Detroit Lions: The more the NFL changes, the more it stays the same

The Detroit Lions have taken a throwback approach to building their franchise, but in the aftermath of the Super Bowl, maybe that’s not a bad idea.

The Detroit Lions are sort of a throwback team in an innovative league. They are building their foundation through a defensive coach who believes in running the ball while being surrounded by new age offenses with aerial pyrotechnics that are tilting scoreboards left and right.

Yet as the dust has settled from what most people have branded the most ‘boring’ Super Bowl ever, the message it left behind bears noting; defense still wins championships.

Now I certainly understand that a defensive slugfest like last Sunday’s big ‘Tom Brady and New England once again rule the world’ Super Bowl isn’t overly exciting for the common fan. As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that it was difficult for even Patriots fans to watch, but here’s the point; regardless of how exciting or unexciting it was, the Patriots are once again world champions.

And I don’t think the fans in the New England area care as much about the style points as they do about being champions again. Which leads us back to the Lions.

All Honolulu Blue and Silver fans everywhere are more than acquainted with their sad sack history. They were the team of the 1950s. They participated in four NFL championship games in the decade and won three of them.

For those scoring at home, the Cleveland Browns also won three titles, but since the Lions won two out of the three championship meetings between the teams, that gives the Lions the tiebreaker for the decade.

However, after the Lions won the 1957 championship, they immediately entered what can only be described as the ‘dark ages’ of this franchise. In the 60 years since that last tile, the Lions have made only 12 playoff appearances and won only one single playoff game.

Futility they name is Detroit Lions, but maybe after all this time, there might be hope on the horizon…