This is The Litterbox, a Detroit Lions podcast
with your hosts, Chet West and Bill Patterson.
Detroit Lions Litterbox listeners, welcome to
the Detroit Lions Litterbox with your hosts,
Billy P and Chet West. Chet, I'm going to kick
things off. The Detroit Lions have their final
home game this year at Ford Field. They are seven
point favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers,
whom they have not beaten since 1998. That is
a shocking stat. I had no idea. Chet, ESPN just
ran 5 ,000 simulations for this game and settled
on a Lions 47 to 10 victory. I don't share that
confidence. What do you think about this upcoming
game? I don't think it's gonna be a 47 to 10
victory. It could be, but it depends on who we
see on the defensive side of the ball for the
Lions. I don't have a lot of doubt that we can
put numbers up. I think we can put numbers up.
I think we at least put 30 points on the board.
Knock on wood, because we don't want that to
come back to haunt us. But I think we can at
least put 30 points up on the board against the
Steelers. Our defense, I think we're treading
into that we could probably lose or we could
probably get beat up by almost any offense in
the field. So if your Steelers O scare you at
all question, if that answers that for you at
all, yeah, every offense scares me. With this
defense that we currently are rolling out there,
every offense scares me. So I agree that I don't
think it's gonna be that much of a blowout, but
the Lions do have the number one offense in the
league They faced a very formidable defense last
week in the Rams and still put up 34 put up 34
So here are the keys if the Steelers were to
upset the Lions, I think they're gonna have to
control the clock They're gonna have to run the
ball down the Lions throats. So you're gonna
see a combination of Jalen Warren Kenneth Gainwell
and then DK met gaff breaking open deep. However,
I think that's asking a lot. That is what the
Steelers did last Monday night against the Dolphins
in basically the second, third and start to the
fourth quarter. They put together some really
good looking drives. They were even running RPO
with Aaron Rodgers at age 41 or 42. I just think
they're going to struggle. And here's why. Hutch
is going up against a rookie left tackle and
Hutch feasts on backup or inexperienced tackles.
So I think the Steelers offensive line is in
worse shape than the Lions offensive line. And
that I think is going to be the key to this ball
game is that we're going to see Hutch earn his
money this week and play a whale. So you think
this is going to be the typical Lions get healthy
game. It's like every other game, right? They
lose, then they come back and get healthy and
we feel great about them. Then they lose and
then they come back and get healthy and we feel
great about them. I agree with you to some extent.
I think they could beat the Steelers pretty badly
here. Again, I just don't trust our defense.
And when you have a guy like DK Metcalf out there,
we saw what Nakua did to us last week. Granted,
you've got Aaron Rodgers, old man Rodgers throwing
the ball. You've got a Steelers O -line that's
beat up. That Rams O -line was very, very good.
If you go back and watch that game film. We didn't
have pressure. We didn't. We couldn't find our
way to Matt. And when we could, we caused a little
havoc. He made a lot of bad decisions in the
first half, but they tightened that up real quick.
So I don't see the Steelers being able to do
that. I may talk myself out of being scared of
this game, but at this point, I'm scared of all
offenses. DK Metcalf could literally send us
into a nightmare spiral. Well, something that
bothered me about Kelvin Shepard's presser this
week, Chet, was that he said that He didn't think
that the Rams ran the ball with authority on
the Lions, save for a couple of plays. That's
interesting. Which was not the same game that
you and I watched. I feel like they didn't need
to. They were constantly in first or second down.
At one point, it felt like Stafford was just
slinging balls to Nakua and Devante. And it was
like we never even saw a third down in the running
game when they had to. Gow just did. Kyron Williams
had his way with us and so did Blake quorum.
Yeah quorum had his way with I don't I don't
see that at all Neither do I so if the Steelers
are gonna win this game on defense They're gonna
have to apply pressure up the middle which has
been the Lions kryptonite all season take a page
from the Vikings game where Brian Flores just
blitzed it up the middle, time and time again,
confused Glasgow, confused the rookie guards,
and then dominate time of possession in the clock,
maybe win the turnover battle. And that's the
Steelers game plan. How old are these teams are
eight and six, and the Steelers are coming out
to win. They're not, they're not going to just
lay down. This isn't a four and eight Steelers
team right now, or six and eight Steelers team.
