For the first time in the history of their franchise, the Lions were odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl this season. That changed Sunday when the Bills beat them 48-42 and surged ahead of the Lions in championship odds.
The Lions’ bandwagon blew a tire on Sunday, fueled by even more injuries and giving up nearly half a hundred points in a home game.
Defensive tackle Alim McNeil tore his right knee in that game. Cornerback Carlton Davis broke his jaw. Both are out for the season, bringing the number of Lions defensive starters on the shelf to six. The Lions have 21 players on injured reserve — two more than the Packers, Vikings and Bears combined. That doesn’t count running back David Montgomery, whom the Lions hope can return from a knee injury if they go deep enough in the playoffs.
If.
When the Bears played the Lions on Thanksgiving, an NFC title seemed to be an inevitability. Now it feels like the Lions are just hanging on. Even though they have the best record in the conference, it’s the Vikings who control their own destiny. If they win out — and that includes beating the Lions — they’d be the team with the first-round bye.
The Lions, though, aren’t buying into the doom and gloom.
“We’re 12-2 and the sky’s falling?” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn asked incredulously Thursday. “We’re going to the playoffs, we’re in the tournament. Why in the hell is the sky falling for us? Why do we have to sit back and be sad? … Why should we sit back and wallow and think the sky’s falling? It’s dumb.”
The Bears would love to have the sky fall the same way. In the almost 105-year history of the franchise, they’ve gone 12-2 or better through their first 14 games a whopping three times — most recently in 2006, their last Super Bowl season.
The rash of injuries is particularly gutting for a Lions franchise that until last year could boast just one playoff win since the midway point of the Eisenhower administration. Finally digging out of the muck two years ago began one of the most impressive feats in the NFL. From 2000-2021, only the Browns had fewer losses than the Lions. Since 2022, though, only the Chiefs, Eagles and Bills have more wins.
“Guys here have bought into the process,” cornerback Terrion Armstead told the Sun-Times. “We don’t want to go back to how things used to be.”
History says they won’t Sunday when they play the Bears, losers of eight in a row, at Soldier Field. The Lions haven’t lost two consecutive games since Weeks 7-8 of the 2022 season and have every motivation to not want to start now.
“Even though some teams do it a lot, it’s hard to win NFL games, no matter what team is in front of you, what coach is on the other sideline,” receiver Jameson Williams said. “We just try to make it big for us to bounce back.”
The weakened defense will stress the other side of the ball. After the loss to the Bills, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — a Bears head coaching target — asked players how many points it would have taken to win. When they answered 49, he reminded the Lions they’d scored at least 50 points twice this season.
Injuries or not, the Lions still think they can find a way.
“You’re sad about your brother but at the end of the day you don’t dwell on it too much …” receiver Tim Patrick said. “We still got a job to do. It sounds bad, but we gotta move onto the next week.”
That speaks to leadership — both Johnson and Glenn will be popular head coaching targets next month — and also to the culture the players have built.
“We’re going to keep going, keep battling,” linebacker Jack Campbell said, “and keep this thing moving.”