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Hmm, the Patriots get Tom Brady, while the Lions get Drew Henson?

That is as close as the Lions have been in a long time. Unbeaten at the end of the season. The Patriots tried that last year and failed, not the mighty Lions. They finished the preseason 4 - 0.

Detroit Lions 14 Buffalo Bills 6

The good and the bad?

Well, almost no starters played in this game.

The Bills (2-2) played one starter, safety Ko Simpson, and the Lions seven, including Jerome Felton, the starting fullback, who scored on a nine-yard reception from Dan Orlovsky, the backup quarterback, in what proved to be a glorified scrimmage, even by preseason standards.
source

Hey, Drew Henson played in this game for the Lions. Did you know he played college ball with Tom Brady and Drew was the guy everyone thought would be great at the time, except maybe for Tom. Drew could throw rockets and was a couple of years younger. All Tom Brady did was throw accurate pass after accurate pass, mostly from short range.

The bad. Brian Calhoun of the Lions hurt his quadriceps and continues to be constantly injured in the NFL.

The good. Daniel Bullocks played.

Strong safety Daniel Bullocks had five tackles for the Lions, including a touchdown-saving takedown when Hamdan, the Bills’ third-string quarterback, scrambled up the middle. Bullocks started and played his first game since last August, when he tore a ligament in his right knee during a preseason game.

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Matt Millen sinks the Lions lower

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There is a great article in the Detroit Free Press asking who to have resign - Matt Millen or Kwame Kilpatrick?

For those of you who don’t know Kwame, he is the mayor of Detroit.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been charged with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.

source

The funniest Kwame story is about his bad timing. His wife came home early from some trip or something and found Kwame at home with some strippers. At least that is the story being told. It always bothers my wife when that happens to me, too.

Kwame Kilpatrick says - vote for me!

Image details: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Responds To Perjury Charges served by picapp.com

But Matt has his issues as well. He does not even live in Michigan??? He does not even stay all week in Michigan during the season??? Think his house is in Pennsylvania or something.

Anyway, as General Manager of the Detroit Lions, Matt has been able to sink the Lions to whole new lows. Which when you think about it, was almost impossible.

Still, football is a game and being Mayor is for real, so my vote is to get rid of Kwame. Sorry Kwame, but you never invited me over.

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Brett Favre just always seemed to be grinning

Brett will discuss his retirement on Thursday and will be joined by his wife Deanna.

Favre first told Packers coach Mike McCarthy he intends to retire Monday night. He then made it official in a discussion with general manager Ted Thompson on Tuesday. source

My best friend Ron B calls it a class move on Brett’s part. No farewell tour. No final drive. Just knowing it was time to hang it up.

The excitement to play for one of the best teams is outweighed by the grind of another NFL season.

Who will the Packers be?

For the younger crowd the Packers are nothing without Favre. He is all they have known.

Now would be a good time for the Packers to change their colors, their uniforms, their logo, etc. Just go with a completely different look, because when Brett Favre retires, he takes the identity of the Packers with him.

If you’re under 35, for most of your life, Brett Favre has been the Packers. If you thought of the Packers, you thought of Favre. source

Bart Starr

One of my earliest favorite players was Bart Starr of the Packers. Bart led the Packers to 5 NFL Titles and 2 Super Bowls. He was a gutsy quarterback playing for the legendary Vince Lombardi.

Later my favorite player was Billy Sims of the Lions and then when he got hurt it was a tie with Barry Sanders and Brett Favre.

Geez, what kind of Lions fan does this make me? Maybe it is a good thing Brett is retiring. Now what Lions player is there? Oh, that is right, with the GM His Name We Do Not Use and it is not Lord Valdemort, there are no Lions players that are any good.

Anyway, Brett smiling and firing frozen ropes on the tundra of Lombardi field will truly be missed.

NFL Football Fan Question Will you miss Brett Favre?

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A sight most teams don’t want to see, Brett Favre firing the long ball

Brett Favre, a sure hall of famer, has announced that he will retire.

Of course, Brett has toyed with retirement before and at the last moment come back, so we won’t know for sure until the training season begins.

