Detroit Lions: A Weekly Burden

The Detroit Lions did it again. In week eight they embarrassed themselves, the city of Detroit, every analyst that pegged them for a playoff team and most importantly, their fan base. Being a Detroit Lions fans is very heavy burden to carry on a weekly basis. On Sunday the Lions added another 500 Lbs. to that already back breaking load.

Earlier in the season I wrote a piece where I compared the 2015 Lions to the 2008 0-16 team. What I found was obvious. The 2015 Lions have a lot more talent and aren’t weighed down by the mistakes of Matt Millen. What’s disturbing is that I still find this 2015 team to be the worse of the two.

As you can see I’m not alone in this thought. This Lions team has a great deal of talent but can’t seem to put it to use or put together a decent four straight quarters of football. The expectations for this team in 2015 were a return to the playoffs and possibly a win or two once they got there. The offense was supposed to be explosive and the defensive depth was supposed to carry the team just enough to keep them in the game. It is these expectations that make this 2015 team a much more depressing team to watch, and much bigger failure as an organization.

Goodbye Silverdome, Goodbye Childhood

The Lions find themselves with no strengths and all weaknesses and have clearly given up on the 2015 season. Jim Caldwell has lost this team and he will not be able to get them back Which is likely going to be the key in his eventual termination. What started out as a hopeful season has turned into a countdown to a new administration, new coaching staff, free agency, the draft and the 2016 season.

In hindsight it’s still hard to see this coming. This past Wednesday on ESPN 96.1, Sean Baligian and I tried to understand what it was that we saw in camp and preseason. What we and every other analyst that visited Allen Park in the offseason learned is that the Lions are unstoppable in camp and are incapable of translating that success into games that matter. There was certainly nothing to behold that made anyone think things would be this bad.

What can be said about this game? The Lions offense stalled out on the first drive and that was the perfect preview for what was to come for the rest of the game. The defense played its worse game of the season and allowed Alex Smith to look like the second coming of Steve Young. Smith threw for two touchdowns and ran one in himself. But what was particularly embarrassing was the former Utah standout rushing for a career high 78 yards on 15.6 yards per carry. Dumb turnovers and unimaginative play calling ruled the day once again for the Lions.

Re-drafting the Martin Mayhew era

The good news is the Lions won’t lose in week nine due to their bye week. But are 99% guaranteed to lose in week 10 when they travel to Wisconsin to take on the Packers. A place they haven’t won a game at since 1991. Will the Lions have their full coaching staff and administration going into that game? We will just have to wait and see.

Mike Payton is an Editor at SideLion Report. He is from Holland, Michigan by way of Warren, Michigan. He considers himself to be obsessed with the Detroit Lions. Mike’s work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, CBS Sports Radio and si.com. Mike is also a weekly contributor on It is what is with Sean Baligian on ESPN 96.1 and a contributor for The Holland Sentinel. Follow Mike Payton on Twitter@SLR_Mike