Lions

I have few illusions that the Detroit Lions are a playoff-calibre team. I have few illusions that they will be better than a .500 team on the season. However, with that being said, I am getting frustrated that they, according to nearly every article I read, don't seem capable of winning a game. Instead, all the articles talk about how the team they played lost the game.

As of right now, the Lions are 5-2 on the season. They are in second place in their division behind Green Bay and, if the Packers lose tonight, could be tied for first. Yet it seems to be consensus among sports writers that this is totally accidental.

I had a teacher in high school who always used to say, "The winning team doesn't win, the losing team loses." What he meant by that was, through lack of discipline, not following the game play, inability to change tactics, the losing team provides the other team with the victory. And, I guess, sports writers across America agree with him when it comes to the Lions.

My counterargument to him, and we got into some great discussions, was that the winning team also wins. And by that I meant that the winning team has to train well, prepare assiduously, and take advantage of the foibles the other team has. I argued that it didn't matter if the other team fumbled the ball or threw an interception if the team that took over the ball couldn't move it or fumbled it right back. We've all seen games in various sports where a team seemed reluctant to win-- they didn't have the instinct to squash their opponent, they couldn't get a score, both kept giving the ball to the other team via take aways, on downs, or whatever.

As of right this moment, the Lions are leading the league in Take Aways. Every Sunday morning you hear from the pundits that Take Aways are one of the most important stats of the game-- yet somehow it seems that it is the opponent's fault rather than the Lions hustle and defense that caused all those turnovers, if you believe the writers. The Lions lead the league in Sacks, another supposedly important statistic, but it is apparently the quarterback's inability to play the game which is the reason, not the Lions' pressure from the front four or timely blitzes from the corners.

The Lions are in the top half of the league in offense, which isn't too shabby. They are 11th in points scored per game average. Their attack is improving almost every game, even if they are giving up a ton of sacks (I believe they are leading the league in sacks allowed, too). They have their starting RB back from injury and he is starting to post pretty decent numbers and take some pressure off the QB. They have beaten the defending NFC representative to the Super Bowl last year 2-0 on very good games. They beat a much-improved Tampa Bay team that is only a half game out of first place in its division. Yes, they lost two stinkers to the Eagles and Redskins-- but those are teams that were expecting to be in the hunt for a Super Bowl this season and are only 3-4 and 4-3 respectively.

Again, I'm not trying to proclaim the Lions are a force to be reckoned with, nor that they are going to make the playoffs. Their remaining games only have three strong candidates for victories:

Broncos
Cardinals (A)
Giants
Packers
Vikings (A)
Cowboys
Chargers (A)
Chiefs
Packers (A)

I would argue that the Lions have a decent shot at beating the Cardinals, Vikings, and Chiefs. If the bad Giants team shows up, they could get an unexpected win, and they may split the two games against the Packers. So they have a legitimate shot at 8-8. There is even a chance, playing at home, that they could surprise the Broncos, who have been very up and down this season. But you have to assume the Cowboys and Chargers will take care of business, and that the Packers will at least win their home game. I'm assuming the Broncos and Giants will come prepared to play well.

So, in the end, it sure would be nice if the Lions could get a little credit for what they have accomplished so far this season. They are playing well, have more wins than all of last season (5 vs 3 last year), and doing some good things as a team. Can at least one major sports writer give them what they are due?