DETROIT – UPDATE: We added the Week 16 Cowboys loss to this list. It was "agonizing."
Matthew Stafford and company need one more win to make the NFL playoffs.
Recommended Videos
Unfortunately, getting a 10th win won't be easy. The Lions play at the 12-2 and top-ranked Cowboys tonight and host the surging 9-6 Packers next Sunday night. Those tough games have us thinking about Detroit's missed opportunities this season. Here's a ranking of the Lions five losses this season acceptable, agonizing and atrocious. (All photo credits to Getty Images.)
RELATED: Packers-Lions game moved to Sunday Night Football on NBC
Acceptable
If you believe this team is legitimately good -- a reasonable claim for any NFL team that wins eight of nine games -- than you could argue no loss this season is "legitimate." But just about everyone loses games over the course of the season, and some losses are better than others.
For the Lions, we'll rate their Week 3 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field "acceptable." The Packers raced out to a huge 31-3 lead behind four Aaron Rodgers touchdown passes, before rallying to make it a respectable 34-27 final. They even had the Pack in a 3rd-and-8 from their own 27 with 3:22 left before giving up a Rodgers scramble for a game-sealing first down. Pick up a stop there and there's a good chance Lions tie up the game.
The loss dropped the Lions to 1-2, but showed glimpses of Stafford's brilliance later in the season. No one expected the Lions to pick up this win in Lambeau, so any positives can be seen as "acceptable."
Agonizing
We have two games in the "agonizing" category, which falls between "we didn't expect to win that one" and "How did we lost that? Same old Lions."
The week 8 loss to the Texans in Houston was one of those games that just never got going. The Brock-Osweiler-led Texans jumped out to a 14-0 lead and the Lions offense did practically nothing in the first half. They rallied a bit in the second half, but fell short 20-13. This was a winnable game based soley on the now-benched Osweiler vs Stafford QB matchup, but the Texans did win their division. It's hard to win on the road in the NFL, so this isn't an atrocious loss, but it's not acceptable either.
The Week 15 loss to the New York Giants was hugely disappointing given the goal line fumble and Stafford's end zone interception. It also sucked the life out of the feel-good momentum the Lions had built winning eight of nine games. The Giants seem legit, but you have to beat legit teams on the road to make a run in the playoffs. All the pieces were here to make this an agonizing, if not atrocious, loss.
It was going to tough -- really tough -- to go into Jerryworld and pull out a win against one of the best teams in the NFL. Still, this loss was nearly atrocious, certainly agonizing and nowhere near acceptable. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott blew Stafford and the Lions off the field, scoring 28 unanswered points after the Lions had taken a 21-14 lead. Hardly the play of a playoff team, and certainly nowhere near Super Bowl-caliber. The season's hope was batted away as easily as Stafford's many ill-times passes to wide receivers.
Atrocious
There were two games this season the Lions had no excuses to lose, yet somehow managed to come up short. Both came early in the season.
In Week 2 they led the Titans 15-3 in the fourth quarter at home and somehow collapsed against Marcus Mariota thanks to a late Stafford interception that thwarted a winning FG attempt. How bad was this loss? It the Titans first win in five games dating back to December 2015. You could argue the Lions nail-biting formula for this game -- keep it close and win in the end -- is exactly what fueled their surge later in the season. But it also shows what happens when you don't put away inferior teams with second-year quarterbacks.
The Titans loss, though, seems downright acceptable compared to the Week 4 loss in Chicago. The Lions gave up a stunning 302 passing yards to backup QB Brian Hoyer and the offense only mustered two field goals against one of the worst teams in the NFL. If not for a late Andre Roberts punt return for a TD, this was a blowout loss.
Conclusion
It these two atrocious losses that have Lions facing a tough task the last two weeks of the season. Detroit is still in position to make the playoffs -- they control their destiny -- but these early season, atrocious losses to Tennessee and Chicago make things closer than Lions fans would like.
Fortunately, Stafford and the rest of the team have the opportunity to shake of the "same old Lions" label with a quality win, or even two, to close out the season. We'd love to not have to update this list again in the regular season.
What do you think was the Lions worst loss this season? Post the comments and vote in our poll: