Listen Up Lions: It's Not Whether You Get Knocked Down, It's Whether You Get Up

As many of you will recognize, the headline of this article is a paraphrase of a Vince Lombardi quote.  

Lombardi, the most revered and storied head coach in professional football history, won Super Bowl I and II after winning three NFL Championships and finishing second in two others, all in the span of seven years.

The man epitomized the very essence of the competitive spirit of football, which is why the most coveted annual team trophy in the world is named after him.

This particular Lombardi quote is especially relevant to the situation that the Detroit Lions find themselves in now.

After two consecutive controversial losses laid the Lions low (and gut-punched Detroit fans), the true test of the character of this team will be revealed by whether they can summon the resolve to get up again.

And win.

The season is still young

Since the current NFL playoff format was instituted in 1990, 22 teams that started the season 0-2 or worse have made it to the playoffs.

Eleven of these teams made it to the playoffs as Wild Card teams, including the 1995 Lions who began the season 0-3.

Five of these teams advanced to the divisional playoffs, including the 1992 Chargers who started out 0-4.

Two 0-2 teams advanced to their Conference finals.

And two of these teams, the 1993 Dallas Cowboys and 2001 New England Patriots, went on to win Super Bowls.

Slugging back one game at a time

Week 3 features two NFC North division match-ups. Chicago and Green Bay, both 2-0, face off, while Detroit and Minnesota, both 0-2, will compete to determine which team will occupy third place in the division heading into Week 4.

The Lions have a great opportunity to demonstrate a Lombardi-esque toughness and resiliency by ending their 21-road-game losing streak this Sunday against the Vikings on their home turf, Mall of America Field.

Vegas oddsmakers have pegged the Lions as 11 point underdogs. Every ESPN prognosticator and SI’s Peter King have picked the Lions to lose straight up. About the only national experts predicting a Lions win are Sterling Sharpe and Joe Theismann.

The national consensus seems to be that, given the slump the stumbling Vikings are in, it’s a blessing that they’re playing the lowly Lions this week and are guaranteed a win to help put them back on track.

If you like underdogs, you’ve got to love the Lions.

The matchup in a nutshell

The Vikings have scored a combined total of 19 points in two games this season and allowed 28 points on defense.

Brett Favre has already thrown four interceptions, including three last week against Miami in a game where he also lost a fumble in the endzone that was recovered for a touchdown.

Favre has completed 58.7 percent of his passes and has a 56.1 quarterback rating.

Minnesota’s offensive line has allowed Favre to get sacked four times and hit ten.

Favre’s favorite wideout, Sidney Rice, is out for at least another month, and Favre himself is nursing ankle and elbow injuries.

On the plus side for Minnesota, wideouts Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian will probably play on Sunday, and two of the Vikings top injured cornerbacks could return to the lineup against the Lions.

Meanwhile, the Lions have scored a combined total of 46 points in two games this season, including 14 points in the final four minutes of the game last week against the Eagles. They have allowed opponents to score 54 points.

Shaun Hill has thrown three interceptions, been sacked three times and hit ten times.

Hill has completed 53.1 percent of his passes and has a 64.8 quarterback rating.

Detroit will play Minnesota without quarterback Matt Stafford, wideout Nate Burleson, and linebacker Zack Follett.

On the plus side for Detroit, defensive end Cliff Avril, linebackers Landon Johnson and DeAndre Levy, and guard Stephen Peterman may be healthy enough to return to the lineup against the Vikings.

Healthy backup quarterback Shaun Hill will have Detroit’s healthy premier wide receiver Calvin Johnson available as a target. Injured Minnesota starting quarterback Brett Favre’s primary wideout target will be a nicked-up Percy Harvin.

Both teams have explosive running backs.

Detroit rookie Jahvid Best has racked up 98 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, along with 170 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson has also been impressive, posting 232 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, along with 55 receiving yards and no receiving touchdowns.

Both teams play a base 4-3 defense and have formidable defensive lines.

Detroit’s Kyle Vanden Bosch leads all defensive ends in the league with 12 solo tackles, 17 when counting assists. In contrast, the Vikings’ premier defensive end, Jared Allen, has 6 solo tackles, 7 when counting assists.

Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and defensive end Turk McBride are tied for ninth place in the NFL for sacks, with two each. Defensive tackle Sammie Lee Hill and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch are tied for 19^th with 1.5 sacks each.

Jared Allen, Minnesota’s leading sacker to date, is 25^th in the league with one sack.

In fact, the Lions rank second in the NFL with nine total sacks, while the Vikings are tied for 18^th with three sacks.

Good news, bad news

The bad news is that Detroit’s defense is still giving up far too many points. The good news is that the Lions offense is scoring a lot more points per game than last year.

Going into its game with Detroit this Sunday, Minnesota has a -9 point differential (the difference between points scored and points allowed), while Detroit has a -8 point differential.

For reference, last year the Lions finished the season with a -232 point differential, the worst in the league. Last season, ending the year with a -8 point differential would have earned a team a 7-9 or 8-8 record.

The end of the world

All things considered, this match-up could easily go either way.

Both teams have fallen twice in the space of two weeks. The winner will be the team that manages to pick itself back up the quickest, work together as a team the best, and play with the most pride and grit.

If the Lions lose this game, it won’t be the end of the world. It will just feel like it.

And at the end of the day if for any reason the Lions are not victorious, on Monday they must lick their wounds, get back up on their feet as a team, and get ready to give better than they get the following Sunday.

Because that’s what winners do when they get knocked down.