Game 9: Viking Invasion Sequel

[TSE]

Well we finally evened up our record at 4-4 for a fighting chance to keep our season alive. This week is another must win, if you remember 2 weeks ago I declared that we essentially must win the next 3 considering they were more favorable opponents and matchups before the tough back end of our schedule, and this one is a mandatory victory needed. We still can only afford to lose 2 more games this year so this just cannot be one of them considering it's also a home game, and PERCY HARVIN is currently expected to miss the game, but it is not confirmed as of yet.

DVOA says our odds to make the playoffs stand at about 11% only and they still have our SB victory odds at close to 1,000 to 1, however those stats are truly not accurate. The way the odds work are not just based on simple math but an infusion of statistical performance that currently we do not look good in. The problem with the SB odds is that if we actually won enough games to make the playoffs and won all the way up to the SB, well the stats we would earn naturally in those victories would change our calculation numbers and so a true accurate system of odds needs to figure out how to anticipate those benefits as an assumption predicated upon making it that far if we do, and their system is weak and flawed in that it does not. So you can't pay too much attention to the playoff odds of 11% or the SB odds of nearly 1,000 to 1, but they do at least give us a flavor to demonstrate the importance of winning this next game.

Stanford Routt was released and so his heavy remaining contract is now not an automatic part of the deal since I didn't hear that anybody claimed him off waivers, so it should be interesting to see if we try to add him as I suggested and then cut Brian Robiskie since he's the least valuable roster body especially now that we traded for Mike Thomas to give us 4 viable WRs in addition to our 3 TEs that we activate every game.

So let's make it 5-4 and keep things interesting, otherwise we will be nearly dead. The NFC is still 10 wins up on the AFC still confirming that the WC is harder to make in our conference. We are fighting for our lives this Sunday and we should win this one for sure!

[Blkbrd671]

We apparently are looking at Stanford Routt. has the talent, but was cut by 2 teams which is alarming. any chance we sign him? would this be a steal?

[TSE]

^
I put some notes in the Around the League thread. He's rumored to be visiting an NFC team tonight and an AFC team on Monday. He was cut by the Chiefs but only because he had signed a somewhat lucrative deal that also had a big raise coming next year, so it made little sense for the Chiefs to keep him since they are already out of it this year. Nobody claimed him off waivers so they aren't on the hook for the pay bump and now he can be had for a minimal amount of money.

I see no reason not to sign him considering I think Brian Robiskie has zero value, so nothing to lose and maybe something to gain. He at least has 2 INTs and 1 FF this year, and had 4 INTs last year. It's better than nothing for a Robiskie replacement, plus extra insurance in case another CB gets hurt, and he has some favorable speed. Not exactly a blockbuster move though.

[TSE]

We apparently are looking at Stanford Routt. has the talent, but was cut by 2 teams which is alarming. any chance we sign him? would this be a steal?

Routt left town without a contract but no news as to if he wants to field other offers or if Detroit didn't want him. Burleson was quoted saying that he has impressive size and speed for the right system. So not sure why he would say that unless he was trying to be polite to the guy since Detroit wasn't interested. Because of course big and fast CBs are not what we look for. Our system seeks out the small slow guys.

[TSE]

^
Well this game was pretty much like most of our previous games. I thought that on offense we did a terrible job primarily because of Linehand and Stafford doing an awful job just like in just about every single game this year. The defense was sloppy as usual and despite Harvin being out we still got dissected really badly and gave up way too many points.

A couple of tiny moments I did enjoy:

1) Alphonso Smith - seems like he really only plays on ST but he had one head's up play were the Vikings bumbled a punt and he was alert to advance the ball since there was no risk because the Vikings touched the ball and he picked up a couple of free yards. It wasn't a big impact, but with our ST unit being fundamentally poor, it was nice to see that the guy who has had the least coaching actually had his head in the game and did something smart and alert. And that was after he had a holding penalty on another ST play earlier in the game, although I didn't get a good look on the replay to see if it was a fair call and that's not even the job role that he's ideal for anyhow. I thought it was pretty sad that he got chewed out on the sidelines like he murdered somebody. I think our coaching attitude in how we approach dealing with the players is the problem at its roots, and that just looked ugly on the sidelines with the coach that was barking at him like a madman. Not constructive or helpful, but nice to see Smith make a good play after that moment.

2) Jason Hanson is still awesome - he had a ST tackle where it was pretty easy to make sure the guy was going to get redirected out of bounds but he still put his whole body into it and really decked the runner and knocked his ass pretty violently towards the ground. That was a really great moment for me.

[Icness]

Tough loss. Ponder hasn't played that well in weeks. Lions did a great job against Peterson for 3 quarters and then all hell broke loose.

This one pretty much ensures the Lions finish in last place in the NFC North. Next two games are Houston and Green Bay, two of the top four teams in the league. Officially shifting into draft mode on Thanksgiving night. Again. Sigh.