The Dallas Cowboys and the Illusion of Relevancy

At the end of July, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the following: “I realize all the criticism and I understand it. As a matter of fact, I try to stir it up. And I have since I got here. That’s good. Be relevant. It works.”

It was yet another example of someone accidentally telling the truth.

Relevancy is obviously a matter of opinion but I hardly see the Dallas Cowboys as notable and I believe most fans in the NFL would agree.

Since the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl in 1996, every team in their conference has made a Super Bowl other than the Lions, Vikings, Commanders and Cowboys themselves.

Every team in the NFL has made a conference championship game other than five teams: Cleveland, Miami, Houston, Washington and you guessed it, Dallas.

The truth Jerry unknowingly reminded us of? Not all owners nor franchises in sports have their top goal as winning a championship.

Jones is most interested in marketing the Dallas Cowboys as a brand, not in bringing a trophy to Texas. He makes decisions based on what will get him the most press coverage. It was not a coincidence that franchise quarterback Dak Prescott was signed just hours before the start of week one. It was done purposefully. The same could be said about the timing of receiver CeeDee Lamb’s new money.

Jones said at the beginning of the offseason that Dallas was “all-in” for 2024 and proceeded to do less than any team in the league during the summer. He only took care of Lamb and Prescott at the last possible moment and his delay in doing so drove their prices up, not down.

The Prescott paper, a new four-year, $240 million deal, made little sense. Paying a quarterback $60 million would mean Prescott would need to be a top-five passer to justify the paycheck.

Last season, he was a second-team All-Pro and had one of his best seasons (nearly 70% completion, a 36/9 touchdown/interception split and 4500 yards) but the year before he led the league in picks, suggesting who he is as a player is likely between 2022 Dak and 2023 Dak.

Prescott flirts with being a top-10 QB every season, at least for the last few years. I’d say he fluctuates between 10-15th, above average to average and that doesn’t justify a $60 million check.

But Jerry does not operate as a general manager. He carries that title but what he does is in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys’ valuation and brand, not the team.

Letting Prescott leave would mean the Cowboys don’t have a franchise quarterback, which would mean they’d have to draft one next April but Dallas would likely be too good to get a top-10 draft pick with Dak playing out the final year of his term.

Without a franchise quarterback, the Cowboys wouldn’t be as interesting, would likely be average and might not garner the same media frenzy they currently do.

So Jerry signed Prescott.

But what Jerry doesn’t understand and what many franchises can’t fathom, is the Dallas Cowboys are already average. They struggle in the playoffs when they bother making them. They choke against weak opponents, sometimes outlast better teams. They are neither dominant nor poor. They exist, nothing more and nothing less.

It boldly states a truth: Many franchises and fans who would rather never be bad than ever be great.

This fear of success is a coping mechanism. The closer you get to immortality, the more heartache that comes with it when you fail. Fair weather fans would prefer a more fair weather experience because they don’t want to commit or be too invested. They are content with a 10-win season and first-round playoff exit every year because that means “we’re relevant, we were competitive.”

Words like competitive, relevant, these words in relation to sport are subjective, not objective.

I would say relevancy is remembered and no one remembers first-round playoff exits. I would say competitive is winning when it matters once in a while. The Cowboys don’t do that either, haven’t for 30 years.

Ironically, this whole Dallas dilemma started after the Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls. Jerry Jones fired the coach responsible, Jimmy Johnson because Jerry wanted more control of the team and also believed any coach could win with that roster.

The Cowboys would win another Lombardi two years later and I suppose Jerry at the time felt vindicated but time has shown he was wrong. The Cowboys have been a perennial punching bag for football fans since. They’re the most-hated franchise in football and everyone who isn’t with them aggressively cheers against them even when they have no rooting interest, especially since their games are regularly nationally televised.

The Steelers are my local team, they have no division rivalry with Dallas and yet I hate Dallas more than any franchise in the sport because of their arrogance, their feigned superiority, their elitism. The Cowboys losing on Thanksgiving is a holiday tradition under my roof.

But to call them competitive, relevant? It is specifically because they’re not but pretend they are that we all hate them. Hate is marketable, profitable even and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jerry adores his haters as much as his fans. That after all is the only thing he’s interested in.

The Dallas Cowboys got stomped by New Orleans and Baltimore in successive weeks, both home games and barely beat lowly New York this past Thursday. It looks to be the worst Cowboys team of the 2020s.

Just remember that Jerry doesn’t care.

They’re relevant.

Aaron Rodgers is Not a God, Chapter 2: The Man Who Talks

December 31, 2023: “Now at 40, coming off an Achilles tear, it seems likely we get more headlines out of Rodgers than noteworthy performances on a football field.”

This was me from Aaron Rodgers is Not a God. It provides greater context to the Jets franchise, the trade for Rodgers and the absolute disaster it’s become. One of my best pieces and a good preliminary read before getting into this.

The Latest

Not even one week later, Rodgers was on Pat McAfee inferring late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was a pedophile on the Jeffrey Epstein list on national television.

He lasted less than 72 hours before once again making a headline.

Of course, Rodgers had no evidence to justify such accusations, Kimmel responded by threatening him with substantial legal action and Rodgers quickly backtracked, as he always does when confronted about anything he says.

Less than a week after that, not 10 days into 2024, Rodgers was asked what could be learned from the 2023 campaign and his response was as oblivious as it was self-incriminating:

”…the bullshit that has nothing to do with winning has to get out of the building.”

After everything that had happened, from the nepotism hires of Nathaniel Hackett, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Tim Boyle to the stubborn denial of modern medicine to the repeated lies about coming back after three months from a torn Achilles to the weekly “Aaron Rodgers Alternate Rehab” show on Pat McAfee to being put on the active roster and costing someone their job despite not being physically able to play football to the rambling about his vaccination status to calling Jimmy Kimmel a pedophile, Rodgers had the blindness to talk about bullshit in the building.

Truly a man of the people.

If Rodgers was genuinely frustrated, he’d put on a muzzle.

Every shred of noise, both inside and outside the complex, directly points to Rodgers like one of those red yarn detective boards. It is cartoonishly obvious to anyone with a semblance of eyesight.

One could argue even Zach Wilson’s existence as the starter was prolonged by Rodgers’ purposeful deceit about his Achilles recovery in order to coddle his galactic ego. If not for Rodgers, Wilson wouldn’t have started another 11 games for the Jets last year.

“But ya know what,” I said, “let’s give him the opportunity to redeem himself. Let’s sit back and see if Rodgers is capable of going the entire offseason, that is until preseason football in August, without making it about himself. Maybe he’s genuinely learned from this and became a better person. Seems very unlikely given his resume but maybe.”

Nope, Still Full of It

In mid-March, Rodgers was being legitimately floated as a vice presidential candidate by independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a creature famously anti-vaccine and anti-government.

As I said in my original article, Rodgers’ stances toward politics and modern medicine do not matter until they impact his job. His refusal to accept his Achilles diagnosis caused the Jets to not make a move for a quarterback, sacrificing their season in the process.

Here, the issue is not that Rodgers is anti-vaccine. The issue is your star quarterback clearly has other priorities he considers more important than football.

This is not standing up for social causes or equality, this is not charity work or recreational activities. This is running for elected office, a full-time job.

There’s of course no way to know how serious these conversations were but that Kennedy ever discussed it with the press suggests it was at minimum a brief consideration and if there was even a remote hesitation about declining such an offer, the Jets are in a terrible bind.

Rodgers dedicates so much of his time spewing nonsense on podcasts, it seems he hardly has time to play football. Think about the stories we’ve read about Aaron Rodgers over not just the last year but the last three. How many of them were football-related?

Remember his 90% retired comment? That might not have been high enough.

Besides, professional football is not a job that requires 10% commitment. You might get away with that in a lesser career but not the NFL. No one’s coattails are long enough to ride their own and succeed on past work alone.

In a vacuum, I didn’t think much of the 90% phrase and I don’t think most people did. I think they saw it as a line of jest, something Rodgers is famous for but after the last 18 months, it’s hard not to see that quote as objective fact and in professional sports, if you’re 90% retired, you’re retired.

Pyramids?

Seemingly every month, sometimes multiple times a week, Rodgers feels required to remind everyone about not just his existence but his importance. If you thought the vice president chapter would be the last installment in Rodgers’ ongoing telenovella, you’d be wrong again.

Up next was mandatory mini camp in June and Aaron Rodgers was conveniently away from keyboard, nowhere to be found. Head Coach Robert Saleh called it an unexcused absence for something that was “important” to Aaron. Curiously, Rodgers didn’t immediately blurt out why he wasn’t there, the rare time Rodgers chose to stay silent, leading to speculation.

It wasn’t a medical emergency or family ordeal, those would be excused. What could possibly be going on that would warrant skipping mandatory mini camp, a thing every starting quarterback in the last four years has gone to except, you guessed it, Aaron Rodgers a few years back?

Mandatory mini camp is almost always the same week for every team every year. It is blacked out on the calendar long in advance so surely this was a last-minute thing but that would warrant some type of emergency, right? Surely, he wouldn’t decide to book an ayahuasca retreat days before?

Nope but he would decide to book a trip to Egypt during his Achilles recovery and make sure to do so during the exact week, the only week of the 52 weeks of the year, of mandatory mini camp.

The issue is not that mandatory mini camp is essential for a future Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s not.

The problem is purposefully skipping something that is mandatory, obligatory, contractual for all members of the New York Jets and yet their leader, their pariah, their self-anointed savior, was missing.

That his reason for missing was a vacation is beyond inexcusable.

Let us not forget Rodgers’ net worth is nine figures. With that comes exotic privileges, like the ability to take spontaneous international trips, get concert tickets to a sold-out show the day before or acquire the newest tech before release. Rodgers is in a different income bracket from any of us. This isn’t Bob and Marge booking a vacation nine months in advance and it unfortunately falls on Bob’s yearly company sales conference.

No, Rodgers, in between all those alternate rehab methods, I’m sure, found the time to look at the calendar, find the exact week mandatory mini camp was and book a trip for that stretch.

Because Rodgers does not have the luxury of playing dumb. He has a lot of advantages but Rodgers, a self-described, free-thinking, do-my-own-research-and-epidemiology-in-my-spare-time genius, doesn’t make simple mistakes like this.

This was purposeful and this was planned.

It sends a clear, malicious message to the New York Jets and all its employees: “I’m better than you. I play by a different set of rules. I do not respect you and I do not need you.”

Rodgers has enough cash to book a trip to Egypt every day for the entire year and not be remotely broke. Rodgers could spend $25,000 a day and still have $25 million of his 2024 signing bonus, before taxes of course.

A responsible leader would decide, “I have an obligation I must fulfill. I’ll book the trip for another week.”

Rodgers instead told Saleh he couldn’t possibly cancel and to the airport he headed.

And what he said when he got back caused me to write this article:

“Words Can Be Deceiving”

“They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want and say this is the minicamp week which makes it more mandatory than the other weeks,” he said. “But it was an OTA schedule. That’s how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. They can make a story about how I missed a minicamp when it was really two OTA days. I came to the first 10.”

Yes, once again, our Lord and Savior Aaron Rodgers is being victimized by the media and this time, also the dictionary, which defines “mandatory” incorrectly.

But he’s right, words can be deceiving and more specifically, the words that come out of Aaron Rodgers’ mouth.

This was on Bleacher Report’s Pardon My Take and as per usual with media entities gifted with Rodgers’ presence, there was absolutely zero pushback from the hosts, allowing him to sew whatever fabric he wanted. His defense of his actions was semantics, a truly desperate tool.

Mandatory isn’t a gray word. It’s very black and white. Mandatory, as in required. There’s no, “Oh, but actually.”

But Rodgers truly thinks himself above the rules so for him, that’s what mandatory means. To Rodgers, mandatory isn’t a real thing. It’s a construct created for lesser folk.

Narcissus: Narcissism Personified

In Greek mythology, there is a tale of a man named Narcissus, from whom the term narcissism comes from. It is a story of a man who falls in love with his own reflection and becomes obsessed with it to the point that he withers away in grief, knowing he can never embrace his love.

Aaron Rodgers is of the same cloth. I truly believe the creature is incapable of love or friendship. He has such grandiosity and pretentiousness, I suspect there are emotions he is mentally unable to express or understand. Rodgers sees relationships as transactional and cannot fathom selflessness, sacrifice for others and the like. His ego requires him to establish in every conversation that he is higher than the other person, no matter the topic.

Everything Rodgers does is for his own personal advancement. That others sometimes benefit is collateral, not intentional on his part.

He is so self-obsessed I believe he has a metaphorical mirror in front of him at all times. He is unable to truly see other people, show empathy or understand noble concepts like humility.

Rodgers is not the greatest narcissist in the world (Donald Trump still exists) but he may be the loudest one in sports.

He is an excessive talker, often not an eloquent one and such a bad listener, I feel every conversation he has is with himself or with the sole purpose of lifting himself higher.

12 has gone far beyond crazy uncle at Thanksgiving. He is a psychological case study, a mental patient with a microphone, a soapbox orator.

In his quest to consume everything, he has consumed himself. Whoever he was back when he talked to his family is long gone.

I think Rodgers rebels against traditionally accepted principles and notions like modern medicine principally because he sees them as a constriction and losing control of any aspect of his life is his greatest fear. He is maniacally possessive and his concrete refusal to ever trust anyone is why his career has come short of its ultimate potential.

Rodgers was gifted enough to win multiple Super Bowls, at least two. I don’t think it’s a coincidence he went 1-4 in conference championships. He got shut out in the first half of two of those games, in the first quarter in three of four.

When push comes to shove, Rodgers’ eyesight narrows and he forces it to those he fully trusts, which is a select group.

In his last playoff action, he completed 20 passes. 18 of them were to Aaron Jones and Davante Adams.

Rodgers, as both person and player, has always been his greatest nemesis.

A person like this can be an NFL QB but they are not capable of leading a locker room.

After missing the playoffs again this year, Saleh and Douglas will likely be out the door and hopefully the national conversation around Rodgers will transition from Hall of Fame quarterback to franchise malignancy.

Because that’s what he is now.

Why I Quit Online Gaming: A Convo About the Internet

I threw out my Xbox yesterday and I thought I’d discuss why because I think this isn’t just about gaming but about how we interact with other people.

I grew up in a more innocent time, playing Mario Kart, Star Wars pod racing and the like on Nintendo 64, Pokémon on GameBoy and as I aged, I spent time on GameCube and PlayStation 2, running titles like Star Wars Battlefront 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, StarFox and Guitar Hero.

My parents are religious, social conservatives and both of them, especially my mother, were wary of how gaming might affect me as a person. I practically had to call CPS some days to be allowed an hour of screen time.

But this decision, a choice that now meets every parent in this world, forced me to engage with people face-to-face. I was encouraged to go outside, play sports, explore my neighborhood and experience real life.

As you age, you do not see your parents through the rose-colored glasses you once did. I imagine that’s one of the saddest parts of parenting, is realizing, eventually, your children will no longer see you as Superman and Wonder Woman.

However, I see the decision my parents made, a choice they had to defend every week against pre-adolescent and teenage tirades, as one of their best parenting moves because it is hard, perhaps even impossible, to learn respect, dignity, decency and social interaction through a computer.

Because in-person conversations carry both responsibility and consequences. It is how you learn what you can and cannot say to people. Public school in particular teaches you about tone, word choice, when it’s better to keep your mouth shut and walk away and when it’s time to throw a punch. This marination is crucial to how a person will maintain relationships, personal and professional.

I believe the internet and online gaming has limited, and in some cases, wholly eliminated, that stage of social development.

The internet and online gaming are not evil or terrible things in principle (few things are) but how the world uses them is detrimental to how we see other people.

If you call someone you do not know a racial slur to their face, you should be prepared to visit a hospital. There are social boundaries in place, ways that you can and cannot talk to people without repercussions and racial slurs are one of those things.

These boundaries and social constructs are invaluable to society. Consequences provide structure. A world without penalties would be a darker one.

But that is what the internet and online gaming do. It empowers “BigMan7715” to log onto Twitter and call women he does not know whores, to spew whatever hateful garbage he wants and to then log off without any serious rebuttal.

It is my opinion that the erasing of these social lines has empowered hate around the world over the last decade.

You can purposefully lose people’s games, call them slurs and then sign out after having espoused all of your negative energy because you don’t like your job.

You can blame people you do not know for your insecurities and struggles rather than self-reflect and find practical solutions towards personal growth.

You can act with malice, tell someone you do not know and will never have to face to end their life because they’re not great at a video game and if you have a pea brain, never ponder how what you say might affect that person.

Because if you tell someone things like this in person, reality will wake you up quickly.

Call a black man the n-word at your grocery store. Tell me how that goes for you.

Walk into a Chinese restaurant and start telling them to go back to their country. Tell me how that goes for you.

Go to a bar and tell every woman they’re filthy whores and don’t deserve rights. Tell me how that goes for you.

Because online, you can say all of that and much worse and the worst thing that will happen to you is Microsoft might ban you for 24 hours.

I am not encouraging violence but the importance of cause and effect.

When you’re little, effect is why you don’t touch hot stoves or disrespect your teachers.

When you’re an adult, effect is an instant reminder of the vitality of decency and social guidelines.

You have the right to say what you want. You also have the obligation to face the reprisals from those decisions.

Is Online Really Offline?

Online activity has not made me feel better about the world. It doesn’t fill me with hope and it makes me want to interact with people less than I already do.

People are not inherently selfish or corrupt, they are not born hateful, they don’t all want me to die but in some cases, I think online interaction is a window into our worst selves, what we can become if we lose empathy and humanity.

Because without face-to-face interaction and consequence, the line between virtual and reality fades and you start to see people as voices on the other end rather than persons with beating hearts and dreams, people who have families and friends, people who care about them.

The worst thing about GameCube was sometimes you’d catch your friend screen-checking your Madden plays.

The worst thing about online gaming is it emboldens you to be the darkest version of yourself, to see strangers as lesser people. It affords you detachment and distance from the damage you are causing. People cannot physically see the harm, there must be no harm at all and so they feel empowered to spew hateful rhetoric.

If you would call someone a slur to their face unprompted, you’re a terrible person with serious problems.

If you would do so online, you’re also a terrible person who needs therapy.

How we treat others says more about ourselves than it does the people we treat.

Why Did You Stay?

I met some of my best friends through gaming and also, because of naivety.

As I said, I grew up in a time of not innocence but an unknowing age of technology. It was new, it was something you toyed with but it wasn’t the center of your world, even a major cog in it. It was a luxury, a side dish to what I really wanted to do: sports, schoolwork, artistic expression, self-exploration.

When Covid happened, much of that face-to-face interaction was taken from us. It was a dark time in all our lives and the only way to try to connect with people was online.

But while I had originally tethered toxic gaming to Call of Duty ragers, I quickly discovered the truth that toxicity is rampant on most online platforms, not just first-person shooters and sports games.

I became one of the top 2% of Apex Legends players during that time (I’ve written about this, piece here) but I must say, the amount of negativity, disgust and frankly dehumanizing language I had to deal with to get there was so unnecessary. At times, I felt like my success at the game wasn’t worth the hassle.

I feel I’ve misused these last five years because I spent a significant amount of time trying to connect with a player base not just on Apex but in general, that is not trying to connect, only vent frustrations from their real lives onto what they see as non-playable characters instead of real people.

For every decent person you meet, you meet hundreds of truly disturbed individuals who need real psychological intervention. I started auto-muting everyone I got queued up with because I knew the chance of quality engagement was so low but many players exhibit narcissism online: the world revolves around them and selfish decisions that cost your teammates are entirely justified.

