(Image credit Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
We are getting close to playoff time and I have decided to make a series of articles on teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs and discuss 3 main reasons why the specific team has been eliminated from the playoffs. I will start with the current worst team in the NFL and that team is the Detroit Lions. Even though the Detroit Lions have not mathematically been eliminated from the Playoffs, let's be real, they're not making it into the playoffs. The second-worst team in the NFC conference is the Seattle Seahawks and they currently have three wins this season. The Lions will not get a wildcard spot and I doubt they will win the division as the NFC North is coming down between the Vikings and Packers. So let's get into it and take a look at the 3 main reasons why the Lions were eliminated from the playoffs.
1. QB Issues
No matter what team you are on you can’t be as successful unless you have a confident and consistent quarterback on a football team. I don’t feel confident with any QBs currently on the Lions. Jared Goff is horrible and performed as badly as he did during his rookie season. Injuries aside, Goff was awful before he got hurt. Tim Boyle was awful against the Browns. I doubt the team trusts David Blough. So the Lions absolutely need to get a future franchise QB as they clearly don’t have any now. The QB Troubles were a big issue for the Lions.
2. The Bobby Layne Curse
The Lions are cursed there is no doubt in my mind that this is the case. No matter what they do, how they do it, bad luck just is attracted to the Lions. This year made me further believe that the Bobby Layne curse is real. If you don’t know what the Bobby Layne Curse is when the Lions traded the talented QB to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for draft capital and QB Earl Morrall. Layne’s response to that trade was him saying that the Lions would never win for 50 years. Well, it's now been 63 years since he said that statement, and the Lions have not been close to winning since trading him thus resulting in the Lions being under the “Bobby Layne Curse’’. This season once again proves that the curse is still alive and well.
There are 5 games that the Lions absolutely should have won this season but did not due to the curse. Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers they almost came back and defeated the team but the Lions ran out of time before they could tie the game. Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens where they should have won but Justin Tucker kicked a record 66-yard field goal. Week 5 should've beaten the Vikings but the Lions secondary blew coverage and the Vikings kicked a game-winning field goal. Week 10 against Pittsburgh they tied after the Steelers Played down to competition (Why Is Mike Tomlin Still the Head Coach For the Steelers Again?) but Lions kicker Ryan Santoso missed a field goal. Finally Week 11 where they were coming back but Tim Boyle was inaccurate at the end of a solid drive.
I mean the Lions should be 5-5 right now but thanks to bad luck due to the Bobby Layne Curse they are 0-9-1 currently
3. All Part of the Tank
The Lions are currently in rebuild mode right now. Especially as the team decided to make the decision resulting at an End of an Era by firing Matt Patricia as the head coach. On a side note who thought it was a good idea to bring in a defensive coordinator that struggled in New England for many years and make him the Head Coach of a football team. The full rebuild started right when the team decided to move on and trade Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams for Jared Goff and two 1st round picks. They in my opinion played this draft pretty well, drafting offensive lineman Penei Sewell in the first round, got solid defensive line depth, and could have something in WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. The point being is we all expected Detroit to not be a good football team this season. I did not think they would not have a win yet this season but I am not at all shocked by them being a bad football team. With two 1st round picks to rebuild the Lions had to tank this season in order to get a valuable pick to help with their rebuild. This season is All a part of the Tank for the Detroit Lions.