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I'm Jason Hartwood, and with me again is

0:34

Jacob Litten. Today we are talking about

0:36

the Lion Schedule. Alright

0:38

Jacob, I'm going to let you have the floor on how you want to start

0:40

this.

0:41

I'm amped for this one, man. Looking over the

0:43

schedule. I wish the season was starting right now.

0:46

It's kind of what happens. Uh, this is all we have in the off

0:48

season. You got the draft, the schedule comes

0:50

out, all the what ifs until training

0:52

camp. What is your first impression?

0:54

What do you think of the schedule when you first look at it?

0:57

My first impression is, are the Lions

0:59

ready for primetime? And I don't mean that

1:01

as, are they ready to play well. I mean it

1:03

as, we're playing a lot

1:05

of nationally televised games.

1:08

It's weird. Just two years ago, we were

1:11

looking at all one o'clock games. So,

1:13

now we only have, what, four?

1:15

Well deserved change. looking at it

1:17

though, we have the 11th

1:20

toughest schedule, which we knew about that

1:22

ahead of time. We knew going in who we were

1:24

going to play. The way that everything laid out,

1:26

the way the NFL laid it out, I

1:28

really think they did us a favor this year. And

1:30

you know, most of the time we don't really get those

1:32

favors. They did us a solid for the most

1:34

part. They have a list of

1:37

the games by miles traveled, and

1:39

we are actually towards the bottom of that list.

1:42

So the difference between the number one team

1:44

and the number 32 team is something like 20,

1:47

000 mile difference.

1:48

Wow.

1:48

that's huge

1:49

Does that include, like, international games?

1:51

yes. We don't have any international games.

1:54

The furthest away I think we have to go is the 49

1:56

ERs, and that's not till the end of the season. There's only three

1:58

games outdoors.

1:59

yeah, I looked at it, it was like 14 of the first

2:01

15 are indoors,

2:03

and I think that's good for golf. I

2:06

think he plays better indoors, so

2:08

I like that.

2:09

Even when you look at the Thursday games though, so

2:11

we play the Thursday games back to back and

2:14

our game before the Thanksgiving game

2:16

is, uh, against the Indianapolis colt. So

2:19

that's not a very far drive. We're not getting on a

2:21

plane too far away or anything playing on a short

2:23

week. I'm excited about the schedule. I

2:25

think that we can, you know, obviously, regardless

2:28

of where we're at, I feel like we can do really good this year.

2:30

But after looking at the schedule, I feel great about it.

2:33

Yeah, I looked at the schedule, and of course

2:35

you don't like to see the early week bye.

2:37

It's like one of the first things I think you look

2:39

at either is where are my

2:41

primetime games, or, where is

2:43

my bye. When you mention those

2:45

Thursday night games, that

2:47

kind of gives us a little late bye, because,

2:50

after the second Thursday

2:52

game. The week after Thanksgiving, play

2:54

the Packers, then we have 10 days off.

2:56

It's not a full bye week, take

3:00

it when you can get it. I mean, I'm glad

3:02

that they gave the Lions that Thursday

3:05

after Thanksgiving, if they're going to give them another

3:07

Thursday game. So they're not playing two

3:09

short weeks in there. So

3:11

right. That's what I'm saying. They're doing us favors.

3:14

Yeah, well,

3:15

Finally, we just get the,

3:17

we get the scraps every year. Throw

3:19

us wherever they can. One o'clock, one o'clock, one

3:21

o'clock. No prime time games. And,

3:23

you know, Flip the switch.

3:26

Finally getting the recognition we deserve.

3:28

Yeah, well, when you get to the NFC

3:31

Championship game, and you

3:33

only add to your team, I mean, we've

3:35

lost a couple players, but you've added

3:37

to your team pretty substantially., it's

3:40

looking good. The NFL, they schedule for around

3:42

a lot of things, you know, Taylor Swift concerts or whatever,

3:44

so.

3:46

Yeah.

3:46

What do you think is like the toughest stretch

3:49

in this schedule that you see?

3:51

Well, you know, you look at that 49ers

3:53

game, it's gonna be a difficult game. And then when

3:55

you see the game surrounding it, I feel like the toughest

3:57

stretch is gonna be the final couple weeks

4:00

of the season. If you look at the last five

4:02

games that we play, three of them

4:04

are going to be divisional games and

4:06

it's going to be Green Bay. We've got the

4:08

Chicago game finished out against the Vikings.

4:11

In between that we play the bills and the

4:13

Niners. Those are all going to be

4:15

tough games. They're all back to back. Which,

4:17

you know, speaks to what you said earlier about the early bye week,

4:19

we don't have a bye, we don't have a break before that's coming

4:22

up. Some guys are gonna be hurt, it's

4:24

a long season, there's

4:26

gonna be playoff implications, obviously

4:28

it depends on how the season's going at that point,

4:30

but right now when you're looking at it, those are all

4:32

huge games.

4:33

They've really backloaded our division schedule,

4:36

and our division's going to be tougher

4:38

this year, and that's what I saw,

4:40

I was like, oh man, four of the last six

4:42

are in the division, and

4:45

The games that they gave us that are non divisional

4:47

games are not gimme games.

4:50

Um, I mean, I think the bills are going to

4:52

probably not going to be as good as

4:54

last year. They took quite a

4:56

few losses out of their team, Stefan Diggs

4:59

being the biggest, they lost Gabe Davis

5:01

too. It's going to be interesting to see what their

5:03

offense, is like, you could have

5:05

Josh Allen making even more mistakes.

5:08

Kind of curious to see how that shakes out,

5:10

but then you got that 49ers matchup.

5:13

So that's in the middle there. So you're

5:15

hoping that the division is, you know,

5:17

we're hoping we got it mostly lined

5:19

up by then because it's going to be a tough little stretch

5:21

there.

5:22

Uh, that's hard to do when most of your

5:24

divisional games are that late though

5:25

Yeah, I agree. I agree.

5:28

I think another tough stretch is,

5:30

week six through ten. You got five five

5:33

games during that stretch, four of them are

5:35

on the road. You got at Cowboys

5:38

at the Vikings. So that's your first divisional

5:40

game. You got the Titans in the middle.

5:43

Um, probably the easiest home game

5:45

on the schedule. Then I'm expecting

5:47

at least out the gate here, then, you're

5:49

at Packers at Texans.

