As Lions fans, we know all about two different tales in a season. That’s what happened last season when the Lions started 1-6 and found a way to finish 9-8 on the year. Despite missing the playoffs, the expectations were at an all-time high for the Lions.
Living up to the hype during the first six games of this season, the Lions started with a 5-1 record. However, the last month or so has told a different story for the Lions. They’ve gone 4-3 in their last seven games, and while that’s much better than previous years, it still feels like this team is becoming a shell of itself.
Oddly enough, it felt like the Broncos made the wrong hire with Sean Payton as their head coach. At least, that’s what it felt like earlier this year. The Broncos lost to the Dolphins in Week 3 by a score of 70-20, and the team was 0-3 on the year. By week 6, they had a 1-5 record, and there were plenty of rumors swirling in Denver that they were shopping players and looking to rebuild.
Two months later, the Broncos and Lions have become two different teams. The Broncos have gone 6-1 since Week 7 of this season. Now, they look to keep it going as they enter a week 15 match-up in Detroit. Weeks ago, it felt like a game where the Lions would beat the Broncos in a pretty convincing way.
That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.
The Broncos are playing some of their best football, and the Lions are playing some of their worst. Russell Wilson is playing like his old self and even when he does turn the football over, the Broncos defense steps up and finds a way to win. When Jared Goff turns the football over, the Lions fall apart completely.
Whether the Lions have huge leads on the road (21-0 vs the Saints) or they come out flat against the worst team in their division, their games have just been bad as of late. No matter how you slice it, the Broncos have become the team that scratches and claws their way back to victory and the Lions appear to have lost some of their “grit.”
Despite giving up the 3rd-most yardage in the NFL with 377.4 yards per game, the Broncos defense leads the NFL in takeaways. With 24 of them, their defense steps up when needed. That cannot be said about Detroit. They’re in the bottom-5 for takeaways this season with only 14 of them.
Coming back home to Ford Field should do the Lions some good. But they’re playing some of their worst football right now, and the Broncos are playing some of their best football currently. Things can change in the snap of a finger in the NFL. The Lions win against the Bears earlier this year is proof of that. However, the game between Denver and Detroit is a bit terrifying. If the Lions come out the way they’ve been playing, it’ll definitely feel like we’re going down a road that is all too familiar in this town.