Detroit Lions do it again, Dallas Cowboys latest victim
The Detroit freaking Lions did it again. The talk of the NFL put on a show yesterday by coming back from 24 points down to beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-30. Is it too soon to say there is something magical happening here in the Motor City? The first quarter of the season is over and the Detroit Lions are one of the best teams in the league. Did I just say the Detroit Lions are one the best teams? Damn straight I did.
I’m going to stop taping the first half of these games because the Lions don’t start REALLY balling until they spot the other team something like 20 points. One week after the franchise’s BIGGEST road comeback win ever and that has already been topped by another BIGGEST comeback win ever. One thing is for sure, these Lions aren’t boring. Anytime you beat the Cowboys is special, but this is right behind the ONLY Playoff win in franchise history during the Super Bowl era when the Lions beat the Cowboys after the 1991 season.
In a way this is ironic timing. Twenty years ago that playoff game was thought to be a start of something great for the Detroit Lions. Instead, it was the Cowboys who went on to win 3 Super Bowls that decade. This 4-0 start could be the beginning of a similar run by the Lions. There is a power vacuum in the league right now, just waiting to be filled by our very own Lions. Just please don’t come out with any stupid songs. Spiderman Allen please stay away from Detroit.
My first thanks are to Tony Romo for going ROMO in the second half. I spent most of the first half with my head in my hands. When I did peek at the screen it was easy to see that Matthew Stafford was nervous about playing in front of his hometown. Stafford was rough in the beginning, doing his best Andre Ware imitation of throwing the ball at receivers feet. But Stafford was good when he needed to be. That, my folks, is what good quarterbacks do. We’ve just never seen that in THIS town. It also helps to be throwing to the BEST RECEIVER on the planet. Did you hear that, Cris Carter and Bob Ryan? My favorite line was when Troy Aikman said after Chris Houston’s interception, “The only way the Detroit Lions can get back into this game just happened.”
If you’re looking for heroes in this game, look no further than Bobby Carpenter, who was filling in for a injured Justin Durant, and Chris Houston. The interceptions were important but it was the way each ran with the ball once they got their mitts on them. They were determined to get to the end zone. They looked like escaped prisoners running for their lives.
I’m running out of words to describe how good Calvin Johnson is. When all is said and done he could be remembered as they greatest receiver EVER! Yes, better than Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. Attitude problems will forever knock down Randy Moss and Jerry Rice had not one but two Hall of Famers throwing to him. Not to mention one of the greatest coaches of all time. Watch the highlights, he catches everything in stride. Megatron has to earn his catches. Hey Randy, I hope you weren’t too attached to that record for touchdown passes in a single season.
The wins are great and all, but the Lions have to start these games better. You can’t come back from being down 24 points in every game– can they? With Stafford and Megatron, anything is possible.
Brace yourselves, the Monday Night Football circus is coming to town next week and I have a feeling that the fans just might blow the roof off Ford Field from cheering so loudly when the Lions bitch-slap the Chicago Bears. The legend continues.