OFFICIAL: The Shaun Hill Starship

Originally posted by mcbaes72:
Couldn't keep him as our back up. Carr, a proven bust, has much more potential. Sometimes, I wonder WTF our coaching staff is thinking.

Originally posted by Chief:
Looks like he gets 8 weeks to prove once again he is a solid QB... He has proved FAR more than Alex Smith, look at career stats, wins/losses.

Originally posted by foreign49er:
Nice. He essentially came back and led them to a win last week, hoping he has a good few weeks until Stafford gets back.

Originally posted by mcbaes72:
Couldn't keep him as our back up. Carr, a proven bust, has much more potential. Sometimes, I wonder WTF our coaching staff is thinking.

Quote:
The Lions insist that their offensive game plan for their home opener Sunday against the Eagles would be the same whether it was Matthew Stafford or Shaun Hill at quarterback.

But the fact is, Stafford has a second degree separation in his right shoulder and Hill is starting; and to suggest that Hill has the same laser delivery, the same ability to stretch a defense vertically would be ridiculous.

"Nothing changes," offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. "Shaun has a gift of making everything work. His background in this system with me helps him as does the fact that he's been here through the summer and through preseason adjusting to working with these guys here. He's very comfortable in what we're doing. This isn't his first rodeo."

Nobody is doubting his savvy and experience. Hill played in Linehan's system for three years in Minnesota before going to start 16 games for San Francisco. His .625 winning percentage is still the third highest in 49ers history. So, yes, he knows the system.

"Shaun's got a lot of trust in that locker room," head coach Jim Schwartz said. "They know what kind of quarterback he is and I think the players respect him."

There's no question about that, either.

Listen to center Dominic Raiola: "Shaun is more than capable. He's started in this league. He's played in big games in San Francisco and he's won. You never want to see anybody get hurt, especially not a franchise talent like Matthew, but in this position, there's no better guy to have back there than Shaun."

It also helps that this is Week 2, and Hill hasn't had to sit on the shelf and run scout teams for several weeks. As Linehan said, he's had active duty running the offense from the summer through preseason. Plus, he played the entire second half against the Bears Sunday and engineered what looked like a game-winning drive to everybody except the game and video replay officials.

"The more experience you have the better off you will be; that certainly helps," Hill said. "It also helps that I've played in the opener the last three seasons. This will be my fourth straight. And I am only a week away from running our offense all week in practice instead of the other teams' -- all of those things are beneficial for the situation we're in."

Experience, football IQ, leadership, teammates' trust, Hill has all of that. What he doesn't have, though, is Stafford's arm strength.

"There aren't many people who throw the ball like Matthew, from a velocity standpoint," Linehan said. "But Shaun gets it done in a different way while running the same plays."

We'll see about that. Perhaps the Lions ought to take receiver Nate Burleson's suggestion.

"If anything maybe become a little more aggressive," he said. "Go out there and throw the ball and do what people don't expect you to do. People may say, 'Oh, you have your No. 2 quarterback in and you might try to run a little more.' But I say give Shaun free rein and let him do what he does best, and that's throw the football."

SERIES HISTORY: 28th regular-season meeting. Eagles lead series 13-12-2. Detroit has lost the last five. The last time the Eagles came to Ford Field, they laid a 30-13 beating on the Lions. It was worse the last time the Lions traveled to Philly - that was 2007 and the Eagles won that one 56-21. The Lions haven't beaten the Eagles since 1986.

Originally posted by mrbusinessman499:
I bet a couple hundred dollers on this game I took the lions to finally win a game vs the eagles

Originally posted by Chief:
Looks like he gets 8 weeks to prove once again he is a solid QB... He has proved FAR more than Alex Smith, look at career stats, wins/losses.