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Detroit Lions: Best and Worst of 2017 (part 2)

By Payne Schanski

DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 29: Glover Quin #27 of the Detroit Lions celebrates his fumble recover with Darius Slay #23 against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first half at Ford Field on October 29, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 29: Glover Quin #27 of the Detroit Lions celebrates his fumble recover with Darius Slay #23 against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first half at Ford Field on October 29, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 31: Quarterback Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions signals to his team against the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Ford Field on December 31, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 31: Quarterback Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions signals to his team against the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Ford Field on December 31, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Injury Luck

Best: (a) Matthew Stafford not missing any games (b) Aaron Rodgers going down

I’m not sure which was a better stroke of fortune. The Rodgers injury pretty much handed Detroit their first season sweep over Green Bay in a couple decades.

Stafford somehow staying on the field probably says more about his toughness than luck. Throughout the middle of the season though, I thought it was only a matter of time before Stafford took a shot from yet another unblocked defender that even he couldn’t shake off.

Worst: Losing Haloti Ngata for the season in October

He’s no Ndamukong Suh, but Ngata’s presence against the run must have been a lot more impactful than we realized at first. As soon as he suffered a torn biceps in week 5, the Lions couldn’t seem to stop anyone’s ground game for the rest of the year.

As a twelve-year veteran, Ngata might not have much mileage left, but entering ‘win now’ mode in 2018, the team should make it a priority to keep the five time Pro-Bowler for another year.

Bizarre off-field incident that made headlines

Best/Worst: The Silverdome’s last stand.

Remember when the Silverdome wouldn’t go down? I’m not sure whether this should be considered a best or a worst. You could play the “Detroit is incompetent” card on this one. You also could consider it a final moment of glory for a building that’s near and dear to the hearts of Lions fans. I’ll go with the second option on this one. Give ’em Hell, Silverdome. Give ’em Hell.

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