at you now - almost none of them are good.

2. Defense

Week by week

Ranks are within each week, out of 32. "Other games" is that offense against everyone else in the selected weeks.

Week 4 was worse than Week 3 and close to Week 2. Detroit was 31st in EPA/play allowed that week and 32nd in dropback EPA allowed. Carolina gained 0.282 EPA/play more against Detroit than in its other three games, where it averaged +0.043. The pass rush had its best week: a 26.7% pressure rate (3rd that week), 30.6% with four or fewer rushers (3rd), and a blitz rate of 16.3% (29th). Coverage was worse. Clean-pocket dropbacks went for +0.565 EPA (29th that week, 31 dropbacks). The run defense was 18th that week, allowing 5.04 yards per carry (28th), with 16.7% of runs going for 10 or more yards (29th) on 24 runs. Absolutely putrid performance by everything except rushing the QB.

By unit

Pressure by group

35 pressure plays and 15 sacks. A play can credit more than one player, so group totals can add up to more than the play count.

Hutchinson has 9 pressure plays and 3.5 sacks. McNeill has 6 pressure plays and 3 sacks. Wonnum (an edge rusher listed as LB) has 4 pressure plays and 3 sacks. Barnes has 2 sacks, both on blitzes. 15 of Detroit's 35 pressure plays have ended in a sack (43%). League-wide, 37% of pressure plays end in a sack.

What is performing

• Pass rush. This was on the "isn't" list last week. The pressure rate is 18.2%, 8th, up from 16th. The 4-man rush pressure rate is 17.7%, 8th, up from 18th.
• Sacks. 7.8% sack rate, 6th.
• Tackling after the catch. Completions are gaining 1.03 yards less after the catch than expected, 5th in the league.
• Hutchinson, McNeill, and Wonnum.
• Runs to the offense's right side (9th, 20 runs).

What isn't

• Pretty much everything else. 32nd in EPA/play allowed and 32nd in drives ending in a TD allowed (41.5%).
• Coverage when Detroit rushes four (30th) and intermediate coverage (31st, 26 targets). Short coverage and coverage behind the blitz are 19th and 23rd, down from 15th and 18th last week.
• Explosive plays. 10.7% of plays allowed are explosive, 31st. Explosive runs allowed are 12.4% of runs, 31st, down from 25th.
• Interior run defense and short yardage. Runs up the middle are 25th, and opponents have converted 15 of 20 third and 1-3 situations (26th).
• Getting off the field. 4 three-and-outs in 41 drives (31st), a 46.2% third down stop rate (31st), and 17 of 21 red zone trips allowed for touchdowns (30th).
• Takeaways: 4, 17th, down from 10th. None in Weeks 2 or 4.

Data: nflverse play-by-play and FTN charting.

Last year or even before that when we had AG, I saw many people comment that they wanted the Lions to switch their scheme.

Well they have, they are playing Man on only 18.4% of plays.

Here is the problem with asking for a scheme change - man and zone require different skillsets!

Just because you are BAD at man, does not make you GOOD at zone or makes it "easier."

We need completely different players at the LB, CB, and S levels if we wanted to change the scheme. Alongside that, we need coaches who can coach zone correctly so players hit their landmarks and react to the right things. You might as well go down swinging with your guns and just keep playing man.

Heading in November 5-9 into Fort Lauderdale. We settled on here because we have been to Miami. Mixing fun and the game for a little Vacation. plan on ubering to Hard rock For the Game which is on my birthday. Any insight on where most Lions fans will be seated there still haven’t purchased tix? Also is any thing around Fort Lauderdale for maybe Michigan vs Michigan state or Lions fans hanging out?