More Banjo: Week 3 vs Lions

[Smidgeon]

Just finished watching on Game Pass. Here are my thoughts:

Charles Davis may know a lot about football, but he knows nothing about broadcasting and got several facts wrong. My football IQ got worse listening to him. Makes me miss Madden who had a gift for saying things simply enough they sounded dumb but were actually teaching you about the game.

Nick Perry earned consistent double teams by the fourth quarter. He and Daniels were consistently keyed in on by the Lions O-line. I know we discussed Perry vs Neal ad nauseum, but I think there's no doubt Perry was the better choice.

I think James Starks is done. He's been a good change of pace back since 2010, but I think he's pretty much given everything he can with nothing left.

Blood and Guts--aka Blake and Jake--don't really strike me as star power guys. I don't look at them like they have a chance to be anywhere near special. In fact, they both play like they're eminently replaceable. BUT (and that's a big but) they are always in the right spot, making the right tackle, at the right time. No broken plays, no missteps, no mental errors. They're the epitome of a "lunch pail linebacker" who just shows up every day and gets the job done. I think we'll forget about them for a long time, except when we consciously remind ourselves "hey, they STILL haven't screwed up".

Damarius Randall will be fine. He's still young. Shields was supposed to be Man #1 back there. But without Shields, without Burnett, Randall is being asked to be Man #1. I think he'll get there one day. But right now, I just hope it doesn't wreck his confidence. He had another bad game, but I don't think he's a bad player.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Just finished watching on Game Pass. Here are my thoughts:

Charles Davis may know a lot about football, but he knows nothing about broadcasting and got several facts wrong. My football IQ got worse listening to him. Makes me miss Madden who had a gift for saying things simply enough they sounded dumb but were actually teaching you about the game.

Nick Perry earned consistent double teams by the fourth quarter. He and Daniels were consistently keyed in on by the Lions O-line. I know we discussed Perry vs Neal ad nauseum, but I think there's no doubt Perry was the better choice.

I think James Starks is done. He's been a good change of pace back since 2010, but I think he's pretty much given everything he can with nothing left.

Blood and Guts--aka Blake and Jake--don't really strike me as star power guys. I don't look at them like they have a chance to be anywhere near special. In fact, they both play like they're eminently replaceable. BUT (and that's a big but) they are always in the right spot, making the right tackle, at the right time. No broken plays, no missteps, no mental errors. They're the epitome of a "lunch pail linebacker" who just shows up every day and gets the job done. I think we'll forget about them for a long time, except when we consciously remind ourselves "hey, they STILL haven't screwed up".

Damarius Randall will be fine. He's still young. Shields was supposed to be Man #1 back there. But without Shields, without Burnett, Randall is being asked to be Man #1. I think he'll get there one day. But right now, I just hope it doesn't wreck his confidence. He had another bad game, but I don't think he's a bad player.

I agree with most of this. Perry might be defensive MVP so far. I like Jon and Ponch. They are playing well. The won't be Navarro Bowman, but you can win with those two guys. Starks might be done. Same with Peppers. Makes me wish we had signed Spiller to give us an element of speed. Randall will bounce back, but I'm really hoping Shields makes it back and stays healthy for the rest of the year. I haven't heard much about Lane Taylor. That's a good thing. Ha Ha has been a bit of a disappointment the last two games, but some of it might be that these secondary guys haven't played enough with each other (so many young guys playing) that it will take some time for them to get on the same page.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I think James Starks is done. He's been a good change of pace back since 2010, but I think he's pretty much given everything he can with nothing left.

Ya, he looks like a guy playing in an NFL alumni charity game. I was happy when Starks was resigned since I am a JS sniffer. But next came a sinking feeling, I wondered whether Starks had anything left, and I feared that TT had a stroke.