5:52

So, I mean, that's, that's a tough stretch too.

5:54

When you go four to five weeks on the road in

5:56

the NFL, It's going to be something that the boys are going to

5:58

have to fight through

5:59

Right.

6:00

the Lions play well on the road though. They, they

6:03

played well on the road last year.

6:05

The fans travel real well.

6:07

like making them have home games, it's going

6:09

to be hard at the Cowboys

6:12

to, to have a home game cause their Cowboys

6:14

fans always come out. Divisional

6:16

games, Vikings, I don't think that we had

6:18

as many show out out there Packers

6:21

game. We pretty much own that stadium last

6:23

Right. Right. We showed out for Green Bay,

6:25

not really in Minnesota.

6:27

so we'll see, if the fans are still going

6:29

to be out traveling, you know, that'll be interesting

6:31

to see how that goes. It was amazing. What

6:33

the fans said last year, uh,

6:36

you know, home and away, but especially the

6:38

way it was really noticeable. And

6:40

when you can hear let's go lions, chance

6:42

and NFL stadium on the road,

6:44

that's pretty special.

6:46

Right. You'd like to hear

6:47

Yeah, for sure.

6:48

know, the Vikings might have a different quarterback that week

6:50

as well.

6:50

what I was thinking, too. with the Vikings

6:53

and the Bears, we got them late,

6:56

and I would have much rather had them early. Or

6:59

at least one of their games early with their rookie

7:01

quarterbacks. Now, I don't know about J. J. McCarthy.

7:04

I don't know when, you know, it's much more likely

7:06

he's going to be in towards the end of the season than

7:08

the beginning of the season, at least in my opinion.

7:11

Caleb Williams is going to start out the gate. I mean, he's a

7:13

starting quarterback already. J. J. McCarthy,

7:16

I, I'm not convinced that he's going to

7:18

be the quarterback straight out the gate. I think

7:20

that they're Darnold, and

7:22

then depending on how their season

7:24

lines up,

7:25

Right. Depends on how it's shaken out.

7:27

the more losses rack up. The quick air

7:30

J. J. 's gonna be out there it's gonna be hard

7:32

to root against J. J. McCarthy.

7:34

Yeah. Right. I know. One of those things,

7:37

you want him to do well, but you want the team

7:39

to not do well. He

7:41

can throw for 500 yards a game, just let

7:43

the Vikings lose. Now, once that Viking's uniform's

7:45

on, you gotta, you gotta forget about the Michigan

7:47

yeah, I know we, we root for Ohio

7:49

State players like Taylor Decker when

7:52

they got the Lions jersey on. We forget about that

7:54

and, it goes the other way too, you get a Michigan

7:56

man and another, jersey

7:58

the love's still there, we just don't want you

8:00

to win the game.

8:01

Yeah. Yeah. That's right. No injuries.

8:03

You can play well, that's fine, just, you know,

8:06

as long as we come out on top.

8:08

So is there anything else that you think is a tough stretch

8:10

or, um,

8:13

Not really, you know, those are the ones that jump

8:15

out to me.

8:16

yeah.

8:16

I agree with what you said, you know, you got the Cowboys game,

8:19

you're playing at Houston,

8:21

uh, you know, you may

8:23

have some easier games in between

8:25

on paper right now, um,

8:28

but you know, even like you said about the Vikings, we don't

8:30

know, that could be, Darnold

8:32

could be on his last breath of air, he might

8:34

need to come out with a big game to keep the starting job, we

8:36

don't know, maybe he's already lost it by that

8:38

point,

8:40

Yeah. Those divisional games right there and that

8:42

stretch are on the road. And I don't care

8:44

who's the starting quarterback. I don't care what's

8:46

going on. Those are just tough games.

8:49

Divisional games are always you know the opponent

8:51

so well, and you know, you're

8:53

playing them, at least two times a year, unless

8:55

you get them in the playoffs or something like that, say,

8:57

JJ, you know, that might be his

9:00

first start, let's say, because, Sam Darnold's

9:02

not working out, or whatever, you have very

9:04

little tape, or know what, you know, Kevin

9:07

O'Connell's gonna do with JJ,

9:09

you don't know what, they're gonna, they're gonna let

9:11

him run, are they gonna do some RPO

9:13

stuff, are they just gonna let him rip it

9:16

to, cause, I mean, JJ's got a, a

9:18

heck of an arm, we saw it at Michigan, and,

9:20

he could, he can gun it

9:21

didn't get to unleash it a whole lot, but it's, it's

9:24

there,

9:24

it's there, but, and, honestly,

9:27

you got amazing wide receivers

9:29

in Minnesota, you know, Justin

9:31

Jefferson topping the list,

9:33

right, great spot for Jada to be in.

9:36

Once again, we want you to lose. I

9:39

want you, I want you to win rookie of the year,

9:41

but I want you to lose,

9:44

alright, has laid

9:46

it down

9:46

get a draft pick in the middle of

9:48

the round. So it's not even that good for next year.

9:51

What was your biggest surprise with the schedule?

9:52

I think going into it, I

9:54

really thought the lions Cowboys

9:57

was going to be a primetime game. They

9:59

made it America's

10:01

game of the week or whatever, you know, it's a four

10:04

25 game, but

10:06

you know, you look at it after what happened last year,

10:09

controversial ending, Two really

10:11

good teams. They show out really well. The ratings

10:13

numbers do good when we're on TV, it'd be the

10:15

battle of America's teams. You

10:17

know, they're calling the lions, America's new team, the Cowboys,

10:20

America's old team. I really

10:22

thought that that was going to be a primetime game,

10:24

Yeah, I was kind of surprised about that too.

10:26

I'm wondering if one of the networks just had, you

10:28

know, wouldn't give up the game. I don't know how much

10:30

say they have on that,

10:32

but I fully expected

10:35

that to be at least a Sunday night football

10:37

game. It could have been a Monday night

10:40

right? it. just seems like it

10:42

was built for primetime.

10:43

Yeah, I don't know. Or maybe the NFL just didn't

10:45

want that to showcase that just so that all that

10:48

stuff from last year got brought

10:49

You had their mistake. They don't want to be reminded.

10:51

So, I would like to talk about my biggest surprise. I

10:53

was actually, surprised that we're starting out

10:55

with the two of the playoff games back to back.

