Missing the Playoffs in 2011 Would Be More Damaging Than 0-16

In 2007, after the Detroit Lions started 4-2, Mike Furrey strolled into the locker room after a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and told the assembled media to kiss his butt.

Clearly, four wins out of six to start a season, especially fresh off a 3-13 season, warranted some cockiness from the journeyman receiver. He must have seen something we didn’t, because the team would win their next two games to up their record to 6-2, putting them in a prime position to make their first playoff appearance since 1999.

But after a disheartening loss in Arizona to the Cardinals—the first of six losses in a row—the Lions would finish 7-9.  It’s the closest they’ve been to the postseason since 2000, when the Chicago Bears won with a last-minute Paul Edinger field goal.

***

The Lions started the season 5-0.

The five-game winning streak included a stirring comeback against the Dallas Cowboys, as well as dominating performances against the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.

For the first time in a long time, they looked like a professional football team. But most importantly, they looked like they belonged.

After Week Five, ESPN had the Lions ranked #4 in their Power Rankings.

Matthew Stafford was healthy.

They were undefeated on the road.

Things were going so well that Lions’ fans only beef was the halftime performer of the Thanksgiving Day game.

Then they lost.

Since losing to the San Francisco 49ers, things have gone south.

They’ve dropped to tenth in ESPN’s Power Rankings.

Matthew Stafford is injured.

They’re still undefeated on the road, but they have to go to Green Bay, New Orleans and Oakland, facing the real possibility of losing all three.

Most importantly, fans are starting to let the “Here we go again” thoughts creep into their brains, and I’m a firm believer, at least in Detroit, that fan complacence leads to complacence on the field. And we are a fanbase that reacts to the first sign of disaster.

That makes the game against the Carolina Panthers a must-win game, because it is winnable. If these Lions are different, they’ll take care of business at home against a beatable team. That would push their record to 7-3 in a conference where 10 wins will probably secure a playoff berth.

But if they lose?

Watch out.

That would put them at 6-4, potentially in a tie with Dallas and Atlanta for the final playoff spot, with difficult games ahead and a short week before they play the Packers on Thanksgiving.

***

This season is not lost by any means, but we know that when the wheels start to come off, this team has a habit of exploding.

If they want us to take them seriously, they have to do something different, and that means winning a game they’re supposed to win.

If they do that, we can take our fingers off of the ‘Panic’ button, because if this team misses the playoffs after starting 5-0, it would hurt much worse than not winning at all.