Omnium Rerum Principia Parva Sunt

[BritPitbull]

Detroit Lions Depth Chart - 1
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	M. Jones (87)	A. Roberts (73)	C. Fuller (71)
TE	N. Boyle (76)	C, Harbor (70)
LT	T. Decker (78) (R)	C. Robinson (73)
LG	A. Norwell (81)	L. Collins (79)
C	T. Frederick (90)	C. Glasgow (73) (R)
RG	T. Turner (82)	L. Collins (79)	S. Tretola (70) (R)
RT	L. Johnson (88)	C. Lucas (71)
WR	A. Boldin (81)	C. Meredith (66)
QB	M. Stafford (85)	J. Garoppolo (76)	J. Licata (61) (R)
FB	M. Burton (87)
HB	J. Hill (84)	S. Ware (77)	Z. Zenner (70)	T. Madden (61) (R)
Base 4-3 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	K. Hyder (70)	A. Zettel (68) (R)
LDT	T. Knighton (87)	A. Billings (72) (R)
RDT	A. Robinson (74) (R)	K. Thornton (69)
RDE	E. Ansah (89)	C. Tapper (70) (R)
WLB	A. Barr (90)	D. Wilson (70)	T. Armbrister (65)
MLB	B. Wagner (90)	B. Chubb (63) (R)
SLB	A. Williams (68) (R)	D. Wilson (70)	T. Armbrister (65)
CB	D. Slay (89)	Q. Diggs (74)
SS	K. Ishmael (76)	M. Killbrew (69) (R)
FS	E. Reid (81)	D. Bush (69) (R)
CB	J. Verrett (85)	W. Redmond (66)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	W. Lutz (72) (R)
P	S. Martin (77)
PR	A. Roberts (84)
KR	A. Roberts (87)
LS	T. Frederick (90)

[BritPitbull]

At the start of the pre-season there was $20m in the coffers. As the season is about to start the club now has $29.7m. The Lions are rated as the 7th most valuable team, broken down like so:

Overall 7th
Fan Happiness 15th
Team Success 19th
Popularity 24th
Staff 3rd
Stadium 13th
Concession 4th
Merchandise 9th
Ticket 8th

Our total salaries are: $114m
Cap Space: $24.8m
2016 Cap Penalty: $16.9m
2017 Cap Penalty: $24.5m

Highest Salaries
T. Frederick / $55.2m / $7.77m per year / 7 years remaining / no release penalty
M. Stafford / $44m / $21.5m this year / 2 years remaining / $11m release penalty
M. Jones / $42m / $7.66m per year / 5 years remaining / $8m release penalty
L. Johnson / $36m / $6.38 per year / 5 years remaining / no release penalty
B. Wagner / $33m / $5.85m per year rising to $9.6m in 2019 / no release penalty
D.Slay / £30m / $5.65m per year / 5 years remaining / $14.5m release penalty
Z. Ansah / $18.6m / $9.11m for 2016 / 2 years remaining / $2.96m release penalty
T. Decker / $10.9m / $2.62m per year / 4 years remaining / $6.08m release penalty
S. Martin / $10.5m / $1.92m per year / 5 years remaining / $2.5m release penalty

From a roster cost perspective, I think we're in great shape for the future. Only Stafford is being paid a huge yearly salary and he only has 2 years left on his contract.

The one blot on the copy book is my punter Martin who is poorly rated but is paid $1.9m per year and will cost $2.5m to release from his 5 year contract but this isn't a big issue.

It's worth noting that Barr, Ansah, Reid, Ware, Verrett, Collins and Hill only have 2 years left on their contracts

More pressing is the fact the following starters are in their final year:
Ishmael, Hyder, Norwell, Knighton, Boldin, Lutz, Meredith, Roberts - if any of these guys have a good start to the season I'll look to sign them up long-term

[BritPitbull]