10:58

Especially the Stafford game.

11:01

I thought they would give a little more time for that to breathe,

11:03

but apparently Danfall wants to bring that storyline

11:06

right back up. Um, I don't know if you know

11:08

this or not, but Stafford used to be with the Lions

11:10

and Goff used to be with the Rams.

11:12

Oh No, that makes sense

11:14

now

11:15

I just found that out late last year when we

11:17

hit the playoffs, you know? No, seriously, they're

11:19

gonna wanna hit that story again. I just

11:21

don't think it's gonna hit as well. Just 'cause it,

11:24

was at the end of last season in the playoffs,

11:26

so it's kind of interesting that they threw that right

11:29

out. I, I understand the

11:31

intrigue in that game. I just thought if they're

11:33

gonna put it on Sunday night football, I thought that they might put

11:35

it a little bit. Later in the year and

11:37

let the, that story breathe

11:39

a little bit, and then following it up with the Bucks

11:41

game. We played the Rams and then

11:43

the Bucs in the playoffs. It's interesting. We're playing them

11:45

one and two right away.

11:47

Might as well put the 49ers third and just

11:49

relive it,

11:51

they could have, done that right. And that would have been really

11:53

weird. I was also kind of surprised that they

11:55

waited till week 17 to put the 49ers.

11:58

I would think they'd want that a little bit earlier, but maybe

12:00

they're counting on, Lions and

12:02

the 49ers being a top two team, and maybe we're fighting

12:04

for the one seed or, you know,

12:07

one or two seed, in that game. Yeah,

12:10

I just thought that they might put it a little bit earlier,

12:13

because say one of us is out, say some

12:16

quarterback for either team gets injured,

12:18

that game may not hit as well. late in the

12:21

That didn't stop them from scheduling Aaron Rodgers

12:23

with six primetime games.

12:26

Do you think he'll make four plays this year or do

12:28

you think he'll get up to five?

12:29

How hilarious would it be if on the fifth

12:31

play, it's the other league?

12:33

Oh my God. I don't want to see anybody

12:35

that I ever wish, right, right now, and I

12:37

mean,

12:38

injuries on anybody,

12:39

being ironic, wouldn't it be just,

12:42

it would be crazy. And then Mike North who writes

12:44

a schedule would be saying a lot of expletives

12:46

to himself. Like we did it again. We've

12:48

just

12:49

right?

12:50

again. At least, um,

12:52

for Jets fans, they won't have to see Zach

12:55

Wilson in there.

12:56

Yeah, right. I'm sure they're happy with

12:58

Yeah, I'm sure they are. What was

13:00

worse, seeing Aaron Rodgers go down or knowing that

13:03

we gotta go right back to Zach Wilson.

13:06

That probably honestly made it a little worse. They're

13:08

like, oh No, we suck again.

13:10

Oh, I'm sure it was. So is there

13:12

any other surprises that you saw on the schedule

13:14

or something that just like was a

13:16

little head rattling?

13:17

I was kind of hoping we would get to

13:19

see Caleb Williams in the barriers week one.

13:21

I thought that would have been a good opening game,

13:24

Mm hmm. Yeah, that could have been Sunday Night Football.

13:26

Caleb Williams on his first game.

13:28

Number one, draft pick and everything,

13:30

Lions have had bad luck with, you know,

13:32

rookie quarterbacks in Week 1. Not since

13:34

the Dan Campbell era, but I'm just remember Sam

13:36

Darnold.

13:39

Monday Night Football.

13:41

That was Matt Patricia's first game, I believe.

13:43

a sign of things to

13:44

Sign of things to come. And I remember Matt

13:46

Ryan's first game was against the

13:48

Lions, and he threw a touchdown

13:51

pass on, I don't know if it was the first

13:53

play, but it was very early in the drive. It

13:55

was like a 50 yard play and it

13:57

was like the beginning of the season and, you know,

14:00

at that time you're so full of hope, the

14:02

Lions, and then it just like

14:04

gets dashed right away.

14:06

then. It was false hope. Now we have legitimate

14:08

hope.

14:09

Now I know the difference. I didn't know the difference back

14:11

then. I just knew. I was like, we're starting

14:13

out zero and zero. We're, this is going to be the year.

14:16

This is what a real football team

14:18

feels like. I don't think it's hope. It's reality

14:21

that, you know, we're a good team.

14:23

I think we've gotten better than last year

14:26

and we made to the NFC championship last

14:28

year. It doesn't mean that, you know, you're

14:31

going to get to the super bowl. Just cause you got better,

14:33

but definitely doesn't hurt.

14:35

right.

14:36

I'll be a Debbie Downer here on the schedule.

14:39

Looking at all the teams that we face what is

14:42

the team that you think that we're going to lose

14:44

to that should be a win?

14:45

I had to think about that really hard because obviously,

14:48

you know, as a Lions fan, you're like, we could win this game.

14:50

We could win this game. You know, I go through down here,

14:53

you know, the one that kind of jumped out to

14:55

me is at Indianapolis

14:58

in November. And here's

15:00

why. The Sunday game

15:02

we're at Indy, then we have a short

15:04

week, then we come home Thanksgiving

15:06

against the bears. I feel like, especially

15:08

late in the season, on top of just the

15:10

mobile quarterback thing, if Anthony Richardson,

15:13

he might be having a really good season at that point. Mobile

15:15

quarterbacks give us, uh, you know, fits

15:18

in the past. Hopefully we've alleviated

15:20

that by then, but it's a short

15:22

week. It's one of those things. Some

15:25

guys are going to be banged up. They're not going to be a hundred

15:27

percent. Maybe we're looking forward

15:29

to the bears. We're looking at the divisional game. You

15:31

know, some guys might not get as many snaps as

15:33

they usually do, or they might just not play

15:36

at all just to play it safe. Let's set them out

15:38

this one. That's the one that I'm looking

15:40

at. We, we should beat the Colts

15:42

full strength. We play the Colts week one. I think

15:45

we beat them nine times out of 10 without

15:47

issue late in the season with the other

15:49

factors. That's the one that I'm thinking maybe

15:51

they can pull an upset there.

