Detroit Lions face put up or shut up game versus Green Bay Packers

The Detroit Lions are doing well so far in 2019 but face a hot Packers team on Monday night. The matchup will tell us much about the Pride going forward.

The Detroit Lions‘ season is one-fourth of the way over and we aren’t sure who they are. Despite exceeding national expectations, the Lions have played good, not great, football. All four contests have been close but we need to discuss which narrative will play out in Green Bay, the keep it close and let the other team’s quarterback make us look dumb in the fourth quarter, or the whew, that was too close but we won ending?

As Lions fans, we know that almost every game turns into one of those two scenarios. We cannot remember off the tops of our heads another basic storyline; perhaps the game last year versus New England was a dominant-from-start-to-finish kind of performance.

Those storylines are few and far between, however. This game is a prove-it game for everyone involved; either put up or shut up.

Detroit Lions place in the North

The NFC North continues to show that it is the most competitive division in the NFL, where all four teams have winning records and are only separated by one game at the moment. The Lions and Packers will be the last to play this week and the outcome is very consequential to the standings and the rest of the year for the Detroit Lions. Win, the race stays tight, plus pundits have to admit that the Lions are a contender in the division, not to mention in the playoff race.

Things get tricky for the Lions if they lose, though. Moving to 2-2-1 would put them in third but from a psychological viewpoint, on the outside looking in at a Packers team with a commanding lead.

The narrative surrounding the Green Bay Packers all offseason and through the early part of this year is that Aaron Rodgers and his Packers are Super Bowl contenders. Winning at Lambeau Field would be a quick way to wake people up if the Lions are ready to do so.

Kick In The Crotch Weekly is sure that the Detroit Lions hear and are keenly aware of the fact that they’ve been written off by many before the season started, too. Surely they hear the chatter about how Green Bay has everything, as well. NFL analysts do not recall or give any notice to the streak of wins that the Detroit Lions have against those Packers but instead continue to run with the Packers have the Lions number rhetoric.

In fact, as many Lions fans know and you can see at the Football Database, the Lions are taking a four-game streak dating back to January of 2017, which was the end of the 2016 campaign. No one outside of Detroit can remember anything since the phantom facemask and subsequent Hail Mary debacle which probably sealed former head coach Jim Caldwell’s fate.

Detroit Lions reputation at stake

The Detroit Lions season has been nationally surprising but a bit disappointing for Lions fans. While two wins, a tie, and just one loss sound pretty good there’s a very real sense to us that the Motor City Kitties have yet to prove they can be a contender.

Here we are, Week 6 of the NFL season and the Detroit Lions are facing just the sort of game that they do usually lose. Although they’ve ended the season in second place three times during the last five years it’s always seemed like the Lions were outclassed by other teams in the process of finding new ways to lose important contests.

There have also been lots of talk about how head coach Matt Patricia’s defensive game plans have established blueprints for beating some high octane offenses like the Rams and Chiefs. We don’t know about all Lions fans but they need to quit showing other teams how to beat a good team and beat someone themselves.

Several Lions are listed as questionable for the game, A’Shawn Robinson, Darius Slay, Quandre Diggs, T.J. Hockenson, and Danny Amendola are listed as questionable. Da’Shawn Hand, Mike Daniels, and Amani Oruwariye are all out. You can see the full NFL injury report here.

How are you feeling going into the Monday Night game? What do you think will happen? Drop your comments in the section below! Hopefully, the Lions will put the Packers away and we can celebrate on Tuesday!