I’ve been waiting all season for this. The Detroit Lions dominate a game and blowout the other team.
The Lions have the talent to blowout their opponent on any given week. Multiple times the way they played should have led to a blowout, but didn’t.
Here are the top 3 games this season the Lions should have blown out their opponent but the game turned out differently:
#3 Should Have Been Detroit Blowout Game – Week 4 vs. Chicago Bears
Detroit dominated a team that came into the game undefeated, but allowed a lot of points in garbage time that made the game look a lot closer than it was.
#2 Should Have Been Detroit Blowout Game – Week 12 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Defensively, Detroit kept Tampa Bay from moving the ball, especially on the ground when the Buccaneers had been rushing well coming into the game. Offensively, the Lions seemed to move the ball at will, but 5 turnovers turned what should have been a blowout into a loss.
#1 Should Have Been Detroit Blowout Game – Week 8 vs. Dallas Cowboys
Dallas struggled to move the ball against Detroit’s defense while the Lions seemed to move the ball down the field with ease. Again, turnovers almost cost Detroit the game and required an incredible, last minute drive from the Lions to get the win.
Finally, in Week 13, we get to see such a dominant performance from the Lions that it leaves a blowout score to be noticed around the league. The Lions couldn’t have picked a better game to do it in than the nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game against divisional rival Green Bay.
The final score was 40-10 and the Lions did this despite 4 turnovers, 2 kick-offs out of bounds, and 1 missed field goal. The score would have been even more ridiculous without these mistakes.
Of course, Detroit detractors will have plenty to say about those turnovers and mistakes as they downplay Detroit’s dominance against the Packers.
The top 3 attacks on the Lions’ win to say they’re not as good as this score makes Detroit look will sound something like this:
#3 Attack on Lions Win – Packers offensive line lost center.
Packers center Evan Dietrich-Smith left the game with a knee injury causing Green Bay to shuffle its offensive line. This made it easier for Detroit’s defensive line.
This excuse doesn’t stand. The injury happened at the end of the first half after Green Bay’s offense had been effectively shutdown by Detroit’s defense and at least two sacks had already been recorded.
Plus, this wasn’t the first time Dietrich-Smith left a game this season with injury this season; Green Bay should have been well prepared for the possibility.
#2 Attack on Lions Win – Detroit can’t stop turning the ball over.
The Lions had 4 turnovers in this game. Tim Twentyman, in a Lions Insider article on DetroitLions.com, pointed out that Detroit has 17 turnovers in their last 18 quarters. Detroit can’t take care of the ball well enough to be a legitimate playoff contender.
Turnovers are a big concern and quite possibly the hardest thing to overcome in football games. In this game, the Lions’ dominance easily overcame their turnovers. In previous games, the Lions’ explosive offense and hard-hitting defense have overcome serious turnover problems in games also. But it hasn’t always been enough.
You can bet taking care of the ball is one of the biggest things the Lions will work on down the final stretch of the season and into the playoffs. It will improve. It’s almost impossible not to.
But some things will always go wrong in games and Detroit has the ability overcome setbacks.
#1 Attack on Lions Win – No Aaron Rodgers.
Matt Flynn is no Aaron Rodgers. If the Packers had their best player and team leader on the field, this game would have been very different.
Not likely. Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t have been able to win this game. He struggled to score points the first time the Lions and Packers met this season and that was at Lambeau Field!
Face it. The Lions are a scary team and this game made a statement. Suddenly, the commentators after the game began talking about how Detroit has the talent to go all the way.
What is that? Detroit Lions Super Bowl allusions from someone other than me? No one other than myself is going so far as to predict the Lions win the Super Bowl at this point; however, if Detroit maintains this level of play, you’ll start hearing talk about the Lions that you’re not used to hearing.
I’ll leave you with what Skip Bayless said in reaction to the Lions play on Thanksgiving:
“… I think they could beat anybody anywhere. They could beat New Orleans or Seattle on the road playing like that.”