Ready to pack it up for the season. They're trying
to get a playoff spot. The Steelers never pack
it up. They made the playoff spot. No, not like
Zaron Rodgers. Yeah, like 15 years in a row or
something. How the Lions win at Chet, I do think
the Steelers are beat up at some very key positions.
Both tackles are backups. So we talked about
that and then... The outside linebacker opposite
Highsmith is a question mark right now. So I
think Amon St. Brown and or Jamo could have a
field day. This is one of those games chat that
I wish Sam Laporta was playing. Yeah, I know.
I was just going to say we would have been good.
He would have been the difference maker, but
Gibbs in the slot or catching balls out of the
backfield. I feel like that could be a yes. That
could be something that I would like to see Gibbs
play that role in this game and Monte to play
the up the gut role in this game. I that's what
I would like to see them alternating those roles.
Gibbs can go out in the slot. He can go out for
the passes. Monte takes the takes the brunt of
the the. Vicious hits up the gut, grinds out
four or five yards every time he carries the
ball, Gibbs is out there wreaking havoc for the
linebacking corps and coverage mismatches and
whatnot. I like that a lot better. That's a great
game plan. Dan, do it. Do it, Dan. We know that
MCDC listens to our pod religiously. All the
time. I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it. Wakes up
in the morning looking for a new episode. No,
no. Holly, his wife, is like, Dan, stop. The
cold -pressed coffee, you gotta listen to the
litter box first. I'm gonna go out on a limb
and say we're not even in his sphere anywhere.
He doesn't even know it. We're in two different
dimensions, Bill. At any rate, I do like the
idea of getting Gibbs lined up in that mismatch
situation there, and I'd like to see them do
that a little more. And of course, everybody
wants to see Monte run the ball a little more.
We're all worried about his well -being at this
point. Utilization. He hasn't been utilized nearly
enough. So why don't you give us your fantasy
picks to click, and then I'll get the injury
report up and ready. All right. So here's who
I'm going with. I'm going to give you an obvious
play for the Steelers. If you're taking anybody
from the Steelers, if you're going to take...
a fantasy player from the Steelers. It's got
to be Metcalf, in my opinion. He's really the
only guy on that team that's going to do a ton
of damage. Jalen Warren is like the 26th rank
running back in fantasy right now. OK, that's
not terrible. He could do some damage. So if
you have Jalen Warren, you could play Jalen Warren.
Just beware. This could be one of those games
where all of a sudden, Alim McNeil and DJ Reeder
and Tylek Williams all show up and look great.
So careful, careful there with Jalen. But if
you don't have a better option, start them. A
guy that could be a sneak play, if you need a
fill in, could be like a Calvin Austin at wide
receiver for the Steelers. Go ahead and play
him if you need it, if you need it. Other side
of the ball, the same cast of characters. We're
not going to get fancy with this. It's going
to be Gibbs. It's going to be Amon Ra. J and
J Mo is in there too as a play, but my sneak
play for the Lions You've probably been benching
him to some degree this season Monte I think
they're gonna force the Monte issue in this game
I think they're gonna force Monte and I think
he's gonna get a game. I think he's gonna get
a good game So if you've got him and you know
again, if you've got an elite running back Don't
start him ahead of an elite running back But
if you've got him and you need a running back
put Monte in there. Alright good good recap and
I agree with what Everything you said because
I'm in a but you know in a position of weakness
now after saying the Rams running backs wouldn't
feast on the Lions team exactly You've got a
you've got to sit quiet for a week. Yeah, you're
in the penalty box for one week exactly five
-minute major Let's move over to injury report
starting with the Lions Graham Glasgow has not
practiced thus far this week neither is Kirby
Joseph I don't know that that's a bad thing the
Joseph news is bad that knees just not getting
healthy, but Glasgow not playing doesn't Worrying
me terribly because Tristan Cologne is back Taylor
Decker actually practiced yesterday for the first
time since September Giovanni Manu is back Amik
Robertson is back Coyote Awasika is back Thomas
Harper is back Christian mahogany is back and
Sione Vake is still on the injured list with
that hand But he's always practicing. Did you
see that Arthur mallet is gone by the way? Yeah,
he signed with the Titans. Yeah The Titans grabbed
him. So we'll never see Mollet on the field again
for us. Well, this season. How do you feel about
that? I'm good with it. I'm fine. Moving along.
