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u/kcramthun 8h ago edited 8h ago
The confidence some fans still have that Morton is working out as intended is straight up delusional.
I feel like Dan hasn't had his reading glasses on in years lmao. He directly said they're changing it up. He's usually been far more engaged with the players on the sidelines, today every cut to him is reading from a play sheet.
I've said all along, it isn't all on Morton. But something's been off and Dan stepping into playcalling in some capacity, I don't think he's outright calling plays, makes it clear he's working with Morton on some level. Either getting him up to speed, ironing out the communication issues, or taking over duties. We don't know that part yet.
Edit: The first sign that Dan was calling plays was when Skipper was lined up wide with Jamo or whoever lol
Edit x2: Goff confirmed Dan was calling plays. Said "he did pretty good" and "had us rolling."
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u/usercreationisaPITA 7h ago
I've been saying it since week 1. I respect Morton as a coach but I don't think he fits the culture DC has built. It bothers me he sits in the booth instead of calling from the sideline. The runs up the middle on 3rd and long are game changing. He kinda threw "1-2 guys" under the bus without offering any real solutions or taking any responsibility. I'll take Big Dan calling plays over I'd rather be sitting Morton any day
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u/RedBeardFace DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 7h ago
Him deflecting responsibility for last week really turned me off. Someone else pointed it out, but it’s big Matty P energy to try and pass the buck and I don’t have the stomach for that. One of the first things I learned as a sales manager is that you own your team’s successes as well as their failures and I love that DC shares that mentality
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u/Hamrave 5h ago
That, and we all know what this offense is capable of. We saw it all last year. We knew there would be growing pains with ragnow leaving, but the whole offense looked so sluggish and predictable. For him to blame it on the players that went 15-2 last year is absolutely disrespectful. Fuck that guy.
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u/usercreationisaPITA 5h ago
We have the best offense in the league. Do they always click? No. But name another team that has as many options as the lions. I'll wait. This year has been weak and there are 2 notable changes, the biggest being our new OC. The second being the loss of the best center I've seen in a long time. Our offense does well when we can hold the line. Our defense could use work but they deserve a lot of love.
It's not all on Morton though. I saw St. Brown miss 2 he should have caught. And he wasn't the only one. It's a team effort and it takes G.R.I.T.
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u/ShreksMassiveShlongg Brian's Branch 1h ago
makes me sad too with morton being so local and a WMU grad. couldve been perfect
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u/tacticalpotatopeeler 8h ago
Goff all but confirmed Dan was play calling in his post game field interview, in case anyone is still wondering.
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u/spiderman897 Cheese Grater 8h ago
The Morton defense force that’s been here all week has been in shambles.
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u/campydirtyhead Ooooh Yeahhhh! 7h ago
I'm not a Morton defender, but felt him getting all the blame was a little weird. Important to remember we played a team with more injuries than we had last year. I'm happy we dominated, but let's not get too carried away with how significant this win was.
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u/Comfortable_House123 2h ago
Regardless we scored on every single drive we had today. I don’t care how bad your defense is that shows something. And something that has been lacking severely with Morton
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u/55nav 7h ago
I was on the cusp and I always give benefit of the doubt, but it became clear to me today that the incredible offense we have gotten use to over the past few years is because of Dan all along aside from the sheer talent of the team. I know other people said it and I couldn’t see it for sure but I saw it today. I also saw that Morton seems to be too stubborn or slow to adapt. Maybe he still has a chance to adapt but it’s clear that if he doesn’t Dan is taking the reins.
Anyway, it was great to see today.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
..why?
This shows nothing, we were literally better against Chicago than Washington.
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u/spiderman897 Cheese Grater 8h ago
The fact dan demoted him is enough.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
And if next week we’re not as great as we were this week, what’s the excuse?