I would go so far as to say multiplayer games over the last year have had a negative effect on my mental health. As someone who already detests themselves and struggles with depression, an echo chamber of shit I already tell myself isn’t helpful.

I think many of our fears and our distrust of people come from online engagement and it’s not just gaming. I have yet to meet someone who has a positive opinion of dating apps, including people who met their current partner on a dating app. I have stayed away from social media entirely outside of Twitter and just a few weeks ago, I had to log off for a few days because of volatile political rhetoric and fear-mongering.

“Do what makes you happy” is such a simple phrase but I’ve found it hard to put into practice. I’ve been ramming my head into a wall the last year trying to make online gaming fun when what might truly make me happy is returning to my younger days: getting away from virtual spaces and just plugging into reality.

If we all do that, I think reality won’t seem so scary anymore. I think we’d all find reality is full of more beauty, hope and promise than the internet tells us.

The Steelers Curse, Chapter Eight: It’s a Cult

There was hope.

After yet another failure, a seventh-straight season without a playoff win, the calendar had turned June, 2024. General manager Omar Khan had a strong draft, grabbing tackle and center with his first two picks and a guard in the later rounds, bolstering the trenches. Patrick Queen at middle linebacker, Diontae Johnson and Kenny Pickett both fired into the sun. Check out Chapter 7 for a deep dive on Khan’s spring.

Outside of a gross signing of “arrest warrants don’t matter” Cam Sutton, it was a beautiful time to be a Steelers fan and principally not because of anything I just said.

Mike Tomlin had one year left on his contract and had not yet been extended.

After a brutal season where their record once again mischaracterized their actual performance, it seemed there might be the smallest little light of hope.

The Browns bested Pittsburgh in the division for the first time since 1989.

The offense was still a lawnmower in a league of Maseratis and Ferraris.

Pittsburgh lost to two two-win teams at home in five days.

It is the longest franchise playoff win drought in the Super Bowl era but all of it would pay off if the Steelers Curse, Mike Tomlin, was on his way out. A summer without an extension would demonstrate accountability for his ineptitude and a potential end to the stagnation of this franchise.

The Death of Hope

On a recent Monday, that hope died. Tomlin signed a three-year extension.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not a professional football team nor are they a business.

They are a cult and Tomlin is their anointed savior.

Any modicum of success is because of Mike and all failures are because of someone else, not the master.

The roster he helped assemble during the end of Colbert’s tenure isn’t his fault. It’s Colbert’s.

Kenny Pickett’s flameout isn’t his fault. It’s Canada’s.

Canada being promoted by Tomlin to offensive coordinator in the first place isn’t his fault. It’s Canada’s fault for accepting the promotion and failing in the role.

Drafting Najee wasn’t his fault. The offense not adjusting isn’t his fault. The lack of scoring isn’t his fault. The postseason disasters aren’t his fault. The players quitting on him isn’t his fault.

There is no mistake he can make that will lead to any consequence.

8-8 years are applauded. Non-losing seasons are the standard. Average is the watermark.

Playoff blowouts are celebrated. Making it to the playoffs with the lacking roster he designed is enough.

Failed development of draft prospects is because the prospects just weren’t good enough, not because of his abilities or say in selecting them.

The inept coaching staff he assembles is full of rudimentary minds but despite hiring all of them, he faces no reprisals, instead gets congratulated for achieving in spite of the hazards he throws in the team’s way.

He is given the responsibility of coaching this team while never being held to account for said responsibilities.

There is no action done or word spoken that will lose him any followers.

An 8-9 season would face no backlash. A 13-4 campaign and a 20-point thumping in a home playoff game would return no scathing headline. A 2-15 disaster wouldn’t matter. He would have three years left on his contract and the Steelers don’t fire coaches. It is a cult.

Unconditional love is a dangerous thing. Even love has conditions and boundaries but not if you’re in a cult. Unquestioning and complete loyalty is owed to your leader no matter how far astray he leads you. To question is blasphemy and punishable by death.

Relationships without accountability or consequence are idolization.

The Steelers practice hero worship but Tomlin is no hero. He is a villain, the cancer they pray every week will leave their bodies. They’re in a cult so their critical thinking skills have decayed. They never think to wonder why the cancer isn’t leaving.

The Steelers may brand themselves as a blue-collar, family and faith organization, a small Mom and Pop shop but they’re the opposite. They’re white-collar elitists who look down on everyone around them. They see themselves as beyond reproach or criticism, above their competition as their opposition continues to deck them in the mouth on Sundays. They believe themselves wiser for avoiding new age approaches, that devil magic, not ignorant. Anything that happens outside their hallowed halls is ungodly and must be vehemently opposed. “Our god, Mike Tomlin, will deliver us.”

Newsflash, Pittsburgh. Your god fucking sucks.

Criticizing Mike Tomlin, however, will turn you into a pariah in this city and in football circles extremely quickly: “How dare you question him?! He’s never had a losing season! You don’t know how much worse it could get!”

People still think death is the worst thing that can happen to them. It’s not and especially not in sports. The worst teams in the NFL have an honest chance to get better each offseason because bad teams have contracts expire and premier draft capital.

The Chicago Bears this offseason added Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen and De’Andre Swift. They have a genuine chance to be different.

The best way to build anything is from scratch but the process of cults won’t allow that. A cult’s belief and value system cannot change. It must be hardened to the happenings of time, space, logic, even reality itself.

It doesn’t help that the cult has a very large following and their most ardent supporter is owner Art Rooney II, who despite seeing no returns for his prayers these last seven years, gave Tomlin that extension.

Rooney can talk about the franchise being frustrated with the playoff drought but he’s not. Actions over words, Art. Repeat the same processes, expect the same results.

Rooney doesn’t care about winning or losing, the betterment of the team or any of that nonsense. He only cares that his god continues to run the ship and the receipts from his ticket prices continue to flow into his coffers.

What Tomlin does on the field doesn’t matter.

What Tomlin does off the field doesn’t either.

The only thing that matters is Mike Tomlin is the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Everything else is meaningless. The cult is happy.

Count Me Out

This is the final straw for me.

I have not been a strong Steelers fan these past seven years because I wanted Tomlin fired after Jacksonville. Especially these last three years, I have become less invested. Not less informed; I’m still watching the games, reading all the breakdowns, researching all the numbers but certainly less passionate about the black and gold because it’s become clear my goals and aspirations and those of the Pittsburgh Steelers are very, very different.

As a sports writer, I try to remain as impartial as possible and so I identify as a football fan far more than a Steelers fan.

After this extension, the Steelers are just another team to me, not anything special. If they weren’t the local team right down the road, I wouldn’t cover them. They’re agonizing to watch and they’re often not fun to write about. They’re a bad product but all the hooting, hollering, screaming, tweeting and publishing in the world will not spur change. Khan is one of the best executives in the sport but there is no move he can make to stop Tomlin’s curse on this franchise.

Until Tomlin is gone and this franchise joins the 21st century of football, it’s impossible for me to be passionately invested in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a cult.

And cults don’t change.

The Steelers Curse, Chapter Seven: Wrath of Khan

Omar Khan is not a patient man.

Khan, the current general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers, now having just completed his second offseason, has demonstrated he is nothing like his predecessor.

The Amish of Football

Previous executive Kevin Colbert had become a dinosaur, an engineer from a previous technological age who refused to adapt to modern process. Colbert just months ago argued analytics are overvalued and intangibles are more important. During his tenure, the Steelers had one of the smallest analytics departments in the league and preferred the eye-test to math.

Tomlin, the Steelers Curse who continues to metastasize, was outed by former corner Patrick Peterson last season on the Rich Eisen show. Peterson said Tomlin doesn’t use analytics in game-planning.

Analytics are a tool and not a perfect science but to mostly ignore them in coaching and roster construction is dereliction of duty. Like not using power equipment because you grew up building houses with hammers. You look ridiculous.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently the Amish of the football world. You can have respect for the old ways, tradition and the like while joining the rest of society in the sun or you can continue to sit in your no-electricity, no-technology house and wonder why there are always so many things wrong with it, why life seems to be missing something, why you’re constantly falling short of stated goals.

But this is how the Steelers have operated in the 21st century and while the sport slowly progressed into the 2010s and began to look extremely different from 1997 or 2004, the Steelers continued to look the same, executing the usual playbook, repeating losing results and continuing onwards with a persistent stubbornness that often precedes failure.

Colbert ranted about the importance of intangibles but the list of characters he brought into the locker room in his later years suggests intangibles aren’t truly important to him or he’s bad at reading people.

Antonio Brown is a Hall of Fame receiver, the best of his era, the best the Steelers ever had but intangibles? After one of the dirtiest players of all-time, Vontaze Burfict, decapitated him, Brown became a larger and larger locker room fire year after year.

Le’Veon Bell quit on his team after a fair contract offer. Martavis Bryant couldn’t put down the pipe, got kicked out of the league. Chase Claypool? Devin Bush? Diontae Johnson? Kenny Pickett? George Pickens? (More on the last three in a little) What character is he talking about?

The so-called traditions the Steelers are so beholden to disappeared. The defense during much of the 2010’s was a turnstile and it’s why the Killer B’s never reached a Super Bowl.

Colbert couldn’t even hold true to the foundations of football, abandoning the offensive line and surrendering offensive philosophy to his quarterback. In the new analytical age, other teams lapped the Steelers in the draft while Colbert drafted players like Artie Burns and Terrell Edmunds in the first round.

He seemed extremely indifferent to the team’s struggles and the impending doom just down the road. Colbert never seriously considered a quarterback plan after Ben or what the team might look like after he himself retired yet also seemed brazenly disinterested in aggressively fixing problems, a man who couldn’t be bothered with the immediate, the distant future or the present. If anything, Colbert seemed transfixed by a particular part of the past and not the most recent happenings he should have been trying to learn from.

Growing from mistakes is a key cog of life. Colbert chose not to do it and these latest interviews suggest he’s never going to learn, cemented in his thinking.

Khan has demonstrated no such reluctance.

Fire Everything

Khan’s wrath has no such restraint.

The Steelers have a lot of problems and Khan is unloading on them.

The team’s quarterback play has been awful.

Mitch Trubisky, who was awful before Khan signed him, has been cut. Mason Rudolph is gone to Tennessee.

Khan signed Russell Wilson, fresh off being paid over $45 million to not play football for the Denver Broncos. Russ will make the veteran minimum and very likely be off the team in 2025.

Russ is a locker room cancer, a player who is repeatedly being shamed by former teammates. He is not a leader, he is a diva with insincere positivity. He is a showman, a stage man, more interested in his public image than on-field production. Professional athletes do not like bullshit and Russ has a long track record of being a professional bullshitter.

But he’s better than Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph or Mitch Trubisky. As a one-year bandaid, you could do a lot worse and the importance of him being a one-year placement and nothing more cannot be understated.

Kenny Pickett then demanded a trade.

A player with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 24 games requesting a trade, as if he is owed something, is hilarious.

Pickett showed a little promise his rookie season but as I said would happen if the Steelers drafted him, was treated like a bowling pin during his two seasons, suffering three concussions behind a coffee filter offensive line. He was set up to fail by his personnel and his coaching staff but he also did himself no favors. He lost his confidence in the pocket, he stopped pushing the ball down the field and he misplaced his aggression.

Yet, when the Steelers signed Wilson, Pickett wanted out.

Of all the teams Pickett could’ve been on after having played that poorly, the Steelers were the best option because the Steelers, as we’ve seen with Tomlin, are the most patient and loyal team in sports, grounded to their own detriment.

There was a realistic scenario where Pickett returned to the starting quarterback role by midseason and if he played well, started 2025 with the title but Pickett said a lot about who he was with this request.

That ask, as if he wasn’t one of the worst quarterbacks in the modern era, screams entitlement, a fear of competition and poor leadership qualities. He quit on his team once he felt he wasn’t treated like a king.

Remember Colbert talking about intangibles earlier?

Pickett, once a Pitt Panther legend and Heisman finalist, became a villain in this city and so Khan did something Colbert would never: he shot Pickett into the sun, trading him to Philly.

Trading a first-round pick, let alone a quarterback, is something the Pittsburgh Steelers never do. It is antithetical to the antiquated way they do business.

Khan has demonstrated many times over the last two years he will not be shackled by such constraints. I have been extremely critical of owner Art Rooney and he has deserved every bit of that snark but I applaud him for letting Khan work.

Before the draft, Khan acquired Bears quarterback Justin Fields. The Steelers declined his fifth-year option, so Fields also will be looking for a different home.

Fields played for the Bears, the worst franchise in football at developing quarterbacks. It’s likely Fields will never become anything, too far damaged to become a starting passer but it’s a low-risk gamble with upside. This is, however, the second quarterback the Steelers have now poached from the Bears and it would be nice if the Steelers would stop looking in the worst places for a quarterback.

The Steelers haven’t had a true field general middle linebacker since Ryan Shazier, preferring a patch work approach for the last few seasons. Enough of that.

Khan signed Patrick Queen to a team-friendly deal that is heavily backloaded and easily cuttable after this season. If Queen impresses, he’ll have a $17 million cap hit in ‘25 and ‘26, a hefty price I imagine Khan would finagle down next spring.

Diontae Johnson, one of those high-character guys Colbert drafted? He’s gone after being an extreme malcontent. He’s a strong route runner but had a drops problem much of his career here. His catch percentage improved in his later seasons but it always felt like he dropped the big ones you needed to have. Johnson had also decided blocking was optional and not a requirement in his job, a trait George Pickens has already acquired. That selfish philosophy needs rooted from the locker room fast and shooting Johnson to Carolina sends a strong message.

The Diontae Johnson trade leaves a hole at receiver but this is not a win-now roster. Some holes are going to be there regardless.

Bring in the Beef

Khan must have read my criticisms of the Arthur Smith hire in Chapter Six because he spent much of the draft bringing in offensive line depth, snagging a tackle, center and guard in the first four rounds. This was the smart thing to do. With these selections, the Steelers now have two rookie contract, first-round tackles, a second-round center in West Virginia’s Zach Frazier and now a young guard. Investing in the trenches is step one in building a football team. The Steelers had forgotten that. Khan clearly hasn’t.

The team has holes at receiver and corner but Khan’s second offseason has been a resounding success. Khan even declined Najee Harris’ fifth-year option, a player who has decayed since his rookie year, not improved.

Khan is no one-hit wonder. He gets it. He understands this team doesn’t need rebuilt.

It needs built, ground up, from step one of the recipe. Yes, T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, Minkah, those guys are here but over half the roster is inadequate for true contending football. Pretending that’s not the case and continuing this Wheel of Mediocrity will not lead to success.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Khan, the true elixir that he is, has demonstrated he will not.

Except for one.

The Steeler Way is Bullshit

You may have forgotten after this tremendous Steelers spring but not long ago, former Steeler Cam Sutton was evading police in Florida for felony domestic assault and battery. He ignored an arrest warrant for three weeks, which resulted in the Detroit Lions, his then current employer, cutting him.

Despite playing GTA in real life, Sutton turned himself into police after three weeks and faced little legal consequence. As has been the case for some time, there are two standards of justice in the United States and the one I must adhere to is very different from Sutton’s.

I’m confident I’d still be sitting in Allegheny County Jail if I treated arrest warrants like parking tickets but Sutton just gets probation and the loss of firearm privileges after that felony was dropped to a misdemeanor.

Weeks later, Cam Sutton is a Pittsburgh Steeler.

Remember how important those intangibles were earlier to Colbert, to the organization?

High character indeed.

Tomlin went to the mic and churned his usual nonsense, called Sutton a great guy who loves football. No mention was made about nearly choking the life out of a woman, that’s not important. “Sutton plays cornerback and we need one!”

Pittsburgh’s principles are the same as most if not every team in professional sports: They will put up with any and every transgression as long as that player’s value on the field outweighs how much of a garbage human being they are off of it.

“This dude is more probably than not a rapist but he’s really good at throwing the football.”

Ben Roethlisberger. Steelers fans in this city criticize the Browns for signing a sexual predator and rightly so but find themselves conveniently oblivious when Roethlisberger’s own past is brought up. Ben was a more talented Deshaun Watson. That’s the difference.

Think about all the legal antics that came out about Antonio Brown after they traded him. Brown was the best receiver of his era and in the history of the franchise. Antics overlooked.

James Harrison once tried to knock the head off his woman over a disagreement about baptism.

Receiver Cedrick Wilson assaulted his ex-girlfriend around the same time.

Wilson was cut. Harrison wasn’t.

Wilson was a depth receiver. Harrison was a franchise player.

This is how a lot of companies do business and it’s a crime against morality that’s the case but the case it is nonetheless.

”The standard is the standard” has always been bullshit. The goal posts have always been moving. The Steeler Way has never existed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are just a team like everyone else. They’re not holier than though, more charactered than you.

Moves like the Cam Sutton signing are a stain on this team and city, a constant reminder of the double standards in place, the false reality the black and gold continue to feed in their buildings and these unequal expectations create turmoil and distrust in any business. You may not hear about it, it may not leak to the press but people notice it and that cancer festers.

The reality that Khan apparently has the same vice is disheartening, to be polite.

The Retirement Tour, Chapter Three: Prepare the Clubs

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs and are on the golf course.

If you’ve been reading my content, that’s not surprising. I foretold it.

Chapter 1, where I catalogued the history of the team’s latest struggles, here.

Chapter 2, where I was vindicated, here.

The Pittsburgh Penguins powerplay was historically bad, third-worst in the history of the franchise. In 2001, the team was fighting bankruptcy. In 1967, the team didn’t know how to tie their skates. Assistant coach Todd Reirden has since been fired but is that enough?

It’s genuinely impressive that a team with Sidney Crosby, not just the best player of his generation but possibly the greatest ever, is humanly capable of being this bad on the powerplay.

The Penguins don’t just have a powerplay problem either. They allow shorthanded goals more than anyone, they’ve become a liability with a lead and if the game goes to extra time, they already lost.

They have had 11+ overtime losses three straight years.

Relevant #s, 23-24:

Win% after regulation (.333, T-2nd worst)
PP% (14.6, 2nd-worst)
SHGA (12, T-most)
Net PP% (PPG-SHGA/Opp, 10.0, worst)
Win% lead after 2 (.781, 5th-worst)
Losses lead after 1 (6, T-fourth most)
OT losses (9, T-4th-most)
Allowed GA w/in 2:00 of scoring (17x)

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) April 17, 2024

If you thought Kyle Dubas would have an awakening after a season’s worth of performance like that, you’d be wrong.

Q: Why do you think this team can have a quick turnaround because in the salary cap era, that has been proven hard to do?

In his answer, Dubas listed the LA Kings as an example. The Kings have been eliminated by the Oilers each of the last three seasons in the first round. They have not won a playoff series in 11 years. That’s not a contender.

He also mentioned the Rangers. New York made big trades for Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox, they bought the best free agent superstar on the market in Artemi Panarin and they had a draft prospect named Igor Shesterkin.

The Rangers turnaround isn’t comparable to the Pens situation. They have little draft capital and few strong prospects because their team-building strategy since back-to-back Cup wins has been “Fuck Dem Picks”.

They don’t have the assets to make a move for a Zibanejad and they don’t have a Shesterkin coming up the pipeline at any position in the immediate future. They also have no money to buy a premium talent like Panarin, which is why they let a premium talent like Jake Guentzel leave.

