We owe the Detroit Lions a thank you. No, seriously. We do. And by we, I mean anyone who considers themselves a fan of Detroit’s four major pro teams.
The Lions didn’t make the playoffs this season — they could have (should have!?) been playing at San Francisco Saturday instead of Seattle — and that’s a bummer, no doubt. But their 10-week ride to relevancy didn’t just capture the hearts of underdog lovers around the country, it reminded anyone around here (or who has ever lived here) what it would feel like if the team ever got good.
Because they just got good. Last Sunday night in Green Bay showed that. Whether they remain good is a story for another day.
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For now, we’ve got referee conspiracies, or at least reports about referee ineptitude and how bad calls helped Seattle beat the Rams, which ended up costing the Lions a playoff spot. Of course, beating Seattle when they visited Week 4 would’ve gotten the Lions to the playoffs, too. But this isn’t that story, either.
Let’s not get away from the point, which is gratitude: And why the Lions deserve ours.
For one, they broke the “cycle of suckitude” reigning among the city’s four major pro teams, even if only temporarily. For another, they provided cover for the past 10 weeks. Call it a shield, if you will, or perhaps a blissful diversion.
With each win in the Lions’ 8-2 close to the season, it became easier to forgot that the Wings and Pistons were playing, and that the Tigers were making deals on the margins to begin another rebuild.
A town with multiple pro franchises only needs one of them to make noise — as long as that one is the NFL team. The Lions made noise. And so, I ask: did you know the NBA season is halfway over? Same for the NHL season?
Did you know that pitchers will report to training camp next month? NEXT MONTH!? I mean, I’m sure you did. But you haven’t had to think about the Tigers for a while thanks to Jared Goff and Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson and all the rest.
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Nor have you had to worry as much about the Pistons’ or the Wings’ rebuilds.
The Wings opened their season Oct. 14 against Montreal. They won. They’re better this year than they were a year ago. They still aren’t likely to make the playoffs in a deep and difficult Eastern Conference.
They may not make them a year from now, either. They’re a long way from hoisting the Stanley Cup again. Look, rebuilds can be fun and the Wings have a proven general manager and they’re chippier and more skilled on the ice, but the losing is still hard, because they’ve been losing for a while.
The same is true for the Pistons, who are even further away from a contender, and who have the worst record in the NBA, and who also opened their season in October — the 19th, to be exact, against Orlando. They won their opener, too.
It’s been all downhill since. The low point came when Cade Cunningham had season-ending surgery on his left shin.
The Pistons have some nice young talent. They could get lucky this year and win the lottery and add Victor Wembanyama, the most tantalizing NBA prospect since LeBron James. So it’s not hopeless, though it can feel that way with all the losing.
The Wings, meanwhile, have one of the best general managers in the sport. And, for now, Steve Yzerman’s track record should help the faith.
Still, another playoff-free season is unfolding for both of our winter teams. The summer team — aka, the Tigers — meanwhile, is nearly two years removed from teasing everyone with a post-All-Star hot streak, then fell apart last season.
Now they’re starting anew. A young GM, Scott Harris, may help. Or not. Who knows?
About all we do know is that it will take a while to find out whether he can rebuild the Tigers (and not just their fences at Comerica Park). Even if he can, it will take him time to do it. The walk in the postseason desert continues.
It feels a bit less lonely out there, however. A bit less forlorn. A bit less endless. Thanks to, you guessed it, your Lions.
Here it is, mid-January, and this is the first week in months you haven’t spent anticipating a weekend afternoon. That’s a win.
Or maybe you did look forward to the NFL playoffs, imaging what the Lions might look like out there. First against San Francisco, then against the rest of the NFC. Surely that’s better than wringing hands after the Pistons lost at home to a New Orleans Pelicans squad missing Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, no?
So, again, a thank you is in order. Not only did the Lions become the first of the four since 2017 to finish with a winning record, they gave cover to everyone else to continue their long, slow, painful rebuilds.
They also showed what the future might feel like if this fall was truly just the beginning. For decades, Lions fans have told themselves: ‘Imagine what it would feel like if the Lions got really good.’
Well, they got a glimpse these past two months.
Who knew that a principal benefit would be not having to think as much about the other rebuilds in town?
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.