Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Bears really beat up on us. We lost 27-10 which drops us to .500 at 4-4 heading into Week 10.

It was 10-10 at the half after we marched down the field to score on a Shaun McDonald TD from Orlovsky.

The 2nd half was a disaster. We were picked off 4 times in the game in all (1 by Stanton who took over for a BENCHED Orlovsky (temporary benching). Both QB's only had about 50 yards passing and Smith only rushed for something like 48 total on 16 carries.

Calvin Johnson had a nice game with 85 yards receiving.

We had some nice kick returns by Edgar Skaggs and Mewelde Moore.

T.O.P. was 40/20 in favor of the Bears.

We've yet to hold a QB under a 100 QB rating all season long. Orton had 3 TD's and about 250 yards completing 77% of his passes. Pretty typical day!

We simply cannot force turnovers on D. We'll get some stops and our run defense has been decent if not solid all season long. I gameplan all week for pass rush and coverage but to no avail.

This game amazes me with its realism! It's just like a real Lions game seriously...wow. I'll post some midseason stats later on today.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Oh, and an update on college scouting.

I just put in another focus for DE. Here is where I stand currently:

DE 80% Big Schools (after this week's)
CB 80% Big Schools
QB 20% Medium Schools

I'm definitely planning on addressing our pass defense in the 1st round hence the focus on CB and DE. I'm not sure what to do with the QB position, Orlovsky has played well at times but I like a more pocket-mobile (as I like to call them) QB. I don't want a scrambler but I want someone who can make a defender miss (and complete a screen pass). Stanton has the potential for this but he isn't much as a passer.

I hope I still have some scouting left over to handle the middle rounds. How do you guys handle scouting?

No spoilers please!!!!!!!!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

MIDSEASON STATS

Record: 4-4
Week 1: W 34-31 (@ Falcons)
Week 2: W 13-10 (Packers)
Week 3: L 36-16 (@ 49ers)
Week 4: BYE
Week 5: W 22-20 (Bears)
Week 6: L 40-14 (@ Vikings)
Week 7: L 39-17 (@ Texans)
Week 8: W 42-17 (Redskins)
Week 9: L 27-10 (@ Bears)

Home Record: 3-0
Road Record: 1-4

NFC North
Vikings 6-2 (ranked 6th in NFL)
Lions 4-4 (16th)
Bears 3-5 (22nd)
Packers 2-6 (24th)

Offensive Team Stats
PPG: 18.8 (21st)
Total Yards: 2500(14th)
Pass Yards: 1949(11th)
Rush Yards: 551 (25th)
Pass TD's: 13 (11th)
Rush TD's: 4 (28th)
Sacks Allowed: 22 (27th)
1st Downs: 120 (13th)


Defensive Team Stats
Points Against: 220 (29th)
Total Yards Against: 5410 (27th)
Pass Yards Against: 4306 (31st)
Rush Yards Against: 1104 (6th)
INT's: 2 (32nd)
FREC: 2 (28th)
Sack: 11 (26th)
DEF TD: 0 (N/A)

Conversions/Penalties
3rd down %: 49 (6th)

*Note: We've attempted going for it the most on 4th down with 12 attempts (2nd place is 8). We converted 6 of them for 50% efficiency (or deficiency depending on whether you're an optimist or pessimist.)

Penalties: 54 (26th)
Yards: 622 (32nd)

*Was fiddling with penalty sliders much more early on. I like where they are now. Might need to be lowered a bit more though we'll see.

Turnovers
DIFF: -13 (32nd)
TAKE: 4 (32nd)
DINT: 2 (32nd)
FREC: 2 (28th)
GIVE: 17 (31st)
INT 12 (29th)
FUMB: 5 (32nd)
TD: None (N/A)

Wow, those numbers are unbelievable. It's a miracle we are 4-4 and were actually 3-1 at one point?!?!?!

Team stats on the way!

P.S. They need to allow for "flipping" of custom plays. I created the same play going to both sides of the field and my team could essentially be masters of it one direction and clueless to the other side of the field.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

MIDSEASON SEASON STATS

QB Dan Orlovsky
84.7 Rating
13 TD's
11 INT's
1984 Yards
248.0 AVG/Game
8.4 Avg
138/236 (58%)
78 Long
4 Wins
22 Sack
Thrown into Coverage: 28% of the time
Double Coverage: 0%

QB Drew Stanton
33.6 Rating
0 TD
1 INT
12.6 AVG/Game
6.3 Avg
6/16 (37%)
21 Long
0 Wins
0 Sack
Thrown into Coverage: 0
Double Coverage: 0

RB Kevin Smith
149 carries
505 yards
3 TD's
3.3 Avg
63.1 AVG/Game
5 Fumb
19 Long
14 Btk
407 yards after contact
0 +20 runs

RB Rudi Johnson
21 carries
31 yards
1 TD
1.4 Avg
3.8 AVG/Game
1 Fumb
7 Long
3 Btk
37 yards after contact
0 +20 runs

FB Jerome Felton
4 carries for 18 yards (4.5)

More to come...