On the spot, Dubas had no explanation for why the Pens should be considered different because they’re not. They are a retirement home. Dubas and the organization has chosen to be.

I know I’ve rambled on about Erik Karlsson but I really cannot in good conscience shut up about how awful this trade has been for the Penguins. I don’t hate Erik Karlsson as a person. I don’t know the guy, that would be silly. I hate him as a financial chasm where all value dies.

Erik Karlsson: 10 g, 43 a, 53 pts, 16 powerplay.
Mike Matheson: 11 g, 51 a, 62 pts, 28 powerplay.

Total Cap:
Karlsson: $11.5
Matheson: $4.9

The complaint was Matheson was bad at defense. He was.
So the #Pens traded for a more expensive/older Mike Matheson..
WOOF

— Scarecrow (@WisTim55) April 15, 2024

Mike Matheson was rightly criticized in Pittsburgh. He is an winger playing defense. His childhood coach should be fired into the sun for not recognizing that. Matheson does not have strong defensive instincts. He’s a playmaker and while the Pens need more scoring, Matheson was too much of a back-end liability to keep.

Karlsson is in the same mold and currently a better player than Matheson but twice as good as Matheson? That’s what his cap number says. Matheson plays for the Montreal quagmire and had nearly 30 powerplay points and a 60-point season. Matheson provided a surplus value.

Karlsson regressed, less than half of what he had last season point-wise, the least surprising thing to happen in the NHL this year.

Even Jakob Chychrun, who I wanted the Pens to go after years ago, managed 14 goals and 16 powerplay points last year on a dreadful Senators team. The Karlsson trade made no sense when it was rumored, it made no sense when it happened and it still sucks now.

Any trade that loses you Jake Guentzel sucks by default.

Just to reiterate what I shared with Steiggy on the air tonight, looking at even-strength only here:

23/24 Pens xG ranking: 2nd – Finishing ranking: 32nd
22/23 Pens xG ranking: 5th – Finishing ranking: 31st
21/22 Pens xG ranking: 7th – Finishing ranking: 27th

— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) March 22, 2024

Kyle Dubas made a garbage hockey team in Toronto. They won one playoff series in his nine years, five as the general manager because Dubas built his team around four high-profile scorers taking up an obnoxiously high number of the team’s cap space. Over 50% of the team’s upcoming cap space is tied to those four stars and the team can’t score in the playoffs.

The Penguins had a lot of money come off the books last summer, giving Dubas the chance to ease some of the financial restraint and he promptly tightened the chains, trading for Erik Karlsson, one of if not the worst contract in hockey.

This summer, there are quality players like Brandon Montour, Jake DeBrusk, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jonathan Marchessault if Vegas is silly enough to let him walk.

Knowing the Penguins, they’ll probably sign Stamkos and Kane and assemble the oldest team of all-time.

Manchester City Complete the Four-Piece

City has done it.

In the history of top-flight English soccer, which began in 1892, only six squads had ever won three titles in a row:

1923-1925 Huddersfield Town
1932-1934 Arsenal
1981-1983 Liverpool
1998-2000 Manchester United
2006-2008 Manchester United
2020-2022 Manchester City

To accomplish a title alone is an accomplishment. Three in a row is to be immortalized.

But today, the final day of the campaign, Manchester City redefined perfection, cementing a fourth-straight title. Any doubt seemed to evaporate almost instantaneously when Phil Foden, the league’s player of the season, hit net in the first three minutes.

To call this iteration of Manchester City a dynasty almost feels insulting. This squad and program is currently incomparable.

It is not as if City hasn’t lost premium talent during these years (Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan) but as the sun shines, this iteration of City wins.

Winners of four straight and six of the last seven titles, it really is difficult to put that into perspective because I truly believe English soccer is the highest level of the sport. The game is more clinical, the pacing is slower. English soccer feels like the pinnacle, the closest a professional league has gotten to mirroring international competition.

No true futbol fan hates the World Cup. The World Cup is better than the Olympics or any playoff professional sports can offer. Only the NHL playoffs comes close to matching the fervor and not very. Even the Super Bowl, my favorite holiday, cannot match the great sense of heritage and ethnic pride that comes from the World Cup.

But after the month-long tournament ends, it is four years before you get to relive that unparalleled excitement again or witness the world’s greatest game at the greatest level.

Once that tourney ends, the next best thing is the English Premier League.

Manchester City has sported the last five Player of the Season winners. It is by no means a one-man show. They really look like they’re playing a different game sometimes, the way Golden State at the peak of the Steph Curry era used to play, reinventing the way the game was played.

Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden and Ederson have all been there for these last four titles.

It will likely go under the radar given the scope of the achievement but if there were still any doubters about who the best midfielder in the world was, they should shut up now. De Bruyne has been that for some time. He’s City’s most valuable player, not any striker. City has rotated their strikers during this run.

After De Bruyne came back from injury in January, City went 16-2-1. He had 10 assists in just 14 games and this season, he became second all-time in premier league assists with 112. He’s been in English football for just nine seasons.

He is an absurd playmaker with incredible vision. As dominant as Erling Haaland is (a bonkers 63 goals in two seasons), De Bruyne is the man who manifests opportunities. There does not seem to be a space small enough to stop him sometimes.

Not enough will be said about manager Pep Guerdiola’s run as possibly the greatest manager of all-time.

In truth, I don’t know if enough can be said about this team because it is not just the talent. They play within structure as a team, egos aside. Playing as a collective is how we achieve our greatest heights, sometimes limiting ourselves for the best of the group.

City are not just the Champions of England today. They are inevitable.

Madden Trois

Two years away from Madden after so many calendars on it during Madden Deuce and Madden Deuce: Part Deux, a return to the greatest sports video game franchise of all-time was due.

During Madden Deuce, I found wild success with my friend, Jon. Over 20 Super Bowl titles. I didn’t expect to see that achievement again. For as talented as I can be at offense at times, my defense on Madden is gross, or at least it was long ago. It had been eight years since I’d played defense.

Madden 24 was also very different from the Madden I had become accustomed to. In many ways, the yearly drop of Madden is the same but over time, Madden from five years ago doesn’t even feel applicable to the experience you’re living now.

My friend, Willie and I created a new Madden universe and each of us took a team chained in the doldrums of football misery. Willie took the Houston Texans, a franchise afterthought the last few seasons but with offensive and defensive rookies of the year C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr., things are looking up.

I chose the Detroit Lions, outside of the Cleveland Browns and maybe Jacksonville, the most hopeless organization in football. The Jets have won a Super Bowl, were responsible for the merger. The Bears have their ‘85 season to rammer on about. The Vikings at least made four Super Bowls and the same with Buffalo.

The Lions have nothing, only Hall of Fame players who retired in the middle of their careers rather than continue to play in the pale blue. 2023 was the best season in the history of Lions football, a season that produced their first division title in 30 years and multiple playoff wins.

It was fun, watching Detroit compete after so many years of incompetent management. Finally, Detroit is a real team, maybe. The Jaguars had their AFC Championship game with Jalen Ramsey and then blew up the team so who knows but I’d like to believe it’s to stay.

I had brought Super Bowls to the Raiders, returned them to their former glory in The Madden Experience. I had turned Jacksonville into sports’ greatest dynasty in Madden Deuce and Madden Deuce: Part Deux. Now, I would take on the heartache of another fan base and try with all my might to take them to glory, a heaven they’ve never known.

Wars begin in the trenches and we would have the best lines in football. Many years have past in my Madden journey but my formula, for the most part, has stayed the same: own the trenches, run the ball at will, rush four and play defense.

So most of my best players are linemen and I’m good with it. With protection like this, a team will find it hard not to compete.

Alas, much of the draft did not go well. I waited too long to take a WR and QB so my passing attack would be anemic. Jameis Winston and Joe Flacco would be the worst QB duo I’d ever had to compete with.

I purposely waited on RB because with this line, I don’t need a star or a bell cow. A platoon of capable backs, like former starters Jerick McKinnon and Dalvin Cook, would succeed. My secondary was exceptional, with Sneed, Bland, the Honey Badger and Hufanga, an emerging star.

Perhaps the biggest problem, even more so than the quarterback room, was age. The team was older than I would have liked. I missed on a lot of younger talent and depth would be an issue.

Our head coach would be Marshall Mathers, commonly known as Eminem, the pride of Detroit. If nothing else, our team would be motivated.

I’ve always been a fan of the west coast offense so I started with Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers playbook on offense and the GOAT, Bill Belichick, on defense.

The inaugural draft of the 2023 Detroit Lions:

QB: Jameis Winston, Joe Flacco, Nick Foles
RB: Jerick McKinnon, Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, Matt Breida
FB: Alec Ingold
WR: Tyler Lockett, Rashid Shaheed, Marquise Goodwin, Julio Jones, Brandon Powell, Velus Jones
TE: Zach Ertz, Logan Thomas, Marcedes Lewis
LT: Tristan Wirfs, Donovan Smith
LG: Joe Thuney, A.J. Cann
C: David Andrews, Ben Jones
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Gabe Jackson
RT: Morgan Moses, Kelvin Beachum
LE: Calais Campbell, Denico Autry
DT: Javon Hargrave, B.J. Hill, Shelby Harris
RE: Brandon Graham, Leonard Floyd
LOLB: T.J. Watt, Justin Houston, Jason Pierre-Paul
MLB: Bobby Wagner, Jordan Hicks
ROLB: Quincy Williams, Melvin Ingram
CB: L’Jarius Sneed, DaRon Bland, Taron Johnson, K’Waun Williams, Tavon Young, Xavier Rhodes, Troy Hill
FS: Tyrann Mathieu, Lamarcus Joyner
SS: Talanoa Hufanga, Kareem Jackson
K: Jake Elliott
P: Bryan Anger

Unfortunately, I left pre-existing injuries on, meaning Hufanga would miss the season with his ACL injury. I drafted him in the top-seven rounds so this hurt a lot.

After the draft, my team ratings were 87 overall, 84 offense, 91 defense.

Finished with a rough 0-3 preseason, I decided to make playbook changes, switching to Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel on offense and Andy Reid’s defense. McDaniel’s offense is built around speed and my receivers were nothing if not fast. Steve Spagnuolo is a HOF-caliber assistant coach and his defenses have been notable for a long while. Maybe these playbook changes would provide a spark. I also switched to a base 4-3, moving Watt to defensive end.

With this scheme change, I needed MLB depth, so I traded a sixth-round pick and a practice squad player for Mack Wilson to be my MLB3.

I had extra ends so I traded Leonard Floyd to Cincy for a fifth. I might have been able to get more but he was going to be a preseason cut so it was a net positive.

A godsend came after the preseason: speedster Raheem Mostert. Some idiot cut him. Our running game was already going to be a problem. Now Mostert, who this past season set the Dolphins single-season touchdown record and had won me a fantasy football championship, would bring speed and explosiveness we didn’t have.

Preseason adds: RB Raheem Mostert, TE Jonnu Smith, MLB Kamu Grugier-Hill, CB Patrick Peterson, FS Tashaun Gipson

Preseason cuts: RB Matt Breida, WR Brandon Powell, MLB Josh Bynes, CB Xavier Rhodes, CB Troy Hill, FS Lamarcus Joyner

Preseason MVP: S Kareem Jackson. I’m convinced preseason Madden is even harder than playoffs because I was crushed in all contests. Our preseason MVP was Kareem Jackson, who made some plays and would need to make a lot more as the starting strong safety with Hufanga injured.

Head Coach Marshall Mathers
Offensive Coordinator Erik Aguilar
Defensive Coordinator Dean Fuller

My team captains going into the season: Wirfs, Lockett, Watt, Wagner, Mathieu.

As in prior Madden Experiences, we would start on All-Pro.

1/Mostert Magic

Our first regular season game was a huge success, winning 28-10. Detroit amassed nearly 300 yards of offense, including 169 yards rushing. Mostert, without any preseason with the team, had 18 carries for 115 yards. Latavius Murray ran in two touchdowns. An offensive line shoutout to David Andrews at center, who was exceptional.

Jameis, despite real concerns from me, was strong: 11/15 for 117 and two scores. The Famous Jameis Bakery was only cooking touchdowns today. Marquise Goodwin excelled in the slot, leading the passing game with five receptions for 66 and a score.

Other cut week adds Jonnu Smith and Patrick Peterson also made splash plays, with Smith catching Winston’s second touchdown and Peterson snagging an interception. The Chiefs fearsome run duo of Bijan Robinson and Kyren Williams amassed only 65 yards combined.

With Seattle starting Carson Wentz in week 2, a 2-0 start felt very feasible.

Jameis would throw two more scores, a bomb down the seam to Shaheed and a second on the season score to Jonnu Smith but a red zone interception proved costly.

Tied at 14 at the two-minute warning, Mathers’ marauders would force a punt, giving Winston a chance to secure his first 4th quarter game-winning drive.

Winston didn’t have to do much, handing the ball to Mostert on four straight plays as the offensive line opened huge holes, including A.J. Cann, subbed in for an injured Joe Thuney at left guard.

Then, Jake Elliott, one of the best kickers in the sport, missed a 27-yd field goal to win.

In overtime, Mostert and the line once again ran the Seahawks front over but got stalled at the 45. We punted and the clock expired before Seattle could score. 14-14 tie.

Talk about a game slipping away. The Lions rushing attack managed nearly 200 yards, including over 150 from Mostert.

It came down to faltering in the red zone. Between the Winston pick and Elliott’s miss, we’d squandered 10 points. If Detroit missed playoffs, this tie would haunt them for a while.

It would not get easier next week. Mostert and fullback Alec Ingold would miss that contest with injury. Atlanta’s Patrick Mahomes would sit behind one of the league’s best offensive lines and run the spread. The red birds would finish with nearly 500 yards. Mahomes would finish 23/26 for 381 and five touchdowns, a perfect performance.

McKinnon would run for 77 in his first start and Winston would throw for a season-high 227 but it was nowhere near enough. 42-24 Falcons.

I decided to make my first contract extension following the loss. I ended up misunderstanding the contract structure, signing guard Chris Lindstrom to a gargantuan five-year, $165 million contract, making him the highest-paid lineman in NFL history. I meant to offer him half that, a five-year, $85, $17 million per year.

This was a huge misfire. Not only had I wasted a third of my available cap space for the upcoming season, I had put a potential chokehold on my cap in a few years.

The lesson had been learned. That would not happen again.

On the positive side, Lindstrom should be a top-three guard for the next five years so at least that money would be going to a team leader.

In further bad news, Joe Thuney showed no interest in re-signing with the Lions. We would have a new starting left guard next season.

After our humiliation against Atlanta, we would rattle off four straight wins, including holding the Lamar Jackson Ravens to under 100 yards. Mostert would go over the century mark in all of his starts before we ran into Andy Dalton, who turned on God mode and beat us handedly 28-7. Three Winston interceptions didn’t help but we were 5-2-1 at the bye.

The biggest game of the season came against the Chicago Bears, led by Jalen Hurts and Derrick Henry. Henry rolled and the Bears defense was exceptional against the run. Jameis would throw two picks to start, one a pick-six and the Lions would find themselves down 17-0 in the middle of the second quarter. Detroit would run the ball down the field, convert a 4th-and-2 and score before half.

Right out of half, Winston threw his third pick. MLB Jordan Hicks would level Henry, forcing a fumble. Flacco would come in and kicker Jake Elliott would convert from 39. The Lions D would force a punt and Mostert would break the season’s biggest play, a 65-yard touchdown run. Coach Eminem would decide to go for two with the momentum on his side but the Bears would maintain the 17-16 lead.

Chicago would drive down to the goal line and on 4th-and-1, Hurts threw a ball that was tipped and L’Jarius Sneed would return the pick 100 yards for the score. This time, the 2pt try would succeed, making it 24-17 Lions.

Chicago would drive for a tying touchdown with 17 seconds. Flacco would throw an out route to Goodwin with two seconds left, giving Elliott a chance at a 65-yarder, which came up short.

The Bears would win the coin toss and win in overtime. Despite coming back from 17 down, the Lions lost and they’d lose to the 2-8 Packers in another overtime game the following week. Green Bay had 170 yards rushing, a season-high for the Lions D.

On the road against New Orleans, a playoff-caliber team, Elliott hit a walkoff field goal to end the losing streak and keep Detroit, at 7-4-1, at the top of the NFC North.

That ended the following week when Chicago once again went up 17-0 on the Lions. The Bears were built like Detroit: strong run defense, strong run game. It was a battle of trench warfare and through two games, Chicago had won handedly.

They had Jalen Hurts. We had Jameis Winston. That felt like the difference. If Chicago couldn’t run, Hurts could deal. Winston didn’t have that ability.

We had our rival.

On the plus side, Raheem Mostert signed a two-year, $30 million extension. He was the team MVP. Without him, I don’t know if our offense would have a pulse. We still had the best offensive line in football and that was not to be disregarded but Mostert was on pace to lead the league in rushing.

I offered Winston, who had been one of the worst quarterbacks in football, a one year, $23 million contract extension. Flacco and Foles were both free agents and it would be hard to replace the entire quarterback room.

Winston declined. He’d thrown 16 interceptions.

A loss to Denver the following week was our fourth loss in our last five games. We were 6-2-1 and leading the division.

Now, we were 7-6-1 and in danger of missing the playoffs.

A large part of the problem was we were getting no pressure. T.J. Watt, my top draft pick, had two sacks. We were in week 16. It was inexcusable.

In an effort to light a fire under him, I took his captaincy and gave it to Mostert, who had more than earned it. Watt record a sack in his next game and the defense would explode, intercepting Tua Tagovailoa three times in a crucial divisional win over Minnesota.

After Winston threw another two picks, I offered him a smaller offer: one year for $20. Now realizing how bad he was, Winston accepted. That’s a ton of money to pay for a backup but if I didn’t get a gem quarterback prospect, we’d be stuck turning to the Jameis Bakery next season.

The following week was a defensive masterclass. Detroit held Dallas out of the end zone, all the way to the buzzer and the Lions managed a fourth quarter score to win 7-3. Watt, no longer weighed down by the captain’s armband, had three sacks, including one defending his own goal line to seal the win. He received NFC defensive player of the week for his performance.

Winston had 22 passing yards. He was looking like a spring cut. That contract already looked awful.

In a must-win final game to make the playoffs, Winston threw two picks, showing who he is. Luckily, the defense had their best pass rush game of the season, registering five sacks and a safety, which was the winning margin, 19-17. Detroit was in the playoffs as the sixth seed at 10-6-1.

The Bears, our hated rival, won the NFC.

‘23 Season Stats:
Winston 140/228 for 1772, 61%, 60.4 rating, 9 TDs, 21 INTs
Mostert 272 carries for league-leading 1758, 6.5 ypc, 9 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Lockett 33 receptions for 593, TD
Watt 42 tackles, 13 TFL, 7 sacks, FF
Hargrave 21 tackles, TFL, 7.5 sacks
Peterson 62 tackles, 2 TFL 2 sacks, 2 INTs, FF (Defensive MVP)
Sneed 58 tackles, 3 TFL, 5 INTs, TD
Elliott 13/16 for 81%, 35/35 XP for 100%
Anger 49.8 avg, 48.1 net, 11 inside the 20
Team Stats:
Offense: 4217 (32nd), 1643 pass (32nd), 2574 rush (1st), 18.6 ppg (31st)
Defense: 4263 (1st), 2907 pass (1st), 1356 rush (2nd), 17.1 pag (1st), 30 sacks, fumble, 18 INTs

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Mostert, Ingold, Wirfs, Thuney, Lindstrom, Moses (6)
COY: Mathers (8th)
RB: Mostert (3rd)
OL: Wirfs (2nd), Lindstrom (4th), Thuney (6th)
CB: Sneed (4th)
K: Elliott (8th)

The league’s best defense, no Lions defenders made the Pro Bowl. Mostert wasn’t even nominated for MVP or NFC Offensive Player of the Year and finished third for the conference’s best running back despite leading the league in rushing. We’d be taking these snubs personally.

