http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...7/01/08/detroit-lions-playoffs-loss/96320304/
Detroit Lions' season got tough but the team didn't
Loss to Seahawks shows Lions don’t belong in the upper echelon; not much talent beyond QB, punter, kicker, DBs
Maybe the Detroit Lions should stop using the word “fans” and start using the word “customers.’’ It might help them understand the level of frustration around here.
“Fans” suggests emotional supporters, drawn to worship teams as if they were legendary warriors going on missions that the weak can’t understand.
Nonsense. Pro football is entertainment. The customers pay for it. It’s not their patriotic duty. If they don’t like it, they can walk away.
Which is how folks around Detroit feel way too often in January. Plenty felt it Saturday night, after the Lions melted down in Seattle in the wild-card round, losing their biggest game of the season by 20 points. They looked, quite simply, like they don’t belong in the upper echelon.
Which they don’t. The Lions won nine games. That’s not easy and should be respected. But it’s also one win better than .500, and that’s average, and average is nothing to shout about. Especially when your best football disappears at the end.
The season got tough. The Lions didn’t.
Jim Caldwell talks about winning “quarters” of the schedule? His team effectively lost the entire last quarter. Four straight losses to the four toughest teams they faced. And after not losing any game by more than a touchdown, three of their last four defeats were by double digits.
“It’s a make plays or don’t make plays league,” Matthew Stafford told the media after the loss. “And we didn’t make them.”
Detroit’s wheels came off on the biggest stage. Penalties, dropped passes, questionable play-calling and a soft gut against the run left them scowling en route to a 26-6 defeat.
Even Al Michaels from NBC said Lions fans “are sick of this.”
And he doesn’t even live here!
Detroit Lions' season got tough but the team didn't
Loss to Seahawks shows Lions don’t belong in the upper echelon; not much talent beyond QB, punter, kicker, DBs
Maybe the Detroit Lions should stop using the word “fans” and start using the word “customers.’’ It might help them understand the level of frustration around here.
“Fans” suggests emotional supporters, drawn to worship teams as if they were legendary warriors going on missions that the weak can’t understand.
Nonsense. Pro football is entertainment. The customers pay for it. It’s not their patriotic duty. If they don’t like it, they can walk away.
Which is how folks around Detroit feel way too often in January. Plenty felt it Saturday night, after the Lions melted down in Seattle in the wild-card round, losing their biggest game of the season by 20 points. They looked, quite simply, like they don’t belong in the upper echelon.
Which they don’t. The Lions won nine games. That’s not easy and should be respected. But it’s also one win better than .500, and that’s average, and average is nothing to shout about. Especially when your best football disappears at the end.
The season got tough. The Lions didn’t.
Jim Caldwell talks about winning “quarters” of the schedule? His team effectively lost the entire last quarter. Four straight losses to the four toughest teams they faced. And after not losing any game by more than a touchdown, three of their last four defeats were by double digits.
“It’s a make plays or don’t make plays league,” Matthew Stafford told the media after the loss. “And we didn’t make them.”
Detroit’s wheels came off on the biggest stage. Penalties, dropped passes, questionable play-calling and a soft gut against the run left them scowling en route to a 26-6 defeat.
Even Al Michaels from NBC said Lions fans “are sick of this.”
And he doesn’t even live here!
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