When once asked about spoilers — sub-par teams capable of ruining postseason plans for stronger teams by way of upset wins at the most opportune times — legendary baseball manager Sparky Anderson said in his own unique way, “No spoilers don’t collect no checks.”

That may be true when it comes to postseason money, but in every NFL season, there are those supposedly sub-par opponents lurking in the weeds, waiting to upset potential playoff teams at the most inconvenient possible time.

These nine teams with losing records should be taken seriously as spoilers in the last six weeks of the 2009 season — none of them look like playoff teams, but they have enough on the ball to make things interesting down the stretch. They are ranked in reverse order based on current performance, their records against winning teams to date, and the number of winning teams remaining on their schedules.

9. Detroit Lions

Current record: 3-6-1
2019 record vs. winning teams: 0-5
Number of upcoming winning opponents: 2

The 3-6-1 Lions started their season tying the Cardinals, then beat the Chargers and Eagles. Things looked good for Matt Patricia’s team after a close loss to the Chiefs, and then came the Week 5 Monday night loss to thew Packers, in which Clete Blakeman’s officiating crew was rightly and repeatedly called into question. Since then, Detroit has won just one game — a a 31-6 victory over the Giants — and has gone down over and over in heartbreaking fashion. Only one of those losses came with a margin over 10 points — Detroit’s 42-30 Week 7 loss to the Vikings — and though the defense has been wildly inconsistent, the offense has held up decently with backup quarterback Jeff Driskel replacing Matthew Stafford as Stafford recovers from a back injury.

Detroit has another game with Minnesota and a revenge match with the Packers left in their season, and if Patricia can figure out his defense, this Lions team could still be better than their record indicates.