15:53

Just to touch on the Anthony Richardson

15:56

thing, we're going to see him and

15:58

we're going to see CJ Stroud, uh,

16:00

next year. We're going to see a lot of young

16:02

quarterbacks, because not only that, then in our

16:04

division, you know, possibly seeing JJ

16:07

and definitely seeing Caleb Williams. Beyond

16:09

just like watching for football be interesting,

16:11

just as an NFL fan, just

16:13

to see those guys. Depends if

16:15

Anthony Richardson can make it that far. I mean, he hasn't

16:18

even finished a full game. He

16:20

hasn't played a full complete game in the NFL yet.

16:22

So, you know, he's got to prove that

16:24

he can, you know, make

16:27

it through injury wise.

16:29

right. Well, and it's later in the season. He could be fully

16:31

healed and ready to go, or, you know, he could

16:33

already be aggravated and car to be out again.

16:35

You can have all the talent in the world, the old

16:37

adage, you know, the best ability is

16:39

availability. It doesn't matter how talented

16:41

you are if you're not playing. we'll see how that goes.

16:44

My loss that should be a win

16:46

is like very early, week three,

16:48

Arizona. We're going to be playing two.

16:51

Playoff teams right away.

16:54

We're going to have to travel, over to the West coast,

16:56

Kyler, Murray, mobile quarterback

16:59

everyone's says, Oh, lions struggle

17:01

with that. Everyone struggles with the mobile quarterback.

17:03

That's why teams want mobile quarterbacks.

17:06

I just feel like depending on

17:08

what Marvin Harrison, you know, how their connection

17:10

with Kyler Murray is, just that first

17:13

road game, you've got to go on the West

17:15

Coast. You've just had two playoff

17:17

teams. It could be

17:19

just a recipe for disaster and

17:21

early on. Um, But

17:24

I fully expect Dan Campbell to have

17:26

his boys ready, but sometimes those games

17:28

just happen. So that's, that's the one that

17:31

I'm looking at and I'm like, yeah, they

17:33

should win this game. I look at all the games,

17:35

I'm like, yeah, we should win, you know,

17:38

all

17:38

That's the problem as a Lions fan, especially when the team's

17:41

good. You look at every game and it's like every game is winnable.

17:44

Yeah, I mean, it's just feel like if you're a Chiefs

17:46

fan, you got Patrick Mahomes. Every

17:48

game, we should win every game because we have Patrick

17:50

Mahomes. NFL is a tough league. Any

17:52

team can beat any team and it happens all the time.

17:54

But, you know, my lines

17:57

should win, like you said, 9 times out of 10 they

17:59

should beat this Arizona Cardinals team. It'll

18:01

be interesting. It just depends on how

18:03

Kyler's playing. he put down

18:05

the controller long enough to work with Marvin.

18:08

Yeah. Week three, they're probably already gonna be

18:10

getting in their flow right at least after

18:12

that one, too, you got the long, a little bit

18:14

of a longer break, cause then, uh, you follow up

18:16

that game Monday night against the Seahawks,

18:18

and then that leads right into the bye

18:20

Yeah, that is nice that

18:22

you get the buy after the Monday night game,

18:25

so that you get a, get

18:27

a break. So you don't have that short week. So you've got

18:29

Right.

18:30

week and then into the short week and I'm

18:31

we only have the one short break, just that

18:34

Indy, to Chicago.

18:35

So now we're going to hit the big topic. This

18:37

is what I'm really looking forward to talking about. We're going to talk

18:39

about our top five games that we're looking forward

18:41

to this season. Jacob and I have not

18:44

shared with each other

18:46

what our lists are. We're going to go from five

18:48

down to one. We're just going to talk about

18:50

the games and we'll just kind of go all the way down to one.

18:52

Do you want to start or do you want me to start Jacob?

18:54

You can go ahead first. I have a feeling

18:56

that we, we may have the same five

18:58

games on this list. Maybe in some sort of variation.

19:01

I think we probably, at least

19:03

three of these five are gonna be the same.

19:05

so?

19:05

there's no way the number one game is not the same for both

19:07

of us.

19:09

have a feeling about that, but we haven't talked, so that'd

19:11

be

19:11

No, I don't know.

19:13

I put the Jaguars game number one, am

19:15

I am I right? Am I in the ballpark?

19:17

I bet you did. They didn't make top 10.

19:19

did they make the top 17 though? Okay.

19:22

somewhere, somewhere near the

19:23

Okay. I was just making sure preseason game

19:25

didn't jump it. I didn't know we are playing the

19:27

chiefs in preseason. So,

19:29

Yeah, right.

19:31

so number five for me,

19:33

I have the bears on Thanksgiving, week 13.

19:36

the same number five.

19:36

Do you? All right, cool.

19:38

swear.

19:39

that will be a good

19:41

game and I'm hoping we can break our streak of

19:43

losing on Thanksgiving day. Especially

19:45

it's a division game. Last year was our. Tough

19:48

pill to swallow losing to the Packers again,

19:51

we're in a national audience. We want to prove

19:54

ourselves. We want our respect The quickest

19:56

way to get a respect is to win on national

19:59

TV when you're the only game

20:01

in the nation when a lot of the nation's watching you

20:03

because you're the first game on Thanksgiving so

20:05

I I Looking forward to

20:07

see, the Bears. I fully expect

20:10

them to be,, better this year. I

20:12

mean, their receiving court is,

20:15

it could be number one in the league,

20:17

really, to be honest with you. I, uh,

20:20

you know, you have the rookie passer thrown

20:22

to them. So who knows? Personally,

20:24

Caleb Williams is, not one of my favorites.

20:27

The games that I watched him play wasn't

20:30

overly impressed with him. The fact that the Bears

20:32

picked him is automatically a curse

20:34

for any quarterback. Uh, they

20:36

still haven't had a 4, 000 yard passer in

20:39

the history of their franchise.

20:42

So, you know, that doesn't bode well. So,

20:44

I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing Caleb Williams on,

20:46

Thanksgiving Day. hopefully we're

20:49

enjoying our turkey with a lion's win.

20:50

That's a big storyline for that

20:52

too. Cause that's our first we're welcoming Caleb

20:55

Williams, the number one traffic to Detroit,

20:57

and he's got to play on Thanksgiving, which is historically,

21:00

you know, that crowd gets, it gets crazy every

21:02

week, but on Thanksgiving, especially they're,

21:05

they're hungry for a win. It is deeper

21:07

into the season, obviously. At that point,

21:09

he's either still going to have a lot to prove, or

21:11

they're going to have a playoff spot on the line. So

21:13

he's got to play well that game. That's

21:15

a huge game for the Bears, which makes it a huge game

21:18

for us. They think they have a quick turnaround,

21:20

and they think they can contend for the division.

