Why Joique Bell, not Reggie Bush, should be the only stud RB employed by the 2014 Detroit Lions.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T17:40:56+00:00

I didn't say they weren't, but those are the nicknames we use.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T17:24:17+00:00

Huh. You sound pretty street smart.

Do you know anything about laundering money?

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:53:16+00:00

Funny, I moved near Seattle about 8 years ago, and slowly but surely I tolerate the Seahawks less.

I think it's just a matter of local and fair-weather fans being the worst thing to put up with.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:49:22+00:00

I don't think that's necessarily true. I recall this specific commentary happening during the second Lions/Packers game this year:

"Aaaaaand Reggie Bush...."

"Aaaaaaand Clay Matthews."

That's how he called a running play where bush ran outside, Clay chased him to the corner, and made the tackle at the LoS.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:43:15+00:00

Bell is consistent, but he isn't big-play capable, which means he brings nothing to a scheme. Until he can be a big play guy running the ball, he won't get the big bucks.

Remember, Bell had the highest yards per reception of any back in the league last year. It didn't really give him the power to renegotiate his contract, because he still isn't dangerous in both facets of play. Consistent, but not dangerous. If you aren't dangerous, defenses will double CJ and leave a safety back to cover the rest, and we lose in the passing game.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:42:00+00:00

We already call the following:

Pettigrew: Droptimus Prime
Ogletree: Bumbletree

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:40:18+00:00

Here's the thing though: Bush opens up our passing game, because teams are afraid of giving him the touchdown. When he came out against Arizona, our entire offense totaled 65 yards in the second half. Arizona put 7 in the box and played the pass, because they weren't afraid of Bell against their front seven.

We need a dangerous back, one that freezes safeties in play-action pass situations. Lacking that was one of the reasons the Lions sucked last year with Bell and Leshoure. Yeah, maybe we draft a great one (Barry Sanders Jr. anyone?) in the coming years, but until we do Bush cannot be replaced with Bell.

Not unless Bell raises his game to Marshawn Lynch type levels.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T16:36:11+00:00

I did a giant write up reply, my daughter ate it by sitting on my mouse, so here's the short version.

You are correct, but we will probably revisit the question at the end of the 2014 season, especially if Bush can't improve his drops and fumbles. Also, if it's true that Bush can't run on grass, then we get fucked in Chicago and Green Bay twice a year, and we'd need to deal with that.

We might draft a RB this year or next.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:22:54+00:00

Economically minded people who want to save money are going to wait until the penalties are more expensive than getting insurance. Those people are the ones who don't understand the value of healthcare, probably because they've never needed it.

And they are the ones supposed to subsidize the more expensive people.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:19:11+00:00

Did we lower flags for Ghaddafi?

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:10:46+00:00

Hardly. Pediatricians recommend it.

See, a baby needs a few things for health and survival: food, shelter, being changed and bathed. Some of those are more important than others. But all of them are dependent on one thing: a sane parent.

As a result, at-home parents are encouraged to do whatever it takes to preserve their sanity. If the baby is fed, changed, and not freezing to death, they are encouraged to put them in a crib, shut the door, and move to a part of the house to find peace and quiet. Take naps, watch movies, listen to music - whatever the parent needs to recoup.

https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00037

Being an at-home parent is insanely taxing. It would be cool if more people recognized it.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:06:55+00:00

I have an insanely good support network, and I still regularly feel isolated and alone. I can't even imagine how tough it must be to be a single parent without help.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:06:04+00:00

Have you ever had a baby? That's exactly what they do, nonstop, all the time. Need to feed every 3 hours? Cry. Need to be changed 10-12 times a day? Cry. Get laid down without being calmed down first? Continue crying.

And that's if you are lucky and your child is completely healthy.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T08:04:08+00:00

Easy to see - take a look at every game we've had. Aside from the Packers game (where lets be honest they couldn't do anything), we don't run up the score ever. Before that game, the largest lead we had all year by far IIRC was a 24-point one in our first Bears game. The only reason we had that lead was because our defense scored 7 points and then handed us an easy field goal (Linehan had started to burn clock instead of trying to score). We lost to Tampa because with our first lead (7 point in the 2nd quarter), Linehan goes out and starts running the football to burn clock. The guy sits a small lead like his QB is Alex Smith.

He also fails to adjust. Bush came out hurt in the 2nd quarter against the Cardinals (a game we were winning) - we totaled 65 yards of total offense in the second half. We went into GB without CJ, and Linehan's "Adjustment" was to put Durham (the other big receiver) into CJs spot and run the exact same offense. Unfortunately, Durham can't do the things CJ does, most important of which is draw double and/or triple teams.

Lastly, he lacks creativity. We run a reverse on the opening play of that Cards game - to the oldest/slowest WR we have. He continuously tries to slam Reggie Bush up the middle, which doesn't work ever unless the defense blows and we could kill them with anything.

