The Boiling Point

"It's reached a decidedly wicked point in this Detroit Lions' season. The injuries have been absolutely unreal in their frequency and severity. The gut-wrenching win-blowing has turned into something that defies articulation. The excess of penalties, both absent-minded and unfairly officiated, have ruined the enjoyment of watching a team more talented than any I've seen in the last...good lord, since the '90's."

I wrote that an hour or two before the start of the game at Green Bay. I, like probably many other fans, had just about had it with this season. Everything was going wrong at a wicked pace, and then Green Bay comes rolling into town needing a win, and the Lions just were crippled by placing Kyle Vanden Bosch and Alphonso Smith on IR. It was bleak.

But the Lions punched their way to a win. For a change, it was the other team suffering miscues, injuries, and bad luck. And the Lions, God love 'em, held strong at the end when they could have choked it away like they've done for weeks. It was very gratifying.

I enjoy how Packer fans have been all whiny and emo and pathetic following this loss, saying it was luck on the Lions' part that Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game. A little lucky, yes, but while he was in he wasn't playing that well, and for the love of Spiced Meats, how lucky were the Packers going into this game? They needed a win, the Lions were decimated by injuries and brittle confidence, and things had just been going their way for quite some time. They need to suck it up and stop making excuses.

It was also nice to see the product of such extensive work by Martin Mayhew come through. The defensive line, minus KVB and with Cliff Avril having to leave again, was still spectacular; their depth is uncanny, and it truly does seem to be one of the better units in the league. This is what he should be able to do with the rest of the time.

Good grief, hope feels weird again.

A New Season

If I may be permitted to spew some teenaged interweb vernacular,

ZOMG

Jahvid Best practiced today. Matt Stafford has been practicing. Calvin Johnson's arm feels good. Even DeAndre "Bleu Cheese" Levy is slated to play. To START.

I just pooped again.

Look, I know and you know the Lions won't run the table the rest of the way, but if they can stay healthy and close out those close games, then good grief, the cellar of the NFC North may not be their end of the season dwelling. Think about it logically, in terms of the Lions getting fully healthy and everyone else dying:

Vikings: Brett Favre broke his ankle. Do you think he's gonna take himself out? So, ergo, guess who's gonna keep getting destroyed, game after game, just to preserve his padinky record? Brad Childress is a moron. And now, after half a season, the Vikes look officially horrible.

Bears: Biggest sham team in the league. They're not terrible, but they are NOT the team their record displays them to be. The fact they are falling apart before our eyes is evidence enough.

Packers: I don't know how the Touch of Death shifted from Detroit to Green Bay, but, well, thank God. I feel bad for them, because watching your team's players dropping like flies is a form of torture just behind toothpicks under fingernails. However, their linebacking corps is in shambles, their running game is sub par, and Aaron Rodgers can be beat.

I believe that the rest of the season will go well for the Lions. And even if it doesn't, this team is a team on the rise, and if they gank a high draft pick.....man. Let's hope they get this labor hoo-ha straightened out so's we can enjoy us some winning foosball next year!

0 and 4

It's funny; In a perfect world, with a few breaks and a call or two in their favor in the waning seconds of a game, the Lions would, amazingly, be 4 and 0.

I pooped.

I pooped because that notion seems....pleasant?

...Unrealistic?

...Unrealistic yet conceivably, delightfully true?

Pooped!

It was almost unanimously agreed upon (it's true, I polled) that the Lions should have won Week 1 over the Bears. That rule, that hideously arcane and asinine "Process" rule, cost them. I don't care if it was properly enforced (which, theoretically, it was), it was devastating and unfair.

Week 2 saw them lose to the Eagles. Nate Burleson was injured the first play of the game. DeAndre Levy was still injured and didn't play. Michael Vick somehow avoided multiple sacks and the Detroit defense thought they could arm-tackle everyone. Shaun Hill tried too hard to force too many passes, and Scott Linehan just couldn't figure out short-yardage situations. That loss, that 3-point loss, could have been a win with a little luck and a lot less stupid.

The Vikings in Week 3? Frankly, Favre has the NFL in his back pocket, and it showed. It was an atrociously called game with two turnovers overturned by penalties that should not have counted (Chris Houston inception, anyone?), in addition to big plays negated by very questionable penalties. Detroit was absolutely jobbed out of that game, and the officials let the Vikings bully the Lions. Also, Stefan Logan killed me. It was Howie-Long-Mock-Disgust-bad.

And this week? Against the Packers? Criminal. Again, the Lions tried so hard, but came up empty with a combination of bad luck turnovers and cheap officiating. It's just....frustrating. Impotent frustration that no one can do anything about.

But.

After four games, I thought the Lions would be 1-3. And I thought they could finish 7-9. They have played 2 games against teams that were preseason Super Bowl picks (Minnesota and Green Bay), they played 1 game against a team that has been to the playoffs the last two years (Philadelphia), and a team that was supposed to ride a mad genius' offense for an absurd amount of points (Chicago), and they have hung tough for every game. They could have won every game. They could be undefeated right now, and they don't even have a full bloody roster yet.

Pooped again.

Matt Stafford, the quarterback that looked so.... fantastic... in the preseason hasn't played in the last three games. Burleson, the guy who was supposed to be everything Bryant Johnson, Dennis Northcutt, etc. wasn't, hasn't played in the last three games (one series against Philly? C'mon, chum. Blech). DeAndre Levy, the guy who was supposed to be the Middle Linebacker of the Future, has played one game. Everyone is nicked up. It sucks. It's ridiculous. And still, they could be 4 and 0.

I like the makeup of this team. I like the players. I even like the coaches (who are getting a lambasting recently in local media outlets). There is plenty of reason for optimism, and things should be getting better.

I just wish these jerks would get healthy. My gosh.