21:22

We need to show them that they can't, and that it's

21:24

still ours.

21:25

Yup.

21:26

Side note, Swift, uh, you know, DeAndre Swift

21:29

is now in Chicago. He

21:31

is the seventh highest paid running back. So

21:34

it would be very nice, you know, assuming

21:36

that he actually isn't injured and he's going to play that

21:38

far into the season. Uh, it would be nice

21:41

to shut him down and, uh, let

21:43

DeMo score a couple more touchdowns on the Bears.

21:47

yeah, my quick prediction, uh,

21:49

the end of the game, Caleb Williams drives

21:51

him down, throws it to DeAndre Swift in the

21:53

corner of the end zone, and he drops

21:56

it. Oh, wait, we already saw

21:57

Yeah, we've seen that

21:58

Yeah, we've seen that happen, and it was,

22:01

you know,

22:02

at Ford Field

22:02

It did. It was right at Ford Field,

22:05

and it was Yeah, that

22:07

was terrible. If you don't

22:09

know what I'm referencing, it's DeAndre Swift's

22:11

first game of the Lions, week one, playing

22:13

the Bears. Stafford finds him

22:16

wide open, like, it's probably less

22:18

than 10 seconds in the game or whatever. We

22:20

have one more play after that because he just

22:22

dropped it. I

22:24

started with number five, I'm gonna let you start with

22:26

first on number four.

22:28

Uh, so yeah, my number four, the next one I have,

22:30

uh, on my list, I'm looking forward to is

22:32

going to be the home game against the Seahawks on

22:34

Monday night football.

22:35

Alright.

22:37

primetime, uh, early on in the season,

22:40

especially after last year, you

22:42

know, we were riding the high from the chiefs win

22:44

and really felt like we

22:47

were going to win that game going into it.

22:49

There was a pick six late in the game. We ended

22:51

up going into overtime and we

22:53

kicked it to them in overtime. We never even got the ball back. Right.

22:56

no, they,

22:56

think we even got to drive in overtime. We got it in the

22:59

Gino took them right down, and they, it wasn't even

23:01

like, really even a, With

23:03

Lions defense did not put up a fight

23:06

in that last drive, which was totally different

23:08

than like the last Half

23:10

of the fourth quarter in that game

23:12

that Lions defense finally took over.

23:14

Ancelone sacked, Smith I think down

23:16

around the one but then the Lions came back

23:18

and In really weird fashion. They just

23:21

played it really conservatively and Just played

23:23

for the field goal essentially to tie it up to go

23:25

to overtime like you said that was a deflating

23:27

game I was at that game

23:29

up until the Rams game that was the loudest,

23:32

that I had ever heard Ford Field.

23:34

It was so loud in there. Everyone was

23:36

so ready because, like I said, we had just

23:39

beaten Chiefs Week 1. The previous

23:41

year's champion. It was the first home game.

23:43

Anticipation was probably all time high

23:45

at that

23:46

Oh, it was, it was awesome. And then

23:48

people weren't wearing ski masks because the CJGJ

23:51

said the thing about the villains.

23:52

Look forward to that game because they,

23:55

they've really had our number. Looking

23:57

back on it, we haven't beat the Seahawks since 2012.

24:01

That's a long time. And there's been, you know, a

24:03

lot of games in between that time too. Um,

24:06

seem to play them every year now. Um,

24:09

right. We had a close loss. Uh, well,

24:11

you know, last year we had the overtime loss the year before that

24:13

was really high scoring

24:14

Yeah.

24:15

but we lost that one too,

24:16

That was just going back and forth. That was a

24:18

track meet. That was crazy.

24:20

right now. We just, you know, it seems

24:22

like we always, uh, come out on the other end

24:24

of that, on the wrong side

24:26

of it. You know, we just don't, don't do

24:28

enough to get the job done. So I'm looking forward to that one.

24:31

I w I want to put them away this year.

24:33

So I'm gonna go to my number four. mY

24:35

number four is different this time. It's

24:37

actually the Cowboys, week six.

24:40

Got that revenge game. Definitely the secondary

24:43

is gonna be better. Maybe we can keep CeeDee Lamb

24:45

down. Fully

24:47

expect Aiden Hutchinson to get three sacks

24:49

because he seems to always get three sacks versus

24:51

the Cowboys. I'm ready for it. I'm

24:53

ready to win this game. Just put them down.

24:55

I think they're just gonna come out and just say, you know, we're

24:58

not going to let it go down to the last play of the game this time.

25:00

We're gonna, we're going to go down there and beat you.

25:03

if you had to guess, when's the last time you think we

25:05

beat the Cowboys?

25:06

uh, last time we beat the Cowboys.

25:10

Wow. Um, was

25:13

it the Stafford game? Was

25:15

It was 2013

25:17

Stafford with a sneak at the one

25:19

yard line.

25:20

Yeah.

25:20

was the last time the lions beat the Cowboys. The

25:22

Cowboys was actually, that was my number three. Um,

25:26

but you know, it's. Similar to the

25:28

Seahawks in a sense where it feels like every time we

25:30

play them They have our number and we just can't

25:32

get over that hump The difference

25:34

between them though is that we seem to have a lot of

25:36

close games against the Cowboys and there's

25:38

a lot of You know different

25:40

things that keep happening where we just keep coming

25:42

out on the wrong end of it The pass interference

25:45

thing in the playoffs, uh, you know,

25:48

the controversial call

25:50

last year. I just hope that they

25:52

throw Taylor Decker the ball. I don't care

25:54

if it's for the first down, like on second

25:56

down, just throw him the ball at some point. Get

25:59

the man the ball.

26:00

Do you think that they just fool everybody and

26:02

they just, you know, throw it to Skipper? And be

26:04

like, I, I actually did report this time,

26:06

you know? Heh heh heh. They just,

26:09

Yeah, I don't know who else, man. They could go

26:11

with anybody. Just make everyone eligible. Everyone

26:14

report eligible. Just confuse the, you

26:16

know, the referees. They'll have to give it to

26:18

us this time. They'll just have to, and they'll be like, All

26:20

right.

