Ladies and gentlemen, the Detroit Football Lions have won their second consecutive game, and are now 3-6 at the halfway point of their season. 3 wins at this point isn’t exactly what I hoped for, but you know what, I’m fine with it. They’ve matched last season’s win total already, and they still have 8 games to go. You know what that is? Progress. For as much of a cynic as I’ve been about Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn, I do have to admit that this has been a completely different team the last 2 weeks.
Going into the 4th quarter yesterday, the Lions were down 24-10 and on defense, and I caught myself living in the past. I was thinking about all of those 4th quarter comebacks the Lions had with Matthew Stafford, and how they were really never out of a game with him under center. The reason I bring that up is because I didn’t think we’d see anything like that under Dan Campbell. I didn’t think this team had it. I thought we were going to lose again and drop to 2-7 without really having any sort of faith in my guys, but I was wrong. I don’t know if they caught a wave of the negative energy I put out there or what, but the comeback was beautiful.
Like many Lions fans, I’ve been overly critical of Aaron Glenn this season, and we’ve had the right to be. The defense for the first 7 weeks was awful, and it didn’t look like it was getting any better. The last 2 weeks however, we’ve seen the narrative start to shift a little bit. Outside of 2 big plays, the Lions defense actually played really well against a surging offense, with an excellent young quarterback in Justin Fields. For those of you who don’t know, I do live in the suburbs of Chicago, so I hear about this guy all the time. I knew going in to the game that the Lions defense had their work cut out for them on the ground, and for 90% of the game, I think they did a good job of containing him.They were getting in the backfield, they were making him improvise, and they even forced a huge interception by getting in his face. The defense made plays when it mattered, and they won them this game.
So, the defense has made plays 2 weeks in a row, but what else has gone right for the Lions during this win streak? I pointed this out earlier on in the season, but the Lions under DC have been horrible at closing out games, and playing consistent football. Well, guess what they’ve done the last 2 weeks? They’ve done just that, and it has been very impressive to see. They got up 31-30 late, and I thought I was going to see the “Same Old Lions” blow another game. Fortunately,I was wrong again. They were able to step up and close out the game by getting a huge sack on 4th down to seal the victory. Last years team would have lost that game on an 80 yard field goal, so winning a game that they historically would have lost is incredible.
Once again, the catalyst for the Lions victory could be that Amani Oruwaiye didn’t see the field this week either. He’s played just 2 (!!!!) snaps in the last 2 weeks, and coincidentally, the Lions have won both of those games. Is it a coincidence at all? Who knows.
Whatever the winning formula has been the last 2 weeks, I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to keep it up when they play the Giants next week. They’re 7-2, but this feels like a game the Lions could win. The Giants, like the Lions, have been in a lot of close games,so it doesn’t feel like they’re 7-2. I’m not going to give them any bulletin board material, but I think next Sunday’s game will be an entertaining one. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Stud of the week: Jeff Okudah
Dud of the week: Me, since I’m batting below the Mendoza line on predictions recently
