On Thursday, the Lions open the NFL season against the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Though many see this game as a gauge to measure the quality of the Detroit Lions squad, too much stock may be being placed on how the Lions perform. If they lose, and don’t turn in a good performance, is this a sign of future lack of success? If they wipe the floor with the Chiefs, are they Super Bowl Bound? Likely, neither question can be answered in the affirmative. The NFL season is a long season, previous success is not necessarily an indicator of future victories. By the same token, lackluster performances, does not predict future negative outcomes.
In the NFL, all players are playing football at the highest level. Any NFL player would dominate in lower level football leagues. For this reason, any team can beat any team on a given week. Furthermore, a good team can have a bad week, and a bad team can have a good week. Moreover, Super Bowl Champions are prone to poor output in subsequent seasons. Consequently, Lions fans should not become to hopeful with a victory over Kansas City, or too disappointed with a loss.
Following Super Bowl appearances, marquee players generally find it difficult to duplicate multiple excellent campaigns consecutively. Usually, extenuating circumstances occur to preclude another stellar season. Case in point, Tight End Travis Kelce may not open the season against the Lions due to a hyperextended knee. Whether he can dominate as he did in 2023 is highly questionable. Due to the violent nature of the sport, long stretches of good play is hard to come by.
Though football has the fewest games of any professional sport, one game doesn’t determine the success or failure of any given season. Despite this, every game does have heightened importance, and weaknesses must be addressed quickly to ensure a team has the best possible season. Furthermore, it is imperative that teams develop chemistry quickly to minimize the effect adrenaline may have on negative play in games. On paper, it would appear that the Lions are doing everything possible to ensure success this season, and much is expected from this team. We must remember that this team has a long history of turning in subpar performances, this would include a weak start to last season, that saw a six game winning streak that allowed the team to salvage the campaign somewhat. Therefore, this is what is fueling the optimism for the 2023-2024 season.
It is hoped that a victory over Kansas City can act as a projection of things to come. However, success or failure in one game generally does not dictate long term results. In fact, the Lions have a tendency to force themselves into having to reel off several wins in a row to salvage a respectable season. Last year they were able to do so, but in several previous campaigns, this couldn’t be attained when it was needed. So before we get to giddy about what a victory over the Chiefs could mean, we must temper those expectations by simply looking back at the previous recent history of the Lions.
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