26:21

they can't make a mistake twice. They'll have to give

26:23

us this one.

26:24

that's right.

26:26

Hey, they owe it to us, right? We get one cheat

26:28

during the Cowboys game.

26:30

yeah. We get one free hall

26:32

pass. I like it. I get

26:34

it. Let's petition it. Roger Goodell, get on the phone.

26:36

We're going to use our one cheat right now. So

26:39

you just told us your number three is, Dale's

26:41

Cowboys. So I'm going to move on to mine.

26:43

mine is the opening game, week one Rams,

26:46

Sunday night football. I'm.

26:48

Jack to start the season on Sunday Night

26:50

Football. That is really

26:52

cool. I mean the only thing that tops that in my opinion

26:55

is Getting that Thursday

26:57

game like we did last year. Hopefully

26:59

next year it's Thursday at home cause we've

27:02

won the Superbowl, it's going to be so loud

27:04

in there. The Jarek off chance are

27:06

going to be going crazy. I

27:08

really feel like it's going to be

27:11

a playoff atmosphere. I'm getting goosebumps

27:13

now just thinking about it. You're having Stafford

27:16

in there. I like Stafford, but just

27:18

like how we can't root for J. J. and we can't

27:20

root for McDonald over in Seahawks,

27:23

can't root for Stafford, um,

27:25

in

27:25

Not when we're playing him.

27:27

when we're playing him and not when we're good.

27:29

Bowl. He won his. No, the

27:31

hell out of the way.

27:32

exactly. It's our time

27:33

That didn't make my list, but only

27:36

really because, you know, the

27:38

playoff game last year, the huge storyline

27:40

when Stafford came to Detroit and everything,

27:42

Goff got his revenge, we moved past them.

27:45

Now, it felt like an afterthought, but

27:47

you're right, it is Sunday night football. It's

27:49

week one. It's a big deal. And of

27:51

course they're going to be talking about Stafford coming back. He's

27:54

gonna want to beat us, especially

27:56

after last year, uh, you know,

27:59

it's right back into it. Like you said, playoff atmosphere,

28:01

really. I mean, you have

28:03

high hopes for the season for both of us. You want the playoffs,

28:05

you, you know, you want the Super Bowl.

28:08

This is how it starts, just like the playoffs last

28:10

year.

28:10

He did not like getting

28:12

booed. Safford did not like getting booed

28:15

last year. I don't know what he thought

28:17

was going to happen coming in on the playoffs.

28:19

We're not going to be throwing out the red carpet for

28:22

him. I mean, I still like

28:24

Safford, but. You're the opposing

28:26

quarterback and we're going for our

28:28

first, you know, playoff win

28:30

in, 30 years. So

28:32

get out of the way. It's Jared

28:34

Goff's team now. I mean, I'm sure that was hard

28:36

for Stafford to hear everybody chanting Jared

28:38

Goff. He wanted that

28:40

and you know, frankly, he deserved that during

28:43

our time

28:44

Right, right. That's the thing

28:46

that's tough is, you know, he did play

28:48

his heart out for a long time and just,

28:50

you know, didn't get the right people around him, wasn't able to

28:52

make it happen. So, you know, he's

28:54

got to have some level of jealousy there to see

28:57

The support for golf and the team and everything.

28:59

Yeah, I don't know if I would even say it's,

29:02

jealousy for me might be the wrong word,

29:04

it's just, I really wish

29:06

this would have happened for me, it's not

29:08

like I'm jealous of Jared Goff, it's just that,

29:10

he wanted it, and he frankly

29:12

deserved it, he played hurt, he was

29:15

a tough you

29:17

know, it, it's just a shame it

29:20

didn't work out for him,

29:22

Right. He

29:24

had the full support of Detroit when he was here.

29:26

yeah,

29:28

But, you know, once you leave, you know,

29:31

well, I mean even when he left he

29:33

had the full support of Detroit It was you

29:35

know, the Detroit Rams. I mean,

29:37

right, right. For the Super Bowl,

29:39

I'm rooting for him I was rooting

29:41

for him at that point, you know,

29:42

100 percent. I don't know anybody

29:44

that wasn't. We

29:45

Yeah, we all wanted to win and

29:47

mine had nothing to do with the fact

29:49

that I placed a hundred dollar bet You On

29:52

the Rams to win the Superbowl the night of

29:55

the Matthew Safford trade and I

29:57

won 1, 200 bucks mine had nothing to do with

29:59

that. No, I, I just knew

30:01

that that was the lion's luck at that time. We're going to trade

30:04

this guy and he's going to go win his Superbowl.

30:06

And it happened.

30:07

That was a safe, a safe bet then.

30:10

the tightest turn since that point, and partly

30:12

because of that trade getting, the capital

30:14

and getting our quarterback.

30:16

Let's move on to, uh, your number two game.

30:20

Uh, my number two game, I actually have the Green

30:22

Bay Packers at home in week 14.

30:24

Okay.

30:25

The last time they came to Detroit,

30:27

it didn't end very well for us. Up until

30:29

the Thanksgiving game last year, it kind of felt

30:32

like the roles were reversed. We spoiled

30:34

Aaron Rodgers last game as a Packer. We

30:37

had beaten him the game before that as well.

30:39

Uh, the season was going

30:41

better for us than it was for them. Actually

30:44

I felt confident going into that Thanksgiving game.

30:46

We had already beaten them earlier. You know how everything

30:49

was going. It's like, I think we've got this

30:51

one in the bag. I think I'm going to have a pretty good

30:53

Thanksgiving.

30:54

Yeah. Not only did we beat them, we

30:56

beat on Thursday Night Football. We, I mean, we pretty

30:58

much crushed

30:59

It, right. It was a great game for us. They

31:02

come into our house on Thanksgiving and it

31:04

just felt like nothing was going right. It

31:06

just, Didn't seem like it was Lions

31:08

football. They came out right away. They scored

31:10

that touchdown. I think we

31:13

answered, but then it was just like all downhill

31:15

from there.

31:16

Well, Jared Goff, they had that weird thing where

31:18

Jared Goff, like, threw a pass, but

31:21

they called it a fumble, like, you know, it's

31:23

like, it's like one of those plays

31:25

where everyone just stops and then the only one that

31:27

runs is the guy that just grabs the football

31:29

and the only reason he's running is because the whistle hasn't

31:31

blown and he's like, oh. Okay, and then

31:33

he

31:34

they don't blow the whistle because they don't want to ruin it and

31:36

then they look on replay and say well You know,

31:38

it's not really enough to overturn it. So we

31:40

just handed them a touchdown

31:42

That's what I hate about that.

