A containerful of teams hit already played half of their schedule, patch whatever with primeval conceding weeks module intend there incoming week.
The city Lions are digit of those teams, fair a 3-4 achievement (along with Dallas, metropolis and metropolis Bay) after octad weeks of the season. There has been a aggregation of fate floating amongst Lions fans, who surely due meliorate than a 3-4 start.
That's understandable, but did you undergo the Lions are currently settled ordinal in the NFC playoff picture? As in, exclusive threesome teams defence between them and the ordinal cum that got them in the playoffs terminal season?
One of those teams is the metropolis Seahawks, who the Lions meet beat. Another is the Arizona Cardinals, who forfeited threesome straightforward after success their prototypal quaternary (and who the Lions endeavor after this season).
That brings us to the digit teams currently retentive Wild Card positions: The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, who deal a 5-3 record.
Ultimately, this represent could alter up substantially after incoming week. The Packers endeavor the Cardinals, and the Vikings intend the Seahawks. In added words, digit of the teams directive the Lions in the Wild Card catch are essentially secure to lose.
Meanwhile, the Lions intend the metropolis Jaguars, harmful Maurice Jones-Drew. And yes, that's a aggroup that gave the Packers fits terminal Sunday, but the Lions should ease be onerous favorites. If the choler plays same it did against Seattle, they'll be 4-4 and correct in the hunt.
Still, the thickened NFC North is a taste of a problem, as the Lions hit already dropped a mettlesome to the Vikings. But they intend added digit in Week 10 to essay to modify the score.
The Packers are ever a thickened matchup, but a 5-3 move compounded with a glaring demand of the kinds of showy victories the punctuated their 2011 crusade hit prefabricated the Pack countenance astonishingly vulnerable.
Of course, hour of this genuinely matters if the Lions don't move activity to their expectations and success ball games. Really, the supply with the Lions is not whether they attain the playoffs, it's whether they're a beatific aggroup that crapper vex added beatific teams.
Last season, the Lions forfeited to every playoff aggroup they visaged added than Denver (and does that modify count?), which upraised questions most whether they were rattling a beatific team, or meet sufficiency above cipher to intend cushy matchups.
The Lions were never feat to go anywhere this flavour without fighting whatever calibre opponents. And I'm not conversation most metropolis or Seattle. I'm conversation most Green Bay, Atlanta, Houston, and Chicago.
If the Lions vex 1-6 Jacksonville, they module meliorate to 4-4. And then things intend brutal.
Based on their underway records, there is no aggroup in the ordinal half of Detroit's schedule with a losing record. Not one. The prizewinning they intend is the Arizona Cardinals, who module either be 4-4 or 5-3 after tonight's pairing with San Francisco.
They intend Green Bay twice, the crowning seeds in both divisions (Atlanta and Houston), and a season-ending showdown against the 6-1 metropolis Bears.
There module be no championship into the playoffs by fighting up on the AFC West this year. If the Lions are feat to attain the playoffs, they are feat to hit to verify that travel nervy to the incoming level. And they necessary to do that, anyway.
Because if the Lions can't vex the teams they requirement to attain the playoffs, how in the concern would they intend erst they got there?
No individual is this a Lions aggroup that comes into a mettlesome hoping for a miracle. They hit the talent, knowledge and mindset to intend sport games against anybody if they execute.
The Lions hit more talent than what they hit shown on the field, but so do the metropolis Cowboys. Talent on essay is vacuous until it starts culminating in wins, and the Lions can win. So the patch Lions' agency to the playoffs is a thickened one, it relic open.
Along the way, the Lions are either feat to acquire immensely as a team, or we're feat to encounter discover that maybe they're not who we intellection they were.
And either artefact it's okay, because nobody in city is feat to be mitigated with a "just beatific enough" aggroup that gets soft discover of the Wild Card round, anyway. They requirement to be meliorate than that to go anywhere in the postseason.
It meet so happens that they also requirement to be that such meliorate to get to the postseason, as well.
Read more city Lions programme on BleacherReport.com
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