The Lions held on to beat the Packers 37-30 on Sunday. With the win, the Lions improved to 3-13-1 on the year, ceding the No. 1 overall pick to the Jaguars. 
The Jaguars also managed to close out their year with a win, upsetting the Colts 26-11. They get the best of all worlds, putting their division rival in jeopardy of missing the playoffs and closing the year with a win, all while retaining the top overall selection. They’ve also extended their home winning streak against the Colts, beating Indy in six straight Jacksonville games.
The early slate of Sunday games also saw the Titans clinch the No. 1 seed while the Bengals slipped in the AFC pecking order, potentially putting them on track to face the Patriots.
The Jaguars are in need of offensive line and edge help. Fortunately for them, this year’s class offers several high-profile options in both areas. Alabama tackle Evan Neal, who measures in at 6’7″ and 350 pounds, would go a long way towards protecting Trevor Lawrence. On the other side of the ball, defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (Oregon) are squarely in the conversation.
that’s so Lions
They were already picking 2nd after beating Arizona. Technically they could have moved to first with the Jags winning if they lost but the chances of the Jags winning was pretty remote.
Either way in this draft it’s not like there is a consensus number 1 pick or game changing QB to be taken.
True. But I do think the Jaguars and Lions have similar primary areas of need, namely both lines.
The Lions O Line, when healthy, is one of the few bright spots. The will go edge with the 2nd pick. If the Jags go LT it will be like the Lions picking 1st.
Does anyone actually think having the first overall draft pick is going to instantly make either the Jags or Lions competitive? Neither team is in the market (and it’s apparently a weak market) for a franchise QB so trading down would be the better approach.
Maybe but it could be costly is Hutchinson is the next Watt-esqe player and Thibodeaux is a bust. Lions were stupid to win that game once GB took the lead in the 4th playing their scrubs. That’s why Detroit is always going to be Detroit.
i mean, what if the opposite ends up being true? anything could happen, but you hold all the marbles picking #1.
Perfect example, In 1988 GB headed into week 17 with the #1 pick and only needed to lose to hold onto it. They beat the Phoenix Cardinals and ended up with #2.
Dallas Cowboys took Troy Aikman at #1
Green Bay took Tony Mandarich at #2
You may think both teams stink and who cares about 1 draft place. That’s why it matters. If GB loses that game they never get Favre, likely Rodgers and who knows how those franchises turn out.
This draft doesn’t have the franchise QB that Aikman was but what if whoever goes #1 ends up being a HOFer and #2 a bust….all because you wanted to beat your rivals scrubs?
Aikman got a ring with the team that drafted him but only 3 other 1st overalls have done that in the past 40 years. Eli Manning was originally drafted by the Chargers so we have to exclude him. Clearly the value of picking first is overrated.
Rings are a team won award. Better measuring stick would be how many #1s became HOFers vs #2s. I honestly don’t know the answer but would be interesting to see.
@afsooner: Teams draft players with the aim of winning rings not finding HOFs. The Bears have more HOFs than any team but getting those rings has been a lot harder.
@afsooner: There’s also drafts where the #2 player was way better than the #1. 1994 with Dan Wilkinson and Marshall Faulk. 1995 with Ki-Jana Carter and Tony Boselli. 1999 with Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb. Etc. In drafts where there’s no runaway consensus for #1, it’s still a crapshoot between #1 and #2.
Never said there wasn’t. It’s about options.
But in all of those cases, whoever drafted first had the opportunity to take those guys and didn’t for whatever reason. That is on them then. By winning a pointless game Detroit now will not have the option on 1 player that could have been a game changer. Jacksonville has the availability of every player listed. Also if they choose to trade down, they have the most value with their pick. Both teams could def use a lot more picks if they chose Togo that route.
The Lions lose and they get blasted. The Lions win and they get blasted. Just can’t win for losing with some you.
So the Jags get to decide between 200 players and Detroit gets to decide between 199. It’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be.
