Jim and Jon give their reasons why the Lions will beat the Packers on Thursday Night Football
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00:00John, you wanted to make that very clear today that you believe strongly, and I agree with
00:06you.
00:07We expect the Lions to win tonight.
00:09I do.
00:10And I mean, if you missed the pick segment, again, go back on the Odyssey app, use a rewind
00:14feature and listen to it.
00:15But I'll kind of repeat some of the facts that I talked about yesterday when I was thinking
00:20about the concern level.
00:23And then I started thinking, okay, let's go position by position or just side of the ball.
00:28This, to me, is much more dynamic and better than it was last year.
00:34You got a one-two tandem, and yeah, there were moments last year where it was Gibbs
00:38more at the end of the year than it was at the beginning of the year, and moments where
00:42it was Montgomery.
00:43But I think this offense, the backs, J-Mo coming on this year and giving that deep threat,
00:50Tim Reynolds being the, not Tim Reynolds, Tim, what's his name?
00:55Patrick.
00:56Yeah, Tim Patrick.
00:57Playing the role of Josh Reynolds.
00:59Yes.
01:00There we go.
01:01Is, you know, I think he's been a good signing and he has added to this offense.
01:04We haven't talked as much about Sam Laporta because he hasn't been as big of, he hasn't
01:09had as big of a year as he had last year, but it's because they have so many weapons.
01:14They have so many different ways to attack you.
01:16And this offense is better than last year.
01:19Special teams, better than last year.
01:20I think Sione Vacchi was a, it was a sneaky, good draft pick because of what he offers
01:28them on special teams.
01:30Defense, the secondary is leaps and bounds better than it was last year.
01:35And they're banged up up front.
01:37I get that.
01:38But I still think the defense at this point of the year, even banged up, is going to perform
01:42better than the defense did last year at the end of the year.
01:46And that's a defense that was part of an NFC championship run.
01:49So Packers coming in here, a team that has a quarterback that is third in the NFL, not
01:55having played every game in interceptions, he's going to give you opportunities.
01:59The Lions will take advantage of those opportunities and the offense will capitalize on them.
02:04The injuries we've hit on them.
02:06They're going to miss Taylor Decker.
02:07They're going to miss three defensive linemen, including DJ reader.
02:10It's noticeable.
02:11It's going to be more difficult.
02:13And I think for a mortal football team, it would be, it would be enough with a mortal
02:19leader.
02:20Yeah.
02:21That would be enough to trip them up.
02:22And I think what we've watched all year is the Lions have avoided those, those, those
02:27pitfalls because they're a cut above, because they're not your typical football team.
02:31They're a special football team.
02:32And along the way, they've won me over.
02:34They've won a lot of you over.
02:35And I think you got to stick with them tonight.
02:36I expect the Lions to win tonight.
02:38Listen, anything can happen.
02:39It's an NFL game.
02:40It could be close.
02:41I expect the Lions to win tonight.
02:42I'm not hoping the Lions win.
02:43I expect it.
02:44And some of what you said is exactly that.
02:46It may need to be a game where you win with your offense.
02:49The Lions have the number one offense in the NFL.
02:52It's a pretty good spot.
02:53If you need your offense to win at home, indoors, golf with all the weapons, you may have to
02:57possess the ball.
02:58I think TOP is going to be so important tonight, keeping the ball away from green Bay, keeping
03:03your defense off the field, Detroit going on long sustained drive that they finish in
03:08the end zone.
03:09They have the best offense in football.
03:10That's the biggest reason I believe in them tonight, but it's not the only reason.
03:13The other one is what you said, Jordan love most interceptions per game this year.
03:17I got branch.
03:19I got Joseph and Joseph loves playing against the Packers.
03:21I get a takeaway or two, and that keeps the defense off the field.
03:25They find a way to get it done tonight, shorthanded, battered and bruised.
03:29They find a way they are that special football team.
03:32And when you, when you make a case like this, right, it, it, it makes, it can come across
03:36as they're never going to lose another game.
03:38Like I don't necessarily think that they're going to be a 16 and one team.
03:41I think it's more likely 15 and two.
03:44I don't know where that loss comes, but you know, if it's, I guess it's the reason isn't
03:48going to be because of the injuries.
03:51A team Bay could show up tonight.
03:52Like Milwaukee did on, on, was it Friday night for the Pistons?
03:56Where I've got to remember what night that game was Sunday night, whatever.
04:00Two days ago, was it Monday night?
04:01Oh, it seems like so, so long ago where, where, you know what, hey, they just come out and,
04:06and they're just hitting on everything.
04:08Like we, we saw that, you know, sometimes with, with the lions, when they go every possession
04:13and they just, they just score like you can have a team that shows up and they just, things
04:18don't go wrong for them.