Detroit Lions 2016 Schedule
WEEK	OPPONENT	RESULT
1	at Indianapolis Colts	Won, 44-36
2	vs Tennessee Titans	Lost, 42-14
3	at Green Bay Packers	Lost, 10-37
4	at Chicago Bears	Lost, 17-23
5	vs Philadelphia Eagles
6	vs Los Angeles Rams
7	vs Washington Redskins
8	at Houston Texans
9	at Minnesota Vikings
10	vs BYE
11	vs Jacksonville Jaguars
12	vs Minnesota Vikings
13	at New Orleans Saints
14	vs Chicago Bears
15	at New York Giants
16	at Dallas Cowboys
17	vs Green Bay Packers

[BritPitbull]

Matchup Preview *|* Week 1,
	@
Detroit Lions (0-0, 0-0 Away)		Indianapolis Colts (0-0, 0-0 Home)
Injury Report R. Bush (ss) Forearm Fracture (10) S. Tolzien (qb) Foot Fracture (15) S. Ware (hb) Hamstring Tear (6) Game Notes The Colts have an overall rating of 78 - Their offense is rated 85 - WR T.Y. Hilton is their top offensive threat - They use a vertical passing scheme (inside zone run / stick pass / counter run and power run) - Their defense is rated 75 - CB Vontae Davis is their top defensive threat - They use a base 3-4 defense (zone blitz / cover 1 / cover 2)

[BritPitbull]

Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts
Jan 1,	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit Lions (1-0)	7	17	7	13	44
Indianapolis Colts (0-1)	7	0	0	29	36

Team Stats Comparison
	DET	IND
Total Offense	44	36
Rushing Yards	407	503
Passing Yards	190	486
First Downs	14	11
Punt Return Yards	26	14
Kick Return Yards	72	247
Total Yards	505	764
Turnovers	6	0
3rd Down Converstion	5-18	5-10
4th Down Conversion	3-4	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	1-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-1	1-0
Penalties	3-25	4-35
Posession Time	36:56	23:04

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		DET	IND
13:00	(DET) Wilson, 41 yd fumble return	7	0
06:49	(IND) Hilton, 12 yd reception	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		DET	IND
13:33	(DET) Hill, 1 yd run	14	7
03:11	(DET) Lutz, 51 yd FG	17	7
01:55	(DET) Harbor, 3yd reception	24	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		DET	IND
09:12	(DET) Hill, 3 yd run	31	7
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		DET	IND
12:50	(DET) Lutz, 48 yd FG	34	7
11:19	(IND) Moncrief, 43 yd reception	34	14
07:14	(DET) Madden, 44 yd run	41	14
05:45	(IND) Moncrief, 59 yd reception	41	21
01:56	(DET) Lutz, 17 yd FG	44	21
01:09	(IND) Moncrief, 63 yd reception	44	29
00:04	(IND) Doyle, 21 yd reception	44	36

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Stafford 21-29 196 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Hill 25 94 3.7 2 Zenner 15 78 5.2 0 Madden 2 43 21.5 1 Burton 1 3 3.0 0 Stafford 2 -1 -0.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Meredith 4 64 16.0 0 Jones 3 45 15.0 0 Boyle 2 29 14.5 0 Hill 4 18 4.5 0 Harbor 2 18 9.0 1 Boldin 3 13 4.3 0 Burton 3 9 3.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Johnson 1 0 Collins 1 0 Frederick 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Reid (ff) 8 0 0 0 Chubb 7 0 0 0 Ishmael 7 0 0 0 Wagner 6 0 1 0 Redmond 6 0 0 0 Bush 4 0 0 0 Hyder 4 1 0 0 Slay 3 0 2 0 Ansah 3 1 0 0 Verrett 3 0 0 0 Wilson (fr) (td) 3 0 0 0 Williams (fr) 3 0 1 0 Armbrister (ff) 0 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Lutz 3-3 5-5 14 51 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Martin 6 242 40.3 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Roberts 2 48 24.0 0 Slay 1 21 21.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Roberts 3 26 8.6 0

