Power Pros Forum

In light of the recent discussion of frustrating sports teams, I present to you...

The Tale of the Lions

Thanks to General Manager Matt Millen, a string of absolutely awful moves and draft picks took place. Between 2002 and 2006, the Lions went 22-58 and played host to a woeful offensive line, three different quarterbacks, whether they be washed-up or busts, and overall just a terrible set of players. Millen insisted on drafting wide receivers again and again, drafting one in the first round of three consecutive drafts from 2004 to 2006 (Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, and the worst of the three Mike Williams'). In that time we did not acquire a single offensive lineman before round 5.

Then came 2007. We had drafted a young man named Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech, and there was an aura of hope after the team started with a win. And then another win. And, after a tough loss, another win. We continued to win behind the veteran leadership of quarterback Jon Kitna, heading into the second half of the season with six wins and just a pair of losses. Detroit was abuzz. Who was this team, and where had they come from? No answers were necessary as long as the trend continued.

But alas, it did not. I won't go into the gruesome details, but, needless to say, the last 8 games of 2007 were bad and indicative of what was to come.

The 2008 draft wasn't awful. We acquired Gosder Cherilus, offensive tackle, and running back Kevin Smith. Cliff Avril also became a Lion in round 5. Lions fans had caught a whiff of playoffs, and after coming so close, they were hungry for more.

Those who were not already optimistic were perhaps dragged in by a promising preseason. A perfect record of four-and-oh showed the Lions had what it takes. Or, so I and many other Lions fans though.

I... I'll just leave this image here to sum up 2008:



Despite how painful making history had been, the 2008 season sparked the change this organization needed. After the season (or, in Matt Millen's case, during) a large number of personnel were relieved from their duties. We hired a man named Jim Schwartz, a defensive specialist, and many other new staff members. We used our #1 draft pick to select Matthew Stafford out of Georgia. Later in that same round, we selected tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and in the second round, free safety Louis Delmas. In addition, the team designed a new logo and uniforms, symbolizing the change that had taken place in Detroit.

2009 was a rebuilding year, and the Lions finished just 2-14. Concern grew only when, 13 weeks into the 2010 season, the Lions still stood held just two wins to their name. Matthew Stafford was plagued by injury, and fans all over questioned whether Jim Schwartz was truly our savior, but things changed on week 14. Playing at home, the Lions took advantage of an injury to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and held on to win the game 7 to 3. On the road next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions knocked off the Bucs in overtime to win their fourth game of the season and for the first time on the road in twenty tries. The team completed an incredible comeback win against the Miami Dolphins week 16 and defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the final game of the season, finishing a respectable 6-10 and clinching third place in the NFC North.

The tides of change had reached Detroit, and there was no shortage of optimism among football fans in and around the city.

2011 was an incredible year; Matthew Stafford remained injury-free and threw for over 5,000 passing yards. Calvin Johnson averaged over 100 yards per game and finished with 16 touchdowns. Although the team relied on their fast start of 5-0 to make the playoffs at 10-6, they looked better than they had in over a decade. The Lion's did not fare well in their first postseason game since the 20th century, but it did not matter to most. For young fans like myself, it was their first true taste of NFL success.

But, although the team had performed well on the field, off the field issues plagued the Lions. On the field, the Lions were regarded as one of the dirtiest teams in the NFL, and often felt the backlash of it during games. The Lions (at least in my opinion) were strictly watched by referees who were quick to issue unnecessary roughness flags against this so-called dirty team. Young players such as Ndamukong Suh and Titus Young showed an inability to control tempers, while others, such as Nick Fairley and Mikel Leshoure, struggled to simply obey the law outside of football. 2012 started embarrassingly, with a measly 1-3 record. The Lions struggled to overcome poor play by franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford and injuries to an already-weak secondary. Some Lions fans maintained a level-head, but many others panicked. Was this the end? Had the Lions come so far from 0-16, only to fall back into last place in the division? No... it couldn't be.

Over the next three games, the Lions managed to scrap out two wins, bringing them to a less-than-impressive 3-4. Matthew Stafford, in game 7, played his best game of the season (perhaps because I benched him in fantasy) and the Lions offense looked to have returned to its 2011 form. It'll take a strong finish, but the Lions are by no means out of the playoff hunt, and hopefully will be Super Bowl contenders for years to come.

To be continued...

How many of you do have school today? I do

Ditto. I think I'm done for today, but I'm not sure.

Nope no school

I have school. I won't have on Friday, since it's the end of the marking period.

I have a minimum days on Thursday and Friday

In case anyone didn't notice, I posted a bit of an in-universe look at my webcam situation in the Mendenhals log. Check it out if you haven't already.

#shamelessplug

Also, I may post a game update today.

Dark Shade is online

Trust me Dish, we noticed

Liam, he's on plenty lately

Well he isn't anymore, so I was just pointing it out. Is that so bad.

Topic=General Chat Thread

I do say

I'm game also, PPJ.

It's possible I might not have school till Thursday/Friday because there's gonna be power outages all over the place. Delaware already has over 6,000 people with their power out.

My power will probably go out in the middle of the night because the wind is supposed to pick up apparently.

Even otherwise I'm not sure if I'll have school tomorrow. Also, I've heard a lot of my kids in my town have no power so that's also a good sign in the "no school" thing.