Detroit Lions need to prove they have a high compete level

Two days ago, the Detroit Red Wings hockey club opened their training camp. A team that has hit rock bottom recently, but under the guidance of new general manager Steve Yzerman is looking to bounce back and become a winner again. Since he joined the team, from the draft through offseason workouts and the freshly completed prospects tournament, which they won, the buzz word or term Yzerman has brought to town has been ‘compete level’.

This should very much be food for thought for the Lions after last Sunday. If their players don’t have a high ‘compete level’, then the Lions need to find players that do.

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This isn’t a matter of players ranting and raving on the sidelines, but being focused and competing as hard as they can.

The greatest example of this I can think of is NFL color commentator and former  Lions linebacker, Chris Spielman. He wasn’t the fastest, strongest or even most gifted player to suit up in Detroit, but man, did he compete!

Here’s exactly what ‘compete level’ means to me; Spielman was fueled by competitiveness.

It spurred him on to endlessly study film and always be just about the smartest player on the field, work hard making every practice mean something to his training and always give everything he had every week, whether he felt great or was nursing a minor injury. That’s ‘compete level’.

Players venting during a game is often emotion at work. Emotion is a great fuel, but the problem is you can’t sustain it over a full game. Fatigue, soreness, and mental mistakes will often turn the emotions against a player or completely drain them away.

But if your soul burns with competition, then you have a high ‘compete level’ and regardless of what is occurring to or around you on the field, you compete at the highest level possible for you because it’s what you do.

That’s the difference of a Tom Brady tirade on the sideline as opposed to so many others we have seen. Brady probably has the highest ‘compete level’ of anyone in the NFL right now. And like Spielman, he isn’t the fastest or strongest, but think about his offseason workouts just keeping himself in shape for each season or training camp and yes, games.

Today the Detroit Lions will host an injured, but still very good Los Angeles Chargers team that will fight from the opening kickoff until the final whistle. What will the Lions do? Will they be determined to play four quarters of high ‘compete level’ football or will they surrender to the Chargers as this franchise has done so often in the past?

There is no escaping it. The Chargers are a good team, but they’re not that much more talented than the Lions. This is the home opener and an opportunity to make a statement after last weeks egregious fourth-quarter showing against the Cardinals. Will the Lions compete at a high level for four quarters or will they again sink themselves and their fans into despair?

To me the choice is theirs. If they play as they are capable of for four quarters, they will win today despite the Chargers efforts to slam them into the abyss. If not … then perhaps Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia need to re-examine the ‘compete level’ of this team.