Bobby Layne's Curse and the 2010 Detroit Lions: Luck Is a Fickle Thing

Have you ever had your car broken into? On the morning of November 22, 2010, I discovered how that felt. Fresh off five days of vacation, I grumbled as I walked out to my car, dreading the return to the grind. As it turns out, that return would have to wait a little bit longer. As I opened the driver door and got ready to sit down, I stopped myself mid-lunge.

There was broken glass all over the front seats. With a dropped jaw and what surely was a dumbfounded look on my face, I discovered that the CD player was ripped out and that my iPod was also stolen. Eight hundred and fifty dollars later, I have a new iPod, a new window and a new CD player. I’m still waiting on the insurance news, but I lost at least $250 due to the deductible.

I chalked it up to bad luck.

The landlord told me that my scenario was the first automotive break-in they’ve ever had. Joy.

It was unfair. It was unjust. I felt that I had done absolutely nothing to deserve such a loss. But no one said life was fair or just. No one said I deserved this.

I chalked it up to bad luck.

Now imagine having that happen to you every single week. Don’t you feel a little like Jim Schwartz? How about Calvin Johnson or Ndamukong Suh? Heck, even the much-loathed Stephen Peterman has had a couple of chop blocks that have edged him closer to the 53-man proverbial chopping block.

From the very beginning of the season at Soldier Field, we have watched a team that has presented two ends of the attitudinal spectrum to its fans.

The following has run through every Lions fan’s mind at some point this year:

Did Calvin really just catch that ball? Stefan Logan, the little engine that could. That is the Best burst I have seen in Detroit since No. 20! Matt Stafford put the ball exactly where it needed to be. Alphonso Smith just made a great pick! Amari Spievey with a fierce tackle at the line of scrimmage.

…

Alphonso Smith just got burned! Spievey just whiffed a tackle at the line of scrimmage! Another false start by Peterman! Dominic Raiola with a holding call in the red zone!

These things are the players’ faults, yes. But wait, there’s more. Let’s continue with a brief recap of the season, shall we?

The Lions’ franchise QB separates his shoulder. In the same game, Calvin made a second football move defined from precedence that finished the process, but heck, it’s the Lions. They don’t get that call. No touchdown. No victory. Bad luck for Detroit.

Mike Vick is superhuman and avoids sacks left and right, luckily before he got injured later in the year so he could beat Detroit first. Some bad luck, I guess.

Charles Woodson holds Calvin Johnson well past five yards with the ball in the air. No call. He’s such a wily vet! The drive is now over, and Detroit loses again.

The Vikings game was a loss, plain and simple. Not too much bad luck present here.

The Rams got easily handled by a motivated and frustrated Lions team. Not much again here.

With a return to normalcy, bad luck returns as Shaun Hill gets hurt and the Lions get beat by the Giants. Finally, the Lions have a chance to regroup at the bye week.

Stafford comes in and wins a game, not too surprisingly.

Also not too surprisingly, he gets hurt the next week and the Lions lose a game they had well in hand vs. the Jets, who are considered a Super Bowl contender. Bad luck returns.

A decimated, sad Lions team somewhat understandably puts up a pathetic effort against the Bills after losing to said Super Bowl contending Jets. Let’s call it bad luck hangover.

Speaking of hangover, I hardly remember the Cowboys game so I’ll skip it…wait. No, I remember. A punt return for a touchdown in a manner I’ve never seen in my entire life. It was a combination of bad luck and poor special teams reaction.

Suh and Brandon Pettigrew both get unjust calls against the darling Patriots. Shaun Hill breaks his finger.

Suh gets another unjust penalty from one Ed Hochuli against the Chicago Bears. Hey, wait a minute, that’s the same guy that made the Calvin Johnson call in the first game of the year. At this point, I’m not even surprised and don’t think the Lions would have won anyway because something else bad would’ve happened that would ensure they stay in the pit.

So here the Lions are, in the pit, in the cellar, once again at the bottom of the NFL standings. They stand at 2-10 because they lack the talent to overcome extremely adverse circumstances as described above. Stephen Peterman and Dominic Raiola probably need replaced as do Julian Peterson and Landon Johnson. Zack Follett and Alphonso Smith probably need to be demoted to backup OLB and nickel CB, respectively.

But the adverse circumstances created by bad luck, biased officiating or whatever you want to call it has kept this team from reaching a few more wins than it has. So I, trying to adopt an optimistic attitude, look for some justification, some way that karma could balance all of this injustice away.

In 2008, the Lions were a nearly talentless team aside from a few guys like Roy Williams, Cliff Avril and Calvin Johnson. They also had a few guys like Cory Redding and Leigh Bodden who were just okay. I don’t even want to think about the rest of the team, as I’d just as soon forget. Let’s keep this in mind going forward. Matt Millen basically had produced a black hole talent-wise as he ended his reign as mindless totalitarian.

Coincidentally, the same year Matt Millen was fired (2008), Bobby Layne’s 50-year “curse” on the Detroit Lions franchise ended. Coincidentally, the Lions then drafted Matthew Stafford in the 2009 NFL Draft, who attended the same high school as Bobby Layne. Weird, huh?

Considering the huge lack of talent produced by Millen as well as a rookie quarterback, no one expected the Lions to make a bunch of noise in 2009. They ended with a somewhat predictable record of 2-14.

In 2010, the Lions were able to select a once-in-a-decade type of prospect in Ndamukong Suh. With a more experienced Matthew Stafford and improved defense, the Lions were expected to have a better record in 2010.

Stafford went down. There goes that. For the record, they won the game he finished and had the lead in both of the other games when he left. At that point, my expectations went from the 4-12 season I had originally predicted to another 2-14 season. That may yet change if Stafford is able to return this year.

Is this what I consider karma? Do I consider karma as the Lions’ franchise QB displaying an injury-prone professional resume? Do I consider karma as an extreme bias towards the Lions from NFL officiating? How about a punt return the like of which I have never seen before? This stuff truly only happens to the Lions.

Well, it had to happen sometime. The Lions’ reign of supremacy must begin somewhere. After the talentless team Millen left, there had to be some way the Lions could add superstars. That sure wasn’t going to happen via free agency. What marquee player really wants to play in Detroit?

That’s right. It had to happen with all the bad luck we have seen this year. Or should I say good?

This offseason, the Lions appear to have a chance at another once-every-few-years type of prospect. He should be available where the Lions are picking thanks to someone ironically named Andrew Luck.

I’m talking about Patrick Peterson, a cornerback who has speed in the 4.3s, stands at a solid 220 pounds and can leap with most anyone (save for maybe Calvin Johnson). He is what many would call a freak thanks to those kind of measurables as well as very loose hips (good thing for a cornerback).

As luck would have it, Detroit has a need for a premier cornerback, pushing Chris Houston to second cornerback and Alphonso Smith to the nickel.

If Matthew Stafford gets on a joint strengthening regimen, having had knee and shoulder injuries in his first two seasons, I have faith he can be a marquee quarterback in this league with great leadership intangibles as seen against Cleveland in 2009 and Washington in 2010.

Imagine having an elite quarterback, elite scat back, Pro-Bowl tight end, elite wide receiver, elite defensive tackle and elite cornerback.

It’s not too far off, folks. They may have them all as soon as next year if Best improves, if Pettigrew improves, if Stafford stays healthy and if Peterson makes an impact right away. That’s four “ifs,” and they really are not too big of “ifs.”

It’s that type of possibility that makes losing $850 seem like a pittance. If karma exists, I’ll get it back eventually, and in an unexpected fashion. Here’s to hoping that parallels to Detroit football as well.