It’s hope that kills you, and that’s why Detroit Lions supporters knew last Sunday: Of course, the New York Jets kicker would kick the ball between the bars and equalize at the last second. Of course, the Lions would then lose in overtime – as so often in the past few weeks, years or even decades, they would lose a lead and break the hearts of the fans in the most bitter way possible. Of course, they would miss the playoffs following a few recent wins have given them hope that it might work out this season.
It’s the hope that kills you, but something outrageous happened: the ball sailed wide, even wide; the Lions won 20:17 and can still bet on the playoff participation.
The extent of the football melancholy in Detroit is considerable: Because the NFL rules, which include a salary cap and the fact that the most unsuccessful team of the previous season gets to vote first at the talent fair, are intended to ensure medium-term equal opportunities; but the Lions have been involved since the beginning of the Super Bowl era and have never reached the final. In 56 seasons, the Lions have won only one playoff game, in 1991 once morest the Dallas Cowboys. What they did, on the other hand, in 2008: a complete season without a win.
There had always been hope in Detroit, most recently because of playmaker Matthew Stafford. He had hoped in vain for improvement for twelve years, then he asked for a change in the summer of 2021 – and immediately won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Lions’ record last season was 3:13 wins. This season also started badly – 1:6. When there is no hope, there is only sadness. Coach Dan Campbell became the symbol of this thesis. He had played as a tight end for the Lions, but won the Super Bowl elsewhere, in 2001 with the New York Giants. Hardly any coach identifies with a city as much as Campbell does with Detroit: He is nicknamed “Motor City Dan”, following his arrival as head coach in 2021 he said that he dreams of Detroit staging a Super Bowl victory – and when the Lions suffered five consecutive losses at the beginning of his first season, he cried on the podium at the press conference.
The Lions had lost six times and won just one. Now it is 7:7
At the beginning of the season there was talk that the Lions have a squad that actually fuels hope this time. A very good and often underestimated playmaker, Jared Goff, previously worked in Los Angeles, is in their ranks, as well as two very good running backs, D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams, and of course the talented pass recipient with German roots, the 23-year-old Amon-Ra St. Brown. He was to become a star in his sophomore year as a pro, and he did. Amon-Ra St. Brown broke a club record for gaining space for Lions rookies last season. Next Saturday at the Carolina Panthers he can even become the youngest player in Lions history with a 1000-yard season with 26 yards gain. The previous record holder is Calvin Johnson, a Detroit saint.
But how can it be explained that the Lions initially lost six times with just one win and are now 7-7? There are probably still a few things between heaven and earth in football for which there are no statistics. One of them: belief in yourself. At the start of the season, the team lived up to their reputation for miraculously screwing up at the end. The team often lost in the last attack series. It was like always with the Lions: you hope and then you are disappointed. In November, they sent TJ Hockenson, whom they voted in the first round in 2019, to rival Minnesota Vikings in a swap that only gave them future season voting rights. It’s a well-known symbol of surrender – even if coach Campbell insisted his players just had to believe in success.
Then the following happened: The Lions narrowly won a grotto game once morest the Green Bay Packers, then they won – also by a hair’s breadth 31:30 – once morest the Chicago Bears. It was like a soccer striker in crisis who has to stumble in a goal so that he can score regularly once more. On Sunday, the Lions were 13:17 behind, on the first play of that all-important attacking streak Brock Wright, who became a regular following Hockenson’s departure, let the ball slip through his fingers. Of course, the Lions fans lost faith in him. Shortly therefollowing, the team urgently needed a few centimeters of space gain. Instead of the usual running play in this situation, Campbell announced a pass – to the unlucky Wright, and he ran 51 yards into the opposing end zone. Running back Williams yelled at Wright, “We believe in you!”
They believe that this might really be something with a successful future for the Lions – especially since they have the draft picks from Minnesota for Hockenson and from the Stafford swap deal with the Rams, which are now all the more valuable: The Rams just have the playoffs missed and will therefore send voting rights to Detroit much earlier than anyone might have foreseen.
But they also believe that it might work in the present. They believe in themselves because in the event of two wins once morest beatable opponents, Carolina and Chicago, the playoffs would be within reach. After that, there might be a first-round duel with the Vikings, who just defeated them. You may actually hope in Detroit. But of course everyone in this town knows: it is hope that kills you.
