The Lions game against the Chiefs presents a do or die situation
The Detroit Lions have a big moment this season. They get to open the NFL season in primetime on national TV against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. That's huge and it really points to where the NFL thinks the Lions are headed. The Lions can make a really big statement if they go […]
The Detroit Lions have a big moment this season. They get to open the NFL season in primetime on national TV against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. That's huge and it really points to where the NFL thinks the Lions are headed.
The Lions can make a really big statement if they go out and win this game. They can build off a huge win and go through the season a ton of confidence and some very early momentum. But what if they lose? History shows that could be a problem for the Lions.
The NFL has been opening up games on Thursday night since 2017. Since then, every team that has won that game has gone on to have a winning season and make the playoffs. The problem here is that the team who loses that game has gone on to have a losing season and miss the playoffs four of the six times it's happened.
Look, I know that the past doesn't always have anything to do with the future. The Madden curse is a good example. Calvin Johnson had the best season of his entire career while gracing the cover of the game. Before that there always seemed to be a problem. The Madden curse doesn't really exist today. If the Lions lose this game, maybe they'll break the trend on this?
It should be noted that the teams that lost these games were just really weird choices to even be in the game. The 2018 Falcons were coming off a 7-9 season. Not sure why they thought pinning them against the Eagles was a good idea. The 2019 Bears played the Packers. I get the idea behind that one. Still, that Bears team wasn't that great. The 2020 Texans? Why?
The team that lost last year was actually the Super Bowl Champions. So that makes sense that they were in the game. The concerning part is that they went on to have the worst record a team coming a Super Bowl has ever had.
At the end of the day, I like finding trends and that's just what this is, a trend. Trends don't last forever. Of course the best thing the Lions can do is just win this game and then you don't have to worry about trends. Unless you want to make sure you're not starting one by being the first team to win this game and have a losing record.
Featured image by Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