Please continue your injury report. That's it
for the line. So we're getting healthier. All
right, the right time and shortening up that
used to take about two minutes to do that. So
that's good. That's it. I'm done. I'm in. The
good news is the offensive line. We now have
strength and reinforcement. All right. OK, OK.
Let's go over to the other side of the ball.
Aaron Rodgers is dealing with a left wrist injury.
He's still practicing, so I don't see anything
there. A wide receiver who I'm not familiar with,
Ben Skowarnek. has an illness and a hand injury.
So who knows what's going on with that, but he's
been limited. And here's where it gets interesting.
So the back half, you've got all sorts of injuries.
Jubil Preppers is also dealing with an injury,
has not been practicing. James Pierre is dealing
with a calf injury. He has not been playing.
He's a cornerback. And then the big one is TJ
Watt. They're all everything edge rusher. Had
a collapsed lung and obviously is not practicing.
We don't know enough at the time of this recording
whether he'll play or not, Chet. But let's hope
he doesn't because he is a difference maker when
he's on the field. Okay. Also, we've got a couple
other defensive injuries. Nick Herbig is dealing
with a hammy. He is not practiced. And then we
also have three defensive tackles, Chet. Keenow?
Benton is a defensive tackle. Cameron Hayward
is a defensive tackle and Derek Harman is a defensive
tackle. They are all dealing with minor to major
lower body injuries. They'll probably play. Well,
here's the thing. Benton and Hayward have not
practiced yet this week. Harman looks good to
go. And then on the offensive line, Andreas Pete
Isaac Simalo and the center Zach Frazier. So
that's both starting guards and your center all
have been limited or not practicing this week
as well. So they're dinged up and their defense
sounds dinged up. Yes. I mean, no TJ Watts obviously
going to be huge if he doesn't play. Yes. K word
is a good defensive line. If he doesn't play,
that's a problem. So we've got a, you know, we've
got a Gimpy Steelers defense that we're going
to go up against. What do you have for your,
let's do a prediction, Bill, coming off of all
that information. What are your thoughts? I'm
going to go 31 -10 Detroit Lions. 31 to 10 Detroit
Lions. Okay. Okay. And the simulation from ESPN
was, what was it again? 47 to 10. They ran it
5 ,000 times. You're going 31 -10. Okay. I'm
going to go 41 17 lions. Ooh, I like it. All
right. And so they're going to cover the seven
and it's going to go over. And I think it's going
to be like a late touchdown that takes it over
probably maybe something like that. Coleslaw
maybe in the end zone. Maybe just like a finisher,
if you will. A finisher off. Or it may be the
Steelers just like, you know, get a late dirty
touchdown, but I think it's just barely going
to go over. All right, Bill, that is our preview
for the Lions Steelers is a big one, folks. Both
teams, eight and six. Both teams still in the
playoff hunt. Both teams still fighting for their
for their twenty twenty five postseason lives.
Every game matters from here on out. This is
the start of a three game stretch for the Lions.
They need them all in the end if. If they drop
one, I guess this would be the one to drop, but
we really can't drop any. They can't drop any
at this point. They can't drop any. So folks,
we got another afternoon start time Sunday. 325.
You know. 425. You know is my favorite time slot.
Let's hope for a little bit better result this
week. I have a feeling from what I was seeing,
a lot of our games have these later time slots
of the next three. So that I'm assuming the Bears
game will have a late time slot in January. We'll
see. It hasn't been announced, but yes. But I'm
again, you do the game at three twenty five,
you spin it into a cocktail, you spin it into
dinner and your night's all set. And if the Lions
win, feels a lot better. All right. I'm going
to throw you a quick curveball as we depart.
OK, I am coming hot into this game Sunday with
my parents. fresh from the Music Box's annual
White Christmas sing -a -long. That sounds lovely.
A holiday tradition unlike many others. Unlike
any other. Like many others, yes. It's unlike
many others. Anyhow, just think of me listeners.
Go Lions, Honolulu Blue and Silver. Enjoy. Go
Lions.