Month January 2021

Bucs vs Chiefs – SB LV HYPE

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Well guys, we made it! Everything managed to work itself out after a season that looked like it could have been canceled before it even began. Before the first kick offs I wasn’t even getting my hopes up that there was going to be any NFL games this year, things looked very grim leading into the year and with all of the problems the NBA was having it didn’t look promising. We managed to limp our way through with honestly pretty minor hick ups and schedule changes. We luckily got a lot of great football and got to see some of the greats put on a show for their final snaps. My preseason prediction was a Chiefs- 49ers Super bowl, and the Tampa Bay experiment was more of a gimmick than anything in my eyes. Its honestly comical the amount of times I’ve counted Tom Brady out and hes made me look like a fool.. well I think this time I’ve finally learned my lesson.

The Tom Brady led Bucs have assembled an avengers level football team this year with studs all over the field itching for a championship. Out of everyone to ever play the game, I cant think of a more terrifying man to have to face off against with everything on the line than Brady. TB12 is the owner of some of the scariest stats of any player in NFL (enter any number of over spouted mind blowing Brady statistics). But Brady isnt the only player the Chiefs defense needs to worry about though, the team is loaded with studs in the skill positions like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, and Rob Gronkowski all of which are extremely talented players with a lot of experience under their belts.

The Kansas City Chiefs, led by the 500 million dollar man Pat Mahomes have one of the fastest and most electric offences the NFL has ever seen. The speed, explosiveness, raw athleticism, and football IQ of the Chiefs offence in particular creates matchup nightmares for all teams and Mahomes is always there to capitalize which makes this offence scream up and down the field. The thing about this offense is that you can be burned by anyone, anywhere, at any given time.

Both teams are horrifying in their own right and each have present some truly impressive stat lines. It should be nothing short of an exciting game. When the two teams battled in week 12, the Chiefs managed to edge out the Bucs 27-24 in an extremely tight game. Tampa Bays defense had no answer for Tyreek Hill who went for 269 yards. If Hill and Mahomes connect like they did in their previous meeting or Kelce continues his tear its going to be a very long night for the Bucs D. That will make Brady’s and the Bucs job an absolute nightmare, but the blitz heavy, outside pressing defense will give Brady a lot of chances to make big plays if the O line can hold up to the pressure.

It really feels like we are about to witness something special on February 7th, One of the greatest quarterbacks the league has ever seen going up against the most successful new comer we’ve ever seen. A QB that is being called the Greatest of all time, and one of the few young players that look like they could make a run at dethroning him in the future. The Bucs are the first team to ever play a superbowl on their own field but even with that advantage Vegas has the Cheifs as the 3 and a half point favorites. Given Toms age, this will likely be the first and last time these two clash on the greatest stage, and this game may be brought up for years to come if Mahomes continues at this level and enters the GOAT conversation. No matter the outcome this definitely isn’t the game to miss.

The end of the Stafford era in Detroit

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As a lifetime Detroit Lions fan, born and raised in northern Michigan, this is a bittersweet article to write. Personally when I think of the Detroit lions, a few players instantly come to mind, Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Herman Moore, and Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford has been one of the few things that lions fans could actually be proud of for the last 12 seasons, and its bittersweet that this era is coming to an end. Stafford has always been nothing less than a class act on and off the field, this man has always left everything on the field, and never made any excuses even though he played a lot of his career battling injuries and scrambling for his life because of our less than stellar offensive lines over the years. Not only was he a class act on the field but also for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. He and his wife Kelly were very active in the community and working with various charity’s. If nothing else Stafford always made for interesting family debates on thanksgiving day.

Over the last few seasons, conversation has started picking up as to when we were going to see the lions move on from Stafford. Stafford was always very vocal about his love for the city of Detroit and his desire to continue playing for Detroit, which honestly makes me respect him more, because its no secret fans and players alike think Detroit is a place where careers come to die. Once The back injury happened last season the conversation really started heating up and the conversation heavily shifted from do we keep Stafford to when to what can we get for him. Its not that he hasn’t been a solid QB, He’s actually had some great years and put out some crazy stat lines, but now our time window is growing shorter and father time, as well as brutal injuries are going to start catching up to The veteran QB. As unfortunate as it is, it looks like its time to trade in our old trusty beat up sports car, for a new shiny one. With all of our organization moves, its time to shift our focus to the future of our team, as well as give #9 the chance to actually go play for a Super bowl while he still has some gas in the tank. Right now makes the most sense to let Stafford walk under “new” ownership, new GM Brad Holmes, new Assistant GM Ray Agnew, and new first time head coach Dan Campbell, new assistant head coach Duce Staley, and finally new offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and kick off the rebuild.

With #9 and the team agreeing to part ways it sparks the conversation of who do we go to now, how much trade value Stafford has left this late in his career and who our potential trade options are. With 2 years and 43 million dollars left on the QBs contract it’ll be interesting to see what transpires this off season. There are a plethora of different landing possibilities for Stafford, including teams like Indianapolis, Washington, San Francisco, Denver, or even New England, Miami, New Orleans and potentially Houston. The Lions have the 7th overall pick in the 2021 draft and depending on how they play this trade could set the lions up in a great position to start this rebuild.

The Lions have said they hope to get a first round pick return for the 2009 first round pick and for the right team it may be worth it to them, especially if they sit far enough back in the first round and have a team that has some key pieces but is only missing a QB. The Colts who seem to be the early favorite to grab Stafford are sitting back at the 21st pick, which actually doesn’t sound like a terrible price for the veteran gunslinger. Denver seems to be the second favorite but they draft all the way up at the 9 spot and that seems unlikely that they would part ways with that pick, especially with QBs like Fields, Wilson, Jones, and Lance all as draft candidates. Washington is sitting at 19, and Miami is just above them at 18. I personally think the Texans could come shopping as well if Watson does in fact request a trade. The Texans are interesting because they’ve already traded away their picks in an attempt to ignite a “win now” team, but it blew up in their face. I could definitely see the option getting proposed for Stafford and the Lions 7th overall pick for Watson straight up but it’d be interesting to see where that went.

Matthew has publicly said that he wishes to go to a team where he could make a real run at a championship. Its no surprise that this news comes out now so he can get a jump on the offseason moves to give him an edge on other QBs that will be shifting around and optimize his chances of landing on a solid team. Regardless of where the landing spot its definitely going to add to the offseason buzz this year. Hopefully the trade is handled well, all parties are left happy and this wont go down as just another Detroit Lions flop.