This is the Litterbox, a Detroit Lions podcast
with your hosts, Chad West and Bill Patterson.
Bill, we got a big week of football ahead of
us here. Our Litterbox listeners are going to
get to hear our take on Lions Rams in LA. I have
a feeling. You and I are probably going to bring
some, not negativity, but doubt into the room
on this one. How do you feel heading out to the
left coast? Well, it's not going to be a difficult
environment per se to play in for the fact that
it should be 50 -50 Lions fans or at least 40
-60 Lions fans, of whom I think will make some
noise. It is never a difficult environment out
there, is it? Yeah. It's kind of one of the easier
environments to play football in, in my opinion.
I would say, yeah, you're spot on with that.
I mean, here's the thing. The keys to the Lions'
success is going to be this. The Rams' secondary
is as bad, if not worse, than the Lions. However,
I would agree. Their front four is unbelievable
in their pass rush rate. So if our old line,
meaning the Lions, can't protect them, It's gonna
be a long day. Their offensive line is amazing.
Matthew Stafford is having his best season in
his 17 -year pro career. And their wide receivers,
Devonte Adams, Puka, I can't give enough superlatives
to talk about them. How the Lions win is this.
Their running game is gonna struggle against
the Lions' run defense, which is the number three
run defense in the NFL. Whoever can run play
action the best is gonna win this game. However,
the Lions have to hold the Rams like they did
the Cowboys to field goals, Chet, because if
this becomes a shootout or a track meet, the
Lions are dead in the water. They will not outscore
this team because the Rams are a better 53 -man
roster than our Detroit Lions. Your thoughts?
All of these matchups have been fairly close
since the trade, the Stafford for a golf trade.
I think the first matchup The Rams beat the Lions
up pretty good. Yeah, but the Lions were up two
scores in that game before they let it slide
away. They were. And then they won the last two.
They won the last two. But it's been a it's been
a back and forth battle for most of these things.
They've typically been fairly close. I I actually
like it when we play out on the left coast. We
get the afternoon game, which is one of my favorite
slots on a Sunday. Can we take can we take a
moment and just Give our love to the 325 slot.
The 325 slot is one of the most underrated football
times in for a game time ever. If I use the word
majestic and magical, am I overstating that?
Not at all. Because what I love about it is you
can do all the things through the day you need
to do and then when you're tired out, when your
little legsies are all tired out, you come home,
kick them up and you can watch the game at 325.
And one of my favorite maneuvers is the old Sunday
cocktail in the second half. You can slide right
into that cocktail in the second half and feel
really good about it. And you can coast right
out of that into dinner, maybe some 60 minutes
or whatever show on Sunday night you like to
watch. And it's just a very relaxing way. And
if there's a W, if you get a win out of the whole
thing, it makes everything that much sweeter.
Icing on the cake, my friend. This week, that'll
be tough. The Lions are going to have to pick
on this Rams zone. They love to play a zone D.
They don't blitz much at all, because as you
said, they have an incredible defensive line.
They don't need the blitz. These guys provide
all the pass rush anybody needs. So they they
rush for and that's it. And then they drop seven
into a zone. The Lions are actually really good
at picking apart zone D. So it's going to be
a very interesting matchup when the Lions on
the field on offense and the Rams are on D. Can
the Lions pick apart that zone D? And we now
have two guys who can run around in zone D and
run wild in JMo and Amon Ra. So it'll be interesting
to see how they play with that. The run game.
And I'm thinking this might open up the run game
considerably. I do think our run blocking, especially
over the right side of that line with Ratledge
and Panay, our run blocking is elite and might
be the difference in this game other than a few
other factors like turnovers and getting off
the field on third down and the field goals as
you mentioned. But those are my thoughts. I think
we need to pick on that zone D. We need to run
the ball and we need to keep their offense off
the field. Time, clock, management, whatever
you want to call it. I could not agree with you
more. that I think the Lions run game is the
best chance they have to win this game. And if
they can limit offensive snaps for the Rams and
then hold them in the red zone, which is really
the secret to the last two times they beat them,
both in the playoffs and on that Monday night
tilt, I like the Lions chances. if they can do
those things. That's a lot to be said, Chet.
And when we get to the injury report, we'll talk
about it. One of the things that I think we should
probably look at is Fisk or Byron Young. Is the
edge rushers going up against one Penae Sewell?