Brett is one of the all time good guys and legends in the National Football League. Truly a Packer icon.

Just check out some of his stats.

He led the Packers to the NFC Championship Game after passing for a stunning 4,155 yards, looking very much at times like a younger version of himself. In addition, he threw 28 TDs — including an overtime Hail Mary pass to beat Denver in front of a national audience — and had a 95.7 quarterback rating. He was also voted into the Pro Bowl, but declined to go.

Favre leaves the game as the all-time leader in wins, passing yards, touchdowns and consecutive games started by a quarterback. A three-time MVP, the southern swashbuckler won fans over with his carefree style that epitomized the “gunslinger” moniker and made fans out of everyone from the guy next door to those already enshrined in Canton. source

Have said this before, even as a devout Detroit Lions fan, it was fun to see Brett come in and destroy my Lions with a smile on his face and always good things to say. His perseverance, tenacity, and toughness leave him as one of my all time favorite players.

Brett leaves a young team with a very aggressive defense that will be looking to find just the right quarterback. Good luck on that!

NFL Football Fan Question Will you miss Brett Favre?

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The Jets have something in common with the Detroit Lions Damien Woody. Both of them have an insatiable appetite. Only the Jets appetite appears to be for linemen.

Yesterday it was Alan Faneca and today they are after Damien Woody.

Woody, 30, is projected as the starting right tackle, replacing Anthony Clement, but he never played the position until the final five games of last season. Between Woody and left guard Alan Faneca, whose five-year, $40 million contract will be announced today, the Jets have addressed the two weakest positions on their offensive line.

Listed at 6-3, 335, Woody, who made the Pro Bowl in 2002 with the Patriots, has battled a weight problem. source

Granted, sometimes guys just need a change of venue, but Damien got his big fat contract from the Lions and just started getting bigger and fatter until he had to hit the Fat Farm. Supposedly he lost a lot of fat on the farm, but still did not play that well and now is being offered another big fat contract.

So good luck Jets on this one.

It could be a big fat mistake.

NFL Football Fan Question Would sign Damien Woody?

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5 years and 40 million bucks for left guard Alan Faneca.

Yep, a left guard.

Oh, and toss in 21 million semolians in guarantees.

For a left guard.

This building the offensive line thing has gotten out of hand.

The New York Jets felt desperate, obviously very desperate.

New York sorely needed a standout left guard after trading Pete Kendall to Washington following a bitter contract dispute before last season. They plugged in the since-released Adrien Clarke, who was ineffective while starting the first 14 games and was benched the last two weeks.

Faneca will step in between left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold to give the Jets a terrific left side. Ferguson and Mangold thrived as rookies with Kendall, but struggled at times without his veteran influence last season. source

Ok, he is a 7 time pro bowler, but come on, 21 mill in guarantees? For a left guard? It is not like he is the missing piece to the NFL Championship or something. This is the Jets.

Remember last year my Lions made Cory Redding the highest paid defensive tackle and Cory went on to do nothing. Nothing.

Maybe the Jets are just deal happy. They made a lot of other deals, too.

The Jets have been active in the two days since the free agency period began. In addition to signing Faneca, they acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kris Jenkins from Carolina, traded linebacker Jonathan Vilma to New Orleans for a draft pick, signed defensive tackle Sione Pouha to a contract extension and signed fullback Stacy Tutt to an exclusive-rights contract.

Thomas Jones

Even with Thomas Jones, the ex-Bear, at running back the Jets could not mount a running attack. They blamed the offensive line and opened up the check book.

A left guard.

A Jets spokesman declined comment on the signing of the seven-time Pro Bowl selection, considered perhaps the league’s best left guard.

NFL Football Fan Question What do you think? Is Faneca worth it?

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Detroit is the home of the Lions.

Lions fans go there to die and die we do.

Now the Lions management has decided that death, taxes, and raising ticket prices are sure things.

The Detroit Lions have decided to raise ticket prices.

Asked about raising prices after going 31-81 in seven seasons, Lewand said: “This is the first increase of this nature since we opened the stadium in 2002.”

