[Stormin' Norman]

Originally Posted by Buddha

Your definition of "terrific" must be different than mine.

Re watch the games. Stafford led long, 90+ drives. He didn't force one throw, he didn't throw the ball into bad coverage once in those two games. Stafford played excellently against Chicago in Washington.

I'm all for realizing that Stafford is a rookie and is going to have bad games, but damn Norman, the guy ties his shoes and you tell us that no one - NO ONE - has EVER made a bunny loop like that. A brilliant example of knot tieing this town has never seen! His shoes may NEVER come untied again!

There's no difference between people blaming Stafford for this loss and saying he's obviously bad and you crediting him for the Redskins win and saying he's obviously good.

I agree. Because Stafford IS to blame for this loss and WAS to credit for the Redskins win.

Baby steps to admitting that the Lions aren't very good at talent evaluation.

No. Why would I concede the CURRENT Lions administration is bad at talent evaluation when I look at the production of the guys they DID draft. Unlike most Lions fans, I am not going to point out the bad while ignoring the good.

No, you realize that Oher is really good and you need a left tackle.

Pettigrew will probably be fine, but Oher looks like the player they should have picked at this point. It's still early though.

Oher obviously does look like the player they should have picked, but so what? Nothing we can do will change that, and nothing the Lions can do will change that. If I am going to get to the point that I am going to dismiss an administration for passing on a single player that now, in hindsight, looks like the right pick - then I wouldn't bother to care in the first place.

Passing on Michael Oher was a mistake...untill they pick another player that can fill his void. And I see no reason to doubt the current administration for their ability to fill that void. I know others will, but their opinion doesn't effect my own.

You think they struck gold with a seventh round pick who couldn't make the team on a squad with one of the worst offensive lines in the league? Really?

Bill Parcells happens to think so.

You're the same guy who said Matt Millen left this team with a solid foundation on which to build a team! if that's true, then why does this front office need ANY time to make them into AT LEAST a five or six win team? Any NFL team with a solid foundation ought to be at or near .500.

I said Matt Millen gave this team more talent than his is credited for. I think the future of this team rests upon the Stafford-Johnson connection. Johnson was a Millen pick.

Your tendency to overrate every Lion player is coming back to haunt your logic.

Originally Posted by DTroppens

His first truly bad game? You must've missed last week's game at Ford Field. What about against the Saints? He's a rookie. You are right. He'll have bad games. That's a given. But to suggest this was his first truly terrible game makes me wonder what you think qualifies as a reasonable QB performance.

Last weeks game wasn't a good game by Stafford, but it wasn't horrible either. Stafford clearly got frustrated and his accuracy suffered for it, but he was still making good throws that were then dropped by his receivers. The Saints game wasn't that bad considering who we know the Saints to be. Poor performances, but not terrible.

This was the first game you can look at and identify Stafford play as a weakness for this team.

Okay, you have tackle covered. What about picking ANY POSITION on defense with those picks. I would've rather had a DLineman, a corner, a linebacker and a safety before selecting a QB or a TE with those two early picks. I never mentioned a single player. Apparently you have some insecurities about the Lions not selecting Oher.

I mention Oher because he was the only other option.

At the 20th pick you had the options of Peria Jerry, a player that has an injury history, is older than normal (25) and currently on injured reserved for the Falcons. Or you could have picked up Ziggy Hood, a smaller defensive tackle currently playing 3-4 end for the Steelers. He has showed potential, but Schwartz was looking for larger defensive tackles (like Sammie Lee Hill). Going for Ron Brace would have been a reach, though he would have fit Schwartz's style. SLH is a more athletic Ron Brace, but hampered with a history of lower competition.

At defensive end, the player I wanted (Robert Ayers) was drafted two spots ahead at 18. The only defensive end left worthy of first round consideration was Everette Brown - a small, speedy defensive end. Doesn't really fit Schwartz's profile.

At Cornerback, you had the option of Vontae Davis - a player with tremendous physical skills and tremendous red flags.

At Safety you had Delmas.

At Linebacker you obviously had options, but it's hard to complain about not picking up a player here given Levy in the 3rd round.

The pick, in hindsight, should have been Oher. But, again, this only hurts us if the Lions can't find a LT of the future in the next draft or two (or by adding a free agent).

Read my posts. I blame them for slecting a QB at a time that it made about as much sense as it does for the Detroit Tigers to draft a QB. This team isn't in any position to draft a QB high and have that QB succeed. Therefore I can blame the front office for a five-pick game. It's not in any position to be looking for that "final piece" that a TE can be.

The Lions NEEDED a QB. There was a franchise QB sitting there. You don't pass on a Franchise QB assuming another one is going to come along later. Success or failure of a QB is not dictated by his first season. Were the Lions a team that Stafford was going to come in and take to the playoffs year one? Obviously not. But Stafford isn't being negatively impacted by his experience in Detroit and, barring serious injury that could happen anywhere, won't be.