04:19just hot and and they can win a game they could steal a game from you but the
04:23reason that they the reason that won't be is because of the injuries I think
04:28this defense is still good enough to beat the Green Bay Packers and then you
04:32take in the other two phases and it can be a dominant dominant game I don't know
04:36what the other shows are gonna do today we just do our part we're setting the
04:39tone in the morning we expect the Lions to win we've offered you a choice are
04:43you in camp expect to win or in camp hope to win and this is a disclaimer if
04:48you call in and you don't believe they're gonna win today we're not gonna
04:50call you names we just want you to show your work if you don't see it the way we
04:54see it that's okay this is a tough spot for the Lions what are we missing why
04:58would they lose this game 2 4 8 5 3 9 97 97 I mean I kind of outlined one of
05:04the reasons where Green Bay just shows up and and you know everything clicks on
05:08one night it happens in sports if their defense is on the field a long time they
05:13don't have the depth the Lions yeah if the Lions defense is on the field for a
05:17long time and it's it's Jacobs and they're running the ball and and you're
05:20huffing and puffing and your defenses that third quarter that fourth quarter
05:24and you you get lions right they do what you want to do to them it becomes this
05:30tug-of-war who's gonna go on longer more physical drives and not just possessing
05:35the ball but scoring touchdowns because it could end up being a high-scoring
05:37game I trust the Lions to win that game more than I do and it's nothing against
05:41it Jacobs good running back Lafleur is a good coach they're gonna have some
05:45success offensively the Lions will have more success yeah and you look at the
05:49secondary and and here's the other thing when I when I compare in last year's
05:52defense this we all love Alex Anzalone I think he is an intense player he's a
05:56leader of this defense but as a player on the field I think Jack Campbell is
06:00superior I just do from what he offers this team in terms of athletic ability
06:05sideline to sideline downhill being able to drop back into coverage his skill set
06:10is just greater than Alex Anzalone and I don't want to disparage anything that
06:14Anzalone has done but I think that's an upgrade it was one that was forced
06:19because of injury and we stall we still saw Jack Campbell on the field all the
06:22time and he was it was a good player but in position by position he's an upgrade
06:27they lose this game we could be a wild-card team like what's at stake we
06:33talk about how important this game is yeah but it's well they won't be a
06:39wild-card team tomorrow morning no they'd wake up with two losses
06:43Minnesota has two losses and Detroit has the head-to-head tiebreaker well and
06:46they play Minnesota at the end of the year to settle the division if it comes
06:49down to it but people have pointed out that they are a fine line a loss here a
06:55loss there and they're the five seed it is frustrating sure that this season
06:59there are still two other two lost teams right there that's pretty pretty not
07:04much not the norm maybe one year you might like one rain but not two that is
07:08annoying I I have to I still think that's the past talking to me when that
07:13I start thinking about that you know I see the Vikings there and it's like in
07:16reality I think the Lions are such a step above them as a team you know and
07:21then the number one seed with the Eagles are you're just like okay come on you're
07:25gonna lose three or four games right any day now yeah that's like I said that's
07:29the past coming to me and it's just I I can't I can't completely shake it yet
07:34Greg's dying to say something you know who's unlucky the Eagles cuz
07:38they're in a tear and they're still behind the Lions you know also lucky the
07:41Vikings cuz they're in a tear and they're still behind the Lions think of
07:44it as those teams are the unlucky ones cuz they are having great seasons and
07:48are still behind the line right yeah I mean Lions fans are feeling the pressure
07:51because this is a new position they've never been in the number one like last
07:55year we were hoping okay if this happens this happens this happens we could be a
07:58one seed but he doesn't have PTSD and I do I think the expectations are part of
08:04this too right like for Minnesota they never dreamed they'd be in a position to
08:08win this division in December and here they are nipping at their heels looking
08:12at the Lions injury report probably going yes just drop one open the door
08:15and if I'm an Eagles fan certainly the expectations are high there but they're
08:20not the favorite to win the Super Bowl right now so again they're probably
08:23going hey just give us give us an out an inch give us just a little bit of room
08:27to jump in and steal that one seed away and while Greg's right it's all about how
08:31you frame this we are framing it from our perspective as Lions fans and you
08:35don't want to give up any ground and this would be an NFC loss tonight if
08:38they lose it's a it's a critically important game but but let's also okay I
08:42think that's a great exercise to go through looking at it from Minnesota's
08:45point of view looking at it from the Eagles point of view what do we got to
08:48do to finally get in head in front of the Lions let's look at it from Green
08:51Bay and we're looking at it from from our perspective where a defensive lines
08:55banged up they'd like to run the ball well what else are the Lions good at
08:59we're really good at throwing the ball who's out for Green Bay Jair Alexander
09:02Jair Alexander Ballantyne who you know okay whatever it's still he's a corner
09:07it's depth yeah and Edger and Cooper who's their linebacker who they use in
09:11coverage a lot yeah they rush him too but that's a guy that's gonna have to
09:13help cover Laporta and all some of these other you know mid-level passing game
09:18yeah he's a player yeah so I mean you're looking at it from their perspective
09:23thinking well how do we stop this passing attack