31:44

Like, I understand why they let the play run. Because,

31:46

like, what if it is a fumble? The problem

31:48

is, you need, you know, convincing evidence

31:51

to overturn it. if you weren't gonna

31:53

call it in a fu like, it's like

31:55

one of those 50 50 plays. You

31:57

know, if you're not going to, if you weren't going

31:59

to call it a fumble first, then,

32:02

you know, then the evidence wouldn't be

32:04

there to overturn it. But because you called

32:06

it a fumble because you're too afraid to,

32:09

you know, be wrong, then.

32:12

I'm not saying it's an easy job, but I,

32:14

I don't think it's exactly fair the

32:16

way that's, you know, that's the way that's

32:18

called, I'm obviously mad

32:21

in that particular play just because it costs

32:23

alliance, but it's just, I, I

32:25

just doesn't sit well with me, that,

32:27

that kind of call, um, I get why they have to

32:29

do it, but there's, there's a better

32:31

way to, there's a better way to officiate that,

32:34

in my opinion,

32:35

if you replay that like in

32:37

real time and try to

32:39

make that judgment call I think probably more often

32:42

than not you say it was an incomplete pass But

32:44

you know, they call it a fumble on the field just cause they,

32:47

you know, if they don't get a good angle or whatever, they let

32:49

replay take it over. Well, then you

32:51

go to replay and you have to overanalyze everything in

32:53

slow motion and then you really can't tell. So

32:55

like you said, it's 50 50 on the fields

32:57

of fumble. They had to let it go.

32:58

right. That play, the way it was

33:00

happening so fast, I'm not

33:02

fully convinced it was a fumble right now

33:05

Right. I mean, it's one of those that

33:07

it could have gone either way though. And then, you know,

33:10

we just, came out on the wrong end and it really, I

33:13

mean, outside of that, so golf

33:16

got sacked, I think like four times that

33:18

game, he lost three fumbles.

33:21

Including that one that was kind of controversial. We

33:23

lost two other fumbles. It

33:25

was like, uh, I think it was later in the game.

33:28

He tried to run for a first down. They tackled me, dropped

33:30

the ball. It's like, man, he finally

33:32

tried to run for it. And this is what happens. It

33:34

just, you know, just everything

33:36

just wasn't turning out. It was all going their way.

33:39

We didn't sack Jordan love one time.

33:41

We didn't get much pressure on him. They,

33:44

you know,

33:44

than the first game because the first

33:46

right.

33:47

out the gate and they had his number

33:51

This is just another one of those games that I have

33:53

circled. This is another revenge game. A

33:56

game I feel like we can win and we should win.

33:58

And now that it's, you know, this is week

34:00

14. So potentially there's a lot on

34:02

the line with the division at that point, depending

34:05

on how everything goes earlier. Going to be a huge game.

34:07

It's Thursday night football again,

34:09

Yep, only game on we're gonna be listening to al

34:11

michaels kirk herb street, looking

34:13

at his thursday night schedule. He's got a little bit better

34:16

schedule so hopefully al michaels can stay up

34:18

this time because he Seemed to be getting

34:20

quite bored last year at certain points during the

34:22

during the season, but

34:24

That's why I worry about you. So it's almost

34:26

midnight right now. I can't believe you're

34:28

Yeah, I know. I know. That's all right.

34:30

I took a nap today, so I'm good.

34:32

right.

34:34

Uh, so, I do not have

34:36

the Packers. It's my number two game. Uh,

34:38

the next one, I went with a Sunday

34:41

Night Football game on number three. I also

34:43

went with a Sunday Night Football game on number two, the

34:45

Houston Texans game. When I was a kid,

34:47

Monday Night Football was the thing. That was

34:49

what you were looking forward to every week. Now,

34:52

to me, it's Sunday Night Football. I don't know if it's because I'm

34:54

older, but it seems like they

34:56

get more Premier matches than

34:58

the Monday Night Football game anymore. Seeing

35:00

C. J. Stroud up there, we talked

35:02

about getting to see a lot of the young, quarterbacks

35:05

this season. I'm excited to see, um,

35:07

Nico Collins, another Michigan person we

35:10

root for outside of this game. I

35:12

just want to see this Houston Techens team because I,

35:14

I really equate with what's going on down there

35:16

really strongly with, uh, The lions,

35:19

you know, a team that just

35:22

couldn't seem to ever put it together. The

35:24

Sean Watson thing looked like it was going to just

35:26

destroy them. And, somehow,

35:29

you know, they, they lucked out, you know,

35:31

Bryce Young went to Carolina and

35:34

they got CJ Stroud.

35:36

Not unlike the Hutchinson thing for us.

35:39

You're right.

35:40

I mean, sometimes those things just work out, you

35:42

know, whether they're meant to be or.

35:46

lions.

35:48

I don't have, a lot of other teams I root for,

35:50

and mine kind of change on and off, just

35:52

based on who's playing for them, but

35:54

I, I do like the Texans, and outside

35:57

of this game, I hope they do well, um,

35:59

but that's kind of why I'm playing for them. Particularly

36:01

glad to see this Sunday night football. This is

36:03

going to be a heck of a game. I'm really looking

36:06

forward to this game. Uh,

36:08

so it's going to be, you know, we're going to have

36:10

our hands full, you know, another quarterback

36:12

that can run. I don't think CJ Stroud, like

36:15

that's not his primary game, but he can't

36:17

take off and you have to be aware of that. Uh,

36:20

they got great receivers down there.

36:22

Their defense is playing solid. I'm looking forward

36:24

to it. I'm looking forward to Lions proving that, they can

36:26

hang. So even if they got to go on the road

36:29

on Sunday night football.

36:30

Yeah, that was a good pick.

36:32

It was hard I think your Packers game, as

36:34

we talk more about these games, it was like, man,

36:36

I'm really looking forward to that game

36:38

right. right. We can just

36:40

circle all these games, man, I'm ready.

36:42

So, let's go to number one. I'm pretty sure that

36:44

both of us have the same number one, but maybe not.

