For most of my life, most of your life and most of almost anyone you know's life, the Detroit Lions have been the NFL's pin cushion and a laughing stock with a dose of occasional dysfunction mixed in. That is no longer the case, with a 9-1 record this season and one of the league's best records since about halfway through the 2022 season. And the Lions look like a sustainable contender.
The Lions have been subject of some criticism for doing what good teams do to bad teams three times this season-beat them handily, and in rare fashion. For some reason, the Lions should apologize for making feeble teams look feeble.
Overall, the Lions having success is something a section of NFL fans, analysts, etc. can't handle, and will never be able to handle.
Earlier this week, on FS1's "First Things First", co-host Nick Wright offered up an awful take about Jared Goff in his effort to dismiss the idea the Lions are the best team in the NFL.
“I don’t think you can be the best team in the league when you have a civilian at Quarterback” - Nick Wright on Jared Goff and the Detroit #Lions. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/D1FROpf0An
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) November 19, 2024
"I don't think you can be the best team in the league when you have a civilian at quarterback. I can't say a team with Jared Goff at quarterback is better than the Chiefs or the Bills. I can't. I won't. In the modern NFL, I think it's very hard to win three straight playoff games with a guy, even if it's a good guy, at quarterback. That's what I feel they have. You can be mad. That's my opinion on the Lions."
Chris Broussard backs up Nick Wright with lame dismissal of the Lions' offense
On Thursday's edition of "First Things First", co-host Chris Broussard took the baton from Wright on the question of the Lions' offense being among the best ever.
"It's utterly ridiculous. And I mean that."@Chris_Broussard pushes back on Lions being one of the best offenses ever pic.twitter.com/wnRLV1qjD1
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) November 21, 2024
"That’s utterly ridiculous. And I mean that," Broussard said. "I don’t mean it’s a little bit of an overstatement, it’s utterly ridiculous, cause I have a graphic too."
In reference to said graphic, Broussard continued.
"You look at the top 5 on the left side, everyone of them — Broncos, Peyton Manning, Patriots, Tom Brady. Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes, Packers, Aaron Rodgers," Broussard explained. "The other teams, you get a little lesser quality quarterbacks. But still, you need all-time greats at certain positions to be one of the all-time great offenses. And all 10 of them scored more than the Lions are now.”
Naturally, Wright took a turn to reinforce Broussard's point.
"Every single one of those teams had a first-ballot, no doubt Hall of Fame skill position guy or quarterback except for the ’83 Washington team, which had one of the greatest offensive lines in the history of the league," Wright said. "You have Julio Jones, Randy Moss on a few of those, so you have all of that.”
Broussard expanded on Wright's expansion of his original point, seemingly overlooking how several of the Lions' skill position guys are under the age of 25.
"As good as the Lions’ running backs and receivers are, none of them are guaranteed to be Hall of Famers," Broussard added. "You might even be surprised if any of them even make the Hall of Fame. They’re good, and maybe they’ll have great careers, but no.”
To be fair, it's too early to declare this year's Lions' offense one of the best in NFL history. But these two FS1 talking heads, with an afternoon show that has a morning show-style name, now seem willing to take whatever opportunity comes to discredit what the Lions are doing.