Detroit Lions. Do or die time

It was no great surprise the Lions fell apart in the second half of their opening game against San Diego. Typically, the Lions don't fare well out west, and Phillip Rivers is every bit the quarterback Matthew Stafford is -- if not more so.

What might have been somewhat alarming to Lions' fans was how they were manhandled in Minnesota the following week. Though Stafford was only officially sacked once, he flat-out got beat up. A telling stat was the very same Georgia Peach was the Lions leading rusher, for all of 20 yards. In other words, the Vikings stuffed the Detroit running game. This, while their own Adrian Peterson was running wild against the Lions. Hey, goons or not, the off-season losses of defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley exposed the interior of the Detroit defensive line as being vulnerable.

So now the Lions are 0-2 and Denver is coming to town for a nationally broadcasted Sunday night game. Though the Broncos are rightfully a 3 point favorite, one never knows about the Motown puddy tats. Knowing the world will be watching and playing their home opener in the sure to be rocking and rolling sold out Ford Field -- the Lions are quite capable of pulling an upset.

And they better hope they do, because although it's only Week 3 in the NFL season, it's pretty much do or die time in the magical kingdom of the Honolulu blue and silver.

If they lose this game to Peyton and Co. to go 0-3, with a trip to Seattle (good luck with that) up next, the Lions' season will effectively be over. They're likely to get blistered in Seattle and have a home date with Arizona (a very good team) the following week.

Yes, the Lions have a home-friendly schedule in ensuing weeks against teams that are certainly beatable, but if they start off 1-4, much less 0-5, they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Perhaps it's for the best. Let's face it. Despite their usual local hype, the Lions aren't a very good team in the whole scheme of the NFL. They still don't know who's playing where on their O-line, hence Stafford getting abused and the lack of a running game. From the porous D-line, to average linebackers at best, to the Keystone Koppish secondary, it's little wonder the Lions' defense is ranked 30th out of 32 teams. They need to score a lot of points because they're surely going to give up a bunch.

That might not be so easy against Denver. They feature the #2 ranked defense and have a couple ferocious rushers named Demarcus Ware and Vonn Miller that are probably licking their chops thinking about slicing and dicing Stafford. And they very well might.

But you know what? Though Denver is clearly the superior team, look for the Lions to win this game. Because they always seem to do just barely enough to keep their faithful addicted to the kool-aid.

Do they have the remotest shot of going to the Super Bowl, much less winning it? Perhaps, as much so as a Kardashian could come out of nowhere to capture the Presidency in November 2016. But I wouldn't exactly bet on it.

Nevertheless, Lions' fans (and their ever faithful lemming leading media) always seem to think this just might be "the year". There is always hope, they say. Maybe, but one should consider who is peddling it. Is it really about hopes or more about preying on dopes? Shouldn't a half century with a grand total of one playoff win be cause enough to rouse even the most delirious fans back to their senses? I mean, what does it take before reality sets in? This team was no good. It's never been any good. It's currently not good. And it's not going to be any good in the near future.

Other teams have had their sine waves over the years. Dallas, Pittsburgh, San Fran, NY Giants and Jets, and Miami/Baltimore/St. Louis/Chicago/Minnesota/Buffalo to name just a few. They've seen the mountaintop but also the basement. Up and down they've gone over the decades. The Detroit Lions seem forever mired in flat-line mode. In their best years, they've been mediocre. Super Bowl worthy? It's never happened. Not even close.

Yet here's to the kool-aiders. God bless and carry on if you must.

But excuse me if I think you're all even nuttier than I am......