36:46

There's no way we don't have the same number one. You

36:49

know. As soon as the schedule came

36:51

out, you know who we wanted. we want the 49ers.

36:53

We do.

36:54

We want that Monday Night Football, that Week 17.

36:57

We want the Redemption for the game we should have

36:59

won last year. We had it in the bag. Let

37:02

it slip away. If you're a Lions

37:04

fan, that has to be the game that you're looking at. We,

37:06

we want the Niners. We want that back.

37:08

It's going to be an important game. What could happen

37:11

is we face them week 17. We may be facing

37:13

that same team in a couple of weeks in the playoffs. We

37:15

need to show them that, we're top

37:17

dog. We're going to beat you. And. Your

37:20

place just like we should have beat

37:22

you in your place in the playoffs, you know We

37:24

just had a terrible third quarter worst

37:26

third quarter

37:28

Right.

37:28

that team struggle with frankly all season

37:31

that third quarter. I hope that's

37:33

something that they really find the solution to

37:35

this year I don't know what it is. I don't know if it was

37:37

something that just was a coincidence I'm not

37:40

sure but our

37:41

If it's the other team making better adjustments

37:43

or something and just takes us till the 4th to kind of,

37:45

you Adjust to that, you know,

37:47

I'm not sure exactly but you're right. It just seems

37:49

like we were we

37:52

were a good fourth quarter team, but not third quarter

37:54

and one of the times it just

37:56

was too much to overcome

37:58

Yeah, I don't know if their philosophy changed. We got this other

38:00

team where we want them and then they just

38:03

either on offense took the foot off the gas because

38:05

they didn't want to make a mistake or

38:07

I have not, I couldn't

38:09

pinpoint it and obviously they couldn't either because

38:11

they would have fixed the problem. I don't

38:13

know if it was something just internally, they just didn't plan

38:15

well. Cause the Lions use

38:18

that in their first drive in the first quarter.

38:20

Pretty good. They're usually go down

38:22

and they put up a fight on

38:24

that. If they don't score, they're at least getting a couple of first

38:27

downs and you know,

38:29

and you get a score. You, you putting

38:31

the pressure on them. Same thing in the third quarter, man.

38:34

That other team, like in that Saints game, when they

38:36

came down, Saints score, you know, we,

38:38

we. Pretty much controlled it, but then the

38:40

other team scores. And if you go three

38:42

and out, or you don't get a

38:44

couple of first downs and their team scores

38:46

quick, that's 14 points real fast.

38:49

And then the pressure starts to mount, you know,

38:51

and that's, that's tough. It

38:53

is. And especially when you're, you know, if you're not

38:55

playing in your home stadium, you

38:57

know, it really compounds because then the

38:59

crowd just like that you've taken out of it

39:01

because you've dominated the first half all of a sudden

39:03

back in it. And it's a different game at that

39:05

point. So I think, let's

39:08

not have a bad third quarter in this week

39:10

17 match. Let's just do

39:13

like we did in the first two quarters and just dominate

39:16

the heck out of that team. we were so close to the

39:18

Superbowl. I mean, so close.

39:21

close. Felt like

39:23

we were going to make it there.

39:24

Lot of people thought we weren't going to hang with the 49ers

39:26

to begin with. There was a lot of talk about, you

39:28

know, okay, this is the end of the road of the Lions.

39:31

They've hit the 49ers. So

39:34

it made it extra tough that we just like said,

39:36

no, man. The first half we're like, no,

39:39

we belong here and we belong

39:41

to be in the Super Bowl. We're a top team. And then

39:43

just, be a helmet bounce and

39:45

amazing catch. And then, Jameer, fumble

39:49

Right afterwards that was

39:52

hard pill to swallow

39:53

I think for any NFL fan though, if you're looking

39:56

at the schedule, like which games are exciting,

39:58

which ones are you looking forward to? I think most

40:00

people really want to see lions

40:02

and 49ers.

40:03

That's why it's a kind of a shame that it's all the way

40:05

at the back end of the season You know, it's all

40:08

it seems like so long away

40:10

You know when the season starts it'll come up quick enough

40:12

because the season always seems to go by super

40:14

fast I'm sure that

40:16

all the Lions players. They know

40:18

they were looking for when are we playing the 49ers?

40:21

When the schedule come out they want to know when

40:23

are we playing the 49ers? I'm sure you

40:25

know

40:26

get that one back.

40:28

So, all right, so we

40:30

went through our top five, a

40:32

few differences in there. I don't know how I don't have the

40:34

Packards in my top five because I just

40:36

like seeing them lose so much, even when they're not

40:38

playing the Lions, so,

40:41

It's fun to hate on the Packers.

40:43

The last thing that I really want to comment is every

40:45

year the Lions, Media team, which

40:47

is an awesome group, they always put

40:49

out something real cool, do a scheduled release

40:52

video. I watched it, you watched

40:54

it, we haven't talked about it, so I don't even know what you thought

40:56

about it, Did you like it?

40:57

I thought it? was good. I mean, it was nothing

40:59

too over the top. Some of the teams went really,

41:01

like, above and beyond with some of the things they did.

41:03

Uh, but you know, ours was just classic. The

41:05

two comedians from Detroit

41:08

going over it. Uh, It was funny.

41:10

It was quick. I thought it was good.

41:11

Yeah, I liked it too. I think last year's

41:14

topped it. I like the video game

41:16

and the AI voices. That was really unique

41:18

and just Some of the stuff they let Brad Holmes

41:20

and then Campbell say I was surprised

41:22

in that in the video last year that

41:25

was really funny, but I've watched it

41:27

like this current this video two

41:29

or three times and at first I guess I was

41:32

just kind of disappointed because I thought last year's

41:34

was so creative but the

41:36

more I watch it it's really funny, and

41:38

then Tim Robinson yelling about

41:41

the fanatics, giving out the the

41:43

jerseys early.

41:44

Yeah, right, right. Those

41:55

guys are funny and it's cool. They're from Detroit.

41:58

They're Lions fans

41:59

So it's it's obvious that they're huge Detroit

42:01

sports fans it's nice that you

42:03

know, they that they want to do this stuff

42:06

so I think that's About it unless

42:09

there's something you need to add in there.

42:11

No.

42:12

All right. I want to thank everyone for listening.

42:14

I hope you enjoyed yourself have

42:16

a great day and go Lions!