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Life since 0-16


Louis Friend

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I was watching some discussions about the Browns and what they are building despite going 0-16 last season. And it made me reflect on the life of Lions fans since 0-16.

2009 brought in GM Martin Mayhew, HC Jim Schwartz, and QB Matt Stafford. Alot was done to build an offense for Stafford and Calvin Johnson. Lions said within 3 years they would be a winning team and in the playoffs. 2009- Lions finish 2-14. Matthew Stafford suffers shoulder injury and lost for rest of season. 

2010 brought DT Ndamukong Suh and a focus on a balanced team building a defense. Stafford gets injured and misses all but 3 games of the season. Stafford was given a bust label, was called "glassford" but the lions won their last four games of the season, ending 6-10 with enthusiasm for the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lions record cannot be held against coaching staff during a rebuild.

2011 brought in DT Nick Fairley, WR Titus Young and was officially the third year of Mayhew/Schwartz era. Lions finished 10-6 and made the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons. 

2012 Lions finished the season 4-12 following a tumultuous offseason with numerous arrests. Lions lost a humiliating game against the 49ers week 2 with the handshake gate. Lost their last 8 games to end the seasons. 

 

2013 brought the end to the Jim Schwartz era after going 7-9 and failing to return to the playoffs. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lions record 21-27 .4375 winning % with 1 playoff appearance in 3 years.

2014 brought HC Jim Caldwell and a renewed mindset of "taking the next step". Joe Lombardi was brought in as offensive coordinator which opened things up for Stafford. This lead to a 11-5 record and a playoff appearance marred by controversial calls against the Dallas Cowboys with the infamous video of Dean Blandino coming off the Cowboys bus drunk. 

2015 Suh left Detroit for Miami and Calvin Johnson quietly told Stafford that he was planning on retiring after the season. Lions promoted JBC to offensive coordinator, finishing the season winning 6 of their last 8 games to a 7-9 overall record. Martin Mayhew is relieved of his duties as General Manager after the season. 

2016 Lions went out and signed young former NE official Bob Quinn to General Manager with an emphasis on continued success. Lions finished the season with a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance the year after losing Calvin Johnson. Emphasis given on building the trenches. 

2017 Lions failed to reach the post season despite finishing the season with a 9-7 record. Jim Caldwell was relieved of his duties following the season. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lions record 36-28 .5625 winning % with 2 playoff appearances & 1 game back of playoff appearance in 4 seasons.

2018 Lions brought in HC Matt Patricia with a renewed mindset of "post season success". Making the playoffs should not be the goal, winning in the playoffs should be the goal. 

Do you see the growth of the franchise? Do you think we are on the path to playoff success? Almost ten years after going 0-16, will the Lions win a playoff game? 

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As frustrating as it is to not be a great damn, it's damn refreshing to be consistently solid now. The team is no longer a punchline. I don't see the Lions making the playoffs this year,  but I think that the team is on the right track as long as Patricia turns out to be a solid coach. 

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You can see there was a lot of volatility with the first few years going from 2 wins to 10 wins and everywhere else in between. We have had a bit more consistency and increased expectations. Stafford has moved past the initial questions on his durability. I would say he's a Top 10 QB talent wise.

It feels like we are not that far off from being a perennial contender and have key pieces at key positions. We still need a few other pieces to get to the next level. I do feel that we would need to have Patriots level success to shake the 0-16 label/lack of attention from the media.

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Handshake gate was 2011. I believe week 6.

Its easy to see the growth. 3 playoff appearances since is a testament to what a good qb can do, despite mostly bad defenses, hurrendous rushing and up and down special teams.

Not sure we make the playoffs this year but im hopeful weve found a difference making hc and a smart gm who will build this the right way. 

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I'm not sure I'd consider it growth. What it seems like to me is that the Fords finally committed to trying to win. Nobody has any idea what it takes to build a winner... (IE there isn't really a blue print), so we've just been throwing **** at the wall and hoping it will stick. Some of that **** seemed sticky but didn't hold. I hope this **** sticks.

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3 hours ago, diehardlionfan said:

I see some progress but not nearly enough. Quinn has churned the roster and I think he’s done a good job overall. This is a really important draft to get the Lions in position to be in the playoffs every year. 

What we really need is a home-run draft like we had in 2013. 

