1991 Lions and favorite overachievers
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:33 pm
Are they the best team Detroit has had in the past 30 years? This certainly is the closest they've come to making a Super Bowl in that same time period. Not that they really even had a chance vs the Redskins...but they got to the precipice of it somehow.
They really weren't a traditional 12-4 team in any way. Not close. In a fortunate year they could've gone 9-7...maybe 10-6 if they're especially lucky. But 12-4 is pretty darn hard to luck into with an overall roster this unimpressive. I've seen similar teams go 7-9 or 8-8. Maybe even a bit worse in the 6-10 or 5-11 realm if they don't get good injury luck and play a tough sched.
Average offense with one all time great who they relied heavily on. A fairly pedestrian defense in every way. They were top 10 in takeaways which helps, and had very good special teams with kick/punt returns as Mel Gray gave them the best starting field position in the league. Nice little advantage to have. Perriman-Robert Clark-Willie Green were average. Rookie Herman Moore was still not there yet in terms of becoming a force. Not much of a pass rush at all. They had a decent corner in Ray Crockett, Jerry Ball had a great year at nose tackle. Spielman was an excellent player, Bennie Blades a good safety. They D as a whole seemed to be very bend but not break with nobody really scaring you. Kramer and Peter were middling. They weren't asked to win games with their arm...they didn't hurt the team and gag up games either. It helped that they were able to spread the ball around a bit as 5 different guys had 39 or more catches
It's amazing how much went right for them that season. They stayed healthy, they got to play a horrible Packers team twice that was still finding its way (Ron Wolf was hired in November of 1991) they got the 1-15 Colts, the totally bottoming out Rams at the end of the Robinson era, the mired in misery Bucs (who they split with) A Bills team late in the season that had nothing to play for (Detroit won in OT)
Still they beat a fast rising Cowboys team TWICE that year, and a Dolphins team that was 12-4 the year before. Fwiw those two Cowboy wins...Detroit won the turnover battle a combined 8-0. Washington and San Fran absolutely annihilated them though
Loved Wayne Fontes too. He always looked so flustered, beleaguered on the sideline, yet I got the feeling that the team really loved the guy and went all out for him. Especially future years when his back was against the wall
What are some of your favorite overachievers?
They really weren't a traditional 12-4 team in any way. Not close. In a fortunate year they could've gone 9-7...maybe 10-6 if they're especially lucky. But 12-4 is pretty darn hard to luck into with an overall roster this unimpressive. I've seen similar teams go 7-9 or 8-8. Maybe even a bit worse in the 6-10 or 5-11 realm if they don't get good injury luck and play a tough sched.
Average offense with one all time great who they relied heavily on. A fairly pedestrian defense in every way. They were top 10 in takeaways which helps, and had very good special teams with kick/punt returns as Mel Gray gave them the best starting field position in the league. Nice little advantage to have. Perriman-Robert Clark-Willie Green were average. Rookie Herman Moore was still not there yet in terms of becoming a force. Not much of a pass rush at all. They had a decent corner in Ray Crockett, Jerry Ball had a great year at nose tackle. Spielman was an excellent player, Bennie Blades a good safety. They D as a whole seemed to be very bend but not break with nobody really scaring you. Kramer and Peter were middling. They weren't asked to win games with their arm...they didn't hurt the team and gag up games either. It helped that they were able to spread the ball around a bit as 5 different guys had 39 or more catches
It's amazing how much went right for them that season. They stayed healthy, they got to play a horrible Packers team twice that was still finding its way (Ron Wolf was hired in November of 1991) they got the 1-15 Colts, the totally bottoming out Rams at the end of the Robinson era, the mired in misery Bucs (who they split with) A Bills team late in the season that had nothing to play for (Detroit won in OT)
Still they beat a fast rising Cowboys team TWICE that year, and a Dolphins team that was 12-4 the year before. Fwiw those two Cowboy wins...Detroit won the turnover battle a combined 8-0. Washington and San Fran absolutely annihilated them though
Loved Wayne Fontes too. He always looked so flustered, beleaguered on the sideline, yet I got the feeling that the team really loved the guy and went all out for him. Especially future years when his back was against the wall
What are some of your favorite overachievers?