What a difference a week makes!
There were people questioning Staffords ability. There were people questioning the draft pick of the tight end Pettigrew. There were people questioning the coaching. Heck, people were questioning every aspect of the team.
Will this one game silence them? No. Well, maybe for 3 days. But to think that the questions won't start up again with the very next loss is not really reasonable. Fans are just that way, well, many are anyway.
I looked at this as a losing season from the get-go. I looked at it as a season to install the offense and defense and to weed out the players and to get game time experience for the rookies they drafted and the free agents they kept. I looked at it as a beginning. What I saw in this game was a game changing capable TE. A never say die QB. A team that didn't fold when they could've. What I saw was a LOT of potential. Actually, I've been seeing some here and there all along, but this time, most everyone could see it. That makes it easier to preach to the choir. A choir with their ears open rather then closed.
Yes, it was "just" the Browns. Yes the refs appeared to maybe help the Lions out some at the end of the game. All that can be argued to death. What can't be argued though is that the negative nancies expected the Lions to lose, right up to when there was 0 seconds left in the game, and the Lions DID NOT LOSE. Various players showed what they had, Browns as the opponent or no. And the Lions were victorious in a game they both needed to win (for mental health sake) and were expected to win. That hasn't been happening lately. So don't take away from the win just because it was the Browns they were playing. Some of the other "great" teams in the league nearly (or did) lose their games this week.
Take from this that the nucleus of the team is in fact solid, or will be as time goes by. Take from it what I've been saying over and over again, they are building a team, this is the way you do it, and there are results that can be found if you care to look.
The injuries continue to mount, the season continues to be challenging, and the next game is a mere 4 days away. But, this a team that is being rebuilt from what would've been 50th place if there would've been 50 teams in the league last year, and they have grown a lot from that team in just one year. They will continue to build, and we get to all enjoy watching that build take place.
Will they win 4 days from now? Probably not. But they might, after all, it's been a pretty good week so far. Let's not just discount this team out of hand whether they win or lose, rather, let's enjoy the team that is being built, and for those who just can't do that, well try anyway, even if it's only for one week, or rather 3 days, as the case may be.
No comments:
Post a Comment