Our first playoff game would be a rematch against Atlanta and Patrick Mahomes, who predictably led the league in passing. That first matchup was our worst defensive performance, a 42-21 beatdown. Mostert, our best offensive player, missed that contest with turf toe.

In this playoff game, we’d be on the road, odds stacked against us and without T.J. Watt, who would miss with a PCL sprain.

Mahomes would be held to 75 yards passing and throw two interceptions, including on the first play of the game to Bobby Wagner in a dominant Detroit defensive performance. Brandon Graham and Calais Campbell, the old vets, would both record sacks and regular pressure in Watt’s absence.

Mathers’ boys would run for 178, including 121 from the league’s leading rusher, Raheem Mostert.

Our first playoff win now under our belt, the following week would be against Seattle after Carolina’s Brock Purdy upset the 1-seed Chicago Bears. We tied Seattle in week two because kicker Jake Elliott missed a 27yd field goal as time expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime and an eventual tie.

Winston would play his way out of Detroit. Mostert would run at will and the team would go over 160 yards but Winston would throw for only 48 yards and two interceptions. Elliott would miss a game-tying extra point and between the turnovers and kicking woes, we would lose, 17-16. It was Elliott’s second straight postseason game with an extra point miss. Winston’s contract was a mistake and would be remedied. Elliott was done in Detroit.

Both were released after the Super Bowl. Winston’s extension and cut incurred $13 million in dead cap for the upcoming season. We’d have an all-new quarterback room in 2024.

Willie’s Texans, led by Stroud, McCaffrey, Aaron Donald and the legend known as Tre’von Moehrig, would win the Super Bowl over Purdy’s Panthers 35-7.

2/Wheeling and Russelling

Re-signs:
RG Chris Lindstrom 5yr/$165
RB Raheem Mostert 2yr/$30

FA losses:
LG Joe Thuney 2yr/$33 with BAL
TE Jonnu Smith 4yr/$27.6 with ARI
MLB Krys Barnes 3yr/$10.4 with GB
QB Jameis Winston 2yr/$10.1 with MIA
K Jake Elliott 1yr/$2.45 with CHI
FB Alec Ingold 1yr/$2.39 with ARI
P Bryan Anger 1yr/$1.81 with LAR
Retirements: RB Jerick McKinnon, RB Latavius Murray, DE Calais Campbell
Unsigned: QB Joe Flacco, QB Nick Foles, CB Patrick Peterson, FS Tashaun Gipson, SS Kareem Jackson

We lost over a fourth of our roster but there were significant opportunities to make our team better in free agency, with the prize of the offseason being a running back, Seattle’s Kenneth Walker. It was very enticing but Mostert had already signed a two-year, $30 extension and I do my very best to honor contracts (the Winston one would be my one mulligan). Alas, I stuck to my old ways, eager to see what would come at the draft and would make do with what was left afterwards.

FA adds:
RE Yannick Ngakoue: 2yr/$8

Despite our dire need for quarterback (we lost our entire QB room), I drafted who I believed was the best player available that still filled a position of need. Oklahoma’s Joey Wheeler was one of several promising tight end prospects and a draft philosophy I’ve always had is if a position has a strong class, take one, even if it’s not a position of need for you. Tight end was a need for the Lions with Zach Ertz approaching his swan song and Jonnu Smith no longer around.

A few picks into the second, Detroit traded that year’s second and third, a modest price, to Dallas to move up nearly 30 spots in the second round and select Ole Miss Rebel Maxwell Russell as the team’s next starting quarterback. He had no mobility and would be mostly a statue in the pocket but his accuracies and composure under pressure were phenomenal. This was the field general we needed.

Much of the rest of the draft was underwhelming and many of the prospects I had on my board got snatched before my next selection. I ended up trading back a few times and added capital for next season.

‘24 NFL Draft:
1/TE Joey Wheeler (Oklahoma)
2/QB Maxwell Russell (Ole Miss)
4/LG Matt Barnett (USC)
5/LB Jimmy Dugan (Texas A&M), LB Kenya Pressley (Virginia Tech)
7/LB Nigel Jackson (Syracuse)

After the draft, we returned to free agency to fill out our roster, adding Super Bowl champions Carson Wentz, Leonard Fournette and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Former players Patrick Peterson (our defensive MVP last season),Tashaun Gipson and Kareem Jackson, who had started at safety for us the previous year, returned after failing to sign in free agency.

Preseason adds: QB Carson Wentz, QB Kyle Trask, RB Leonard Fournette, FB Nick Bawden, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, DE Leonard Floyd, CB Patrick Peterson, FS Tashaun Gipson, SS Kareem Jackson, K Younghoe Koo, P Logan Cooke

Preseason cuts: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, FB Khari Blasingame, WR Equanimeous St. Brown, WR Scotty Miller, TE Logan Thomas, DE Morgan Fox, OLB Melvin Ingram, CB Ronald Darby, CB Tre Herndon, FS Damontae Kazee

Preseason MVP: RB Kirk Merritt. Merritt was on the Lions practice squad last year and had played his way onto the active roster. MLB Chance Campbell and WR Deven Thompkins also made it to the roster from practice squad.

New starters: QB Maxwell Russell, FB Nick Bawden, LG A.J. Cann, TE Joey Wheeler, DE Brandon Graham, LB Jimmy Dugan, S Talanoa Hufanga, K Younghoe Koo, P Logan Cooke

Our captains from last season (Lockett, Wirfs, Mostert, Wagner, Mathieu) all returned but our overall ratings had dropped significantly. We were now an 83 overall (-4), 80 offense (-4) and 87 defense (-4).

Our first game was against Willie’s Texans and it was a demolishment. Lockett and first-round tight end Joey Wheeler both ran extremely poor routes, leading to interceptions. Russell was held out to dry in his first start, throwing five picks, four to safety Kyle Hamilton. The Texans d-line with Aaron Donald, Travon Walker, Koby Turner and fresh first-round pick DT Damien McClain bottled the run and Detroit was helpless. It was a 30-0 loss, as decisive a loss as we’d had. I had severe lag and that meant I couldn’t kick or punt but regardless, it was a humiliating performance.

Rookie quarterback Maxwell Russell didn’t let it affect him and neither did the rest of the team. Against the former NFC champion Carolina Panthers the very next week, Russell went a perfect 8/8 for 65 and a touchdown. That was all he needed to do. The offensive line roared back with a vengeance and the run game went for 200. Sneed took a pick-six 94 yards for a touchdown as the half expired a la James Harrison. Hufanga also got a red zone pick in a 24-3 win in our home opener.

Russell had the best game of an Eminem quarterback against division-rival Green Bay the next week: 13/18 for 182 yards, 2 TDs and a pick in a 24-17 win. Slot receiver Marquise Goodwin had the first 100-yard receiving game of the Eminem era: 7 for 100 and two scores.

Russell was very good for a few games before a three turnover, 2 pick-six performance versus Jacksonville. Down 14-3, Wentz would rally the team to an 18-17 win.

We would have a rematch against Seattle in our final game before our bye week. We would go into the fourth up 10 and squander the lead. We would end the game in yet another tie. In three games against the Seahawks, we had tied two and lost a playoff game. I hated Seattle.

Come the bye week, a valuable name popped up on free agency: RB James Conner. He was added to the team and fullback Nick Bawden was cut. Third-string tight end Brayden Willis would switch to fullback, allowing Leonard Fournette to stay on the roster. Conner’s first game would be excellent: eight carries for 50 and a score in another win over Green Bay.

We’d suffer an embarrassing defeat to the 2-6 Rams at home 38-13, with Russell having another three turnover performance. Los Angeles came in with the most yards allowed on defense. Russell was such a huge improvement over Winston but was having trouble with interceptions.

We’d suffer another humiliation at home the following week to the 2-7 Bears, who had lost seven straight coming in. For the second straight contest, Russell would throw three picks.

We had lost back-to-back games to 2-win teams at home. This felt like a new low.

We were now 0-3 against the Bears in the Eminem era.

We would fall behind to New England early. They were a very good team. The Patriots were second in passing with Mac Jones and had an excellent defense against the run.

Russell would respond to the adversity, leading a 99-yard, 5:30 drive to tie the game late in the fourth. New England would kick a field goal with :53 and no Lions timeouts. Russell would respond again, putting Detroit in range for Younghoe Koo’s 43-yard equalizer. The game would go to overtime, Detroit would receive and Mostert would fumble for the first time in his Lions tour. New England 23-17.

It was our third straight loss but unlike the previous two, we had played a strong game, responded to adversity and took an excellent opponent down to the wire. This felt like a step in the right direction despite going from 5-1-1 to 5-4-1.

Our offensive line allowed five sacks, their worst performance of the season and Russell did not crumble. Our rookie quarterback looked like a franchise player, completing 12/14 for 143 and a score and most importantly, no turnovers.

If Maxwell Russell played like that on a consistent basis, we would win a lot of games.

We’d win our next three and narrowly lost a match against Arizona, the current one-seed. We might not be a Super Bowl favorite yet but we were a contender.

We’d lose our fourth straight game to Chicago the following week. The Lions defense was a carpet all afternoon, allowing over 400 yards and 7/8 third down conversions. God, I hated the Bears so much.

The loss knocked us out of the division lead and we now were holding on to the playoffs by a thread at 8-6-1. Every member of the organization was in a rage. God help whoever we played next.

That poor soul was the Titans. We throttled them 28-7. Russell had the best game of his career: 16/22 for 229 and three TDs. Mostert had 13 carries for 73, TD and 3 catches, 50 yards, 2 TDs. Joey Wheeler also had his biggest day: 7 receptions for 82.

With our spot in the playoffs clinched, our final game would decide if we won the division or be traveling on the road as the seven-seed. The defense would carry the day against one of the league’s best aerial attacks (Darnold/Jahmyr Gibbs/Davante/Hockenson) while the rushing attacking abused Washington’s league-worst run defense in a 27-13 win.

For the second straight season, the Lions would finish 10-6-1.

Willie’s first round tight end, Michael Hamm, would set the rookie receiving and receptions record (118 for 1694), leading the league in both.

The Houston defense would force 56 turnovers, third-most in the Super Bowl era. CB Jaylon Johnson would lead the league with 12 interceptions and the team as a whole would collect 44 picks, a new Super Bowl era record, en route to their league-best 14-3 record.

Houston coach Matthew McConaughey (yes, really) would win his second straight Coach of the Year. Four of his defenders finished in the top-10 of Defensive Player of the Year voting (Kyle Hamilton, Jaylon Johnson, Jack Campbell, Ernest Jones), with Hamilton and Johnson finishing 1/2 in the AFC best defensive back race. TE Michael Hamm won Offensive Rookie of the Year but was robbed of OPOY by Lamar Jackson.

‘24 Season Stats
Russell 168/267 for 2034, 62%, 70.3 rating, 16 TDs, 23 INTs
Mostert 233 carries for 1423, 6.1 ypc, 6 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Wheeler 41 receptions for 482, 3 TDs
Lockett 30 receptions for 502, 6 TDs
Goodwin 38 receptions for 485, 4 TDs
Williams 98 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 FF, INT (Defensive MVP)
Watt 62 tackles, 15 TFL, 7 sacks
Hargrave 25 tackles, 4 TFL, 8 sacks
Sneed 52 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 7 INTs, TD
Koo 13/16 for 81%, 34/34 XP for 100%
Cooke 50.7 avg, 43.0 net, 4 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 4427 (32nd), 2039 pass (32nd), 2388 rush (2nd), 20.0 ppg (31st)
Last year: 4217, 1643, 2574, 18.6
Defense: 4255 (1st), 2961 pass (1st), 1294 rush (2nd), 19.5 pag (2nd)
29 sacks, 5 fumbles, 24 INTs
Last year: 4263, 2907, 1356, 17.1, 30, 1, 18

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Moses, Sneed, Mathieu (5)
COY: Mathers (9th)
OROY: Wheeler (3rd)
Best RB: Mostert (9th)
Best OL: Lindstrom (1st), Wirfs (7th)
Best DB: Sneed (1st), Bland (3rd)
Best K: Koo (9th)

Detroit’s Raheem Mostert was once again left off the MVP and NFC’s Offensive Player of Year ballots. Mostert was a meager ninth in the NFC’s best running back voting after leading the entire league in rushing in 2023 and finishing fourth in ‘24. Didn’t even make Pro Bowl.

Guard Chris Lindstrom and L’Jarius Sneed won awards for best offensive lineman and best defensive back respectively. Still, we as a team felt disrespected, having won zero player of the week awards. We intended to remind everyone who we were.

Our first home playoff game in the Eminem era would be against Brock Purdy’s Carolina Panthers, who last season won the NFC Championship. Von Miller was the 2023 DPOY. We hosed Carolina back in week two 24-3 but as we all know, the playoffs are a different animal.

The defense would play well, forcing two Purdy interceptions but the offense was a dumpster fire. Carolina would get away with DPI and snag an interception. They’d be gifted another on a failed screen in the red zone when Mostert couldn’t get through traffic. Russell would throw for just 100 yards and three picks in his first playoff start. Mostert and the ground game would be bottled most of the game as Von Miller and Calijah Kancey were all over, especially in pass rush. Russell had little time to throw and many of our play designs didn’t have time to develop. The Carolina Panthers were a very good team and currently, a better one. Our first home playoff game would be our first home playoff loss: 17-7 Carolina.

Despite the loss, I still had full confidence in Russell. It wasn’t the performance anyone wanted but Russell had shown moments during the season of what he could be. Russell had a bright future.

My biggest takeaway from the season and that playoff loss was the dire need for a pass rush. We had been one of the league’s best defenses two straight years because of our exceptional secondary and our clock-draining offense but had been posting middling sack totals. We had just 29 in ‘24, good for only 21st-best.

T.J. Watt was my first round pick in the draft. I selected him because I know how important a pass rush is but while the usual suspects like Garrett, Parsons and Miller all reached 20 sacks, Watt had managed just seven in back-to-back seasons despite getting regular 1v1s in my 4-3 scheme. My nickel and dime packages were four defensive linemen and Watt had done little with it. 28 players had more sacks than Watt this season, including defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who had led the team in sacks each year despite extra attention. Watt was a $20 million run stuffer. That playoff loss would be his last game in the pale blue.

While I believed the Lions’ postseason bumps were a personnel issue, offensive coordinator Erik Aguilar had a hot seat. Our offense had been dead last in yardage for two straight seasons and second-worst in scoring. Some of that was the time possession style we play but much of it was a failure to execute. Defensive coordinator Dean Fuller was holding teams under 20 regularly and forcing turnovers without much of a pass rush. Expecting much more from him was unrealistic.

In 2025, the offense needed to get out of the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Willie’s Texans would repeat as Super Bowl champions with no real opposition.

3/To the Dungeon

This offseason hurt far more than the last, especially after a one-and-done postseason.

Nine of my 12 practice squad players were poached by other teams, including seventh-round pick Nigel Jackson.

We brought back Tristan Wirfs, who became the highest-paid lineman in NFL history, netting $35 million a year and corner DaRon Bland was paid a healthy $17 per for his services. James Conner was offered a 2yr/$20, $18 fully guaranteed but still said no. $10 million a year for a backup running back was far past fair but Conner likely wanted a starting job, something I couldn’t give him with Mostert still performing.

Brayden Willis was a nice story. He had started as a tight end on my practice squad and was signed by another team mid-season in 2023. In ‘24, he returned to Detroit, fought his way onto the 53 and transferred to fullback. He’d now get a tryout year at the position on a $2 million deal.

For the second straight year, most of our backup offensive line would leave. We had draft pick Matt Barnett at left guard but we’d be looking for new backups on the offensive line this summer.

Re-signs:
LT Tristan Wirfs 5yr/$175
CB DaRon Bland 5yr/$85
CB Taron Johnson 1yr/$12
C David Andrews 1yr/$8
MLB Jordan Hicks 1yr/$4
QB Carson Wentz 1yr/$4
CB Tavon Young 1yr/$3
FB Brayden Willis 1yr/$2

FA losses:
QB Kyle Trask 1yr/$1.11 with KC
Retirements: C Ben Jones, DE Brandon Graham, DE Denico Autry, DT Shelby Harris, LB Justin Houston, CB Patrick Peterson, S Tashaun Gipson
Unsigned: RB James Conner, RB Leonard Fournette, WR Marquise Goodwin, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, DE Leonard Floyd, S Kareem Jackson, K Younghoe Koo, P Logan Cooke

For the second straight season, we’d lost a fourth of our team. This particular summer was an indictment on my management. Unlike my last two Madden franchises, my initial draft went quite poorly. I mentioned this at the beginning of this story. I had drafted too old.

Of those who left for free agency, all but one either retired or remained unsigned come fall. The other 31 teams looked at a quarter of my 2024 roster and said, “Nope, we can do better.”

It was a slap in the face and a well-deserved one. I messed up. I’d learn from this.

As I mentioned after our one-and-done playoff exit, T.J. Watt would not be on the team come fall so we needed to splurge on defensive end. Our prize of the free agent class was Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. In real life, Okoronkwo is a fifth round pick who as of this writing hasn’t developed yet but man, we needed something from him this season.

Ironically, the bar for Ogbo was seven sacks, which is what Watt managed in each of his two seasons. If Ogbo could manage that, he’d be just as productive as Watt. Ogbo would serve as a bridge player until we were able to find a franchise pass rusher.

Taylor Lewan was one of the best left tackles on the market and would serve as a mentor to freshly-minted Tristan Wirfs. We added further depth along the offensive line and a reclamation project in former third overall pick Jeff Okudah at corner.

The top prizes of the offseason were Davante Adams, Keenan Allen and Jonathan Allen but all were too old for what was already an old team.

FA adds:
RE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo 2yr/$16
LT Taylor Lewan 1yr/$8
RG Will Fries 2yr/$11
RT Thayer Munford Jr. 2yr/$13
CB Jeff Okudah 2yr/$7
RG Cody Ford 2yr/$4

Then, it was time for the draft and we would be taking a big swing.

We would move all the way up to four, trading Watt and two firsts for two firsts and a second from the Cincinnati Bengals. It was essentially two first round pick swaps and a second, with Cincy’s picks being earlier in the draft. With the fourth overall selection, we chose corner Jonathan Aldridge from Buffalo, a slam dunk man coverage specialist with an excellent combine. We would reaquire my original 2025 first from Cincy to select Jonathan Walford at defensive tackle, a premium run stuffer with an above average pass rush repertoire.

We spent a lot of draft capital on these two players. Aldridge would, at minimum, be our new slot corner and would play outside in the near future. Walford would be in regular packages and may be the starter before long with Hargrave winding down. I hoped it was worth it.

We got a talented right guard in Edward Fowler in the third. With Chris Lindstrom the highest-paid right guard, maybe a move to center would be in the cards for him.

The defensive end class was top-heavy so we sadly missed on a potential future starter but Michigan’s Jared Messina might become something. The steal of the Lions class was back Isaiah Weaver, who had both speed back and power back skill sets. A potential unicorn?

As is tradition, we turned some of our late selections into additional picks the following year.

