I’ve been wrestling with last night’s loss all day today.
I think about it, and I get frustrated. Even angry. But then I realize that it’s a game, and these guys return home millionaires, and there’s wars everywhere, and ultimately, it shouldn’t be interfering with my emotional health.
But this evening, I had a moment when I was watching the scores float across my watch. When a team goes on a heater, there’s usually a moment they point back to. Something that unites them as a family. For this Lions team, which is quite young, they already have each other’s back. But they also tasted success very, very early just last week.
Last night? Well, last night may have been the exact moment they needed.
While the defense surprised all of us with how well they played, the Lions scored just 3 points in the first half against a Dallas defense that was among the worst in the league since week 12. That last drive? That last drive was against the softest prevent defense I’ve ever seen. Inexcusably soft. Credit to Goff for taking advantage.
But ultimately? Well, the Lions didn’t play great. The playcalling was weird. Gibbs and LaPorta made multiple, out-of-character mistakes. Goff threw wobblers most of the night. Cam Sutton, who we spent a shit ton of money on, gave up a historic performance to Lamb.
I get that this is going to seem like a desperate attempt to find a silver lining, and maybe it is. But unlike several years ago, this didn’t wreak of malice. It was incompetence. And unlike several years ago, it didn’t end our season, where it would be raged about but ultimately forgotten a month or so later when players move on. Instead, the Lions have two weeks to recoup before a post-season journey begins, and that this team—already bonded, but now with the biggest possible, shared chip—will have the opportunity and motivation to express to the world exactly who the hell they are.
