I think this all stems from a natural negativity most Lions fans have. Lions fans are already starting draft threads because we're used to it, but this team is going to be a force in the NFL as long as Matthew Stafford is healthy and playing. We should've beaten the Vikings both times, for numerous reasons, the most important being we are better and more talented than them.
I guess this is where we begin to disagree then. I don't care about what we
should have done, the fact of the matter is that we didn't. When a team beats you twice in a year, once on your own turf, and they have a better record and a clearer playoff picture than us, in what world can you really say that we're better than them aside from optimism? We made the playoffs last year for the first time in a decade. It's time to want more than on-paper wins.
But we're being led by a 24 year old quarterback, and a team that is young pretty much all around. Not a lot of veteran leadership, which is something we're going to need to address in the offseason. I think it's a natural progression for a young team to go through some sort of growing pains. It happened to Rodgers and the Packers, happened to Cutler when he was in Denver, happened to Eli in New York etc.
I haven't given up on Stafford being a good quarterback, but I'm not crowning him yet either. A lot of numbers coming on 4th quarter comebacks--regardless of winning or losing the game--is not something that I want to have to rely on, and with every game that he and the offense as a whole get off to slow starts, that fantastic season last year continues to look more like the exception and less like the rule.
The Schwartz stuff, yeah, I get it. He took over the worst team ever, so on and so forth. But we're four years removed from that now. Turnarounds in the NFL can happen really quickly if the situation is made up right. The 49ers under Harbaugh and the resurgence of the Ravens under...the other Harbaugh have both shown that, among other teams. Becoming -not- the worst team in history isn't exactly a tall order, becoming the perennial playoff team and Super Bowl contender that a lot of fans here seem eager to declare them is a much tougher task. A lot of that falls on Mayhew, too; we still aren't filling our most gaping needs and our depth is still lacking. That said, I will admit that I don't understand how it's possible for literally our entire starting secondary to be injured, and we're down to literally fifth-string corners. Is that just bad luck, or picking up a lot of brittle players? I don't know.
We're still not out of the playoff race yet. If we lose this week then I'll say it officially, but if we win we're right back in the close NFC Wildcard race.
Very optimistic of you to say that, given the schedule coming up and the way we've played the entire season. Then again, I gave up on the playoffs after the first Minnesota loss, and I'm admittedly a pessimist (not just in relation to the Lions, but many things). Considering the run we'd have to put together against other proven playoff teams, I just can't see it happening with the makeup of the team right now.