‘25 NFL Draft
1/CB Jonathan Aldridge(Buffalo), DT Jonathan Walford (Florida State)
3/RG Edward Fowler (Missouri)
4/DE Jared Messina (Michigan), LB Trevor Pratt (Notre Dame)
6/RB Isaiah Weaver (Notre Dame), WR Luke Williams (Mount Union), FS Casey Peerman (Boise State)
7/DT Dexter Vernon (Missouri), SS Troy Dodson (California)

Following the draft, Jonathan Aldridge was revealed to be an 81 overall, the highest of his draft class, with 95 speed and 81 man coverage, a true blockbuster player.

Free agent signee Will Fries put himself on the trade block, apparently frustrated he wouldn’t see starting time behind Lindstrom. The Lions, already desperate for pass rush help, turned Fries into young Georgia draftee Nolan Smith.

Detroit also needed a receiver with size to play the 1. Lockett had done the best he could but at this stage of his career, his size was becoming a problem. There were too many slot receivers on this team and not enough physical targets to attack the ball in contested situations.

We drafted Luke Williams from Mount Union, who needed help with his route tree but provided size we didn’t have and traded a future first rounder and defensive tackle B.J. Hill for Courtland Sutton, an underrated WR1 in real life for the Denver Broncos.

A look at free agency after the draft wasn’t all bad. James Conner, who had been offered a 2yr/$20 just months earlier, had gone unsigned. He’d return to Detroit for just $3.3. Time he fired his agent. K Younghoe Koo also returned after failing to secure an offer over the summer.

Preseason adds: RB James Conner, WR Terrace Marshall Jr., TE Maxx Williams, DE Keion White, LB Yasir Abdullah, S Marcus Maye, S Jordan Poyer, K Younghoe Koo, P Blake Gillikin

Preseason cuts: RB Dalvin Cook, WR Deven Thompkins, QB Isaiah Beckett

Preseason MVP: WR Luke Williams. I was hesitant to draft Williams in the first place because speed and a sharp route tree are what I look for in receivers and Williams wasn’t polished in either area. He immediately impressed, collecting 8 passes for 91 yards in his first preseason game. I drafted him expecting him to be a practice squad project. Instead, he’d be WR4.

New starters: WR Courtland Sutton, LG Matt Barnett, LE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, RE Nolan Smith, DT Jonathan Walford, MLB Mack Wilson, CB Jonathan Aldridge, P Blake Gillikin

Our team overall remained an 83. Our offense actually improved three points with the addition of Courtland Sutton, a total of three new WRs, better depth along the offensive line and rookie Isaiah Weaver in the backfield.

The defense had fallen from an 87 to an 83. Our line was decimated by retirements the last two seasons and the Watt trade obviously shaved points off the score. All of our ends were new except for Yannick Ngakoue but we still probably had the best corner crop in football with Sneed, Bland, first-round pick Aldridge, Taron Johnson, Jeff Okudah and Tavon Young.

Week one, we would lose against Chicago for the fifth time in a row. After Detroit rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, the Bears’ Jalen Hurts would drive for the winning score with 50 seconds left. Russell would miss a wide open Sutton down the seam on the last drive.

The Bears were our arch rival, even more than Seattle and thus far, we had failed to beat them in five tries. It was becoming psychological.

It was especially painful because the defense played so well despite Hurts’ near perfect day, registering five tackles for a loss, an Ogbo sack and a Bobby Wagner interception.

The Lions culture and history is failure and coming up short. It would be a tough nut to crack and it would take time but we would write our own history, a new chapter.

Quarterback Maxwell Russell was the first one to grab a pen, putting together a career day: 13/16 for 169 yards and two scores in a 21-16 victory after falling behind 10-0 early yet again. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave would record two sacks on defense.

Detroit would blow a 10-point lead in their first home game. Russell would throw three second-half picks in the loss. First-round pick Jonathan Aldridge got his first interception, a pick-six, in the 24-17 loss.

Russell would throw three picks again the following week in a 21-16 loss to Cincinnati and our old friend, T.J. Watt. The Lions defense would register four sacks and a pick from L’Jarius Sneed.

Through four games, we were 1-3. Our schedule was rough to start, with four of our first five on the road but that was no excuse.

Russell had just four touchdown passes now to a league-leading seven picks. His seat was getting warm.

Mostert and the ground game was not as dominant as in years past. Mostert’s deal ended after this season and his future on the team was in question.

Offensive coordinator Erik Aguilar’s seat was scalding hot. The offense was once again dead-last in yardage and in the basement in points at 16.8.

Yet another loss the following week to Minnesota felt like a new low for Eminem’s Cats. After a strip sack on the Vikings’ first possession, Russell would throw a pick-six on his first pass in the red zone. He was benched for the rest of the game for Carson Wentz. Wentz didn’t fair much better, throwing three picks himself. Tua played his best game for the Vikings in the rivalry: 186 yards and two scores, a 28-7 Lions loss, cementing a 1-4 start.

Morale was at an all-time low. If someone didn’t respond in the immediate future, our season was over. Moves needed to be made.

QB Isaiah Beckett, who was a preseason cut, was brought in as a third quarterback option. MLB Chance Campbell, the former practice squad player, was an upcoming free agent. He was an unfortunate release.

Safety Talanoa Hufanga was drafted to be a franchise player, on the team for a long time, a captain but with Hufanga’s deal expiring, he had rejected 5yr/$75, 5yr/$90 and 5yr/$100. He evidently had no interest in being a leader on this team.

With no first round picks for the next two drafts after the Aldridge, Walford and Sutton trades, Detroit moved Hufanga and Taylor Lewan to Washington for firsts in ‘26 and ‘27.

Hufanga would sign a 5yr/$70 extension with Washington. He apparently hated Detroit so much he was willing to chuck $30 million away. That hurt.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson and center Connor McGovern joined the Cats for their next game. Marcus Maye would be the starting strong safety going forward.

And if anyone thought things might get easier for Detroit, they were sorely mistaken. Into Detroit’s second home game came the Arizona Cardinals, the best rushing attack and second-best scoring defense in football, the reigning NFC #1 seed.

Really, really needing a performance from Russell, he did not answer the call, throwing for just 57 yards and two picks. Despite his best efforts to lose Detroit the game, the defense would not allow it, surrendering just three points until the very end of the fourth quarter. The biggest play was Bobby Wagner forcing a Kyler Murray fumble that resulted in a short field for the Lions offense, with Mostert seizing the day. 14-11 Detroit.

2-4 was still awful. A lot better than 1-5.

Raheem Mostert had been the heart and soul of this team since day one. He agreed to a one-year, $6 million contract extension after the win.

The following week, Detroit returned to the loss column in a 31-13 loss at Lambeau. The Detroit defense did not show up much of the contest and neither did the offensive line, allowing six sacks.

A bounceback against the Steelers, a top-10 offense and defense, tasted delicious, going 3-5 into the bye. Despite the week off, Mostert sprained his ACL and Lockett a dislocated wrist. Both would miss against the 6-2 Commanders, another loss.

Offensive coordinator Erik Aguilar was fired. Despite having more talent than last year, it was demonstrably worse than the last two seasons. The offense had failed to score 18 points in six of their first seven games.

Aguilar was a multiple zone run specialist and had been great in the ground game but his inability to develop a quarterback or a passing attack had hamstrung the offense for years. Enough was enough. The offense and Russell’s turnovers would likely cost us a playoff spot despite a top-five defense.

Kevin Stokes, who ran the west coast zone run scheme I preferred, was hired. The hope was a fresh face and mind might salvage the season.

Russell’s unit responded to the change, scoring touchdowns on each of their first three drives and a season-high 29 points in a road win over Philly.

We’d once again lose to Chicago the following week, our sixth straight loss to the Bears. Through three seasons of the Eminem era, we’d yet to beat the fucking Bears.

Now at 4-7 and last in the division, we’d likely have to win out to make the playoffs. Four of our last six were at home but the home crowd wasn’t going to win any games for us. Playoffs or not, we needed to finish this season as strong as possible.

First challenge on the docket was Cleveland. They had the worst scoring defense, total yards against and passing defense in football. They were third-worst against the run.

They also had the best passing offense with Dak Prescott at quarterback and the fifth-best ground game with Nick Chubb.

Despite the position we found ourselves, the entire team’s morale was high. There was belief.

That belief showed through in Cleveland, holding the Browns to just 184 yards and 7 points. Mostert had the best day of his Lions career: 21 carries for 209 yards and two scores, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Conner added 71 and a score as the offensive line carried the day. Detroit had 308 yards rushing and scored on each of their first four drives in a 28-7 masterpiece.

Next week against Baltimore started well, with L’Jarius Sneed picking off Lamar Jackson’s first pass and the offense rewarded him with an offensive score.

Down 14-7 in the waning seconds of the first half, QB Maxwell Russell would fumble on a scramble in the red zone. Russell would throw a pick-six in the fourth quarter to seal the game for Baltimore.

The story of this season was Russell’s inability to take care of the football. I was furious. We had 52 players on that field that day, just not a fucking quarterback. Russell’s seat was scalding.

We’d put up a Mathers career-high 33 points in a 20-point win versus Denver but Russell would turn into a pumpkin again the following week, fumbling once and throwing two picks. The Lions defense was phenomenal, forcing three Atlanta field goals against a Patrick Mahomes/Christian McCaffrey/Kenneth Walker offense but Russell once again cost the team a win, a 16-6 soul crusher. With two games to go, he’d be benched the rest of the season.

Carson Wentz played quite well in relief, with only two interceptions in the contests and neither were his fault. He earned himself a one-year contract extension.

Detroit would win both games, including a 38-10 home win against Minnesota to conclude a disappointing 8-9 season. We would miss the playoffs.

‘25 Season Stats
Russell 154/246 for 1852, 62%, 71.3 rating, 12 TDs, 18 INTs
Mostert 187 carries for 1122, 6.0 ypc, 8 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Sutton 36 receptions for 616, 4 TDs
Lockett 48 receptions for 539, 4 TDs
Williams 96 tackles, 8 TFL, .5 sacks
Smith 36 tackles, 6 TFL, 9 sacks, FF (Defensive MVP)
Okoronkwo 22 tackles, 3 TFL, 8.5 sacks
Sneed 70 tackles, 4 INTs
Aldridge 51 tackles, 2 TFL, sack, 2 INTs, TD
Koo 12/12 for 100%, 34/34 XP for 100%
Gillikin 54.6 avg, 45.5 net, 5 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 4149 (32nd), 2074 pass (32nd), 2075 rush (6th), 18.6 ppg (31st)
Last year: 4427, 2039, 2388, 20.0
Defense: 4306 (2nd), 3056 pass (2nd), 1250 rush (2nd), 19.0 pag (2nd)
34 sacks, 4 fumbles, 13 INTs
Last year: 4255, 2961, 1294, 19.5, 29, 5, 24

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Wirfs, Lindstrom (2)
OROY: Weaver (6th)
DROY: Aldridge (5th)
Best OL: Lindstrom (1st), Andrews (9th)
Best DB: Sneed (8th)
Best K: Koo (1st)

Willie’s Texans had another historic year:
C.J. Stroud would throw for 5500 and 51 TDs, run for 10 more. He’d finish with a 124.9 passer rating and a Herculean 15.3 yards per attempt, both league records, en route to the MVP.
WR Tank Dell would blow the single-season receiving record out of the water with 2554 yards and 25 TDs, winning OPOY.
Future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Donald would annihilate the sack record with 30 and win DPOY.
Houston rookie corner Joel Tyson won AFC DROY.
Matthew McConaughey would claim his third straight COY and the Texans would complete the three-peat, this time toppling the Saints.

4/From the Depths

And then Marshall Mathers was fired. It was hard to believe. The Pride of Detroit, let go after one losing season?

Weeks would go back and ownership would reverse course. Mathers would be back but the pressure was on. A new fire had been started in the Lions den.

As in previous Madden experiences, we’d now be jumping to All-Madden. Willie’s days of cruising were over (hopefully). The change to All-Madden gave me low expectations. My goal every season is a playoff win. That means you’re truly contending. Our first season was a success but our second year we lost our only playoff game and last season we missed the dance entirely at 8-9. With the increase in difficulty, it seemed missing the playoffs was a certainty.

We were losing 20 players this year, nearly half the roster.

Mostert, despite agreeing to an extension during the season, decided to retire. It was crushing to read. I don’t know what we’d do without him. He had been our offensive MVP all of our first three seasons and was the most valuable player on the team. A large hole to fill.

We’d also be losing Tyler Lockett, another captain and corner Taron Johnson, two big losses.

Re-signs:
RB James Conner 1/$5
SS Marcus Maye 1yr/$4.5
QB Carson Wentz 1yr/$3

Once again, many of our free agents would go unsigned, 11 total, over a fifth of my roster. Our team needed to get a lot better, fast. Many of these players were preseason adds to fill out the team but we needed to get to a place where draft picks and free agents filled out our team, not bargain bin buys.

The biggest free agent was QB Jordan Love, who had just taken the Saints to the Super Bowl, losing to Willie’s Texans. Stunningly, New Orleans chose not to re-sign him and he hit FA. Despite my efforts, Love chose Cincinnati, joining T.J. Watt. Other available stars were corners Tre’Davious White and Devon Witherspoon, who Willie signed.

FA losses:
WR Tyler Lockett 2yr/$17.8 with SF
LB Yasir Abdullah 2yr/$5.42 with WAS
CB Taron Johnson 1yr/$4 with NYJ
DE Keion White 1yr/$2.5 with KC
WR Terrace Marshall Jr. 1yr/$2.36 with DEN
FB Brayden Willis 1yr/$1.35 with BAL
QB Isaiah Beckett 1yr/$1.11 with GB
Retirements: RB Raheem Mostert, TE Zach Ertz, C David Andrews
Unsigned: RB Kirk Merritt, TE Maxx Williams, LG A.J. Cann, C Connor McGovern, DE Yannick Ngakoue, DT Dalvin Tomlinson, MLB Jordan Hicks, CB Tavon Young, S Jordan Poyer, K Younghoe Koo, P Blake Gillikin

We needed a playmaker, physical receiver and real-life Colts draftee Alec Pierce from Cincinnati fit the profile. A reasonable three-year deal. Michael Carter was brought in as a third down specialist.

FA adds:
WR Alec Pierce 3yr/$15
RB Michael Carter 1yr/$3.5

The draft was our biggest day of the year. With the increase to All-Madden, it might be the best day of the ‘26 season.

Right tackle Chuck Jacobs would start over Morgan Moses by mid-season and the same for pass rusher Jalen Lynch, who I moved up for. Hopefully the pick I traded Willie to move up wouldn’t be in the top-ten.

Near future starters in safeties Taylor Ross and Angelo Telfer and linebackers T.J. Weston and Deontay Hillman inspired hope for the future.

But the night is darkest just before the dawn.

‘26 NFL Draft
1/RT Chuck Jacobs (Tennessee), DT Jalen Lynch (Washington)
2/SS Taylor Ross (Texas Tech), MLB T.J. Weston (Florida)
3/OLB Deontay Hillman (Ohio State), OLB Rishard Kirklin (Oregon State)
4/C Ben Powers (Michigan), TE Trent Stephenson (Boston College)
5/FS Angelo Telfer (Grand Valley State)
6/QB Patrick Thorne (Youngstown State)
7/K Sterling Foster (USC)

Multiple quarterbacks I had on my board were taken a round earlier than projected, leaving me with Youngstown State’s Patrick Thorne. His ratings did not inspire confidence, a 58 overall. I also failed to draft either of the two first-round centers I had circled on my board. Powers was not ready to start so I’d be forced to move Lindstrom to center and start second-year guard Edward Fowler at right.

I also broke my own rule and drafted a kicker. You should never draft kickers, punters or fullbacks. Sterling Foster would be put on practice squad. He barely made a 50-yarder in preseason.

Preseason adds: FB Nate Ford, WR Zay Jones, WR Jauan Jennings, TE Maxx Williams, LG Cody Whitehair, DE Derek Barnett, CB Stephon Gilmore, K Younghoe Koo, P Bradley Pinion

Nate Ford ended up beating Nick Bawden for the fullback job. Maxx Williams and Younghoe Koo returned to Detroit after going unsigned and punter Bradley Pinion stole the punter’s dollars from Blake Gillikin.

QB Jimmy Garoppolo, who was signed to be QB3, was unplayable. He couldn’t throw past 20 yards and his radar was all over the place. In six exhibition drives, he’d throw four picks and have a turnover on downs.

Preseason cuts: QB Jimmy Garoppolo, FB Nick Bawden, P Blake Gillikin

Preseason MVP: QB Patrick Thorne. Despite his report card, Thorne showed poise, presence and mobility, winning a competition that wasn’t much of a battle with Jimmy G.

New starters: RB Isaiah Weaver, FB Nate Ford, WR Alec Pierce, C Chris Lindstrom, RG Edward Fowler, DT Jalen Lynch, LOLB Deontay Hillman, MLB T.J. Weston

My captains: Wirfs, Lindstrom (new), Sneed (new), Wagner, Mathieu

Team overalls all dropped going into this season (81 offense, 80 defense, 80 overall) but we now were younger and growing.

We’d suffer a soul-crusher in week one. After Detroit built a 14-0 lead dominating time of possession, Chicago would take control of the game with 30 seconds left in the half. Derrick Henry was a non-factor but Hurts was exceptional. New Lions receiver Alec Pierce didn’t reach for a pass in the fourth quarter that would lead to a pick-six, an extremely bad first impression. A late Lions touchdown was meaningless. 32-28 Chicago.

That really felt like a win we deserved. Isaiah Weaver would run for 149 yards and a score in his first career start and still we came up short. Seven Bears games, seven Lions losses. When would it end?

After a loss to Green Bay, we’d be down three with 1:30 and one timeout. Russell would drive the field down to the three and a Weaver run on the final play for the win would end up one yard short.

Chicago wins. Again. Times eight.

In three games, the defense had generated no sacks, interceptions or fumbles. We had lost those three games by a combined 11 points.

We had traded our first rounder next year for DT Jalen Lynch. It was time to get that pick back.

Courtland Sutton, despite leading the team in receiving last year, was a huge disappointment. He also led the team in drops and was bad at the catch point. He’d regressed six overall points since I acquired him last season. He wasn’t the physical threat I had hoped.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave had been great for us but was on an expiring contract with two very young, first-round defensive tackles behind him begging for reps.

I had started Chris Lindstrom at center the last three games and it was punishing me at right guard. Edward Fowler, a draft pick, had struggled.

The team as a whole had been moving in the wrong direction the last year and a half. It was time to tear it down and rebuild.

In an attempt to infuse some energy and capital into the team, the following moves:

Going out:
WR Courtland Sutton
DT Javon Hargrave
RG Edward Fowler
RB James Conner
WR Zay Jones
WR Jauan Jennings
DE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
CB Jeff Okudah
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th round picks

Coming in:
WR Rashee Rice
DE Myles Murphy
C Mitch Morse
1st, 1st, 3rd, 4th round picks

This is not how I like to build a team. I like to build through the draft but the players I had in place while those draft picks developed weren’t good enough. All the players traded other than Edward Fowler, the draft pick, were on expiring contracts. I really didn’t want to move him but he was one of the few assets I had to move.

WR Rashee Rice was on the trade block last season and I wasn’t able to acquire him. No failure this time. He was on a team-friendly contract (3yr/$24).

Myles Murphy was an impending free agent but at only 24, had a lot of upside. He’d have the rest of the season to earn a contract. I was desperate for pass rush.