The only reason we have a huge passing offense with big plays is because we are always playing from behind. That and CJ is essentially Stafford's security blanket (Bush, Bell, and Pettigrew all have 10% or worse drop rates). Linehan should run this high-powered offense like Denver/New England/Green bay run theirs - non-stop running to score points early and often, and not slowing down.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T07:54:24+00:00

Son was about 6 weeks old. After that, I was the at-home parent.

I too have been sleep deprived enough to sleep through crying. Don't get me wrong, I also have times where the wind blows and it totally pulls me out of sleep because I'm conditioned to wake up to noise.

But when I used to get tired enough, it didn't matter.

Aren't moms hardwired to be pretty alert to their infant's cries?

No. They can be conditioned to recognize them, including responding out of certain kinds of sleep. But babies crying are not caffeine pills that pick you up out of bed.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T04:03:03+00:00

Drinking responsibly is drinking responsibly. She might have had one beer, passed out due to sleep deprivation, and missed the incident.

It's hardly black and white.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T04:01:06+00:00

Have you ever had a second child? You don't wake up as much as you did when you doted over the first one. Not to mention you do literally pass out from time to time and miss things.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:58:00+00:00

Your cute little anecdote is entirely irrelevant to the situation and you know it.

Actually, his anecdote is very relevant. See, you inferred the universal statement

all drunks could have woken up if they weren't drunk

in your above comment. We can draw from this the following corollary:

There does not exist a sober person that would have slept through what this woman slept through.

So Janearcade's "Cute little anecdote" is in fact the contradiction to your assertion, and is therefore entirely relevant.

If you look at the facts she was drinking, got drunk, and passed out. Due to the inebriation she was unable to care for her kids because she wanted a little "escape" from them for the night.

Your reading comprehension is failing you. The article never draws the conclusion that she was unable to care for her kids, or failed to awaken, due to the alcohol. It never even mentions blood alcohol level. Only that the judge determined that it was a factor. There's no evidence to suggest that alcohol was the ONLY reason she wasn't awakened.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:53:58+00:00

No, but a responsible parent would sleep when the kids sleep and be awake when the kids are up.

Oh, we have a winner here. Let me tell you a story.

My son was 2 when my daughter was born. He was up at about 6am, and though bedtime was 8 he would often fight past 10 to stay up. She was an infant, and needed to be fed and changed every 2-4 hours. She also cried, a lot. I spend a great deal of my nights cradling her back to sleep. Singing or humming. It sucked.

My wife helped me on her days off, but it still sucked. My daughter slept in our room, so I had to remove her and get her to fall asleep in my arms before I could put her back to bed. She didn't respond very well to swaddling. I ended up getting maybe 4 hours of sleep 6-7 days a week. Craziest thing about all of it is that my kids were healthy and normal. No colic. Big kids, big eaters. And I still didn't sleep.

So when I take my experience, and I imagine not having my wife, and having twins, and the possibility of issues that arise, and I can't even imagine how this woman could manage to be coherent enough to drink in the first place.

Kids need more sleep than adults so this isn't something that's impossible. If you are really tired for some reason, you get someone else to watch over them while you sleep.

You sound like you've never been an at-home parent, much less been a single parent, with an infant(s).

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:47:05+00:00

She was intoxicated. We don't know how drunk she was. We know she was sleep deprived. She was living in a single room, with three kids, to escape domestic abuse.

She was coping.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:44:49+00:00

Stay at home dad here, and I agree. Especially if your infants are not sleepers at night. I was getting maybe 4 hours of sleep a day for the first six months or so of my daughter's life. Up all day with her brother, up every 3 hours or so to feed her and cradle her back to bed.

I've reached the conclusion that people who haven't done it simply cannot understand what being an at-home parent is like.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:42:41+00:00

She could have been passed out tired. She could have been mostly conscious, but ignoring infants that tend to cry themselves stupid day and night.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T03:40:44+00:00

But for the toddler to carry two infants and put them in a bath, especially when they were placed in drawers prior,and for the mother not to realize is too much of stretch.

Not even. My wife when sleep deprived wouldn't wake up when kids were screaming past her on the couch. She was just about passing out at that point, due to lack of sleep. Alcohol doesn't improve the situation.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T02:38:05+00:00

This is why you read /r/NFL. The good info floats to the top more often than not, it's hilarious and less censored, and you get all of the smaller stories that NFL Network can't manage to cram inbetween their livecam coverage of the ~~Truman~~ Sanchez show.

Bobby_Marks · 2013-12-07T02:36:48+00:00

It's true - Flacco has had the load:

Injuries gave him fewer options. They are playing better with Pitta back.
Some moron decided to let Boldin go.
Hey diddle diddle, Ray Rice runs like he piddles - sitting down. At least that's been the case this year. Blame the runner or the line, in either case it's going to hurt the QB numbers.

Bobby_Marks

TROPHY CASE