Since we’re talking about the Lions, why not bring up the ‘07 draft? Raiders take JaMarcus Russell at 1, Lions get Calvin Johnson at 2.
In the modern era of NFL, 1970-present, the Lions have had the #1 pick twice. They took Billy Sims in 1980 and Matthew Stafford in 2009.
I’d say both of those worked out pretty darn well. Billy was on his way to the HOF until a nasty injury cut short his career.
Stafford was the best QB they’ve ever had but wasted him and is now flourishing in LA.
Thanks for proving my point.
Bobby Layne wants a word. No one proved your point. You’re just cherry picking what happens to fit your argument. Anthony Munoz was taken third in 1980 and IS a HOF’er. So…*shrugs*
As much hate as the Lions get on here, I was merely pointing out they’ve only had the first overall pick twice since 1970; only 4-5 times in their history. Just an FYI, nothing more.
The three subsequent picks after Mandarich were Barry, Derrick Thomas, and Deion: each of whom are hall-of-famers. Thus, it was not having the second overall pick that doomed Green Bay, but their player evaluation and Mandarich’s lack of desire to improve.
No player is going to purposely lose. They’re fighting for their jobs. Stop nitpicking over such a meaningless event
Amen. Criticizing a team for winning, especially against a division rival, is pointless. As you note, players are playing for their job and won’t be interested in playing for a team that bails on them. Also, the Lions already had the 2nd pick. It’s not like they dropped from 1-2 by winning the last game.
If I’m the Jags, I take Neal #1. Sure it doesn’t instantly make them competitive, but protecting Lawrence should be priority one. It’s going to be baby steps.
The Lions are 100% in the market for a franchise QB. That comment shows that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Well, they may be in the market for one, but right now, there is no QB that would even be close to a consensus #1
There is no way they take a QB with their 1st pick. They are satisfied with Goff for the near term and the QBs in this draft are lottery tickets at best. They’ll likely take one with the Rams’ pick if a top one drops to them. Otherwise the best bet is DE with #2 & a WR with Rams pick.
The Steelers say “thanks, Jags!”
Indeed. But all the same the Steelers earned that win today, and that’s not something I can say about all of their wins this year. Ugly game, like most Steeler-Raven games are, but I think the Steelers were a little less injured, and had a mostly solid Ben over an inexperienced Huntley ( no knock in Tyler at all, he’s impressive).
Harbaugh really screwed up the Ravens this year with that questionable call the last time the two played and went for the 2pt conversion instead of trying to go into overtime.
He did that four or five times in my opinion; a couple of them worked, including once today, but still. You have the greatest field goal kicker ever, but apparently that isn’t macho enough for Harbaugh I guess.
The Jaguars are in need of offensive line and edge help. And linebacker and secondary help. And kicking help. And coaching help. And ownership help. And very definitely uniform help (done correctly, teal and gold could be amazing. It isn’t)
I like their uniforms, but I can’t argue against anything else you said.
Something about the Jags’ uniforms has always seemed “off” to me. I can’t quite explain it. Maybe there are just too many things going on at once. I’m a Steeler fan, I guess I like simplicity in my uniform design (but bring back the 90s era block numbering!)
That’s fair. I like the boldness of the Jag’s uniforms. The only complaint I’ve ever had was the black/gold fade on the helmet because the logo wasn’t clear.
They hopefully will look to trade down. They have so many holes that one player isn’t going to improve them much.
I agree that would make sense. The problem is, you have to have someone else who wants to take up. An there isn’t that one guy like a Trevor Lawrence who teams might obviously be trading up to the top spot for. A whole lot can change between now and then of course.
The Lions options will be just fine.
Last I read, winning the game was the purpose of playing the game
It never ceases to amaze me how many non-Lions fans on here concern themselves and have an opinion on what Detroit does.
The Jets lost the #1 cause they stopped the Jags on the goal line final play 3 weeks ago