Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions have just about arrived to do-or-die time. With a playoff spot now essentially two games away, the Lions can ill-afford struggles down the stretch. Five games remain on the schedule, and if the Lions win four of them, they are almost certainly going to make their third straight postseason. Unfortunately for the Lions, of their five remaining games, four are against teams that are in the depths of their own playoff races. Detroit’s final five games are:
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Let’s start with the wins. The Steelers are not a good team. While they have a relatively strong defensive unit, they are still allowing 24.1 points per game, ranking 20th in the league. They really struggle on offense, ranking 22nd in DVOA and falling. They’ve lost five of their last seven games, and in three weeks they could be completely out of the playoff race.
I know the Lions lost to the Vikings earlier in the season, but things have only gotten worse for Minnesota since. They’ve lost four in a row since that game, and they’ve failed to score 20 points in each of those contests. They will be fully out of the playoff race by their Week 17 game against Detroit, and while the defense will likely give the Lions trouble, I have faith they’ll still be able to outscore that horrible Vikings offense.
That leaves the Cowboys, Rams, and Bears. Those are three teams with explosive offenses, which is likely going to give Detroit some trouble. I’m counting the Rams game as a loss, given they have a pretty strong defense to go with that dangerous offense. As for the Cowboys and Bears—the two most important games of the season—I honestly think the Lions are going to split them. I wish I could have faith in the Lions right now, but they just aren’t playing consistent enough football for me to believe they’ll win both of those games.
So, I have the Lions going 3-2 down the stretch here, which—in all likelihood—won’t be enough to make the playoffs.
What do you think? Vote in the poll below, and share your extended thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
