boy, hate to say it
especially hard when its true
still same old lions
Was it fun to be a Detroit Lions this year?
Weren’t the Lions the best team, won more games, played harder, flew higher than any other Lions team?
Yes yes yes and yes.
But.
Can I still say, same old Lions?
Sadly yes.
Up by 17 last year and … lose.
The best team in the NFC and get a week off and … lose.
Hard to win with 5 turnovers.
Hard to win with 12 men on the field on 4th down.
And why?
There might just be a clue in the analysis of Tom Brady and his role as color commentor during the game.
In the article, How Tom Brady handled his ownership-analyst conflict on TV: Key takeaways By Dan Shanoff (Jan 19, 2025), Mr. Shanoff writes:
… Brady was unafraid to call out the Lions’ defensive struggles. Notably, on a crucial penalty when Detroit had 12 men on the field, Brady was imploring: “Time out! Time out!” Then, “Nope … nope.” Then, a lament: “Oh NO.”
What he said right after that was amazing: “I had a coach for 20 years, Bill Belichick, that said you can’t win till you can keep from losing. And plays like that … playoff football? That’s why you win and lose games in big moments.”
Brady spat out the word “losing.” He was audibly and viscerally disgusted. And it was a great moment.
I admit I had a bad feeling about this game going in.
I felt the Lions had pulled so many rabbits out of hats defensively with all the injuries that they were out of hats and rabbits.
But the inability to call time out with 12 men on the field on a 4th down play just brought the same old Lions out of my mouth.
As Mr. Brady was quoted quoting Bill Belichick: you can’t win till you can keep from losing.
Keep from losing.
Can’t win till you can keep from losing.
Seems simple.
And the Lions, after a great season, keep losing.
To be sure, love them until I die.
But it seems, until I die, the same old Lions.
No Haiku For You 