Detroit Lions: Why the Victory over Denver Proves They Are for Real

The Detroit Lions dominated the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday.  Their offensive performance was reminiscent of how they steamrolled over teams during their five-game win streak.  On defense they sacked Tim Tebow seven times and scored 12 points off turnovers.

Media and fans alike predicted that the Lions were the better team and therefore should win the game. In doing so they proved that the win streak to open the season was no fluke; They proved to every team in the NFL that they cannot be taken lightly.

The Detroit Lions proved that they are for real this year.

This was the type of game, against an inferior opponent, that Lion teams of old would have blown.  They would have come out flat, not taken the game seriously, and lost.

True, there weren't that many teams inferior to the Lions during the last decade.  But even during their glory days of the '90s, the Lions always seemed to lose one or two games a year to lesser opponents. 

Do elite teams do that?

The answer is no.  Elite teams not only find ways to win against evenly matched teams. They also consistently win the games they are supposed to win, and they win those games convincingly. 

Some people might say that the win streak proved that the Lions were elite.  I don't believe that.

Let's be honest, that win streak surprised everyone. Yes, they were predicted to be better this year. But no one predicted them to come out of the gate like that. 

They played well.  But they also ran into teams at the right time (Tampa and Kansas City) and had some luck (Minnesota and Dallas).  Because of the streak the Lions garnered praise that was not completely deserved

Teams do not become great overnight by surprising people like the Lions did.

One might say, "Weren't the Lions supposed to beat San Francisco and Atlanta?"

I would say no.  Both games were predicted to be close.  Both teams were evenly matched with the Lions.  If the Lions were favored, it was because of their record and the fact they were at home.

I believe the general feeling was the Lions could win, but it was also a distinct possibility that they could lose those games.  I mean Atlanta was 13-3 last year!

I'm not giving the Lions a pass for losing those games.  What I am saying is that elite teams do not go undefeated every year.  Elite teams do lose games.  They lose close games to good teams. 

What they don't do is lose to inferior opponents. This type of loss calls into question a team's work ethic, their preparedness, and their motivation.

In some ways the Denver game was a "must win" game for Detroit. I know, every game is must win. But for Detroit it really applies.

With a loss in Denver, the momentum and positivity that was built from the win streak would have been gone. They would have went from a young team that knows how to win, to a talented but disappointing team on the decline. 

The media and fan base would have collectively exited the bandwagon. 

Detroit’s faults would have been exposed and overblown by the media.  They would have also tried to blame the decline of the Lions on Ndamukong Suh’s dirty play.

You know they would have.

But the Lions did not lose. They backed up the predictions and won. They dominated a lesser team.

If you are a team that is trying to become a winner, trying to change a culture of losing, and trying to become elite, this is the way to do it.

We might not be able to call them elite yet.  But we can confidently say that in 2011, the Detroit Lions are for real.