Playoffs? Is the Detroit Lions season over? Sorting out the chances

Summary

We wish that the picture was more positive. If the Detroit Lions were 5-3, making Green Bay 6-3, the scenario would be completely different. They would be in the thick of the playoff hunt with a chance to win the division. That is not the situation, though.

They are a hurt team, that has a lot of trouble stopping anyone. They don’t run the ball well and their best runner is out for weeks more. Stafford playing some of his best football, perhaps at an MVP level, is not going to make up for horrible defense and run games, though.

Looking at Stafford’s first few years most fans should already know that. It is a realistic view. Insisting that they could still make the playoffs, while technically possible, is just setting yourself up to be disappointed.

Realistic fans support the team, too. We wish that everyone would get healthy, that the pass rush would appear out of thin air, and that Kerryon Johnson would look like Barry Sanders circa 1990.

It doesn’t make anyone a better fan to push optimism when the product on the field is not performing like a team that can win two games in a row, much less seven or eight.

There’s always next year, Lions fans.