Quinn has done a good job of improving the team's depth and versatility, but none of the players that he has drafted have turned into stars. He seems to have a knack for drafting guys that can step in and contribute, but the team seems to making little improvements here and there. That's great, and should lead to some long-term success, but if the team ever wants to win the division or win a couple of playoff games, we need some of those picks to turn into studs. Maybe someone from the last two years will turn the corner developmentally and do that, or maybe this year's class will be a great one. Quinn doesn't seem keen on adding huge impacts via free agency, so we have to hope that the team drafts and develops a couple of stars soon, and it just hasn't happened yet. Decker, Robinson, Glasgow, Davis, etc. are all solid players, but you don't win with a roster of just solid players - it takes a couple of studs too. 

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1 hour ago, Lions017 said:

What we really need is a home-run draft like we had in 2013. 

Quinn has done a good job of improving the team's depth and versatility, but none of the players that he has drafted have turned into stars. He seems to have a knack for drafting guys that can step in and contribute, but the team seems to making little improvements here and there. That's great, and should lead to some long-term success, but if the team ever wants to win the division or win a couple of playoff games, we need some of those picks to turn into studs. Maybe someone from the last two years will turn the corner developmentally and do that, or maybe this year's class will be a great one. Quinn doesn't seem keen on adding huge impacts via free agency, so we have to hope that the team drafts and develops a couple of stars soon, and it just hasn't happened yet. Decker, Robinson, Glasgow, Davis, etc. are all solid players, but you don't win with a roster of just solid players - it takes a couple of studs too. 

You said it well. It seems obvious he’s intent on building through the draft using short term stopgap free agents. Using that strategy, which I think is the right way to go he has to find some high impact guys. 

While discussing Quinn, I also wonder if he will pay enough to keep the teams good players. If not, the draft becomes even more important.

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1 hour ago, diehardlionfan said:

You said it well. It seems obvious he’s intent on building through the draft using short term stopgap free agents. Using that strategy, which I think is the right way to go he has to find some high impact guys. 

While discussing Quinn, I also wonder if he will pay enough to keep the teams good players. If not, the draft becomes even more important.

He paid enough to keep Stafford and I think Slay's resigning was on his watch too. We haven't had a lot of good players to keep lately. 

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35 minutes ago, diehardlionfan said:

That’s true. I’m thinking of Tate specifically. 

Tate's been a steal on his current contract. Seeing that Paul Richardson got a 40 million contract this off season, I don't think we can afford Tate if that's where the bar is set.

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24 minutes ago, Nnivolcm said:

Tate's been a steal on his current contract. Seeing that Paul Richardson got a 40 million contract this off season, I don't think we can afford Tate if that's where the bar is set.

At some point though, you have to pay market rate, for some of your players. I also expect Tate won’t be kept. With his departure the team would have another need. The money saved likely wouldn’t improve the starting lineup but improve depth because Quinn just doesn’t seem like a big free agency spender.

In my view Ebron is a good example. To much money, he gets cut, Quinn makes minor improvements and the team has a gaping hole at TE. Now, they likely use draft capital on a TE who will need three years to develop. I understand why Quinn did it  It just seems more logical to keep Ebron and draft a LB. currently I expect they might just draft a LB and a TE so what’s really been gained?

what do you think?

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For me, the simple fact is, Stafford is a solid QB but not a top 10 QB and that has left us making time as a middle of the road team, playoff calibre but nothing special and I expect more of the same next season!

Our rise up the ladder had more to do with William Ford's death, he could no longer destroy this franchise with horrible GM's and a scouting department loaded with his cronies.

We are at least a professionally run franchise, only limited by the quality of our QB.

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2 hours ago, Iamcanadian said:

For me, the simple fact is, Stafford is a solid QB but not a top 10 QB and that has left us making time as a middle of the road team, playoff calibre but nothing special and I expect more of the same next season!

Our rise up the ladder had more to do with William Ford's death, he could no longer destroy this franchise with horrible GM's and a scouting department loaded with his cronies.

We are at least a professionally run franchise, only limited by the quality of our QB.

Wait, you think Stafford is A.) Not a top 10 QB and 2.) The only player limiting our success? 

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I don't think that we resign Golden Tate. I keep seeing people try to justfy extending him because we have him on a bargain of a contract, which is true, but that shouldn't be relevant in future negotiations. That's how you overpay. Golden Tate will be 30 in August and will be 31 when he suits up for his first game of the 2019 season. Unless he's willing to take a discount because he likes playing in Detroit, that's exactly the type of player that you consider letting walk. I don't want to see the Lions start shelling out big money for loyalty or past production on players that are likely exiting their prime. Maybe Tate will be one of those guys that's good into his mid-30's, but right around now is typically where receivers start to decline. 

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