Indianapolis Colts PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Luck 22-31 501 5 4 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Gore (fm) 16 26 1.6 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Moncrief 5 200 40.0 3 Allen 4 65 16.2 0 Street 2 61 30.5 0 Doyle 2 59 29.5 1 Dorsett 3 55 18.3 0 Hilton 4 41 10.2 1 Gore 2 20 10.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Castonzo 1 1 Reitz 0 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Tarpinian 13 0 0 0 Geathers 13 0 0 0 Adams 12 0 0 0 Jackson 11 0 0 0 Robinson 8 0 0 0 Anderson 7 0 0 0 Cole 7 1 0 0 Mathis 5 0 0 0 Siliga 5 0 0 0 Green 5 0 0 0 Davis 5 0 0 0 Morris 4 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Vinatieri 0-0 4-4 4 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 McAfee 4 196 49.0 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Hilton 5 141 28.2 0 Dorsett 4 106 26.5 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Hilton 3 14 4.6 0

SYNOPSIS
Wow, what a ridiculous game. Luck came out firing, he kept holding the ball for a long time, which resulted in either a sack or a brilliant extended play almost every time he had the ball in the first quarter. The sacks cost the Colts though as a fumble was returned for the first score of the game by Wilson. I was passing well under not much pressure really whereas both teams were struggling to run.

With Luck hurling the ball about I picked him off several times downfield, with Slay having a brace of picks. At half time I was dominant, leading 31-7 but the 4th quarter saw a blitz of points due to several blown coverages and some costly mistakes by me. Luck ended up with 500 yards passing, which is crazy but a win is a win.

In terms of gameplay the game felt great if a little too easy to pass. Also, I think that due to fatigue, there were too many subs. Hill disappeared (literally) after 3 quarters so I will need to make a few small slider changes, dropping QB passing and lowering fatigue a little.

WEEKLY TRANSACTIONS
J. Crowder to Broncos from Redskins for 3rd rd pick

[BritPitbull]

Matchup Preview *|* Week 2
	@
Tennessee Titans (1-0, Away)		Detroit Lions (1-0, Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 12th Total Yards 10th 10th Total Offensive Yards 9th 25th Passing Yards 27th 3rd Rushing Yards 1st 11th Points Per Game 2nd 19th Passing TD 20th 12th Rushing TD 5th 5th First Downs 27th Defensive Stats Comparison 6th Total Yards Allowed 31st 17th Passing Yards Allowed 32nd 3rd Rushing Yards Allowed 1st 10th Points Allowed 26th 13th Sacks 15th 16th Fumble Recoveries 9th 8th Interceptions 1st Injury Report Bush (ss) Forearm Fracture (9) Diggs (cb) Hamstring Tear (7) Ware (hb) Hamstring Tear (5) Game Notes The Titans offense is rated 85 overall with TE Delanie Walker as their top threat. They run a balanced scheme a lot of screens, posts, curls and inside zone runs. Their defense is rated 85 overall and play a 3-4 zone blitz scheme. They blitz on 70% of their plays so I'll need to be aware of where it's coming from and get the ball out quickly using the slot WR and TEs. The only change I will be making is promoting Tre Madden to 2nd HB on the depth chart.

[BritPitbull]

Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions
Week 2	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Tennessee Titans (2-0)	14	14	7	7	42
Detroit Lions (1-1)	7	0	0	7	14

Team Stats Comparison
	TEN	DET
Total Offense	425	355
Rushing Yards	141	62
Passing Yards	284	293
First Downs	14	17
Punt Return Yards	23	15
Kick Return Yards	86	151
Total Yards	534	521
Turnovers	1	4
3rd Down Converstion	8-14	7-15
4th Down Conversion	0-0	1-2
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2-0	0-0
Penalties	2-20	2-15
Posession Time	32:18	27:42

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		TEN	DET
08:38	(TEN) Murray, 51 yd run	7	0
07:50	(TEN) Cox, 32 yd INT return	14	0
05:13	(DET) Madden, 30 yd reception	14	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		TEN	DET
01:13	(TEN) Wright, 8yd reception	21	7
00:25	(TEN) Wright, 49 yd reception	28	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		TEN	DET
00:20	(TEN) Henry, 3 yd run	35	7
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		TEN	DET
12:37	(DET) Boldin, 28 yd reception	35	14
02:39	(TEN) Murray, 29 yd reception	42	14

