If Detroit Lions Miss the Playoffs, 2011 Will Be More Disappointing Than 0-16

2011 started so promising for the Detroit Lions. The team's 5-0 start had fans in a frenzy and put the rest of the league on notice that Motown was ready to roar once again.

However, as of late, Detroit is garnering the wrong kind of attention, losing games and looking undisciplined in the process.

The Lions are not out of the playoff race—in fact, at 7-5 they are in the thick of the wild-card picture.

Perhaps that is why this season would be more disappointing than the winless campaign of 2008 should Detroit miss the playoffs—the team has provided the city with hope.

For too long the Motor City was a laughingstock, a joke of an organization with no expectations. In 2008 the city despised the team and president Matt Millen as much as everyone else.

But this year the Lions showed promise, and they have teased the city with the potential for a playoff run.

What a colossal blow it would be if Detroit were unable to make its first playoff appearance since 1999.

Let's look at the reasons missing the postseason this year would be worse than going 0-16 in 2008.

4. Starting 6-2 Caused Deja Vu

This season the Lions started 6-2—a beginning eerily similar to the 2007 season in which the team started with the same record before finishing at just 7-9.

The 2008 Lions made no attempts to tease the fan base with early-season wins as they did the previous season, but this year it seems as if the team is following the 2007 club's tumultuous blueprint.

Granted, these Lions are considered much better than those 2007 counterparts, and yet that may be why missing the playoffs this year would be so disappointing.

How can a fan base that has never witnessed a Super Bowl—or seen a playoff game since the 1999 season—be expected to deal with multiple 6-2 starts that ended in failure?

The Detroit fans do not deserve to be teased, they deserve results.

Playing in prime-time games at least garnered attention to the Lions, but now it is time to for the team to earn respect.

3. Expectations

What makes the 2011 Detroit Lions different from all the other recent iterations?

This team was expected to make noise this year.

The Lions were considered a preseason "dark horse," a team on the rise, and a group that had the talent to make the playoffs.

An offense that features a healthy Matthew Stafford and great weapons like Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Brandon Pettigrew and Jahvid Best is one of the most potent units in the NFL.

The cupboard was considerably less stocked in 2008.

With no defense to speak of and Jon Kitna at quarterback, expectations were exceedingly low for Detroit, even after a 4-0 preseason.

The "Matt Millen wide receiver project" had already been deemed a failure, and the process of rebuilding a perennially rebuilding team had already begun.

It is amazing how much more disheartening a season can be when there are failed expectations, something that clearly differentiates the 2011 Lions have over their 2008 predecessors.

2. There Are No Excuses

It seems there are always excuses for a team's struggles. Whether it be injuries, blown calls by referees, or lack of talent, something is always to blame.

The 2008 Lions had plenty of excuses for their inability to win. They had a terrible excuse for a team president in Matt Millen and a quarterback carousel that included Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky and Daunte Culpepper.

However, the current Detroit team has no reason to miss the playoffs. It started the season 5-0 and even after dropping five of its last seven games remains firmly in the playoff picture.

Division-rival and fellow wild-card contender the Chicago Bears have lost their franchise quarterback Jay Cutler for the foreseeable future and the Atlanta Falcons are just as inconsistent as the Lions.

Detroit has finally seen Matthew Stafford stay on the field, it has talent on both sides of the ball, and it has competent people making personnel decisions.

The Lions have run out of excuses for their misfortunes and they cannot continue losing games in the fashions they have been losing.

Stupid penalties and undisciplined football can become a main reason Detroit misses the playoffs, but they can never be a viable excuse.

1. Hope

Hope is a fickle thing. When you have hope you set yourself up to be disappointed when those hopes don't come to fruition.

The 2011 Lions have given the city of Detroit hope in their football team, something they have not had in far too long.

Rooting for the Red Wings and Tigers has been easy in recent years; those teams have an owner in Mike Ilitch that is clearly dedicated to winning championships.

But with the Lions and the Ford family, questions have always been abound about their dedication to building a contender.

This group of players and personnel changed that. Martin Mayhew has proved to be a great hire as general manager, and so has Jim Schwartz as head coach. The front office has built a team with the talent to compete and restored hope in a fan base that has forgotten what January football is even like.

The devastation that would hit Detroit if the Lions missed the playoffs is impossible to gauge, but it would undoubtedly be worse than going winless in 2008.

Because this year there was hope, and hope is a fickle thing.