Asked if the Michigan economy was taken into account, Lewand said: “Absolutely it was taken into account, and we absolutely recognize that.”

Lewand pointed out the salary cap was set at averages of league revenues, and the Lions needed to maintain financial competitiveness. The NFL salary cap increases to $116 million this year, and Lewand said the Lions always spend to the limit.

source

Forgive me, but shouldn’t the product have something to do with the cost?

Won’t matter though, Lions fans are sheep, we will pay our money and go to our games to be whipped and beaten on a regular basis.

Ahhh, to be a Lions fan.

NFL Football Fan Question Is it getting harder and harder to afford your favorite sport?

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Philip Rivers may play on one leg

Somewhere the Chargers have to be feeling a slap in their face.

Why?

Because the Patriots did not want to face Peyton Manning and the Colts. They knew if Peyton got the Colts offense rolling, he could put up enough points to win the game.

So they want to play the Chargers?

No, they want to play the Detroit Lions, but it came down to the Chargers or Colts. In that case, they would prefer the Chargers.

Besides Peyton Manning is there a reason?

Oh, yeah! To begin with the Chargers are a little banged up at the crucial positions. Antonio Gates has a sprained big toe. LaDainian Tomlinson has a bruised knee. Philip Rivers has a problem with his right knee.

Philip Rivers is the key. Without Rivers, Billy Volek is your starting QB.

Can Rivers play?

Chargers coach Norv Turner said Rivers suffered an MCL sprain of his right knee and is “day-to-day.” Rivers is not expected to practice until late in the week.

“It’s questionable if he will play but he’s got a chance,” Turner said. source

Earlier this year the Patriots dominated the Chargers and based on that game it seems somewhat a miracle that they are back, but this is not the same Chargers team. That earlier team was just getting to know Coach Norv Turner. They got their act together as the season wore on.

Now it is playoff time and that is why Coach Turner is the coach. Read more

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Mike Martz tried, but few survive the world of the Lions

Hey, this is no scoop to faithful readers of Squibkick.

You know your intrepid author was already calling for Mike to be fired!

Now we have official notice.

Detroit will fire offensive coordinator Mike Martz after Sunday’s season-ending game at Green Bay and replace him with receivers coach Kippy Brown, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing anonymous sources.

The report was confirmed by ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen on Saturday night. source

Don’t worry about Martz, because he is the type of coach that owners are always interested in. Mike Martz runs an exciting offense. The rumor is that the 49er’s are already interested in Coach Martz.

Mike is not the bad guy. Injured runners, new receivers, no offensive line, no tight end, journeyman quarterback, etc. All these factors worked against him. How good was Mike? Well, you can only say that the offense improved greatly under his tutelage.

Kippy Brown

So who is Kippy Brown? Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Mike Florio of Yahoo.com took a look around the NFL and gives you his Top 5 Trends for the NFL for next year. Your intrepid author’s comments are in italics.

1. College coaches need not apply

The Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino experiences are all the evidence any NFL owner should need to scratch the names of all college coaches from the list of candidates for open jobs in January ‘08….

In college, the best coaches are the best recruiters. He who hoards the most talent can win without a 100-page playbook, a game plan or a well-timed time out. Pro football has a flat playing field — leveled by the salary cap and free agency. So the talent gap is small.

NFL success arises from finding a way to consistently get more out of players of, for the most part, relatively equal abilities.

Squibster: Whoa, hold on here. Don’t condemn all college coaches for Saban and Petrino. Certainly a college coach may need some learning time, but come on. Besides, owners are not this smart or we would not have the Detroit Lions.

2. It’s still a league of quarterbacks

Though talent is compressed in the NFL, the biggest differences exist at the quarterback position. There simply isn’t one capable quarterback per franchise…

The dynamic is played out most obviously in Minnesota, where young starter Tarvaris Jackson has been unable to take advantage of the eight-man fronts clogging Adrian Peterson’s running lanes…

It’s no coincidence that the best teams feature guys like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Tony Romo and Brett Favre. As long as they play at a high level, their teams will remain in contention for the Lombardi Trophy.

Squibster: Hey no mention of Jon Kitna? Thus the value of Read more