Detroit Lions-St. Louis Rams Matchup More About Losing Than One Win

Well, this is awkward.

Barely a month after the Detroit Lions exorcised a 19-game losing streak, they now have the opportunity to give the St. Louis Rams their 18th.

What's more, that 18th straight loss would also send the Rams to 0-8 on the season, halfway to the mark the Lions put up in the Season Which Shall Not Be Named.

Now, by no means am I saying the Rams are going to go winless this season (they do play Tennessee in December), but the Lions can exorcise a little more of their recent history by keeping the Rams on that path.

Sure, what's done is done, and last season can never be erased.

But it can be printed over.

If the Rams exceed the Lions' losing streak and run it to 20, then at the very least, the Lions are not the most recent big-time losers.

And the Rams' next three games are against Detroit, New Orleans, and Arizona.

Which of those games do you think they have circled on their calendar?

Ultimately, this is a battle of futility. A win means very little to either team in the long run. It just means they're not losing.

But that's something. For these two teams, it's actually very significant.

It's not often that a team holding a record of futility plays against a team pushing for it. It isn't as if the Lions played the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs last year.

In effect, this game is like a round of hot potato. Neither team wants to own that losing streak, so for 60 minutes they're going to toss it back and forth.

At the final gun, either one team will retain its streak, or one will continue its streak.

Neither team wants it.

But this game will come down to one simple question.

Who wants it less?