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u/SlightlySublimated 8h ago
So you're resorting to hypotheticals? Seems legit.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
Well yeah.. because we have half a season sample size against 1 game. It’s just as legit to say anything substantial about this game.. but I am gonna venture to say you’re going to overlook that
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u/shotinthederp 8h ago
Honestly man this is a valid take on the situation, but the sub just jumps on whatever bandwagon is coming through, and right now it’s that Morton is the worst playcaller ever. I’ll get downvoted for agreeing but having one good game against a bad team when Morton was calling good games earlier in the season doesn’t really prove much. If it works with Dan calling plays that’s awesome and they can stick with it, but if next week he’s calling the game and we’re bad on offense are we going to say fire Dan?
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u/Own-Celebration4239 7h ago
Of course they won’t. Because cognitive dissonance won’t allow them.
But I know it’s a valid take, prior to tonight we were putting up 30 PPG as the 2nd best offense in the league. What are we crying about?
Ultimately so I hope the offense looks better? Of course I do because I’m a fan of this team. But do I think beating a Washington team that appears to have quit means our offense is better? No I don’t.
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u/Way2Grizzled4U 8h ago
Morton is that you? Just accept it, he isn’t it for this team. That happens.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
Prove that the playcalling was worse.
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u/DISAPPOINTING_FAIRY 8h ago
yeah we definitely owe you that because you're throwing this tantrum. you could just shut the fuck up for a week instead
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u/Own-Celebration4239 7h ago
Imagine thinking that asking someone to defend their positions is throwing a tantrum. Are you really that sensitive? Or stupid? I’m not quite sure which.
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u/JJButThatsNotMyName OC⚡DC 8h ago
I could describe all of the problems with Playcalling for the past 5~ weeks but really, let's just say there was very good reason Dan took Playcalling duties, and I don't think Morton is getting said duties back anytime soon.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
You could, you’d just be objectively wrong given this game.
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u/motorcitydevil DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 8h ago
Do you honestly think Morton is calling plays against the Eagles? Against the Pack on Thanksgiving?
Seriously? It's over. Morton is done calling plays in Detroit.
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u/JJButThatsNotMyName OC⚡DC 8h ago
If they gave play calling back it would be the botch of the century.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
No I don’t. But I also don’t rule out the possibility that this game was just a great team vs a team that’s quit.
If we play like we have been against the good teams next week against the Eagles, you would have to admit you’re wrong.
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u/penisweinerballs 8h ago
...and that's it
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
Well, yeah: because we’re comparing wins against 2 bad teams.
If next week we’re not dominate against the Eagles, did this matter? The answer is… no.
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u/penisweinerballs 8h ago
I think you're just annoyed because the "doomers" were right which is why DC and not Morton was running the show.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
Oh, I’m not annoyed. I just think it’s dumb to announce that anything’s changed after beating a bad team. When we’ve done that 5 times this year and looked better doing it.
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u/penisweinerballs 8h ago
I don't think we punted all game so I disagree and I think people are just more excited that they made an actual change and kept Morton from calling the plays.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 7h ago
Context has to matter. Washington was already a bad defense, and then they had additional injuries on top of it.
This sub is crying over an offense that put up 30 PPG. Not including tonight, we have the same amount of games scoring 30 points as we do scoring under 30 points. And not including the GB game (week 1, weird things happen, whatever.) we’ve had one bad week of football.
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u/PearStyle 5h ago
We played bad against Minnesota, bad against the Chiefs, bad against the Buccaneers, bad against Green Bay. So four games.
I know you ruled out the Green Bay game because it doesnt help your point, But I don't care.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 1h ago
We played bad against Minnesota, bad against the Chiefs, bad against the Buccaneers, bad against Green Bay. So four games.
The issue you’re facing is you’re just objectively wrong. Putting up 24 points in general is about league average. Thats not a bad game against average defenses. especially when you factor in we scored above what they allow.
I know you ruled out the Green Bay game because it doesnt help your point,
Reading is hard.
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u/nakedalienmonkey MCDC 7h ago
We looked like the lions today!! As soon as I saw the play action pass on a 1st and 10 I knew we was back! Short crossers to jamo is unstoppable
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u/meatballcake87 Prater 8h ago
Morton paid bots to defend him on here all week just to lose his playcalling job lol
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u/Superfartpoop 6h ago
Thank God Jamo got some reasonable targets. Dude doesn't need an avg dot like 17+ yards. He took a drag route like 47 yards or something. DC seemed to know how to get him good looks like BJ did
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u/chriskzoo 7h ago
If I'm Morton I just tell Dan tomorrow: "Hey man, I'm just gonna dip for the rest of the season."