I think Penae Sewell is going to have a whale
of a game and I think could. If the outcome is
in the Lions favor, I think he might be one of
the first guys we give a game ball to. coming
out of this tilt with the Rams. I tried to talk
myself into thinking the Lions could win this
game by exposing some of these things, but that
D line is tough. That offense is humming. That
offensive line is one of the best right now.
And it's why Stafford is having a great season.
His stats under pressure are abysmal. in comparison
to his stats when he's clean in the pocket. Very,
very similar to our very own Jared Goff. They
really are, while not being the same QB or having
the same talents, they really are similar in
what happens when you put pressure on them. And
so the Lions are gonna have to find a way to
get some pressure on Stafford. So before... The
game got out of reach last week against the Arizona
Cardinals. The LA Rams had 26 first downs. That's
amazing. That's amazing. They're a good team.
I mean, they're home and they might be the best
team in football right now. They might be the
best team in football right now. And then the
scarier part about that is to get those 26 first
downs. 22 of those they didn't need a third down
to get there. So I mean they're getting it on
chunk plays They're getting it early. They're
getting it often I do fully expect Kelvin Shepherd
to send the house and I think the Lions are gonna
be blitzing a lot Let's maneuver into something
that's gonna be very important and may have an
effect on this game Where are you at on your
injury report bill? Well, my assumption is you
have one of those massive Sheets of paper that
are hanging up in like mr. Miyagi's Dojo with
all the writing going down. Do you just have
one of those on your wall with a list of? names
at this juncture Actually, the list is smaller
this week than it has been in the last month.
Come on. I refuse to believe this Bad news or
good news first. What do you want? Go with give
me the good news first All right. The good news
is the only two players that are officially ruled
out are Brian Branch, which we already knew,
and Kirby Joseph, who what I'm hearing from Detroit
sports media is he needs to practice two days
in a row on the knee before they would even think
about clearing him. And he can't not only do
that chat, he can't he enters practice for a
play and then leaves and then enters for a play.
and then leave. So I think his knee, I'm not
a doctor, it's going to require surgery at some
point or a lot of rehab and that doesn't bode
well. He has not gone on the IR yet. Sounds like
he had a setback or something is what they were
referring to today. Either that or I am starting
to... I'm starting to question this franchise
reverting back to its old bad ways and not really
doing what it needs to do in terms of getting
people healthy. Not only providing us with the
best opportunity to gauge and view what's going
on. I mean, that's selfish from my standpoint,
but what's in Kirby Joseph's best interest? You
know, to hobble him out there week after week
when he's clearly not healthy, just put him on
IR and get him the help he needs and move forward.
That's what practice squads and free agent signings
are for. You know, we've beat up Brad Holmes.
Often on this but he's done a good job like rating
other rosters and other practice squads. Sure
filling holes in the secondary So let's talk
about the good news, right? Okay Our guy Awasika
is back and should play Taylor Decker is good
to go Thomas Harper. We still don't know if he's
cleared per Concussion protocol, but he should
be good to go have a question mark on Christian
mahogany, but he practiced all week Klee Freeman
Back. Sionevaki back. Shane Zylstra, the flying
tight end, back and Alex Anceloni had an illness.
But he should play. So all that's good news.
Now, would you want to talk about a team that
actually has a 53 -man roster that is healthy?
Yes. Let's talk about the Los Angeles Rams. Tutu
Atwell, wide receiver, dealing with a hammy.
He's practiced all week. Darius Williams, cornerback,
dealing with a tibula. He's practiced all week.
Byron Young, who we already talked about, has
an unspecified injury. He's practiced all week.
Devonte Adams has a hamstring and it is practiced
all week. So they're healthy. I mean, I mean,
they had, I know that their one blip this season
was against the Panthers. That was one of the,
that was a big loss that they took that I don't
think they expected. to take an L in that game.
And I know one of the reasons was they were missing
one of their D linemen. I don't know. I can't
pronounce the name properly. If you have a bead
on this bill, please jump in. They have him back
now is the point. He's no longer injured. And
I think that was the name I was looking for on
the injury report. And it wasn't there. Can you
give me a hint on what position he plays? Oh,
Puna Ford. That's him. Yes. Thank you. So, yes,
I was looking for Puna Ford on that injury report
and he is no longer there. There's a big reason.
