Nincompoop of the Week: Week 3, 2022

It was a wild win on Sunday. The team started off very poorly, came back and then let the Lions build up another big lead. There were mistakes all around on both teams and I’ll highlight a few.

Greg Joseph

Greg is fully capable of making the kicks he missed on Sunday. He had been perfect so far this year coming into the game. However, he missed both the field goal attempts and that could’ve cost the team the game. They were long kicks, but makable ones. It gave the Lions good field position and cost the team six points directly. Greg, your kicking was nincompoopish.

Dan Campbell

The Lions were up by 10 in the 4^th quarter. Most teams with that kind of lead will try to run the clock out and shorten the game as much as possible. Dan Campbell seemed to be content extending the game as much as possible. He made no attempt to maintain the lead. The Lions turned the ball over on downs twice in the game. The worst was probably when the Lions possessed the ball with just under two and a half minutes remaining. Instead of running they attempted a pass that stopped the clock. They also called timeout during the Vikings’ two minute drive at the end and made it even more comfortable for Kirk to work his magic. The Vikings were rushing to the line and likely going to spike the ball. Dan called a timeout before Kirk even got close to the line of scrimmage to snap it. Even if he wanted a TO there, he should’ve waited until Kirk was close. It ended up not mattering because Osborn connected on the long TD the next play, but adding on time for a team that is down with less than a minute made no sense. Dan had many Lions thinking he was a nincompoop after that time management.

Irv Smith Jr.

Is Irv Smith ever going to improve? He has the hands of Troy Williamson and is about as sharp as a bowl of Jello. He is proving to be a waste of a roster spot and I don’t know why the coaching staff is sticking with him. Irv, you nincompoop, do something please.

Mr. Gates and all the Giver-Uppers

Every time things start to go a little wrong, fans online start to give up on the game and assume the loss is coming. There were plenty of those on Sunday. The calls for game over started in the 1^st quarter and quelled when the Vikings tied it up before half. They were roaring late in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters. Usually Chris is not one of these people, but he did call it early. When the Lions got a first down with 2:24 left in the game Chris tweeted “Ball game.” Well, Chris, that was a tweet a nincompoop might type. (Please don’t fire me.)