Mitch Morse would be a one-year bandaid at center.

Five new players were added from free agency to fill out the roster, including Ravens starlet running back Keaton Mitchell. Isaiah Weaver had become a bell cow and would take over the power role as well.

After this mass exodus, only nine of those drafted in the inaugural draft remained. L’Jarius Sneed was one of them and despite the turnover and 0-3 start, wanted to continue as a captain on this Lions squad. He agreed to a two-year for $28 and I thought he was worth closer to $19 or $20 per year as a 92 overall player, a huge bargain.

Russell would throw for a career-high 280 yards in a 24-14 win over New England. New WR1 Rashee Rice would catch 8 passes for 180, a high in the Eminem era. I benched Mathieu and starting strong safety Marcus Maye for the two rookies, Angelo Telfer and Taylor Ross. Both recorded TFLs and Telfer had a game-sealing pick-six, our first takeaway of the season. It seemed Mathieu’s time as a starting safety might be over.

Russell would go full Jameis the following game, throwing three picks in the first 8 minutes.

The Lions defense was exceptional, forcing a three-and-out on the Buccaneers first drive. They had done that all five games this season. The Cats allowed 72 yards but still lost 17-10.

Russell needed to get it together fast or not only would he not be the starter next season; he wouldn’t be on the team. Detroit was now 1-4. We were at DEFCON1.

We’d go into the bye week with a win and a 3-5 record, meaning we’d have to go 6-3 minimum the rest of the way to return to the playoffs.

I don’t know what happened during the bye but something did. Russell had his first perfect game in a win over the Bills: 14/14 for 169 and two touchdowns a week after a three-touchdown win the week before. We’d win our first three games after the bye. The offense, for the first time in the Eminem era, scored at will.

We’d stretch the winning streak to five in a 27-7 win over the Joe Burrow-led Giants. Running back Isaiah Weaver had 92 yards rushing and three scores. The following week was a career-high 42 points against the 0-12 Jaguars, our sixth straight W. From 2-5 to 8-5 and leading our division. It was hard to believe this was the same team as a few months ago.

A significant reason for the change in course was QB Maxwell Russell. He’d had an awakening during the bye and had put together multiple multi-touchdown games. Finally, interceptions were down. Team scoring was higher than it ever had been. Offensive coordinator Kevin Stokes deserved a lot of credit.

Down 14-0 against the Jets, Detroit rallied but it wasn’t enough. At the 2-minute warning and one timeout left, another Jets first down would end our winning streak. Rookie MLB T.J. Weston, who I had put in the starting role over Bobby Wagner two games prior, snagged an interception for a touchdown, winning the game.

We had started the season 1-4. We had gone 8-1 since then and now it was a seven-game winning streak. We had risen from the depths. This was the best football of the Mathers tenure.

A meeting with Atlanta’s Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey was no contest. Russell had a career day: 11/15 for 198, 3 TDs. Isaiah Weaver had three rushing scores in a dominant 42-6 win.

The Lions would end the season on a 10-game winning streak, finishing 12-5, winning the NFC North and returning to the playoffs.

This was the most impactful draft class I’d had thus far: Chuck Jacobs at right tackle, Jalen Lynch at DT, Taylor Ross at SS, T.J. Weston at MLB, Angelo Telfer at FS. That youth infused life into this team and that paired with the Rashee Rice addition made all the difference.

’26 Season Stats
Russell 212/314 for 2891, 67%, 99.6 rating, 24 TDs, 17 INTs
Weaver 299 carries for 1725, 5.8 ypc, 18 TDs
Rice 68 receptions for 1062, 6 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Wheeler 52 receptions for 679, 5 TDs
Williams 80 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INTs
Smith 29 tackles, 4 TFL, 11 sacks (Defensive MVP)
Murphy 26 tackles, 5 TFL, 7 sacks
Bland 50 tackles, 3 TFL, .5 sacks, 3 INTs, 14 PDs
Koo 15/16 for 93%, 50/50 XP for 100%
Pinion 50.9 avg, 44.5 net, 3 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 5054 (32nd), 2818 pass (32nd), 2236 rush (5th), 24.2 ppg (18th)
Last year: 4149, 2074, 2075, 18.6
Defense: 3598 (2nd), 2881 pass (2nd), 717 rush (2nd), 15.8 pag (2nd)
32 sacks, 1 fumble, 14 INTs
Last year: 4306, 3056, 1250, 19.0, 34, 4, 13

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Weaver, Wirfs, Lindstrom (3)
COY: Mathers (3rd)
OPOY: Weaver (4th)
DROY: Telfer (6th), Weston (8th)
Best RB: Weaver (3rd)
Best OL: Lindstrom (1st)
Best DL: Smith (9th)
Best K: Koo (1st)

Willie’s Texans would go 17-0. Donald reset the sack record with 32.5 and Houston set the team record with 75.

Detroit’s return to the playoffs would be at home versus the Packers. Our best pass rusher, Nolan Smith, would miss the game with a hip pointer.

Corner Jonathan Aldridge would pick off Green Bay’s Bryce Young on the first play of the game. The defense would snag a safety, Aldridge would grab a second pick and Weaver would run for 132 yards and two scores in a 26-7 win, Mathers’ second playoff win. Maxwell Russell did not play well in this game, throwing for only 67 yards but he finally had his first playoff win. Derek Barnett, playing in Smith’s stead, would gather two sacks in his first start.

The divisional game would be against Mahomes’ Falcons, who we had hammered 42-6 weeks earlier. Our best player, Tristan Wirfs, sprained his PCL during practice and would miss the game. Morgan Moses, who had started at right tackle each of the last three seasons, would start at left.

Stephon Gilmore would pick off Mahomes’ first pass, giving Detroit a short field, which led to an early lead but as we’ve seen time and time again, Maxwell Russell would throw the game away. He’d throw three interceptions, including a pick-six to start the second half. We’d score the game-tying touchdown and go for two but we wouldn’t get it. The Lions defense forced a three-and-out but Russell would chuck another one to the Falcons in a 24-23 loss.

I didn’t know what to do with Russell. His numbers had improved from his previous two seasons but in his now three-year career, he had 52 touchdown passes to 58 interceptions. That’s horrid.

That 10-game winning streak was magical. It felt like it was our year. And then it wasn’t.

5/General Patton’s War

Nolan Smith would reject deals for $10, $12 and $15 per year so we used the franchise tag for the first time. Koo, off back-to-back conference Kicker of the Year awards, deserved a check. Wagner and Quincy Williams agreed to mentor the young linebackers for one more season. Tyrann Mathieu decided to retire, another team captain lost.

Re-signs:
CB L’Jarius Sneed 2yr/$28
DE Nolan Smith tagged at $21.3
DE Myles Murphy 2yr/$20
RB Keaton Mitchell 3yr/$11.1
K Younghoe Koo 2yr/$9
LB Quincy Williams 1yr/$5
MLB Bobby Wagner 1yr/$5

FA losses:
WR Rashid Shaheed 3yr/$14.9 with CHI
MLB Mack Wilson 3yr/$12.5 with LV
RT Thayer Munford Jr. 1yr/$3.19 with NYJ
P Bradley Pinion 1yr/$1.31 with LV
Retirements: QB Carson Wentz, C Mitch Morse, RT Morgan Moses, DT David Onyemata, CB Stephon Gilmore, FS Tyrann Mathieu
Unsigned: RB Michael Carter, FB Nate Ford, WR Bryan Edwards, WR Trevante McBride, TE Maxx Williams, LG Cody Whitehair, RG Cody Ford, DE Derek Barnett, CB Desmond King, S Marcus Maye

Desperate for a solution at quarterback, I offered Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray deals but both turned me down for smaller fair elsewhere. Bijan Robinson and Nick Chubb were both available at RB and Chase Young at edge, who turned down $25 million.

Our prize of the offseason was Treylon Burks. He was a project player, a former first-rounder with upside. If we could get him to his potential, this would be a bargain.

Garrett Bradbury would be a bridge player at center, with hopefully one coming in the draft as well.

FA adds:
WR Treylon Burks 3yr/$15
DE Jonathan Greenard 2yr/$14
C Garrett Bradbury 1yr/$7
RB Austin Ekeler 1yr/$4
FB Reggie Gilliam 1yr/$4

I felt like my hand was forced with Russell so I drafted the best quarterback available, 5’11” scrambler William Patton. I prefer quarterbacks who sit in the pocket, that’s my offense but another option other than Russell was a welcome addition. This draft class was top-heavy and very thin so this spring, we doubled up on capital in 2028.

’27 NFL Draft
1/QB William Patton (Kansas)
4/LT Jalen Garrison (Arkansas), LG Javier Ridley (Texas)
6/TE Bradley Compton (UAB), QB Gill Fox (Auburn)
7/FB Joe Faulkner (USF)

Preseason adds: RB Aaron Jones, WR Jalin Hyatt, WR Kyle Philips, RG Shaq Mason, RT Terence Steele, DT Arik Armstead, MLB Micah McFadden, CB Taron Johnson, CB Benjamin St-Juste, SS Jason Pinnock, P Justin Harden

Preseason cuts: LB Nigel Jackson, SS Troy Dodson

Preseason MVP: QB William Patton. He was a raw prospect with upside. It was hard to pin what he was: Terrelle Pryor or Lamar Jackson?

New starters: FB Reggie Gilliam, WR Treylon Burks, C Garrett Bradbury, ROLB Deontay Hillman, P Justin Harden

Captains: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Wagner, Sneed, DaRon Bland (new)

For the first time, our team overalls went up, now infused with youthful fire. 83 overall, 84 offense, 83 defense.

It was a do or die year for Russell and he did not disappoint, fumbling on the goal line. The Lions would start 0-1 because their quarterback is a pumpkin, again.

He’d throw four interceptions the following week, his last game as a Lion. The team had quit on him. The Chargers’ Bijan Robinson ran for 182 yards, an alarming performance from the pale blue defense.

I had given Russell a far longer leash than he deserved, a mistake I would have to live with. I had wasted three excellent defenses because of shit quarterback play. Russell had lost us so many football games.

Russell would finish his Lions career with 53 TDs and 63 picks. He was one of the worst quarterbacks I’d ever had in Madden, a complete and absolute bust. I shipped him to Philly for two first-round picks, a much greater haul than he deserved.

Coincidentally, we would play Philly in week three and Russell would introduce himself quite well. In his five possessions, Russell would go three-and-out, interception, interception again, three-and-out and turnover on downs. The Eagles would muster only 38 yards of offense.

Patton would have a boring 79-yard game while running back Isaiah Weaver and the offensive line went to work. Weaver would run for 175 yards and a score in a 20-0 clinic, the first shutout in the Eminem era.

Patton would rally the team from down 10 and down 6 in the fourth quarter the following week, scoring the game-winning touchdown with seconds on the clock. Patton was 2-0 to start his career. He would throw two picks but responded to the adversity instead of flopping over like a pancake like Russell. Don’t throw picks, win football games. Sometimes, it’s that easy.

We’d lose to San Francisco and fail to beat Seattle for a fourth straight time, our other bitter rival. We might be the Detroit Lions but Chicago and Seattle were our owners.

But all was not lost. Following the loss, a trade request came in. Turned out, WR Jaylin Hyatt was frustrated with his lack of playing time and put his agent to work on facilitating a trade and a golden opportunity presented itself.

Back in the 2025 draft, Detroit drafted corner Jonathan Aldridge and defensive tackle Jonathan Walford but there was a third player the Lions wanted but were unable to trade up for: defensive end Ben McClain, the draft’s best defensive end by our scouting department’s reporting. He was drafted by Philly and in the two years since had blossomed. The North Carolina State product had become a strong power rusher and by rating was a top-30 defensive end.

Philly, reeling from an 0-4 stretch since trading for the dumpster fire known as Maxwell Russell, was desperate to find another receiver to help their disastrous new acquistion. The Eagles offered McClain and a young receiver prospect, Deonte Stroud, for Hyatt, a gross overpay by Philly. The green would double down, signing Russell to a four-year extension.

McClain had only registered 7.5 sacks in two and a half years but this could be the pass rusher we’d been looking for.

Our next game would be against the Bears and Patton would come to play: 19/26 for 238 yards, 3 TDs, INT. He’d complete a two-minute touchdown to steal the win from Chicago at Soldier Field, 20-19. The losing streak against the Bears was over. We had our first win over those damn guys.

We’d make our final trade before the deadline, trading malcontent Nolan Smith and a depth linebacker for a first in two seasons. Smith had been our most valuable defender the last two years but had no interest in staying in Detroit. He’d registered just one sack in seven games playing on a $21 million franchise tag.

We’d rattle off a three-game win streak, including a shutout of Green Bay, before the offensive line no-showed, allowing seven sacks to a 1-9 Vikings squad, a game we really should’ve won.

Now 5-5 through 10 weeks, the Thanksgiving Day game was against those damn Bears and we’d come out with the turkey, 28-25.

The next five weeks would be against five playoff teams: Las Vegas, Atlanta, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona and Kansas City. Detroit would win all five by 10+ points, finishing the season on a seven-game win streak. Mathers would have his second consecutive 12-win campaign.

Willie’s Texans would complete their second 17-0 season and Travon Walker set a new sack record at an astronomical 35.5.

‘27 Season Stats
Patton 180/257 for 2,462, 70%, 107.8 rating, 22 TDs, 13 INTs
Weaver 259 carries for 1487, 5.7 ypc, 15 TDs
Burks 65 receptions for 912, 6 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Rice 39 receptions for 650, 3 TDs
Wheeler 37 receptions for 491, 5 TDs
Weston 95 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sacks, INT
Murphy 17 tackles, 2 TFL, 7.5 sacks
Lynch 24 tackles, TFL, 6 sacks
Bland 46 tackles, TFL, 5 INTs, 14 PDs (Defensive MVP)
Koo 11/14 for 78%, 48/49 XP for 97%
Harden 59.1 avg, league-leading 52.3 net, 6 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 4750 (32nd), 2533 pass (32nd), 2217 rush (3rd), 22.8 ppg (23rd)
Last year: 5054, 2818, 2236, 24.2
Defense: 3582 (1st), 2528 pass (1st), 1054 rush (2nd), 16.2 pag (2nd)
30 sacks, fumble, 18 interceptions
Last year: 3598, 2881, 717, 15.8, 32, 1, 14

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Bland (3)
COY: Mathers (3rd)
OROY: Patton (4th)
Best RB: Weaver (2nd)
Best OL: Lindstrom (3rd)
Best DB: Bland (7th)
Best K: Koo (9th)

Our first playoff game was against division-rival Green Bay and our injury report was a nightmare. Starting outside backer Jimmy Dugan would miss this week with a dislocated wrist and superstar corner Jonathan Aldridge and starting center Garrett Bradbury would each miss our first two playoff games with broken fingers. Second-year center Ben Powers would be thrust into his first career start.

Bryce Young and the Packers started on fire, scoring on each of their first three possessions. Back Travis Etienne was a problem, bouncing for 135 yards and three 6’s.

Patton struggled in the snow and was stripped while scrambling, allowing Green Bay to jump up 14 with five minutes in the fourth quarter. Detroit would convert on two fourth downs, one a one-handed catch by stud Treylon Burks, and score eight. It was 28-22 Green Bay.

The pale blue defense would get the stop and Michigan’s city would get the ball with 1:50 and one timeout, converting a fourth down once again to Burks. Burks would snag the game-winning score with six seconds left as Ford Field imploded. Detroit had completed the 14-point comeback and beaten Green Bay for the third time in 2027.

Patton was a pedestrian 12/24 for 187 and two scores but performed when we needed it most. He also scrambled for 63 yards and six. Burks caught six for 85 and both Patton air scores.

Our hearts in our throats, we’d be on the road in Los Angeles against the 13-4 Rams, the second-highest scoring offense. We had beaten them in week 15 during our end of season win streak.

Bobby Wagner, now 37, forced a fumble that was the nail in the coffin for Los Angeles. The Lions shut out the Rams in the second half. Patton completed only six passes but for two touchdowns. Weaver and the run game carried the day as the Lions made it to their first NFC Championship Game, 25-13.

The conference ‘ship was against the New York Giants and league MVP Joe Burrow, the league’s most dynamic air attack. The Lions defense didn’t get the memo, shutting out the Giants and Burrow. New York had 48 yards of offense.

Patton was exceptional: 22/28 for 273 and two scores. Burks had nine receptions for 115 and those two scores. Patton and Burks had developed a special connection.

We’d lose the Super Bowl to Willie’s Texans, a 93 overall team. It was 23-13 Texans going into the 4th quarter before the game got away from us but there were a lot of positives to take away.

Quincy Williams got a pick-six to start the game and Alec Pierce beat Trent McDuffie for a long touchdown. The run game was still a factor, the defense was stout.

We had nothing to hang our heads about. We had brought Detroit its first conference championship, its first Super Bowl appearance and done it with a rookie quarterback.

Mathers was a fired coach. He’d rallied with back-to-back 12-win seasons.

We would be back.

6/Sophomore Slump

Our first draft class hit free agency. Outside backer Jimmy Dugan was given the first extension, a modest two-year and Matt Barnett, a two-year starter at left guard, was given a one-year, likely as a backup. Taron Johnson did well in his return and was brought back for another year. Quincy could still play and was paid after his playoff performance and punter Justin Harden, who led the league in punt average, was the Lions first returning punter in the Mathers’ age.

Bobby Wagner, a captain since the beginning, retired, an expected loss but a painful one all the same.

Re-signs:
LB Jimmy Dugan 2yr/$6
LB Quincy Williams 1yr/$5
CB Taron Johnson 1yr/$3.5
LG Matt Barnett 1yr/$3
P Justin Harden 1yr/$2.5

FA losses:
LB Kenya Pressley 2yr/$7.72 with KC
FB Reggie Gilliam 1yr/$3.62 with MIN
CB Benjamin St-Juste 1yr/$2.37 with NE
C Garrett Bradbury 1yr/$2 with SF
DE Jared Messina 1yr/$1.87 with TB
RT Terence Steele 1yr/$1.23 with KC
Retirements: RB Aaron Jones, RG Shaq Mason, DT Arik Armstead, MLB Bobby Wagner
Unsigned: QB Gill Fox, RB Austin Ekeler, WR Kyle Philips, MLB Mike Russo, SS Jason Pinnock

Daniel Rayburn, an 80 overall end, was brought in to fortify the pass rush. He registered nine sacks for the Rams last season. Julian Love would provide some veteran leadership at safety.

FA adds:
LE Daniel Rayburn 3yr/$22.5
FS Julian Love 2yr/$12

At long last, we got a star receiver at the draft, a local prospect named Javier Hopkins out of Michigan State. Physical and he would attack the ball in contested situations. Daniel Mobley and Khalid Staton would provide more end help, giving us plenty of toys to play with and we took yet another defensive tackle in the first round, Jacoby Keyes. We drafted new starters at left guard, center and a Wagner replacement in Rashard Stockton. My hopes for him were sky high. In total, 12 draft picks, our largest draft haul thus far.

’28 NFL Draft
1/WR Javier Hopkins (Michigan State), LE Daniel Mobley (Louisville), DT Jacoby Keyes (Oklahoma)
2/LG Justin Johnson (Ole Miss)
3/MLB Rashard Stockton (Oklahoma), C Patrick Cash (Oregon), RB Ben Shivers (Georgetown)
4/QB Gabriel Tatum (Colorado State), LE Khalid Staton (LSU), WR Michael Gilmore (Florida), C Spencer Batch (Rutgers)
6/LB Dee Hall (Texas Tech)

Prior to preseason, we didn’t make any adds other than our fifth corner, Rasul Douglas but after preseason, Nick Chubb found himself cut. A horrendous bit of management by whatever team did that (it was the Jaguars. Jacksonville, never change). Chubb, still a 91 overall, was traded to the Rams for a second round pick.

