Detroit Lions: Lack of Discipline Crushes Detroit's Chances on Thanksgiving

Crushed.

By themselves as much as the Packers, the Lions were crushed. They were their own worst enemy on the field.

All of Michigan was more than willing to give thanks to Matthew Stafford, Jim Schwartz, Ndamukong Suh and the rest of the Detroit Lions for their football efforts this year. But Aaron Rodgers did what he does best.

Capitalize on the other team's mistakes.

The Lions wanted to tell the world that they’re ready to perform on the biggest stages against the best opponents.

Instead, the image of this game burned into everyone’s retinas at Thanksgiving dinner this year is that of a petulant defensive lineman, having helped to get his team off the field in the red zone, slamming his foot onto a rookie offensive lineman’s arm.

Ndamukong Suh, in that one motion, has become a figurehead for everything that is wrong with the Lions. Aggressive play…no, it can’t be defended as just that anymore. It was dirty. Indefensible.

Crushed.

His reputation, whatever remained of it, is gone right along with the games he should miss. If anything, it was made worse by his excuses and rationalization.

But his is only the one lasting memory from this forgettable game.

It all started, easily enough, with a penalty that managed to kill off a promising Lions opening drive. Then another. And another. By the time Stafford threw his first of three interceptions on the afternoon—now nine in three games—the Lions had shot themselves in the foot more than enough.

This lack of discipline has become the Lions’ forte in the past month of football. A reputation, built upon itself, keeps haunting the Lions, though they seem to do little to exorcise those demons.

Sure enough, another Detroit penalty gave Aaron Rodgers 1st-and-goal. Unlike the Lions, when presented with an opportunity, Green Bay took advantage.

Crushed.

Injuries took their toll, of course. Kevin Smith had returned from exile to give the Lions a running game, only to have him come up limp on a reverse. But the Lions had their chances; they simply turned them into breaks for the Packers.

This, as it turned out, was indeed a statement game for the Detroit Lions. In front of a national audience, their sloppy play—11 penalties for 82 yards—and indefensible personal conduct gave the country a very different message than the one the Lions wanted to send.

These Lions, instead of being the grizzled, aggressive warriors, look now like cheap shots that can’t compete with the big boys in the big games.

They have another opportunity a week from Sunday to try and start rebuilding their shattered image. But that problem, just like this loss, is entirely their doing. Turnovers and penalties are a football team’s worst enemy, but the Lions have made them their calling card.

You can’t win football games that way. You can’t bounce back, certainly not against the New Orleans Saints, playing that way. Injuries are hard to overcome, but stupid play is even harder to beat.

For everything bad the Lions showed about themselves on Thursday, they did show that they have the ability to compete with the best if only they would stop beating themselves. The line between intense play and stupid play is a thin one, but Detroit needs to find their way back on the right side of it quickly. Thankfully, they have a long week to cool their heads before a tough road test, but that discipline has been eluding the Lions all season.

If they can’t find it quickly, their playoff chances will be quickly, well, crushed.