“It’s Just Sports” article & Why I Think Going Winless Is Like, IMPOSSIBLE (But We Might Do it)

(yeah, Pat acknowledges he’s getting some mileage out of the Obama Posters).

"We can make this season a success by making it a major failure. The more they lose, the more we need to show up and cheer. In 20 years, people will still be talking about this team, linking to Youtube clips of Orlovsky’s safety and Paris Lenon will be writing a special column on ESPN.com about how funny it was to be a part of the worst team in NFL history.What’s the alternative? Another 2-14 campaign and a high draft pick? We can do better than that."

CLICK HERE for a link to the whole thing. 

Here’s the sick thing: It’s a compelling argument.

It would indeed be historical. I think too, if the Lions went 0-16 they would lose the Thanks Giving Day billing.

Sadly, they are bound to win one. It’s freaking impossible to go winless in this league, if not because we have the talent, because the other teams are bound to check out and stumble enough to give up a win. It’s just… the way it is. SO FOR THE RECORD, I’m saying that it’s like freaking G-D impossible to not win at least one of sixteen.

I’m too lazy to try and dig up the stats and specific averages for the Marty Era and Rod’s first season. If you remember these three super fun seasons, the win total could be counted on the hand of a guy that had a lawn mower lop off a couple fingers. But the ESPN guys and the local media would talk about how low the margin of loss would end up being. They would lose by field goals, sometimes by one point, just weird to other teams but typical to the Lions type stuff. It’s apologetic really, but there was some substance to these losses and low low margins: At least the team was competitive. At least they were close. At least they weren’t down 21 points off the bat, usually by the end of the first quarter.

I mean, really… We’re that bad. We are just not in these games. There is a realistic possibility that we won’t win a game. Every decent play we’ve made was in game minutes where we were up against an insurmountable point total. When you’re down like that, you’ll catch your opponent off guard here and there; You’ll put up some yardage by taking what they give you. There is no reason to play it tight and risk giving up the bomb. They are just interested in letting you drive it to the red zone and run down the clock; the Defense will then tighten up and make you settle for a field goal. It’s not rocket science as much as it’s fundamentally sound football. That is why you can’t always trust stats, they don’t always tell the whole story. If your QB threw for 350 yards, sure that looks great on paper, but odds are he was on the losing team. Teams that win don’t NEED to put the ball in the air like that. They are moving the chains on the ground and controlling possession. 

Have we controlled possession once this year? Have we dominated on the ground and frustrated our opponents offensive squad by forcing them to watch us grind down the clock and tire out their defense? Nope.

The Lions have popped a big run or two here and there and then there was that 96 yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson. That’s about it. I’m not saying that the Lions will probably go winless. It hasn’t happened in the modern era. But I must admit: It is a realistic possibility.