Too Soon?

I will begin by saying up front that I was not on the Detroit Lions bandwagon this year. I wasn't in 2023-24 either. The main reason is plain: either the team itself, or forces outside its control, just seem to sting them, and too often at exactly the wrong time.

Yes, the 2024-25 season was historic, so far as it goes. But I couldn't help feel they were playing above their heads the whole while. How they managed to go 15-2 in the regular season while decimated by injuries was indeed impressive. Yet it caught up to them in the playoffs. That, and the team's apparent invincibility at laying eggs at precisely the wrong time, allowed a Washington team with a dynamic quarterback to beat them. With all due respect to Coach Campbell and crew, it was almost bound to happen. I've seen it regularly in watching Lions football for around 60 years.

Many if not most of you may disagree with me, but Campbell is the reason we didn't make last year's Super Bowl. He needed to go for the field goal while holding a 24-10 lead in the third quarter; it's that simple. I like his aggressiveness on the whole. Yet aggressive is one step from foolhardy. Campbell needs to learn the difference between the two and stay on the right side of the line. As such, I can't escape the feeling that the 2024 NFC Championship game was this squad's high water mark, this team's Gettysburg.

I've seen them lose playoff games 5-0 and 58-31, absurd scores to put up at anytime let alone in season ending games. I've seen otherwise reliable kickers miss field goals they would normally drill, for us to lose. I've seen high quality players just walk away due to frustration, and don't even start on how and when officiating has burned the team over the years. I've seen Lions teams do very well and look quite promising (the 1991 squad comes to mind) only to slip right back into mediocrity the next time around. That team went 5-11 in 92. We can't trust the future in Detroit.

All that (and a great less else) being said, until they win it all they're the Same Old Lions. I cannot give them my emotional investment. It's not worth the time or effort.

Full disclosure: as much of a Detroit Tigers baseball fan as I am, and as much fun as 2024 was, I'm not letting that get too much of a hold on me either. They played over their heads, and got a lot of breaks (Minnesota and Kansas City tanked badly) to scratch into the playoffs. They are no sure bet for 2025, and that will always be at the front of my mind. But at least they've won a couple of World Series in my life.