Yeah, I know. The Detroit Lions have been perpetually rebuilding since Dwight Eisenhower was President and, fittingly enough, the Ford Edsel was about to make it's debut. Needless to say, the Lions have, perhaps rightfully, been the butt of many jokes over the last half century or so.
Indeed, out of all the NFL teams, there are only 4 that have never even made an appearance in the Super Bowl, let alone win it. Sure, the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills never won it either, but at least they GOT there a few times. Besides Detroit, the other no-shows are....
The Jacksonville Jaguars. Though they've been to two AFC championship games, they are currently terrible with no hope in sight.
The Houston Texans are the newest franchise in the NFL, having only been in existence since 2002. Yet since their inception, the competition in the AFC has been brutal. The Steelers. The Patriots. The Indy Colts when Peyton was still there, etc.
And of course, the Cleveland Browns. After the original Browns absconded to Baltimore to become the Ravens, the "new" Browns inherited all of the "old" Browns team win/loss stats. Either way, the Browns have never been to a Super Bowl, and don't look remotely close to getting there any time soon. However, last time I looked, the former Browns (now Ravens) are the defending Super Bowl champs. Funny how those things work out sometimes.
Regardless, the Lions have the dubious distinction of being the only NFC team to never make it to the Super Bowl.
Yet so far this year, the stars seem to be aligning in the Lions' favor to get to the Big Dance. Sure, 3 games do not a season make, and a lot of things can and no doubt will happen in the next 13. But consider....
For various reasons, the normally mighty Packers look beatable.
The San Fran 49ers (last year's Super Bowl runner-ups) seem to have come back down to earth. Yes, they just throttled the St. Louis Rams, but their QB Colin Kaepernick appears to be going through a sophomore slump. And c'mon. It was the Rams.
The Atlanta Falcons, another pre-season favorite, has stumbled to a 1-2 record coming out of the gate.
Eli Manning and the NY Giants, winners of two recent Super Bowls, are winless and got thrashed 38-0 by the Carolina Panthers last week. Oh my.
The Dallas Cowboys? The ever-glib Jerry Jones can talk all the smack he wants, but he's still stuck with Tony Romo as his QB, and there just ain't enough gitty-up in the rest of his horses to make a serious run at the Super Bowl.
The New Orleans Saints are interesting. Head coach Sean Payton is back after serving a year's suspension over the "Bounty-Gate", thing, and the Saints have come marching in winning their first 3 games. Plus, never underestimate Drew Brees. He might be getting older, but the dude still has some serious game left in him. After such a miserable season last year, can the Saints rebound that quickly to become Super Bowl contenders? Paint yours truly skeptical.
Philly's a mess, the Skins are a train wreck, and the Vikings need a QB. Bad.
So by simple process of elimination, the Lions have the best shot they've had in decades of getting to the Super Bowl. No, I didn't forget about the Seattle Seahawks. They are indeed formidable, but yours truly has put a curse on their head coach Pete Carroll. I don't like him, never have, and it's only a matter of time before the "wrath" takes it's toll.
Last but not least is Chicago. Da Bears are 3-0 and will come to Detroit this Sunday for a marquis game. The Lions typically play pretty well at home and they'll be geeked for this one. Should they win (they're 3 point favorites), both teams will be 3-1 and the Lions will have some serious momentum and confidence to build on. Further, as befitting a 4-12 team last year, the NFL schedule-makers gave the Lions a relatively soft schedule for 2013. Sure, there's a couple of good teams lurking down the road, but dang, besides their mandatory division games, they can't all be patsies.
So the way I see it, the Lions will never have a better chance of making it to the Super Bowl then this year. It's right there in front of them if they have the fortitude and true grit necessary to go make it happen. If they can clean up their act a bit in the "bonehead" department, from coaches and coordinators, down to certain players, a glorious season could await them.
Obviously, that begs the big question.
Will the Lions make it to the Super Bowl this year?
And the answer is.....
Of course not. Are you nuts?
If there's a way to screw it up -- they'll find it.
It's the Lions, remember?
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