The Lions Are Here. They Might As Well Win The Damn Thing
This is still so weird to me. It’s a good kind of weird, but it’s weird nonetheless. This is technically year three of the Lions rebuild, though I would argue the rebuild ended pretty quickly, and that’s what’s so bizarre about this. The Lions literally just got Good. A year and a half ago, this seemed like it wasn’t working. They were awful in 2021, which nobody really blamed them for. The previous regime left him with nothing.
We knew it would take some time to get this thing off the ground. But they weren’t good in the first half of last season. They were a 1-6 football team. It seemed like whatever hopes we had of this being different were starting to dwindle, and then the Lions got good. Not just good, they got great. The team is 20-7 since that 1-6 start a year ago, including their two postseason wins. I’ve said it before, but I don’t see this as the end. At the same time, the Lions are here, they might as well do the fucking thing.
I don't believe the Lions are a better team than the San Francisco 49ers. I picked San Francisco to win the Super Bowl preseason. They haven't done much outside of that bizarre losing streak in the middle of the season to change my opinion. But even though the 49ers are excellent, and despite the fact that the Lions have never been in this situation in my lifetime, I'm going into tomorrow feeling bizarrely calm. The Lions are a momentum-based team. They thrive off of energy. Right now, they got momentum coming out of their ass because they just won two playoff games for the first time in forever. You know that the city and the state have their back, but it feels like the entire country is rooting for him right now. If they lose, then I guess they were just one year away, but if they win, then maybe it's just meant to be. It'll be one of those "It was destiny from the beginning" storylines.
One thing I've always appreciated about Dan Campbell teams from the beginning is that even if they go into a game as the underdog, they're going to play as if they're the favorites. "Grit" is just a buzzword. Having the ability to convey that identity is completely different, that's exactly what the Lions have done. I'm not big on making predictions for stuff like this. I hope my team wins; why wouldn't I? I guess I just expected that if the day came when the Lions were playing in the NFC championship game, my mindset would've been that it was insurmountable.
The fact that I feel as calm as I do is a testament to the culture that Dan Campbell has created and the roster that Brad Holmes has put together. It's been an incredible season, and the future remains bright, but if they win tomorrow, we're talking about one of the great stories in the history of Detroit sports. I want it, and I know many other people do.