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

WR Calvin Johnson
35 Rec
674 Yards
19.2 Avg
4 TD's
84.2 AVG/Game
7 Drops

WR Roy Williams
35 Rec
531 Yards
15.1 Avg
4 TD's
66.3 AVG/Game
5 Drops

TE Michael Gaines (In line for the Pro Bowl)
20 Rec
315 Yards
15.7 Avg
2 TD's
39.3 AVG/Game
6 Drops

WR's Shaun McDonald and Edgar Skagg have a handful of catches each with McDonald hauling in 2 TD's to Skagg's 1. Skagg also leads the team in yardage after the catch with a 8.2 avg.

OT Gosder Cherilus leads the team with 6 pancakes. No one else even has 2!

Kirk Finley, an UDRFA, has given up the most sacks with 6. He was benched as a started two weeks ago for Stehpen Peterman.

Other OL ratios (PCAKE/SACK)
LT Backus 1/2
LG Claxton 1/0
C Raiola 1/2
RG Finley 0/6 (benched)
RG Peterman 0/1
RT Cerilus 6/0

I really don't get how some of the OL sttas are determined. Finley is listed as being 100% in pass blocking attempts. (28/28). I wonder when/where the sacks are filtered in?

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

MLB Jordan Dizon
72 tackles
19 TFL
0 Sack
1 INT
2 DEFL
2 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
3 hurries
27 thrown to 18 allowed (66%)

WLB Ernie Sims (IR)
43 tackles
10 TFL
1 Sack
0 INT
3 DEFL
1 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
18 thrown to 8 allowed (44%)

SLB Chike Okeafor
41 tackles
12 TFL
0 Sack
0 INT
3 DEFL
1 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
10 hurries (4 of which came from the simmed game he played with AZ mins before being traded to DET...only to play a 2nd week 1 game lol!)
24 thrown to 13 allowed (54%)

SS Gerald Alexander (Pro Bowler currently)
37 tackles
1 TFL
0 Sack
1 INT
3 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
16 thrown to 9 allowed (56%)

CB Leigh Bodden
36 tackles
1 TFL
0 Sack
0 INT (ARGGGGGGG!!!!!!)
9 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
60 thrown to 35 allowed (58%)

FS Dwight Smith
35 tackles
3 TFL
0 Sack
0 INT
4 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
12 thrown to 9 allowed (75%)

DT Cory Redding
31 tackles
9 TFL
3 Sack
0 INT
0 DEFL
0 FFUMB
2 FMBREC
7 hurries

CB Anwar Phillips (spent some time at CB2 with Brian Kelly OUT)
26 tackles
0TFL
3 Sack
0 INT
0 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
3 hurries
25 thrown to 19 allowed (76%)

DE Dewayne White
24 tackles
10 TFL
3 Sack
0 INT
1 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
17 hurries

DE Clifford Avril (starting in place of the injured Jevon Kearse)
23 tackles
2 TFL
1 Sack
0 INT
1 DEFL
2 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
3 hurries

CB Brian Kelly (has played 4 games since coming back from injury)
17 tackles
0 TFL
1 Sack
0 INT
1 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
25 thrown to 15 allowed (60%)

CB Nate Glover (UDRFA converted from a S)
16 tackles
1 TFL
0 Sack
0 INT
2 DEFL
0 FFUMB
0 FMBREC
0 hurries
24 thrown to 19 allowed (79%)

DE Jevon Kearse had 2 sacks and 4 hurries in 3 games before his injury (signed him before Week 2's game)

DE Ikaika Alama-Francis has a sack and 2 hurries playing as a backup.

DT Ted Washington has 4 tackles, 3 for losses, in the 3 games his oft-injured a** has played.

We have a lot of missed tackles as a team with the leader (Alexander) at 11.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

K Matt Prater (Jason Hanson was signed by Seattle)
10/11 FG (missed one less than 39 yards)
41 long
16/16 XP
24 KO (zero touchbacks)

P Nick Harris
21 punts
40.2 Avg
31.6 Net
4 inside the 20
5 toucbacks
Long 51

Kick Return
WR Edgar Skaggs 14/353 25.2 Avg Long 34
WR Shaun McDonald 10/287 28.7 Avg Long 46
RB Mewelde Moore 4/115 28.7 32 Long

Moore is the "best" KR of the three at 82 overall but I slotted the guys based on speed, agility and acceleration along with a few other attributes such as quickness and elusiveness etc. We didn't really have a "for sure" KR specialist so I wanted to try something new. Seems to be working ok. Lately I've been having Moore return but am liking Skaggs most and he'll likely get the job back sooner or later.