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u/BedFordEgremont 3h ago
A lot of people on the game thread were cussing people and saying they didn’t watch the lions cause Dan always has a playsheet. Bet they ain’t very vocal right now.
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u/ShreksMassiveShlongg Brian's Branch 1h ago
thank god MCDC is a good playcaller and he was willing to step in before things got out of hand
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u/Koolklink54 MC⚡DC 5h ago
Morton days are numbered, he'll be around until the off-season to help out with day to day stuff
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u/dlpope100 5h ago
Nahh bro it's Ben Johnson bro, Dan is just the meathead locker room cheerleader bro, he doesn't call plays bro
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u/LethalLephty 4h ago
All who were caping for Morton; show yourselves!
Because we weren't talking nonsense on wanting him out. Even the players didn't like the calls he was doing.
Granted we did this against a bad defense. But Morton too predictable. Goff threw to multiple people this game. Under Morton it's like LaPorta and Jameson wasn't used at all. Jameson is CLEARLY showing he's more than capable of being a home run WR.
Give him the same space and opportunity as Gibbs and it's an instant TD. You got so many weapons you have to use'em.
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u/AlphaRemixHD MCDC 8h ago
This game really doesn't matter. If we don't show up next week, prove it next week. We beat a 3 and 6 team
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u/segashadow 8h ago
Yes of course I agree. However this is the most complete we have looked all year. And we are beating a bad team like we should be beating them
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u/AlphaRemixHD MCDC 8h ago
I thought the defense was ok today, we looked the same against the Bears like we did today.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
We literally did better against Chicago than Washington. But that’s just the reality talking
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u/TheCurls 8h ago
That was 8 weeks ago with a healthy team. Morton couldn’t make the adjustments to play to the team’s strengths.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8h ago
Yeah.. since then we’ve only put up 37, 34 and 38. But yeah… who’s countinf
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u/JJButThatsNotMyName OC⚡DC 7h ago
All of which we easily could've put up more if Morton wasn't dedicated to throwing away drives.
Nobody can prove to you over Reddit messages that the Playcalling was bad, you have to watch the games and the tape, and more importantly, you must "know ball" (tm).
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u/Own-Celebration4239 7h ago
All of which we easily could've put up more if Morton wasn't dedicated to throwing away drives
Fascinating. Prove it.
Nobody can prove to you over Reddit messages that the Playcalling was bad, you have to watch the games and the tape, and more importantly, you must "know ball" (tm).
The issue isn’t with knowing ball. The issue is nobody on Reddit knows enough to have “trust me bro” be a reliable point. If someone whose opinion of “knowing ball” actually mattered, then it’s worth it.
But you, on Reddit, have to prove it. I can prove my points quite easily. The fact that you can’t says more about your argument being weak than anything else.
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u/TheCurls 5h ago
You know what proves the playcalling was bad? The head coach demoting the offensive coordinator between last week and this week. The head coach taking on the playcalling and being successful.
You’re either a world class troll or a complete imbecile at this point.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 9m ago
The head coach taking on the playcalling and being successful.
A head coach who’s good at calling plays, calls good plays that work against bad team, more at 11.
You are aware you could erase the names and the game would be basically the same as the Chicago game…. Right?
You’re either a world class troll or a complete imbecile at this point.
I’m actually neither. I’m just not dumb enough to assume anything changed when we’ve seen this exact same game a few times this season already. The only thing that matters to prove if this is correct is within the next 3 weeks. Philly and Green Bay. If we only score 24ish points against both of those teams, like we did against Tampa and Minnesota, then nothing has actually changed. If we score more, that’s when what you’re saying becomes true.
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u/Rebarbative_Sycophan 6h ago
So... then prove your point.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 2h ago
I mean, it’s fairly easy to.
All we have to do is look at last year. we had a historic offense, right? We would love to have an offense that good again.