Yeah, there's a big reason why Carolina was able
to beat up on him with the run game. But that's
I think, you know, he's back. He's a big piece
to their run D. Yeah. So. So let's talk about
the Carolina game a minute, because that was
the last time the Rams lost. And here's what
Carolina did that the Lions could adopt to do
so. A, the Panthers ran the ball down their throat.
Now, as you mentioned, their nose tackle and
run stopper, Puna Ford, was out. Two, Stafford
has only had minimal turnovers this year, and
he had half of them in that game. So the two
interceptions that were thrown really hurt them
and were costly. And the Panthers played really
good special teams. So one more key to the Lions'
success, Obviously, they need to run the ball.
They need to get play action going and then I
might have to give a game ball if TK 85 can keep
on returning like he does. TK baby, get us good
field position. He is not fast, but he's quick
and under these new return zone or landing zone,
whatever we want to call it or address it. He's
exceptional at it. And I think he has found a
way out of the roster and I will tell you this.
Would we call him a landing zone kick return
specialist? Yes. Is that a new definition in
the league now for I think he probably is because
under the old rule, I don't think he was as good.
No, no. He's Jeff Chadwick, like Lions 1987.
There's a there's a name. All right. All right,
do we want to get on to Vegas or would you like
to do fantasy first? Why don't you start us off
with your Vegas and then I will bounce back and
forth the fantasy here. OK, so none of this is
good news. The line opened at minus four and
a half for the Lions. It's now up to six and
the money continues to pour in. Wait, minus four
and a half for the Lions or plus four and a half?
Lines are getting four and a half. They're getting
four and a half. Okay. Thank you. I thought that
was, I was like, wait, Vegas thinks we're going
to win by four and a half. No. Yeah. So the lines
are getting four and a half points and now it's
up to six. Yes. So it's a full touchdown over
under is it opened at 50 and 50 .5. Now it's
at 45 .5. And the money line opened at negative
110 for the Lions, same for the Rams. It's now
plus 205 for the Lions and negative 250 for the
Rams. The Sharps are putting their money on the
Rams. And I think the only way the Lions have
a shot in this is if it's like a 24, 22, 24,
20. 23 21 to be like a low scoring weird game
where You know, we get some red zone holds and
we have some bizarre things happen field goals
might need a little luck Here in there. I don't
see it. I don't see it bill. I'm taking the Rams
I'm taking the Rams given the points. I think
they got us by two touchdowns in this game if
they want to Hmm Sorry, not sorry We just don't
have the horses to compete with a team this hot
right now. I'm gonna take the under Okay, and
I'll take the Lions and the points on this. Really?
Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna go opposite you on this.
Okay. As far as fantasy goes, I have a strong
opinion for you to lead this off. What is it?
Why don't you lead off fantasy with your strong
opinion? Blake Corum and Kyron Williams, sit
them. Lions running is gonna not allow many touches
for those guys. I'll let you do your thing. I
think that's probably a good set. I think that's
probably a good set. But you know, I'm starting
any of the Rams receivers at this point of the
day. They typically, interestingly enough, Naku
is the guy they typically run like a two or three
tight end set. They have an odd deal here where
they're running a lot of tight ends to create
mismatches. I don't know. Maybe they don't really
play their new guy Ferguson much. He doesn't
get a lot of reps. So. I'm going with Puka, though.
If you got him, start him, let him rip. And I
think Stafford wants this pretty badly. I think
he could have a field day on us. I mean, if as
high as a Matthew Stafford can score in fantasy,
he will probably do it in this game. And per
our usual start, St. Brown and Gibbs, if you
have them. There's no question there. You should
start them both. What about JMo and Goff? JMo's
tough. Because we seem to have JMo games or not
so JMo games. He can disappear or he can put
up 150 in a touchdown or two. I'm not starting
golf. I don't think I'm starting golf in this
one, especially if they have to lean on the run.
I think I would just stick to our. good old tried
and true between Gibbs and Amon and stay away
from everybody else if you have better options.
If you don't have a better option than Jamo,
then play him. He's got a great chance of scoring.
It's just he's a little, little in between. He's
a little back and forth, you know, up and down.
That's my take though. All right. So I think
we've wrapped it up. I've got one final thought
on a more somber note. Thoughts and prayers go
out to the Palmer family as they're dealing with
an illness. With Brian Palmer and we're with
you, buddy. And with that, you know, the holidays
are upon us. No more important time to spend
time with loved ones. And with that, go Detroit
Lions. Go Lions.