Things change pretty fast in the NFL.
Take the Detroit Lions, for example. Less than two years ago, on a Sunday night in San Francisco, the Lions were one half of football away from their first-ever Super Bowl.
Since then, reaching that point again has proven … elusive. The Lions were one-and-done in the playoffs last season. And they won’t even make the 14-team field this year. Detroit reached a new low in the loss that eliminated them from postseason contention.
It was a Christmas to forget for the Lions, who lost 23-10 in Minnesota. The Vikings only generated 161 yards of offense, and still, somehow, won by two scores. Not only that, Minnesota had the dreadful Max Brosmer at quarterback. Brosmer is barely able to complete a forward pass as a pro. He made 9 of 16 throws for 51 yards in this one. Brosmer also turned in one of the worst QB performances of the entire season in November: throwing four picks and taking four sacks in a shutout loss to Seattle. Brosmer didn’t throw a pick on Christmas but he got sacked seven times by Detroit, and by the home stretch of the game, all he was doing was taking the snap and handing off.
But that didn’t sway you, Detroit. You buckled down and found a way to lose. The Lions made six turnovers; they had only eight giveaways previously for the entire season. Detroit QB Jared Goff was responsible for five of the turnovers: two picks and three lost fumbles.
The speculation already is running rampant in the Motor City … where do the Lions go from there?
That remains uncertain, but we know where they won’t be going. To the playoffs.
“I think we all need to take a nice, good, long look in the mirror after this,” Lions offensive tackle Dan Skipper said after the game. “Reflect, figure out how we can improve and give the city a team that they’re proud of again.
“Because this year was bulls—.”
There you go, Detroit. Feast on your year of B.S.
And, for dessert, you can snack on this L.
‘L’ Of The Week Archive
Oct. 20-26: Mississippi State football
Oct. 27-Nov. 2: Carson Beck
Nov. 10-16: That Texas state trooper from the A&M-South Carolina game
Nov. 24-30: The University of Arkansas
Dec. 1-7: Virginia football
Dec. 8-15: Joel Klatt
Dec. 16-21: Tennessee Titans