The Future Remains Bright For The Lions, But Yeah, This Sucks Hard
The sun came up today, but I doubt it makes anyone feel any better. Talking about yesterday’s Lions game is legitimately tough. I do what I can to be the voice of the fan, but there’s only so many different ways to say that this sucks. The Lions blowing a 17-point lead in the second half of the NFC championship was, well, very Detroit Lions. It’s such a shame to say that because this was a team that all year proved themselves to be a different version of what we’ve seen in the past. They were rolling, and then disaster struck. Detroit fans have earned a mourning period today. I totally understand that. I’m sure Detroit sports radio will be ablaze with hot takes.
This is one of those instances where everything said 48 hours after the game shouldn’t be held against anybody. I’m sure there will be calls from furious people who are going to say the most irrational shit. On this day, I get it, but I’m trying to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The Lions will never have this opportunity back. This will be a loss that will stay forever, but if there’s anybody who would come on here with undeniable skepticism and say that they just blew their best shot, it would probably be me, but I am firm in my belief that this is just the beginning for the Detroit Lions. It won’t make today feel any better, but it does make the future brighter.
Overall, I have been blown away by the job that Brad Holmes has done rebuilding the Detroit Lions. I've never seen anything like it from this organization. He's proven himself to be the smartest guy in the room consistently, and that can't be overlooked. Brad Holmes is about to have another draft, which, ironically, will take place in Detroit; he's going to go through another free agency cycle. I've spoken about it before, but this has finally become a place that free agents are going to want to play at. I'm trying here, guys, to make people feel better, but there's nothing I'm going to say that will shake the sinking feeling that many people have that they might've just blown their best shot. I wish I could snap my fingers and undo yesterday's second half, but no one has that kind of power.
One of two things is going to happen here. Either the Lions use this as a galvanizing moment, and we look back on this loss as something that only made them stronger and kicked off a glorious era of Lions football, or we look back at it as the ultimate Detroit sports moment of heartbreak. I don't know what will happen, but I do know they have the talent and leadership in place to make sure that this is just the start. This thing got off the ground quicker than I could've ever expected, but it didn't make yesterday's crash and burn any less disastrous. It was a fun run, but please don't make us wait 30 more years for the next one.