THE DETROIT LIONS HAVE WON THE NFC NORTH!
Today would’ve been one of those games where I expected the Lions to normally lay an egg. They were 9–4 in the 2017 season before losing their final three games and missing out on the playoffs. But I felt confident. Most Lions fans did. Establishing a good culture and assembling a good roster will make things feel different. This year has felt different since they won that first game in Kansas City. This is uncharted territory, folks. For the first time ever, the Detroit Lions have won the NFC North. It’s the first division title at all for the Detroit Lions since they won the now defunct NFC Central in 1993.
This thing got pretty hairy until the last second. With the Lions having to go on the road to play the Cowboys next week, I think that we were all starting to get that icky feeling in the back of our heads that this was all going to come down to a week 18 matchup at home against the Vikings. Detroit fans have had enough stress, especially after today. They put any potential narratives and stand tall when it mattered. This feels fucking awesome. If there was any organization in sports that has earned the right to have their ownership consistently questioned, it’s the Detroit Lions. Who knows what the future holds, but right now, the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell era is working. This is the best Detroit Lions team of my lifetime. Every time I’ve expected them to fall back into their old patterns, they’ve come back as resurgent as ever. Not only has this been a winning team, this has been a fun team. This is the kind of team that fans with no dog in the fight will find themselves rooting for come playoff time.
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I’ll eat a fair amount of crow here. When Dan Campbell was brought to Detroit and gave his opening “kneecap biting” press conference, I appreciated the passion, but I didn’t expect results. I just figured we’d get more of the same. Why would this era be different? The whole thing seemed too good to be true, but goddamnit, maybe Detroit has earned the right to see too good to be true actually come true. Dan Campbell will get his flowers, but Brad Holmes deserves all the credit for how he’s built through the draft. There are things you can criticize here and there, but if you would have told any Lions fan that this is what the team would be in year three of a rebuild, they’d all take it.
I hope the day comes when we can look back and chuckle at the idea that we celebrated an NFC North championship. I truly hope that this is the beginning of a new era and not the high point. The future isn’t written, so for the time being, I hope Detroit goes fucking crazy tonight. What a marvelous Christmas gift. Enjoy it, Lions! You’ve earned this one!