The Lions have had a lot of lucky wins this season and they are a lot worse than what their record shows. Let’s take a look at each game they have played this season so far.
Week 1 @ Chiefs. Barely won by a point, and needed a borderline miracle to win thanks to Kelce/Jones being inactive and a horrible day of drops by the Chiefs WR’s, including one that resulted in a fluke pick 6 that ended up being the difference maker. Another crucial drop also came late when it would have put Butker in range for a game winning field goal. Either way, Tirico was right. Absolutely an asterisk behind this win.
Week 2 vs Seahawks. Defense shit the bed against a good team. L.
Week 3 vs Falcons. Faced Ridder who is one of the worst QB’s in the league and Arthur Smith who is one of the worst HC’s in the league.
Week 4 @ Packers. Probably the Lions most complete W of the season. Offense looked solid against a solid defense, and Jordan Love was still not quite ready to get it together yet.
week 5 vs Panthers. Worst team in the league. Bryce Young is terrible and the rest of their team doesn’t exist.
week 6 @ Bucs. Baker Mayfield had receivers wide open all day long and he kept missing them. Mayfield is one of the worst QB’s in the league and the Lions are fortunate to have come away with a W on this one.
Week 7 @ Ravens. Finally faced a good team for the first time since week 2 and they shit the bed on both sides of the ball. L.
Week 8 vs Raiders. Jimmy G and McDaniels are just not a combination for winning football. The Lions played mistake filled football all day that should have lost them the game. Fortunately for them, the Raiders had wide open receivers all day and Jimmy G kept missing them much like with the Bucs game and Mayfield week 6.
BYE
Week 10 @ Chargers. The Lions defense once again did not show up against a good QB. Fortunately for the Lions, Staley does Staley things and the Lions offense just happened to have the ball last. Very lucky and fortunate W.
Week 11 vs Chicago. Needed a miracle to win. Fields looked like an MVP throughout most of the game while Goff was Nathan Peterman tier. Chicago had no business losing this game and Detroit got a GIFT.
Week 12 Thanksgiving vs Packers. Shit the bed against a banged up team on both sides of the ball, AT HOME. Goff completely folded under pressure despite the fact he still had multiple guys wide open all day and kept missing them. Defense made Jordan Love look like an MVP now that Jordan Love has warmed up compared to when he was not ready yet in their week 4 matchup. L.
Rest of their schedule - @ Saints, @ Bears, Broncos, @ Vikings, @ Cowboys, Vikings. Every single one of these games for Detroit can be losses. The Saints are better than what their record shows, Chicago on the road is always tough. Broncos are improving, the Vikings are a nightmare matchup and will likely sweep Detroit, and the Cowboys are an automatic loss. There is a very, very realistic chance that the Lions completely collapse starting with this afternoons embarrassing loss and miss the playoffs entirely. Even IF they manage to limp into the final wild card spot at 9-8 via tiebreakers, they are very easily one and done in the postseason. I have never seen a team get so lucky with 8 wins with a combination of their soft schedule and lucky wins. Even last years Vikings were better than this.
It’s tough to beat division rivals twice when they have competent coaching staffs