Detroit Lions: 4 things to still look forward to this season

Playoff hopes for the Detroit Lions didn’t survive Thanksgiving for the second straight year, but here are reasons for fans to stick out the last few games.

Right around this same time last, I wrote a nearly identical post, making the case for still trying to enjoy something about the remainder of the Detroit Lions‘ season. Things had gone from bad to unwatchably bad in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving in 2018, but I played the role of the devoted fan and encouraged readers to do the same for the final month.

One year later, we’re right back in the same situation. 2019 has gotten increasingly grim. From Jeff Driskel grim to David Blough grim, and perhaps grimmer than that if the Vikings have a repeat performance from last year. I find myself needing to scrape right through the bottom of the barrel and into the dirt to make these next four weeks worth it.

A year ago, at least we had simple pleasures like $6 Buffalo Bills tickets, the NFL Playoff Machine, a chance to wreck Minnesota’s season, and Ndamukong Suh’s first time back at Ford Field. The Vikings’ season looks a lot safer this time around, not even the Playoff Machine can save us now, and Ndamukong Suh is coming back again, but seemingly in sharp decline from the A-list defensive monster he once was.

So where does that leave us? Here is an update of what’s becoming an unfortunate SideLion Report holiday tradition for me, kicking off December with some week-by-week justification of why it still might be worth it to tune in* for Lions football on Sunday afternoons.

*Notice I said tune in, as in watch on TV; there’s no mention of shelling out hundreds of dollars to the Fords for the in-person experience, or shelling out hundreds more for ugly and overpriced replica color rush jerseys, Lions Christmas pajamas, or 1934 hats.