Preseason adds: RT Jack Conklin, CB Rasul Douglas

Preseason cuts: RB Rhamondre Stevenson, RB Nelson Langford, K Sterling Foster

Preseason MVP: RB Keaton Mitchell. Mitchell posted his first 100-yard game and nearly six yards per carry during the preseason. Mitchell would see more usage in year two of his three-year deal.

New starters: FB Joe Faulkner, WR Javier Hopkins, LG Justin Johnson, C Patrick Cash, RE Ben McClain, MLB Rashard Stockton

Captains: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Sneed, Bland, Jonathan Aldridge (new)

By overall, this was the best team we had had since Year One (we were now an 84, bested only by Year One’s 87) and the best offense we’d ever had (85).

The defense balled out week one, registering five sacks, three picks and a safety in a 22-6 win to start the season. Star back Isaiah Weaver would suffer a torn labrum, missing the next month of action. That Chubb trade had already aged extremely poorly.

The Bears had curiously cut King Henry, who had tortured me for years. The Lions brought him in and cut backup right tackle Jack Conklin to make the space. Keaton Mitchell would go over 100 in his first Lions start and Henry would add 70 in a Lions revenge game over Atlanta, who had beat us in the playoffs two years ago. The defense again snatched three interceptions.

We’d start the season 4-1 but Isaiah Weaver would suffer a ruptured disk in his return to action, missing another five weeks. Despite all the injuries, I still extended Weaver in appreciation of what he’d done and because I still think he could be an elite back.

Patton would have the worst game of his career in an NFC Championship rematch against the Giants, throwing three picks. Despite our 5-2 record, Patton was in a sophomore slump, throwing 10 picks. We needed him to return to freshman form if we were gonna be a true contender.

Patton would throw five TDs in his next two games and Detroit would record the third career shutout of the Mathers era, 31-0, over Green Bay, who had curiously let Bryce Young walk. Gardner Minshew was not the solution.

A rematch against Willie’s Texans did not go well. The second half we narrowly lost 21-16 but we fell behind 28-0 in the first. The lag was a serious issue, prevented us from running screens or QB scrambling. I was unsure how we’d overcome but we would have to find a way.

After a pretty frustrating loss, many of the Lions mainstays were paid, including franchise stars Chris Lindstrom and L’Jarius Sneed. Draft pick Joey Wheeler was kept at tight end and even Rashee Rice believed in what we were building. Despite the humiliations against the Texans, we knew from the top of the organization down we had something special here.

We’d play the Eagles the following week and Maxwell Russell would once again turn into a pumpkin, throwing a pick-six to middle linebacker T.J. Weston, who won NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Weston was having a phenomenal year and getting consideration for DPOY.

We’d lose the following week after another disastrous performance from Patton. He’d thrown 19 picks in 12 games.

We were 8-4 at the bye week but we were far from a Super Bowl team. Something needed to change.

Patton’s turnover struggles would continue against a bare kitchen Packers squad, fumbling what would have been a go-ahead scoring drive on the two in a 16-14 loss.

Patton’s rookie year highlights felt like a far distant memory. He’d completed fallen apart.

He’d throw another pick to the infamous corner Amari Harris the following week versus Minnesota and be benched. No Lions QB could have won this game; the offensive line didn’t come to work, allowing a season-high six sacks. We had lost three straight games and our hold of the NFC North.

We’d respond, winning our fourth-straight Bears game after having lost the first eight. Sneed and Weston would record pick-sixes in a road win in Miami but Patton would throw a career-worst four interceptions in the finale against Washington, costing us the division and the playoffs.

We ended the season on a 2-4 collapse, finishing 10-7.

Willie’s Texans cruised, per usual. Rookie running back Cordell Cowan set the league rushing record, 2158, in an MVP season, scoring 33 touchdowns. Rookie defensive end Cordell Rose set a new sack record at 37. The rich kept getting richer, a sixth Lombardi.

‘28 Season Stats
Patton 203/304 for 2648, 66%, 88.2 rating, 26 TDs, 25 INTs
Mitchell 177 carries for 1046, 5.9 ypc, 5 TDs
Burks 61 receptions for 848, 9 TDs (Offensive MVP)
Rice 53 receptions for 732, 5 TDs
Weston 96 tackles, 5 TFL, 4 sacks, 5 INTs, FF, 2 TDs (Defensive MVP)
Walford 33 tackles, 8 sacks
Sneed 52 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 INTs, TD
Aldridge 62 tackles, 4 INTs, 14 PDs
Koo 13/15 for 86%, 40/40 XP for 100%
Harden 53.5 avg, 43.9 net, 2 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 4704 (32nd), 2519 pass (32nd), 2185 rush (4th), 21.8 ppg (29th)
Last year: 4750, 2533, 2217, 22.8
Defense: 4031 (2nd), 2435 pass (2nd), 1012 rush (2nd), 17.7 pag (2nd)
37 sacks, 4 fumbles, 19 INTs
Last year: 3582, 2528, 1054, 16.2, 30, 1, 18

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Wirfs, Lindstrom (2)
COY: Mathers (4th)
OROY: Hopkins (2nd), Shivers (10th)
Best OL: Lindstrom (3rd), Cash (9th)
Best K: Koo (9th)

7/Wagging and Weaving

Defensive coordinator Dean Fuller was fired. Fuller had been one of the league’s best DCs since we’d started but his inability to develop a dominant pass rush had reached a breaking point. In six years with him at the helm, we’d never broken into the top-ten or reached 40 sacks.

New hire Sammy Wagner specialized in 4-3 cover 3 defenses.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Stokes was also on the hot seat. Mathers’ minions had been dead-last in yardage every year and while the scoring had improved under Stokes’ watch, there was still room for improvement. Stokes’ first task would be revitalizing the offense.

We’d be switching to new playbooks in 2029, scrapping McDaniel/Reid for LaFleur/Steichen.

Re-signs:
RG Chris Lindstrom 3yr/$60
CB L’Jarius Sneed 3yr/$45
TE Joey Wheeler 4yr/$40
WR Rashee Rice 2yr/$40
RB Isaiah Weaver 2yr/$24
LG Matt Barnett 3yr/$9
K Younghoe Koo 1yr/$4

Beyond frustrated with our pass rush, we cleaned house at defensive end, leaving free agent signee Daniel Rayburn and former first-round pick Daniel Mobley left. Alec Pierce, who had caught our only touchdown in our Super Bowl appearance, walked. Franchise stalwart Quincy Williams called it a career.

FA losses:
DE Myles Murphy 2yr/$16 with ATL
DE Ben McClain 2yr/$16 with BAL
WR Alec Pierce 1yr/$2.65 with IND
Retirements: RB Derrick Henry, LB Quincy Williams, CB Rasul Douglas
Unsigned: WR Luke Williams, DE Jonathan Greenard, CB Taron Johnson, FS Casey Peerman, P Justin Harden

Micah Parsons was the top gem of free agency and I offered $70 million over two years, beyond desperate for a pass rush. Parsons spurned Detroit for Seattle and those damn Seahawks, our cross country rival, for four years and short of $120. Our lone signing, Asante Samuel Jr., gave us a dominant CB4 at a CB2 price I was willing to pay, making the best cornerback room in the league even better. Even Willie’s Texans couldn’t compete with the Lions.

FA adds:
CB Asante Samuel Jr. 1yr/$10

Patton’s time as starter was over. I had held onto Russell too long. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

It wasn’t just Patton’s interceptions. Patton had begun to freeze in the pocket, causing sacks when there were open targets. The dude needed a reset and some time on the bench might help with that.

Clemson Tiger Jeremy Wagner had A grades at all accuracies and A throw power. It took two first rounders to move all the way up to 2 to snag him and a similar trade up was made for the draft’s top pass rusher, Wolverine Sidney Moorehead.

A generational corner, Aleon Pleasants, went first overall, another player I desperately wanted but the truth was I didn’t have a dire need at corner. It hurt to watch Willie trade up and snag him but he would have been my CB4 and I’d have a $10 million CB5 who wouldn’t see the field in Samuel Jr. I had had Sneed and Bland since the beginning and I wasn’t moving either. Aldridge was still my best draft pick. He wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t do it.

After the draft, Pleasants ended up the lottery’s top-rated prospect.

Nearly all our capital spent, WR Terrell Gates would be our only other selection but we now had three game changers added to our roster. Complacency was not an option.

Patton would remain with the Lions. Despite his awful second year, I still believed he had potential. I just wasn’t willing to pass on the best QB prospect in six drafts.

’29 NFL Draft
1/QB Jeremy Wagner (Clemson), DE Sidney Moorehead (Michigan)
2/WR Terrell Gates (Georgia)

We got veteran leadership on defense and a former first-round back in Matt O’Neal. (95 speed, 97 accel).

Preseason adds: RB Matt O’Neal, RG Will Hernandez, DE Mike Danna, DE Kenny Clark, CB Kendall Fuller, SS Jamal Adams, P Justin Harden

Preseason cuts: RB Ben Shivers, FS Ifeatu Melifonwu

Preseason MVP: WR Terrell Gates. Gates was an accomplished route runner with serious wheels. He’d be our new slot receiver before long.

New starters: QB Jeremy Wagner, LE Daniel Rayburn, RE Sidney Moorehead

Captains: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Sneed, Bland, Aldridge

Our team overalls maintained at 84 across the board.

Wagner’s Lions career would start rough, throwing a pick-six in each of his first two starts, both one-score losses.

We’d lose twice to Minnesota, who had developed one of the league’s best pass rushes with 99 overall Aidan Hutchinson and top-five pick Trae Starks. We were 2-3 going into week six against Mahomes’ Falcons.

Middle linebacker T.J. Weston would make yet another splash play, taking a goal line pick-six the other way. Despite a still struggling pass rush, the defense was exceptional, holding Atlanta to seven points in a 24-7 win.

One Lion was pissed off about this win and that was Treylon Burks. Despite leading the team in receiving for the third straight year, Burks was pissed he wasn’t getting the ball more. This was not the first time he had a blowup in the locker room; he had requested a trade last season.

I had enough. Burks was in the final year of a bargain 3yr/$15. He had been great, a huge value for the team, worth at least double his deal but I had a talented rookie in Gates who would start in the slot next season. Burks had earned a raise I likely couldn’t afford, not with so many of my stars needing contracts. Corners Jonathan Aldridge and DaRon Bland had both signed $20/yr deals, left tackle Tristan Wirfs had inked $30 and SS Taylor Ross had agreed to a team-friendly $10 AAV. With Burks once again being a manchild off the field, we’d reached the end of the line.

It was likely from the beginning of the season one of my starting key contributors would hit free agency. Burks had made the decision for me. He was traded to the struggling Browns for a high second.

We’d push our win streak to three games. Wagner was disciplined with the ball, throwing only four picks halfway through the season.

After missing most of last year with injuries, Weaver had become a Derrick Henry prototype, bouncing off of tacklers and gaining yards after contact. I had signed him to a short two-year at a more comfortable $12 per but continued production like this and Weaver would get another extension and a well-deserved raise.

Sneed and Ross would both grab pick-sixes in a thumper over Chicago, our fifth-straight Bears win after losing our first eight matchups.

We’d finish a five-game win streak before our bye, reaching the line at 7-3. Going into the rest week, middle linebacker T.J. Weston was leading the league in interceptions with five, two for touchdowns. He would sign a $60 million extension.

Defensive starters Weston, Aldridge, Bland, Ross, Walford and Telfer all signed long-term deals. Asante Samuel Jr. also agreed to another mercenary contract, 1yr/$10. In total, my top-four corners now cost $65 million, a heavy penny, but all were top-20 corners by rating. The best cornerback room in football would be together a little longer.

We’d lose to the Bears for the first time in three years coming out of the bye, ending our five-game win streak. The series was now 9-5 Bears.

Wagner would throw multiple picks in his first four out of the bye and we’d lose two, falling to 9-5. The defense, after allowing over 20 twice in their first 10, allowed 20+ in three.

Firing defensive coordinator Dean Fuller had proven to be a mistake. The defense had regressed and the sack totals had gotten worse, not better. It was still a top-unit but stirring the pot hadn’t worked. Fuller was now in Carolina and the Panthers were a top-five scoring defense, top-10 against the run and 9-5.

An interesting name popped up on free agency after week 16: WR Amari Cooper. He was 35 but still an 82 overall. He had played six seasons for the Chiefs and this season, Kansas City sat him on the bench and gave him no reps. He’d mentor the young guns and get them ready for the playoff push.

Wagner would beat his older brother, Washington Commanders starting QB Brayden Wagner, in week 17, 21-14.

We finished with our third 12-5 season.

Willie’s C.J. Stroud had his best ever year, throwing for over 6,000 yards and 62 TDs with a 144.6 passer rating, all league records. WR Garrett Wilson and Tank Dell were first and second in receiving, with Wilson over 2200. The Texans would finish with their third undefeated regular season. Coach Matthew McConaughey would finish with his seventh-straight Coach of the Year award. He hadn’t coached a season without winning it.

Outside of the four-game stretch out of the bye, Wagner had put together a strong rookie campaign. He had less than 10 interceptions in those 13 games.

The defense scored an impressive 10 defensive touchdowns and poached a record 27 picks but 24 sacks, fourth-worst, was alarming.

’29 Season Stats
Wagner 231/350 for 2837, 66%, 94.4 rating, 25 TDs, 17 INTs (Offensive MVP)
Weaver 238 carries for 1385, 5.8 ypc, 16 TDs
Rice 55 receptions for 613, 6 TDs
Hopkins 47 receptions for 594, 5 TDs
Weston 103 tackles, 9 TFL, 5 INTs, 2 TDs (Defensive MVP)
Moorehead 21 tackles, 7 TFL, 7.5 sacks
Ross 70 tackles, 3 TFL, sack, 5 INTs, 3 TDs
Sneed 58 tackles, 2 TFL, 6 INTs, 2 TDs
Koo 19/20 for 95%, 50/51 XP for 98%
Harden 55.0 avg, 53.0 net, 9 inside the 20
Team Stats
Offense: 4570 (32nd), 2578 pass (32nd), 1992 rush (7th), 25.6 ppg (20th)
Last year: 4704, 2519, 2185, 21.8
Defense: 3818 (2nd), 2825 pass (2nd), 993 rush (2nd), 15.9 pag (2nd)
24 sacks, 2 fumbles, 27 INTs
Last year: 4031, 2435, 1012, 17.7, 37, 4, 19

Awards:
Pro Bowl: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Weston, Sneed, Ross (5)
COY: Mathers (3rd)
OROY: Wagner (4th), Gates (5th)
DROY: Moorehead (2nd)
Best RB: Weaver (7th)
Best OL: Cash (10th)
Best DB: Sneed (1st), Ross (3rd), Bland (4th)
Best K: Koo (1st)

After getting swept by Minnesota during the year, we’d stomp them in the wild card round. The defense allowed under 150 yards and only 10 points, while Wagner went an efficient 11/14 for 144 and two scores in his first playoff win.

We’d throughly demolish Mahomes’ Atlanta 42-10. Weaver had perhaps his best playoff performance (22 carries for 184 yards) while Wagner went 8/9 for 103 and two scores.

Our first home NFC Championship Game was a disaster…for the Saints, a 38-3 stomping.

In three playoff games, the Lions defense allowed 23 points.

Detroit would return to the Super Bowl with a rookie starting QB against Willie’s Texans, who would win their seventh straight Lombardi.

Willie was simply a better player with a superior team and better internet connection. For me, making it to the Super Bowl was my Super Bowl. Still, the goal was to win it for the Lions and city of Detroit. It hurt, knowing whenever we made it to the big game, we only had a 1/100 chance. It was a successful season, a great year but still short of the ultimate prize.

Maybe Stroud would get hit by a car.

8/The Sophomore Curse

In total, we spent $449 million on contracts this season but I believed in the players. Most of these names were team captains or soon-to-be leaders. It was a gargantuan sum but our stars were strong and could take us to the top.

Kicker Younghoe Koo, our specialist for six years, would hit free agency along with both starting outside linebackers.

Re-signs:
CB Jonathan Aldridge 5yr/$100
LT Tristan Wirfs 3yr/$90
CB DaRon Bland 3yr/$60
MLB T.J. Weston 5yr/$60
SS Taylor Ross 5yr/$50
DT Jonathan Walford 3yr/$42
FS Angelo Telfer 3yr/$24
CB Asante Samuel Jr. 1yr/$10
RB Keaton Mitchell 2yr/$10
FB Joe Faulkner 2yr/$3

FA losses:
RB Matt O’Neal 2yr/$8.7 with SEA
LB Deontay Hillman 1yr/$2.4 with ATL
K Younghoe Koo 1yr/$2.1 with DEN
LB Jimmy Dugan 1yr/$1.9 with TB
LB Rishard Kirklin 1yr/$1.9 with PHI
P Justin Harden 1yr/$1.4 with BAL
C Ben Powers 1yr/$1.3 with NYJ
TE Trent Stephenson 1yr/$1.2 with GB
Retirements: WR Amari Cooper
Unsigned: WR Darnell Mooney, RG Will Hernandez, DE Mike Danna, DE Kenny Clark, CB Kendall Fuller, SS Jamal Adams, SS Julian Love

This was the most active I had been during free agency but the draft board at some positions was lacking or it was unlikely the player I wanted would fall to me. Some affordable one-year fixes, including Scary Terry at receiver.

FA adds:
LT AJ Jackson 1yr/$6
WR Terry McLaurin 1yr/$5
DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah 1yr/$5
SS Ji’ayir Brown 1yr/$4
RG Conor Robinson 1yr/$2

I also made two trades prior to draft day. Defensive end Daniel Rayburn had signed a three-year, $22 million contract with us in free agency two years ago. In those two years, he had just two sacks. He was one of the worst signings of my career. That contract had to go. Tampa Bay traded us an early second.

QB William Patton deserved another chance to start but that opportunity seemed unlikely to materialize in Detroit. Hoping he might still serve Detroit’s interests, I shipped him to Indianapolis, where he would face Willie’s Texans twice a year. The Colts surrendered a second and a first next year.

With no first round pick after the draft day trade last year for pass rusher Sidney Moorehead, we missed out on a few premium prospects at outside linebacker, right tackle and tight end but they were players I wanted, not athletes I needed.

WR Justin Springs was one of two promising resumes at WR, George Scott would strengthen the secondary and Rushing and Redding the offensive line. After letting three outside linebackers walk in free agency, I missed on the draft’s best at the position, which would leave a glaring hole in the roster card.

’30 NFL Draft
2/WR Justin Springs (Wisconsin), FS George Scott (Notre Dame), RT Logan Rushing (Utah), C Norman Redding (UCLA)
4/LB Austin Verdon (Auburn)
5/LB Larry Rhodes (USC)
6/RT Jonathan Priestley (Boise State)
7/QB Anthony Burr (UAB)

Willie and I have a three-trade limit per season and I’d make my final trade before preseason even started. Willie had a talented pass rusher named Stephon Nails on his bench. He was in the final year of his rookie deal. I traded a fifth for the rental and hoped Nails could rediscover the talent that had made him a top-10 draft choice.