Tennessee Titans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mariota 19-24 292 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Murray (fm) 30 130 4.3 1 Mariota 3 6 2.0 0 Henry 2 5 2.5 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Wright 7 117 16.7 2 Walker 3 51 17.0 0 Murray 3 49 16.3 1 Johnson 4 41 10.2 0 Matthews 1 28 28.0 0 Fasano 1 6 6.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Spain 1 0 Warmack 1 0 Jones 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Stafford 9 0 0 0 Johnson 8 0 0 0 Woodyard 8 2 0 0 McCain 7 0 1 0 Morgan 7 0 0 0 Williamson 6 0 0 0 McCourty 6 0 1 0 Orakpo 6 1 0 0 Searcy 6 0 0 0 Blake 4 0 0 0 Coples 4 1 0 0 Woods 3 0 0 0 Casey 3 1 0 0 Cox (td) 3 1 2 0 Dodd 3 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Succop 0-0 6-6 6 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Kern 4 205 51.2 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Douglas 2 55 27.5 0 Mariani 1 31 31.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Mariani 3 23 7.6 0

Detroit Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Stafford 17-30 202 1 4 Garoppolo 13-17 140 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Hill 17 62 3.6 0 Zenner 1 0 0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Roberts 6 78 13.0 0 Boldin 6 72 12.0 1 Boyle 6 67 11.1 0 Meredith 4 58 14.5 0 Madden 1 30 30.0 1 Hill 5 20 4.0 0 Jones 2 17 8.5 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Collins 0 1 Johnson 0 1 Decker 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Wagner 14 0 0 0 Verrett 9 0 0 0 Barr 8 0 1 0 Williams 6 0 0 0 Reid 6 0 0 0 Ishmael 6 0 0 0 Chubb (ff) 5 0 0 0 Hyder 5 0 0 0 Slay 4 0 0 0 Redmond 4 0 0 0 Knighton (ff) 3 1 0 0 Killebrew 3 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Lutz 0-0 2-2 2 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Martin 5 235 47.0 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Roberts 7 151 21.5 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Roberts 2 15 7.5 0

SYNOPSIS
Oh man, what a beating we took in our first home game of the season. The Titans shut down the Lions offense and scored 6 sacks, 4 INTS and multiple QB hits. The game was over by half-time as Tennessee scored 5 of the first 6 TDs of the game.

Stafford just had a stinker. After his 4th pick, I didn't think it was going to get any better for him and so put Jimmy G in for a quarter or so. Mariota on the other hand played fantastic - he picked the defense apart and was well protected by his O line. Murray ran strongly and we had respect the run, which gave Mariota even more freedom to pick his passes.

There weren't many bright spots in this game but at least there were no more injuries and Roberts had a break out game, although I really need to find a way to get Jones more involved in the offense. Madden seems like a very talented rookie and he will now be 2nd on the depth chart until Ware can get back on the field.

Next week, away to the Packers!

[BritPitbull]

Matchup Preview *|* Week 3,
	@
Detroit Lions (1-1, 1-0 Away)		Green Bay Packers (1-1, 0-1 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 7th Total Yards 5th 16th Total Offensive Yards 5th 18th Passing Yards 3rd 11th Rushing Yards 27th 11th Points Per Game 14th 20th Passing TD 3rd 15th Rushing TD 31st 20th First Downs 15th Defensive Stats Comparison 32nd Total Yards Allowed 11th 32nd Passing Yards Allowed 22nd 3rd Rushing Yards Allowed 22nd 32nd Points Allowed 20th 27th Sacks 9th 6th Fumble Recoveries 24th 2nd Interceptions 31st Injury Report Bush (ss) Forearm Fracture (8) Rodgers (te) Broken Tibia (22) Diggs (cb) Hamstring Tear (6) Evans (ss) Hamstring Tear (3) Ware (hb) Hamstring Tear (4) Ryan (mlb) Dislocated Ankle (2) Game Notes The Packers have a strong offense (89 overall), they are 3rd in passing but only 27th ranked in running. Of course Rodgers is the main offensive threat. They play a West Coast scheme, running 53% of the time using power and inside zones a lot. The defense is solid (83). 11th in sacks with RE Mike Daniels being the top defensive threat. They only rank 31st in INTs. They run an attacking 3-4 scheme and zone blitz on 42% of plays. They also play a quite a bit of cover 1.