Lions NFC Championship mailbag: How much will Ertz play?
The Detroit Lions keep going and the mailbags are going to keep going with them. The Lions will play the 49ers for a shot at going to Super Bowl LVIII this week. Let's take some related questions shall we? That's an interesting one. Normally you would expect that when the Lions add a veteran, they […]
The Detroit Lions keep going and the mailbags are going to keep going with them. The Lions will play the 49ers for a shot at going to Super Bowl LVIII this week. Let's take some related questions shall we?
That's an interesting one. Normally you would expect that when the Lions add a veteran, they take their time. That doesn't seem like it will be the case this time. The Lions have just two tight ends on the 53-man roster right now. So they're going to need to push Ertz right out there. It does help that Ertz has played football this season. Both Bruce Irvin and Tyson Alualu hadn't when they were signed. So Ertz should still be in football shape.
Ertz is not the Pro Bowler he once was, but he's been grading out better than Wright. Ertz graded out at 50.8 this year and 62.5 last year. Wright graded out at 45.6 this year and 54.2 last year.
As far as blocking grades to answer the previous question, Ertz hasn't really been in as a blocker in a while. He has 27 blocking snaps in the last three seasons combined. He used to be pretty good at it. We'll see where that goes on Sunday.
Here's the thing, you don't. You can't stop this guy. The Lions couldn't stop Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua or Mike Evans, but they found a way to win all those games because they play better on short field and they're opportunistic.
The Lions are out their doing their best Muhammad Ali impression. They're rope-a-doping teams until they make a mistake and then jumping on it. It's a risky way to live, but here we are at the end of January and the Lions are playing for a chance to make it to the big one.
I don't know if the 49ers is the game where you can really see Williams do his thing. San Francisco is pretty staunch when it comes to defending the deep pass. Quarterbacks are completing deep passes just 28.6% of the time.
They're much more susceptible to the play action where quarterbacks are completing over 70% of their passes. The Lions just need to play their game in this one to give them the best chance to win. They can still do a lot with Williams speed and I'm sure Ben Johnson will draw something up.
The very simple answer to me is to give Jaylon Johnson whatever he wants to come to Detroit and beat up on the team that didn't get a deal done with him before they got a deal done with everyone else. Then you have to go draft a guy in the first or second round. I like Alabama's Kool-Ain McKinstry, Missouri's Ennis Rakestraw Jr, Penn State's Kalen King and Michigan's Mike Sainristil.
I don't think they're under any real pressure to get these done this offseason. But I would imagine that they would prioritize Sewell and St. Brown before they do anything. with anyone else on the list. McNeill would be right after that. Ultimately I think they all work out deals with the Lions before they even have a chance to touch free agency, I just don't know where the teams head is at in terms of making sure they get that done this offseason when they need to lock down Goff and bring back some other guys before they hit the market in March. My guess is that the Lions see this offseason as a chance to load up for a Super Bowl run in 2024. Even if they win the Super Bowl this year.
No, that seems pretty spot on Both these teams run a similar offense and their success is predicated on being balanced. The 49ers are going to want to run to set up the pass and the Lions, as we know, are going to want to do the same. So yeah, who ever gets that done is going to have the better day. It won't be easy. The Lions have the second best run defense in the NFL in terms of yards allowed and the 49ers are 3rd. Goff and Purdy might have to just face off through the air in this one.
To answer this one, I'm going to change the question a little bit. I think the most underappreciated guy is Cameron Sutton. I know that he's having a hard time out there, but he's being put into a lot of situations that he's just not his best at. That's unfortunately the side effect of losing Moseley and Jacobs struggling. When there's solid CB1 on this team, I think you'll start to see how good Sutton can be. It hasn't been all bad by the way. He's looked good at times.
I don't want to say too much credit. I'm not sure how I want to put this one. I think James Houston is good player and that once he gets everything put together, he can be a great player. I think it's really easy to look at eight sacks and ignore how much he struggled with everything else and ignore that the Lions don't really have a set spot for him. He didn't have the greatest camp or preseason and his start to the season was a bit rough too.
Again, I think he has it in him. I think he overachieved in his rookie year. I'm actually a bit concerned about the backlash he could receive if he doesn't live up to that right away.
The defenses of the Lions and 49ers are headed different ways recently
The San Francisco 49ers are not going to be an easy team for the Detroit Lions this Sunday when both teams face off for a chance to go to Super Bowl LVIII. The 49ers have been terrifying for most of the season on offense. The Lions have too. Both units are at the top of […]