Kyler Murray and Shaquille Richard, a RB I missed out on in one of our earlier drafts, both were cut after preseason. Kyler would obviously provide mentorship and Richard would be a talented RB3.

Many former draft picks were sadly cut. Sometimes, prospects don’t work out.

Preseason adds: QB Kyler Murray, RB Shaquille Richard, TE Dallas Goedert, DE Montez Sweat, DE Stephon Nails, LB Bradley Chubb, MLB Owen Pappoe, CB Eric Stokes

Preseason cuts: QB Gabriel Tatum, RB Brian Robinson Jr., LT Jalen Garrison, C Spencer Batch, RG Javier Ridley, DE Khalid Staton

Preseason MVP: QB Anthony Burr. Burr was a seventh-round pick and I expected him to be QB3 but he really impressed, an improviser when the play broke down. Gabriel Tatum, who had been a drafted backup the last two years but hadn’t been asked to do anything, was god awful, throwing seven picks and two pick-sixes in five quarters. Not only did he lose the backup job to Burr, he lost his roster spot to Kyler.

Marcus Matthews, an undrafted player who had marinated on practice squad and Dee Hall, a sixth-round choice two years ago, would start at outside linebacker. I’m mostly in nickel or dime but they would see the field in 4-3, 46 Bear and goal line formations. Hopefully, the run D wouldn’t suffer too much.

Kicker Josh Randolph and punter Allen Carr both took over starting roles after a year on practice squad.

New starters: RE Stephon Nails, LOLB Marcus Matthews, ROLB Dee Hall, K Josh Randolph, P Allen Carr

Captains: Wirfs, Lindstrom, Aldridge, Bland, Sneed

Our overalls were the highest they had been since our introductory season (87 overall, 88 offense, 87 defense).

Week one was against Joe Burrow’s Giants, who now had T.J. Watt and Nick Bosa. They were a scary team and it got to Wagner, who threw three picks in the first half but the Lions defense held, with middle linebacker T.J. Weston stealing a Burrow pass on the goal line.

Down 10-0 at half, I would usually bench a QB who had thrown three picks but something told me to keep Wagner in. This was a moment of adversity for him. I wanted to see how he responded.

He’d drive us to a score to start the second half, MLB Rashard Stockton would kidnap another Burrow pass and Wagner and company would capitalize again. Burrow would answer, taking a 17-14 lead with three minutes in the fourth but Wagner had gotten over his jitters. Detroit would score with under a minute to go and the defense would hold again. 21-17 Lions.

Some wins are ugly but often those victories say more about your team than the pretty ones. This one said we could overcome adverse circumstances.

Weston would record 11 tackles, a TFL and an interception, yet another game-changing performance among so many. I had five captains on my team since the beginning but for the first time, we’d have six. Weston had earned it.

Wagner would have another three-pick first half but the team responded again. The rushing attack put up over 300 yards as our offensive line bullied Miami all day. Weaver would have a career-high 36 carries and 219 yards and Keaton Mitchell would add 11 for 86 in a 21-14 win. Adversity overcome but Wagner needed to eliminate the picks immediately. We overcome adversity, not create it. The goal for my QBs is 10 picks a year. Wagner already had 6.

The Lions secondary would torture the Vikings’ Tua, intercepting five balls and returning two for scores. We were 3-0 and would stretch it to five. The defense allowed seven points or less three straight games.

We’d finally beat the Seahawks (0-4 previously), winning a blockbuster in overtime, 34-28. T.J. Weston would record nine tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and two picks. What an incredible player he had become.

Defensive tackle Jonathan Walford would suffer a torn labrum in the contest and miss the next month.

A win over Mahomes and the Falcons would take us to 7-0 and we’d go a perfect 8-0 into the bye, our.best ever start. In those eight games, the defense allowed 17 or less points in seven.

Isaiah Weaver took our latest Bears rivalry game personally: 210 yards and three touchdowns. We’d win by 20 and stomp the Rams in LA the following week, stealing five picks and a strip sack. Justin Springs would record the first punt return touchdown during Mathers’ tenure.

Wagner would have his worst game of the year, throwing two picks and fumbling a strip sack in the first half. He’d be benched for preseason MVP Anthony Burr, a seventh-round rookie, who delivered an inspiring 8/9 for 124 yards and a score. Weston would score a pick-six and the Lions would escape a 21-7 deficit for a 28-21 win, remaining undefeated.

Despite the roar back from adversity, there was some sad news. Starting defensive tackle Jonathan Walford tore his pec, ending his season. Osa Odighizuwa was signed off free agency.

Our record 11-game winning streak would come to an end the next week. Wagner would struggle and the 49ers would torture the dominant Lions d, a 35-14 defeat.

This was the best Lions team we’d had in Mathers’ career but Wagner’s sophomore slump was a steep decline. It was demoralizing. A traditional loss to Willie’s Texans came the next week.

We were 0-4 against Houston and I didn’t think that was ever gonna change. We were 11-2 and it felt like the season was already over.

Wagner would continue his Jameis Winston impression for the rest of the season. After four seasons of suitable to acceptable quarterback play, Wagner had returned us to the Maxwell Russell era.

Our team was all but dead in the water.

The End

It was here we called it quits. It wasn’t that Willie’s team was significantly overpowered (it was). It wasn’t that he was a much better player than me (he is). It was that the internet connection was so poor, I had accepted I never had a real chance to win. I’d be playing for second place every season and that didn’t sit right with me. Willie had won seven straight bowls. He was bored, too.

It hurt. I had failed the Lions. I had salvaged the Raiders with Kyle, recreated the Jaguars with Jon but I had failed Detroit solo.

I hoped to one day avenge all the great players I had who never got to win a ship with the pale blue, like Raheem Mostert, Tristan Wirfs, Chris Lindstrom, L’Jarius Sneed, DaRon Bland, Bobby Wagner, Quincy Williams, Tyrann Mathieu, Isaiah Weaver, Joey Wheeler, Jonathan Aldridge, Taylor Ross, Jonathan Walford and Jalen Lynch.

This sucked. A sad ending to what could’ve been.

Summary:
’23: Divisional Lions 16-17 Seahawks
’24: Wild Card Lions 7-17 Panthers
’25: Missed Playoffs
’26: Divisional Lions 23-24 Falcons
’27: Super Bowl Lions 13-37 Texans
‘28: Missed Playoffs
’29: Super Bowl Lions 26-48 Texans
’30:

All-time stats:
Passing:
‘23: Winston 140/228 for 1772, 61%, 60.4 rating, 9 TDs, 21 INTs
‘24: Russell 168/267 for 2034, 62%, 70.3 rating, 16 TDs, 23 INTs
’25: Russell 154/246 for 1852, 62%, 71.3 rating, 12 TDs, 18 INTs
’26: Russell 212/314 for 2891, 67%, 99.6 rating, 24 TDs, 17 INTs
’27: Patton 180/257 for 2462, 70%, 107.8 rating, 22 TDs, 13 INTs
’28: Patton 203/304 for 2648, 66%, 88.2 rating, 26 TDs, 25 INTs
’29: Wagner 231/350 for 2837, 66%, 94.4 rating, 25 TDs, 17 INTs
’30:

Rushing:
‘23: Mostert 272 carries for 1758, 6.5 ypc, 9 TDs
‘24: Mostert 233 carries for 1423, 6.1 ypc, 6 TDs
’25: Mostert 187 carries for 1122, 6.0 ypc, 8 TDs
‘26: Weaver 299 carries for 1725, 5.8 ypc, 18 TDs
‘27: Weaver 259 carries for 1487, 5.7 ypc, 15 TDs
’28: Mitchell 177 carries for 1046, 5.9 ypc, 5 TDs
’29: Weaver 238 carries for 1385, 5.8 ypc, 16 TDs
’30:

Receiving:
‘23: Lockett 33 receptions for 593, TD
‘24: Wheeler 41 receptions for 482, 3 TDs
‘25: Lockett 48 receptions for 539, 4 TDs
‘26: Rice 68 receptions for 1062, 6 TDs
‘27: Burks 65 receptions for 912, 6 TDs
’28: Burks 61 receptions for 848, 9 TDs
’29: Hopkins 47 receptions for 594, 5 TDs
‘30:

Defense:
‘23: Peterson 62 tackles, 2 TFL 2 sacks, 2 INTs, FF
‘24: Williams 98 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 FF, INT
’25: Smith 36 tackles, 6 TFL, 9 sacks, FF
’26: Smith 29 tackles, 4 TFL, 11 sacks, FF
’27: Bland 46 tackles, TFL, 5 INTs, 14 PDs
’28: Weston 96 tackles, 5 TFL, 4 sacks, 5 INTs, FF, 2 TDs
’29: Weston 103 tackles, 9 TFL, 5 INTs, 2 TDs
’30:

Team Offense:
‘23: 4217 (32nd), 1643 pass (32nd), 2574 rush (1st), 18.6 ppg (31st)
‘24: 4427 (32nd), 2039 pass (32nd), 2388 rush (2nd) 20.0 ppg (31st)
’25: 4149 (32nd), 2074 pass (32nd), 2075 rush (6th), 18.6 ppg (31st)
’26: 5054 (32nd), 2818 pass (32nd), 2236 rush (5th), 24.2 ppg (18th)
‘27: 4750 (32nd), 2533 pass (32nd), 2217 rush (3rd), 22.8 ppg (23rd)
’28: 4704 (32nd), 2519 pass (32nd), 2185 rush (4th), 21.8 ppg (29th)
’29: 4570 (32nd), 2578 pass (32nd), 1992 rush (7th), 25.6 ppg (20th)
’30:

Team Defense:
‘23: 4263 (1st), 2907 pass (1st), 1356 rush (2nd), 17.1 pag (1st), 30 sacks, fumble, 18 INTs
‘24: 4255 (1st), 2961 pass (1st), 1294 rush (2nd), 19.5 pag (2nd), 29 sacks, 5 fumbles, 24 INTs
’25: 4306 (2nd), 3056 pass (2nd), 1250 rush (2nd), 19.0 (2nd), 34 sacks, 4 fumbles, 13 INTs
’26: 3598 (2nd), 2881 pass (2nd), 717 rush (2nd), 15.8 pag (2nd), 32 sacks, 1 fumble, 14 INTs
‘27: 3582 (1st), 2528 pass (1st), 1054 rush (2nd), 16.2 pag (2nd), 30 sacks, 1 fumble, 18 INTs
’28: 4031 (2nd), 3019 pass (2nd), 1012 rush (2nd), 17.7 pag (2nd), 37 sacks, 4 fumbles, 19 INTs
’29: 3818 (2nd), 2825 pass (2nd), 993 rush (2nd), 15.9 pag (2nd), 24 sacks, 2 fumbles, 27 INTs
’30:

Mathers
‘23: 10-6-1 regular season, 1-1 postseason, 6 Pro Bowlers, 87 overall/84 offense/91 defense
‘24: 10-6-1, 0-1, 5 PBs, 83/80/87
’25 8-9, 0-0, 2 PBs, 83/83/83
’26 12-5, 1-1, 3 PBs, 81/80/80
’27: 12-5, 3-1, 3 PBs, 83/84/83 52-31-2, 5-4
’28: 10-7, 0-0, 2 PBs, 84/85/84
’29: 12-5, 3-1, 5 PBs, 84/84/84 74-43-2, 8-5
’30: 11-3, 87/88/87

Final record: 85-46-2, 8-5 playoffs

The Invisible Man/The Scarecrow

Seen but unseen

Saw but saw through

Noticed but not recognized.

Such is the life of The Invisible Man

A creature who falls into the background

Never resides in the foreground of people’s perception

Because visibility is in the eyes of the beholder

And it’s hard to see what you do not know

And do not wish to know.

Invisibility is only a superpower until you have it.

It’s a power but it is not super.

It is a curse, to walk city ways and street corners

Under bright headlights and skyscrapers

To hike peaks, skate lakes, dive depths

To fail, to falter, to struggle, to tear

To accomplish, to succeed, to achieve, to aspire

And know all too well no one saw any of it

Because your dreams feel foolish to them

And your fears make them uncomfortable

But perhaps most of all

Because you scare them.

You are a scarecrow, an intimidating shroud

Built to protect but mistaken for an assailant

And they’re even more frightened when you take off the mask

Because the truth is often more terrifying than the lies.

The mask stays on and you go through life a bystander

Rather than an active member

A technical participant

But not one anyone recollects.

Voyages at masquerade parties bring brief relapses of enjoyment

Slides across the dance floor in a banquet hall with granite columns and crystal chandeliers

Dramatic dresses and pompous palettes

But eventually, the night ends and the act is over.

The curtains draw

And everyone returns to their daily lives

Honestly themselves

Leaving the Scarecrow in his thoughts

Knowing, unlike everyone else, his mask must stay on.

People do not just not see The Invisible Man

They do not hear him.

He is not just invisible. He is unheard, unknown.

Invisibility is all-encompassing

And there is no length he can go to escape it

No phrase to break the spell

No test of wills.

What scares them the most is how different he is

And different has never been celebrated, only ostracized.

It is never welcomed or sought out.

It is forewarned.

There is no alteration he can make to himself to change that.

He can be loud or quiet, abrasive or malleable

But who he is at his core

That cannot be changed

And so neither can his reality.

Thousands of people passed and seen by none.

Decades lived and never viewed

A cassette from another era never spun.

Melodies, harmonies and ballads played but never heard

A lonely pianist at the keys but no ballroom audience

Not a one.

If a song is played with no listening ears,

Was it ever played at all?

A novel penned without a reader ever written?

Art is given purpose, message and value by its recipients, not its creator

And so is life.

A life unknown is a life wasted.

The Retirement Tour, Chapter Two: Vindication

It has aged tremendously. Nearly everything I said would happen has occurred.

Last November, I published The Retirement Tour, Chapter One: The Pittsburgh Penguins Forgot How to Hockey, detailing the team’s decline over the last five years and highlighting why it will continue. It’s certainly worth a click, even more so now that we’ve seen the predictions come true. It also provides further context to much of this article.

I told my readers this team couldn’t score. Months into the season, they had the worst shooting percentage on high-danger chances in hockey.

Per @NatStatTrick, Pens are generating 13.2 high-danger chances per game in all situations, in a virtual tie for the fourth-best rate in the NHL. Their shooting % on those chances is 15.41, worst in the NHL.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) December 18, 2023

The power play is on pace to be one of if not the worst in the history of the franchise.

At 13.3%, at the moment, the Pens’ PP is worst in team history. The team record for worst conversion rate in one season is 13.6% in 1967-68.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) January 26, 2024

Jake Guentzel became the seventh Penguin all-time to record seven 20-goal seasons.

Jake Guentzel is now a Carolina Hurricane, traded before the deadline.

The Penguins essentially traded multiple players (Mikael Granlund, Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta, Casey DeSmith), a first-rounder, a second-rounder and chucked Jake Guentzel into the river for a 33-year-old defenseman on a $10 million contract for the next four years, three more after this campaign.

In addition to being bad, the Penguins have also ruined their cap situation. They have no money.

Outside of Sidney Crosby, Guentzel was the team’s best offensive weapon. As of this writing, he’s nearly a point-per-game player (474 in 508 games).

Kyle Dubas decided Karlsson was more valuable than Guentzel this summer. His exorbitant contract made it impossible to extend Guentzel. #59 was on his way out as soon as Karlsson’s flight landed. The fan base should have been booing the move from the start instead of celebrating on Twitter.

By the way, Kris Letang as of this writing has six fewer points than Karlsson in the same amount of games while costing almost $4 million less against the cap. Letang, as I said then, is on a team-friendly, high-value contract and demonstrates how awful the Karlsson acquisition is.

You paid $4 million for six extra points?

But in fairness to Karlsson, it wasn’t just him that Dubas chose over Guentzel this summer. He also chose 31-year-old Noel Acciari. Dubas gave him a two-year, $6 million contract. Acciari has seven points in 53 games.

Acciari’s specialty is defense, he wasn’t expected to produce points but the Pens need goal scorers, not expensive fourth-line defensive forwards.

He chose Matt Nieto, who missed over half the season with injury because when you’re over 30, you’re more likely to get injured.

The Penguins also chose Ryan Graves, a now third-pair defenseman who has never been a point producer and at least this season, hasn’t been good at guarding his net either.

Dubas’ first move was Reilly Smith, making $5 million for the rest of this year and next year. Don’t forget about the Jarry extension this summer either.

In the years before Dubas, the Penguins signed Rakell and Rust to long-term extensions.

Of Karlsson, Acciari, Nieto, Graves, Smith, Jarry, Rakell and Rust (didn’t even mention Lars Eller), exactly none of them are currently better or more valuable to the Penguins than Jake Guentzel.

Guentzel was the second-best player on this team outside of Crosby. Pens management knew the bill for him was coming due and decided to throw their budget at lesser fair.

The problem with this team, as it has been for years, is they cannot score goals and now without Guentzel, they’ll score even less.

The goaltending has been excellent outside of the last month. I told readers it wasn’t the problem with this team.

The good news: since Jan. 11, Pens have allowed just 2.44 goals per game, 5th-best in NHL at the start of the day. The bad news: since Jan. 11, Pens have scored just 2.44 goals per game, 5th-worst in NHL.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) February 10, 2024

Pens’ team shooting % is 8.73, per @NatStatTrick. That would be their lowest since 8.36 in 2014-15 and fifth-lowest all-time.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) February 15, 2024

And they will continue to not score until they find players under the age of 30.

Since the turn of the calendar, the Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the worst teams in hockey.

Legs feed the wolves and the Penguins have no legs. Come March, this team would be out of gas, I said.

It is March. They are out of gas, stomped by the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena 6-0.

As of this writing, they are 3-8 in March and winless on the road. They are a dead man walking.

Does it get old, being right?

No. No, it does not but it does get old watching your professional sports teams exhibit the intelligence of a bag of rocks and continue to persistently choose to be that unwise.

What I write and research is not the outcome of an archaeological discovery. It is not the result of new statistical models or innovative financial practices or data mining.

I am not a scout, I’m not a hockey historian. Hockey isn’t even my most knowledgeable sport.

I’m just a guy who watches the games, looks at the same publicly accessible numbers as everyone else and draws very simple, straightforward conclusions from them.

People, especially in the sports realm, hate math. They hate the analytics community because people like myself never played even amateur hockey and therefore can’t possibly understand the game at the same level as old-school minds. They believe numbers diminish people, unfairly criticize them.

They don’t. Math is objective where people are subjective. Math can remove biases from evaluation and math, unlike people, knows when it’s wrong.

Two plus two does not equal five, math knows that but the Penguins have been arguing a false premise just like that for multiple years now. It’s why their current reality is so predictable.

I wrote last fall the team had reached the point of no return. It is not a salvageable situation. They have lost, dug themselves such a large hole of asset mismanagement that not even Crosby, Malkin and Letang can save them. Crosby is a legitimate MVP candidate this season and the Penguins will miss the playoffs despite his efforts.

Coach Mike Sullivan should not last till October. I still believe it is the team’s failings, not his own, that have continued this playoff win drought but 2018, their last playoff series victory, is a long time ago. That’s six years ago. The historically bad power play should be a fireable offense on its own (Karlsson didn’t fix that either.) Sullivan has done himself no favors.

Coaches often feel the fire for management’s mistakes long before those most responsible do. Kyle Dubas, despite a horrendous first offseason that absolutely contributed to this team’s failure and to shipping out the Jagr of the team, will still be the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins come summer.

Will he learn from his mistakes, from the horrors of Ron Hextall, from the chaos of Jim Rutherford?

The math suggests not.