The Detroit Lions will not make a single appearance on any national primetime games in 2020. No Monday Night Football. No Sunday night games to a national audience. Not even a single Thursday night matchup.
That is not by accident. The NFL doles out primetime appearances based on star power, a track record of success, fan excitement, expectations for the season and more. And the Detroit Lions fail to check any of those boxes on a national level.
It’s a harsh reality, but it’s where the Lions are as the team enters Year 3 of Matt Patricia’s coaching reign. They’ve won nine games in two seasons and carry a 9-game losing streak into the season. Their most marketable player from recent times, Darius Slay, is now in Philadelphia. The franchise cornerstone QB, Matthew Stafford, has broken bones in his back two straight years.
The Lions get their one moment to shine under the national spotlight on Thanksgiving. That’s all they have earned. Finishing in the bottom third in both offense and defense a year ago, playing a grinding style with a roster that lacks national cache and star power, the Lions simply don’t move the needle enough to draw in fans from other cities.
It’s up to the team to change that narrative. If they want to flip the script and earn primetime games, it means winning more games. The over/under for the Lions win total in 2020 is 6.5, not exactly dreadful but also not bullish. But it also means being exciting and buzzworthy, something the Lions are not.
Take the Arizona Cardinals, a team that finished 5-10-1 in 2019 and has one fewer win than the Lions in the last two years. The Cardinals will play two games in primetime and have a good chance for a third late in the year with the NFL’s flex scheduling. Kyler Murray throwing to DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald is marketable, and their dynamic young coach Kliff Kingsbury living in what appears to be a Bond villain house helps raise the profile.
There is a real opportunity here for Patricia and the Lions to rally around the national disrespect. “Detroit vs. Everybody” is a readymade catchphrase for a team that has several underappreciated talents on a national level (Kenny Golladay, Tracy Walker, Trey Flowers, Frank Ragnow, even Stafford) and a style of play that will be difficult for opponents. Embrace the lack of recognition, the painfully low expectations and shock the world. Then they’ll have to make room for the Lions all over the primetime schedule in 2021.
But until that happens, the Lions have not earned the right to be under the national spotlight.
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