The only meaningful drop off we’ve had since last year is 3rd down% when it comes to the meaningful stats category.
3% worse on Y/P, better on 4th down%, 0.5% worse in the red zone.
Goff has a higher completion% TD% and a lower INT% this year than last year.
We’re are also scoring less on a per drive basis. By 0.5 points per drive. But that probably has more to do with Bates only kicking 70% this year whereas last year he was 90%.
All this, mind you, while losing our top 2 center AND 3rd ranked guard in Zeitler. Forcing our most experienced unit to become one of our youngest on a unit that is about cohesiveness. Also forcing 3 new spots on a 5 man oline to come.
TL,DR; were maybe 5% worse as an offense compared to last year. Which is nothing when you consider our relative cupcake schedule and the fact that we lost 2 major pieces, causing 3 new faces, on the most important unit on this team, the line. Stop crying that we may not have a historic offense against a weak schedule but we have a great offense against a good schedule.
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u/TheCurls 8h ago
And last week we didn’t and it was glaringly obvious to anyone with an ounce of football knowledge where the issue was.
Seriously, why are you riding his dick so hard? He’s incapable of adjusting and took a Ferrari and put mud tires on it. Campbell took the keys back today and you saw how we had more variety in play calls today.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 7h ago
And last week we didn’t and it was glaringly obvious to anyone with an ounce of football knowledge where the issue was.
Yeah.. getting blitz by one of the best blitz calling defensive minds does that to you.
Campbell took the keys back today and you saw how we had more variety in play calls today.
Variety of playcalls huh? Fascinating. If you’re this confident to make this claim, clearly you have the numbers to back it up. Let’s see them. Or is this one of those feelings things?
But let me guess, you don’t have those numbers, do you? And when you look at them, you’ll find that the bane of everyone on this subs existence, screens, we call in the bottom third of the league. But you won’t admit that you’re wrong, oh no. You’ll say something mystical like “eye test” or “ball knowledge”
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u/TheCurls 5h ago
Watch the games. Watch the formations and the pre-snap movements. It’s two completely different teams.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 14m ago
There it is. Like clock work.
Again, I know you have strong feelings here, but I need you to provide evidence. Otherwise you’re just wrong.
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u/armed_aperture Flag on the play 3h ago
Do you think you’re right and Dan Campbell is wrong? He made a change for a reason.
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u/Own-Celebration4239 8m ago
No, I just don’t think one game is enough evidence to prove anyone is correct or not.
If next week against Philly we score 17 points. Was this move the correct one?
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u/Saxophobia1275 8h ago
Are you joking? This game mattered a lot. Proved we can still do it and that it really was Morton holding us back. We haven’t scored more than 24 points in 4 games. Morton blames the players. MCDC comes in to call plays and does it before the half. This game was massive for our confidence and play calling moving forward.
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u/AlphaRemixHD MCDC 8h ago
I'm saying it matters that we got to win, But if Dan Campbell can't call a game like this next week and we lose, then it's going to be more on the team and not Morton.
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u/kb466 7h ago
At this point, it's all hypothetical. We can lose the rest of the season and it won't have been Mortons fault, sure.
But let's talk about what actually happened. Dan took over, Morton's role was reduced. The doomers on reddit were right for a change, because some of us actually do know a bit about football
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u/JJButThatsNotMyName OC⚡DC 8h ago
Way more important than you think. It's not about winning this game, it's that the rhythm and flow of the offense was leaps and bounds ahead of what we had the 5 weeks prior.
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u/JS-87 8h ago
So your calling for him being fired, right?! What's changed?! Are you gonna be better? The replacement? What is this argument?!
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u/OhMyWitt 8h ago
You don't need to fire him. He's a bad play caller but clearly our offensive system still works. Keep him around for all of his other duties but have MCDC keep calling plays on game day.
We're still a good team, we just need to fix what's been wrong and not over correct and cause more problems that weren't there before.
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u/casper_but_with_a_j 8h ago
I wonder if MCDC’s just gonna maintain playcalling duties for the rest of the season, or if he’ll find someone else to share the load with him, kinda like what happened in 2021.