After winning the last four games of the season, I’m optimistic about the future of the Detroit Lions. I know I sound like a homer, but a if a few blown calls go the Lions’ way, they might have been in the playoff conversation in the last few weeks of the year.
But that’s just horseshoes and hand grenades.
They took some significant strides this season and gave Lions fans hope for the future. I like what they’re doing, I’m just cautiously optimistic.
First, there’s the labor situation which I think it will get resolved around draft time. However if it were to go any longer, it could halt what progress the Lions have made. Secondly, I’ve seen this movie before. Lions fans let’s take a trip in the time machine. Remember 1989, Barry Sanders’ rookie season? The Lions were in their first full season under Wayne Fontes, they started off 2-9 and things weren’t looking good. Then the team finally started coming together and they reeled off five straight wins to close out the season, including a win over the defending NFC Central Champs the Chicago Bears. They had Barry Sanders running wild and the run and shoot offense was clicking under Bob Gagliano. The Lions then entered the 1990 season with high expectations and playoff aspirations. They started 1-3, got a key win over Minnesota and then went to Kansas City where they were thrashed 43-24 as Barry would run for over 200 yards.
The dagger though was when they hosted the Washington Redskins. The Lions had a 35-14 lead only to see the Skins storm back to claim a 41-38 win in overtime. That broke the Lions’ back, similar to the Jets game this year and the Lions stumbled to a 6-10 finish.
This year has a lot of similarities to that. The Lions are trying to build themselves up again. They have two of the better young players in the league in Ndamukong Suh and Calvin Johnson. They have one of the best defensive lines in the league and if they can build up some depth along the offensive line, linebacker, and the secondary they should improve on their 6-10 finish. I’m excited about their future, but this reminds me too much of 1989. Hopefully they don’t repeat history and can take a step forward instead of a step backward.
