Lions, media and momentum...Bad combination
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by Oneflydude
Sometimes, life as a Detroit Lions fan can just flat out blow. Seeing a team that likes losing to under .500 teams can really take a toll on your nerves.
After the Lions struggled to top the Arizona Cardinals, I've now
questioned if the Lions are taking this thing called "the Playoffs"
seriously. The week after killing the Denver Broncos 44-7, I thought that they would at least have a chance to beat the damn Cardinals.
I am not saying that the Cardinals are bad or anything. It's just that maybe a 3-5 team wouldn't be too much to worry about. But don't take the Cardinals as a joke, counting the fact that they beat a very tough Pittsburgh Steelers team this season.
The Lions have officially turned into a flip-flop team. You never know what to expect from them, week in and week out. Consistency is a weakness in their book.
After winning 3 straight games against 3 considerably decent teams, the Lions couldn't carry over the momentum from last weeks blowout to Arizona.
A big factor that caused the Lions to lose this week, believe it or not was the media. I'm not blaming the media for losing, I'm just blaming the Lions for letting the media get to them.
How the hell is the media affecting Detroit's play?
I knew you'd ask that question.
The Lions aren't used to having the media cover them, win or lose because most of the time, they're just not worth it.
For example...
The Lions go 2-0. There were several teams that were 2-0 at that point. It was the beginning of the season for goodness sake. You heard nothing about how good they would be after going just 2-0
The Lions go 2-1. The Lions were only in the media because the Philadelphia Eagles scored 56 on them. Most of the talk was on Donovan McNabb who everyone claimed was "back." But all of a sudden, he turns into the same quarterback he was the previous 2 games before playing the Lions.
The Lions go 4-2. Once again, the media only covered the Lions because they let the Washington Redskins crap all over them, and suddenly, Washington looked like a playoff team. What have you heard from the Redskins lately? Yeah, me niether.
And now.....
The Lions are 6-2! They scored 44 points on the Denver Broncos.
The Lions look playoff bound.
Analysists are picking the Lions to win the NFC North.
Woopty frickin doo!
Now that all of this coverage is on the Lions, they go into Arizona and play like crap.
The media got their heads all pumped up with crap and now they think they were one of the top teams in the NFL.
You still have a long way to go before you end up in that category, Detroit.
How about this...
The Lions had -18 rushing yards against Arizona.
Wow.
After the Lions running game just started to get going with the return of Kevin Jones, the Lions only run the ball 8 times. That's right, only 8 times. That's -2.3 yards a carry.
Fact: Avion Cason was the leading rusher for the Lions, with 1 yard.
Not a way to win a game.
The other thing that killed the Lions were turnovers. They committed 5 of them. It actually seemed as if they were trading turnovers back and forth. Every time the Cardinals would give the ball away, Jon Kitna had that, "Oh, we're not gonna come back from this so you can have the ball back," attitude. As soon as the Cardinals turned the ball over, the Lions would give the ball right back.
Typical Lions football.
All in all, I'm upset about this loss, but hey, they're the Detroit Lions that we all know and love. Its just that they've gotten better and better every week, but this past Sunday, they looked like the 3-13 Lions from last year.
They are bound to lose a game here and then. We didn't really think Detroit would go on a 8 game winning streak, did we?
You see guys, the Lions are like my children to me. I expect the best from them every year, every week but sometimes, they just act like they are hardheaded and have no sense. I know that they are better than that, so my expectations for them will always be high.
Is that a good comparison?
Maybe not, but you see what I mean.
For now, the Lions sit at 6-3 and they are still in 2nd place in the NFC North. No matter how frustrated I get with my home team, I can't get mad that they are still in contention for a playoff spot.
Optimism always works.