Punt Return
WR Edgar Skaggs 7/40 5.7 Avg 12 Long
RB Mewelde Moore 3/15 5.0 Avg 12 Long

We have a ton of missed assignments, 8 in double digits already, as we struggle to learn my new playbooks. Things have been much better lately, just wish I could say the same about our defensive performance. It's been awful all year long!

Well there you have it, feel free to ask any questions you may have. Thanks for reading! Next up, the Jacksonville Jaguars come to Detroit.

[Purplepower]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Nice...midseason stats. Hmmm...maybe I will add something like this.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Well three more games played since my last post:

We lost to Jacksonville 31-9 or something like that. Totally killed us and we were at home yikes. Dropped our record to 4-5.

Next, we traveled to the winless Panthers who were 0-9. We whooped them but they ended up making it pretty close at the very end with us winning by a TD I think 33-26??? 5-5 record. The worst part about this game was how with 30 seconds left, Carolina kicked it deep with no timeouts remaining???????

Next, we hosted the undefeated Bucs who were 10-0. What a great game! Our defense is really finally to get the hang of things, even though we lost Okeafor for the year as well as Ted Washington for the millionth time. For only the 2nd time all year we held a QB under 200 yards passing and for the FIRST time all year a QB had a rating under 100 (99.9 LOL but still!).

We ended up beating the Bucs in OT 16-13. We forced a fumble on their 1st or 2nd play of OT deep in their zone and ran a couple of times to setup the game-winning FG.

Orlovsky has thrown for over 300 yards the past two weeks although he threw 2 INT's against TB (both in the endzone ugh). Kevin Smith got his 2nd 100 yard game (100 yards exactly again) against Carolina.

It's nice to see the coaching skills and practices paying off. This is a great game and if you spend the time tinkering with your staff etc. you can get the results you're looking for.

Lions 6-5 in 2008.

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

i'm really enjoying your lions dynasty

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Still playing but haven't updated in awhile so here goes:

Entering Week 17 @ Green Bay. Since my last update here are the final scores:

Week 13
Titans 20 (7-4-1)
Lions 11 (6-6)

Orlovsky didn't play well and got injured. Replaced by Drew Stanton who didn't play all that bad but not ultra-impressive either. Kevin Smith couldn't get going with 21 carries for 29 yards.
We held them to 303 yards of total offense which is an accomplishment for us. We controlled the ball for 37 minutes but they took advantage of the redzone while we pissed opportunities away.

Week 14
Vikings 24(9-4)
Lions 3 (6-7)

This game sucked so bad. I never do things like this but I honestly thought about replaying it, not because we got killed but because I was half asleep while playing and it showed in our performance and play-calling.
Orlovsky threw 3 INT's and had a rating of 48. (Did I mention I've rejected his contract extension over and over and over...he is done as a Lion!) Kevin Smith continued his rookie slump with 13 carries for 12 yards ugh. We did have 2 INT's of our own but we were totally dominated in this one. Tavaris Jackson "only" had a rating of 86.9 though!!! Chester Taylor, Pro Bowler this year taking over for the injured Peterson, had 24 carries for 132 yards and a TD. This game was just bad.

Week 15
Lions 10 (6-8)
Colts 34 (14-0)

We were leading this game until two late scoring drives by the Colts in the first half tied it up. Colts were 13-0 coming into this game and it finally showed in the 2nd half when they outscored us 24-0. Nothing on their offense DOMINATED but they were very consistent moving the ball down the field. Mike Hart was the starting RB and he had 65 yards and a TD (had to mention as I loved him as UofM).
Orlosky continued to struggle throwing 3 more INT's and being sacked his usual 4 times per game. You can tell his mentor was Jon Kitna lol. Rating, 39.0. I pulled him late for Stanton but he too struggled completing just 3 of 9 passes for around 40 yards. Kevin Smith had 20 carries for 51 yards; another bleak performance by our lovable Lions. Shaun McDonald had a nice game and I'd love to resign him but I can't justify paying
a WR3 $3M per season. Sorry! Lions already tried that with the "play-maker" in Az Hakim. We suck in the redzone, 1/3 this game. Not sure what the deal is but that has got to change!


