It’s ‘Week 15′ in the NFL and your favorite team controls its destiny for the playoffs.
Is it even possible I’m talking to you, Lions fan?
Damn right I am.
My experience among you is that a good number of you see this simply as the next step in the eventual let-down that is an annual guarantee, even if the reign of ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named’ turned that into more an October affair than the December excitement it rightfully should be.
Then there are a fair number of fans who see only the good (inexplicably) and feel like this team is just SO good, that they’re able to overcome any of the many vast conspiracies that have traditionally kept the Lions down. They’re the ones who figured at 5-0 the Lions were on the verge of the perfect season Tom Brady and the Patriots JUST missed out on a few years ago.
Some of us, though, are in the middle. Actually, I think there are a lot more of us than it sometimes appears. Our silent level-headedness (six days a week, anyhow) tends to make us seem less numerous than we really are.
We knew the Lions were lucky in many ways to win some of those early games and unfortunate to lose a few they’ve lost since. We begrudgingly admit that we figured chances were we’d see losses to some of the NFC elite we’ve faced in the middle of the season, yet also realize that a few fewer mistakes and a few more breaks might have earned a few upset victories for the Honolulu Blue.
Essentially, as a friend of mine is fond of saying, we are looking at an unfinished product this year. It’s a team with flaws and a bit of an unfinished product with a lot of promise.
So, yeah, the Lions took it on the chin against Green Bay (just like everyone else) and in New Orleans (as do many) and, in doing so, exhibited many qualities that usually bring out the tired “same ol’ Lions” refrain.
Today, though, I think we really will learn just how far removed from “same ol’ Lions” status this particular team is.
It IS a road game. We all know the road has been unkind to the Leos over the years. And, Oakland is not exactly the friendliest place.
On the flip side, the Raiders have been struggling lately, losing handily at Miami and Green Bay the last two weeks by a combined score of 80-30.
While I don’t think a loss is necessarily fatal for either team, it will definitely make things a bit more difficult in the pursuit of a playoff spot.
The Raiders are hobbled. Their starting running back, Darren McFadden, is apparently out for the game, as is wide receiver Jacoby Ford. The receivers who are playing have all missed significant time recently due to injury. Their quarterback, Carson Palmer, was not even attending practices when the Lions ran out to their five-game winning streak at season’s start and has seen different receivers healthy nearly every week since he has actually been playing.
The Lions are not without injury concerns themselves, but expect to see Kevin Smith running the ball Sunday. Cornerback Chris Houston is also expected to play.
So, while there is the small matter of the near collapse against the Vikings last week, the Lions would appear to be the better team here. Sure they beat the Bears just a few weeks after the Lions lost in Chicago, but there is a big, obvious difference between the Bears with Jay Cutler at Soldier Field and the Bears with Caleb Hanie (making his first start of the season, by the way) on the road in the ‘black hole.’
I think the better common opponent for comparison would be the Packers. I admittedly didn’t watch the Raiders game in Green Bay, but I did see that 9 of Oakland’s 16 points came in ‘garbage time’ when the Packers had taken Aaron Rodgers out of the game and were holding a 39 point lead. The Lions didn’t actually score in the first half of that game, but anyone who saw it knew it was a bit of a draw for most of the first half. Some might even say that a few fewer mistakes and maybe a break or two might have changed greatly the complexion of the game.
Unfortunately, that was also the game where the “same ol’ Lions” did some of their nastiest work, including the now-infamous Suh stomp for which Detroit’s best defensive player took a two-game suspension.
So, while I won’t pretend to hope for a suddenly smart brand of football with no mental errors, I do have hope that the one team that can out-do the Lions in bone-headed penalties will continue to do so Sunday, because that team is none other than the Raiders themselves.
Yep. Most penalized team in the league, at a whopping ten per game.
For the record, the Lions are actually only the fourth-penalized team in the league. It’s just that the penalties called seem to always negate big plays, allow the opposing offense a reprieve after failing to convert on third down, or be of the ‘personal foul’ nature.
None of which will matter at kickoff tomorrow, of course. The game will play out however it does, and we’ll learn more from there.
As far as I’m concerned, however, I’m banking on the game with the Raiders being a day remembered as the beginning of a new definition of what we mean when we say, “Same ol’ Lions.”
