You want reality TV at its highest form? Okay, enjoy the National Football League action this weekend.
It starts tonight, when the team with the best record in football, the Detroit Lions, host the team that has such a storied past that the Super Bowl winner is handed a trophy that bears their one-time coach’s name, Vince Lombardi. Yep, when football was just bursting on the national scene through the magic of television in the late 1950’s, spearheaded by a Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants that featured a Colts overtime win led by Johnny Unitas, Lombardi was involved.
The offensive coordinator of the Giants in that 1958 loss was Lombardi, who the following season became the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and as some say for dramatic purposes, the rest is history.
The Packers dominated the NFL in the 1960’s, won the first two Super Bowls with Lombardi leading the way, and in his honor following his death in 1970 the league enshrined him forever by naming the trophy given to the league champion the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Since winning the first two Super Bowls, the Packers have added two more rings to their players fingers with victories to complete the 1996 and 2010 seasons. This year, they hope to add a fifth Super Bowl title to their legacy.
Standing in their way is a team that has never even played in a Super Bowl, the Detroit Lions, yet who come into tonight’s game respected as one of the best teams in football. The Lions have lost only one game this season, that a second week defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are currently riding their longest win streak in the team’s history, 10 consecutive wins.
The Lions have also done it in dominating fashion. While the only other team in the league with as few losses as the Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs, seem to be slipping by each week and have a 4 and 7 point spread record, Detroit is rolling opponents like roadkill. They have a point spread record of 8 wins against 3 losses and have double-digit victories over six of their downed opponents.
The Lions have a league high wide margin in point differential at plus 180 on the season, only two other teams have scored as many as 100 more points than their opponents, the Buffalo Bills with 131 and the Philadelphia Eagles at 102.
Yes, the Lions may never have advanced to a Super Bowl, but a wise trade they made before the 2022 season may result in two teams capturing the brass ring. When the Lions shipped quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams, they got Jared Goff and a bevy of high draft choices in exchange. In his first season on the west coast, Stafford led the Rams to a win in Super Bowl LVI.
But the Lions rewards were to come. Goff has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the game and Detroit didn’t miss on utilizing those draft picks, enhanced because of the Rams 5 and 12 won/loss record the year after their Super Bowl win. Detroit stockpiled talent and it has all come to fruition this season behind the astute coaching of Dan Campell.
One might almost think the Lions are unbeatable.
But I suggest that would fly in the face of the most important factor governing the result of an NFL game. I’m talking about the motivation a team derives from a healthy respect for their opponent, one that can be characterized as a fear of failure.
The Packers come into tonight’s game two back in the NFC North Division standings, the Minnesota Vikings are wedged between the first and third place teams. That means, with a win tonight the Lions pretty much eliminate the Packers by pushing them three games behind in the standings and winning both head-to-head meetings. The Lions won in Green Bay five weeks ago, 24-14.
In other words, the Lions want this game, have the talent that seems good enough to get it, but run into the human condition of their opponent needing it more and also good enough to get it.
Qoxhi Picks: Green Bay Packers (+3½) over Detroit Lions