Week 16
Saints 30 (9-6)
Lions 17 (6-9)

This was actually a pretty good game. I started Drew HENSON at QB (our 3rd stringer) as I've always liked his skill set. This, I promise was not a UofM homer move...I started him stricly on the fact that I hate Orlovsky right now and Stanton is nowhere near the kind of QB I want to use. Henson has a skill set which could fit the role Kerry Collins is playing as Titans QB in real life right now. He can manage a game. Henson had a rating of 107.5 after a week of practices which solely revolved around him. He completed 13/19 passes (68%) for 141 yards and a TD. He was sacked twice. Again, nothing huge but he managed the offense. If only he could have covered Reggie Bush on defense...more on that later.
Kevin Smith had a 79 yard TD run on his first carry of the game. He finished with 127 yards on 15 carries.
Brees - 31/42 (73%) for 373 yards and 2 TD's
Reggie Bush - 24 carries for 115 yards and a TD. He also caught 11 passes for 107 yards and a TD!!!!!!!
Our defense played in typical Lions fashion this week giving up 478 yards of offense. Granted, it was a very good Saints team but man, to quote my coordinators, "when is the draft?"
The score to this one could have been a lot worse, Martin Gramatica missed 3 FG's. What's cool is, the Saints actually put in another K to attempt their last FG.

So, here we stand at 6-9 heading into a road game against the 4-11 Packers. I've resigned a handful of players while letting the oft-injured ones take a hike and I will not be resigning Orlovsky, even though he is the best FA QB to be available after 37 year old Kurt Warner. Warner plans to retire I believe so I'll be looking to the draft but also free agency. I sort of like JT O'Sullivan at first glance. Perhaps we'll bring him back to Detroit.

Players on IR:
DT Ted Washington (useless, played about 5 plays while getting hurt EVERY game)

DE Corey Smith (preseason injury)

LB Ernie Sims (hurt over a month ago)

DT Cory Redding (hurt a few weeks ago)

C Dominic Raiola (only injured for a couple of weeks but with us eliminated from the playoffs, I used his roster spot to sign a rookie QB I liked named Zack Curtis. He has a nice arm and is rated 64/76 right now. We'll see how he looks after an offseason.

LB Chike Okeafor (hurt about a month ago...maybe more)

LB Jordan Dizon (2nd in DROY voting, Dizon isn't on the IR but has missed a couple of games with an injury).

LB Shawn Barber, whom I signed to fill in for some injuries, is also out right now lol. Darnell Bing, my converted S to a LB, has been hurt for a while too.

My starting LB corps. looks like this at the moment:

LOBL Angelo Craig (R) 81/88
Signed about a month ago, he has potential through the roof which I had a feeling of when I signed him. You can tell he is inexperienced though. Hopefully something for the future here.

MLB Dustin Jordan (R) 79/83
An UDRFA, Jordan has always impressed me and is now getting a chance to play. He had a really good game a couple of weeks ago which earned him a contract extension as we look to the future.

ROLB Paris Lenon (31 years old) 81/81
One of the few LB's not to get hurt this season. Thank goodness for Paris Lenon! He plays his role, nothing too spectacular but at least he's not a rookie ugh!

Going to play the Packers, now the fun stuff will finally begin! Current approval rating is a 64. I need to be at a 75 for my last goal on the season. I'm not worried about losing my job as I am being told that I'm "doing a great job" but I would like to meet that last goal. Looks like all I have to do is have the Lions win in GB for the first time in nearly 20 years!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Does anyone know why the DEFENSIVE TEAM STATS are all out of wack? I show some teams having given up 11,000 yards through 15 weeks?!?!? Obviously some screwy math going on. Is this a glitch?

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Forgot to mention that I also signed K Alexis Serna. He has a huge leg and has been a touchback machine! K Prater was okay but missed some key FG's and also wasn't too hot on the kickoffs. I think I'll keep Serna around unless something happens during the offseason. He's played well.

[JustWinBaby]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Does anyone know why the DEFENSIVE TEAM STATS are all out of wack? I show some teams having given up 11,000 yards through 15 weeks?!?!? Obviously some screwy math going on. Is this a glitch?

what ive found is that the defensive stats are doubled of what they are. at least the yards are. so if youve allowed 11,000 youve really allowed 5,500. sacks, ints, and all of that seems to be right though

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Thanks for the info on the D-stats.

Packers whooped us. Final score was 28-7. They lead 21-0 at the half and we scored a TD with about 20 seconds left in the game (Henson to Skaggs). Ryan Grant had 22 carries for 220 yards. Oh my goodness, it was sick. He had two runs that were HUGE one being a 95 yard TD. So annoying, I cannot wait to fire my defensive coordinator not to mention Matt Millen or whatever his name is in this game.

Our defense is just "there" on each play. We don't get sacks, we don't force turnovers. We let the offense move down the field until they "F" it up enough to punt. This is priority #1 this offseason. We also need a more efficient offense which is going to require a QB. I wouldn't mind bringing in a talented rookie but I can't envision myself starting a rookie. I don't see that getting us anywhere and would probably get me fired if anything.

I'm excited to get my first offseason underway. Some big changes coming I'd say...