With the Chicago Bears win on Thursday night in Washington, there remains only one team in the National Football League without a victory this season. On Sunday, that team meets the NFC North Division leading Detroit Lions.
The Lions have won three of four games this season, are considered a far cry from the doormat editions in recent decades playing out of Detroit, and are double-digit favorites on Sunday to continue their winning ways and pin the Carolina Panthers with a fifth straight loss.
The winless Panthers are under the direction of head coach Frank Reich. Looking for his first win with his new club, Reich compiled a 40-33 mark as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts over the past five seasons. Reich also led Indianapolis to a pair of playoff appearances, including one in his first season with the Colts.
The Panthers are led on the field by rookie quarterback Bryce Young, who was taken with the first pick in this year’s NFL draft with a selection Carolina got in a trade with the Chicago Bears.
Are the winless Panthers overmatched this week in Detroit?
Maybe not.
The Panthers are not without talent and their slow start this season can be as much attributed to them learning a new system with new people in key positions than a lack of talent.
The Lions, after years of dismal play, made a bold trade two years ago that sent their starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford, to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff and a bevy of draft picks. This is one of those trades that appears to have benefited both teams. The Rams got the veteran quarterback that led the Rams to their first Super Bowl win while the franchise was stationed in Los Angeles and the Lions got a future.
Goff, who had led the Rams to the Super Bowl five years ago, a loss to the New England Patriots, has a lot more tread on his tires than the departed Stafford. He is also leading a dynamic offense in unison with a defense that has been stocked with high draft choices both from years of losing seasons and the selections gained in the trade with the Rams.
The Lions opened this season with a win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. That victory marked only the fourth time a visitor has defeated a defending champion in the opener on the champ's home field since the league adopted the Super Bowl Champion hosting the season opener on Thursday night in 2004.
Pretty big deal for the long suffering fans in the Motor City.
What the Lions did after that impressive win was lose their home opener to the Seattle Seahawks before rebounding the past two weeks with wins over the Atlanta Falcons and against their division rival Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
So, take the Lions to beat the winless Panthers?
No.
Why not?
Because the Lions are still new to piling up victories, and the most difficult thing for an inexperienced winner to do is triumph when it is expected. Their initial success is built on the need to overcome, and once they have established themselves as a winner, the challenge to carry the weight of being a favorite often results in negative results.
Carolina comes to town knowing they need to play better to avoid getting blown out of the building, and the Lions are saddled with the difficult motivation of thinking all they have to do is play as well as they have in recent weeks.
The team with the need to overcome is in a perfect position to succeed against a confident double-digit favorite.
Qoxhi Picks: Carolina Panthers (+10) over Detroit Lions