I am watching the Detroit Lions playoff game against the Washington Commanders. There is about 6 minutes left in the game and… it will take a miraculous finish for the Lions to win. The Commanders are leading 44-28. As the camera pans fans in the stands at Ford Field, the Lions fans have the look all fans have when things look hopeless in a game they were expecting to win.
The problem with championship playoffs is that every team but one loses their last game of the season. The Lions are about to lose theirs.
Growing up in Detroit. I was excited about all the home teams. I loved the Tigers, Red Wings, and Lions. Every year, at the beginning of any of their seasons, I had great expectations for these teams as any kid does. During my formative years and continuing until 2022, the Lions were at best unimpressive and for the great majority of the time they were simply awful. Year after year of consistent disappoint turn my youthful passion and exuberance for the home team into ambivalence.
When I moved to Connecticut in 1990 and the New York Giants won the Super Bowl that year, it was pretty easy for me to become a Giants fan. When Tom Brady led the Patriots to a Super Bowl win in 2002, I became a Patriots fan. Now that I live in Chicago, I follow the Bears.
I always kept an eye on the Lions, however. Detroit roots run deep. Sometimes I would feel a twinge of that youthful passion and exuberance for the Lions when it looked like they might finally be turning the corner. But, the Lions, as I was prone to say, “never disappointed” in that they were consistently bad.
The TV just showed the banner of the last NFL Championship. It was in 1957, ten years before the Super Bowl era. In 1957, I was only 4 years old.
I remember at the start of this season, there was a lot of buzz and predictions from the pundits that Lions would be in the Super Bowl this year. I was excited too, because the previous year the Lions were 12-5 and were really looking good. I knew they would be as good or better than last year. I was hoping this year would be the year they got to and won the Super Bowl but, I wasn’t predicting or counting on that happening, however.
Sadly, their season ended tonight. The Commanders won 45-31.
The Lions are a good football team. They had an amazing season amassing a 15-2 regular season record, winning the NFC North Division, and earning a #1 seed in the playoffs. Dan Campbell is an inspiring and driven coach that molded this team into a tough, gritty, and hard driving team. In the end, it was clear that having 18 players on the injured reserve, mostly on defense, finally caught up with them.
I am disappointed with the loss. I am disappointed for the city and the fans that showed so much passion and exuberance for the Lions. But it nothing like the chronic disappointment I wrote of above. They had a great season, and I sure hope they have turned the corner and continue to excel.
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