DETROIT – Being a fan of the Detroit Lions could not be more different today than it was exactly three years ago.
Yeah, sure, it was tough to be a Lions fan for a lot longer than three years ago. But I remember Nov. 21, 2021, as being particularly rough.
The Lions were coming off the disastrous Bob Quinn-Matt Patricia era and had started over with Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell. We know now that Holmes and Campbell are two of the best in the sport. But back then, nobody really knew what to expect.
It did not start off well.
On Nov. 21, 2021, the Lions were coming off their best game of the season -- a 16-16 tie with the Steelers that included this sequence of possessions in overtime: punt, fumble, missed field goal, punt, punt, fumble.
Thanks to that really, really sad tie, the Lions improved their record to 0-8-1. The Lions are so dominant in 2024 that it’s almost hard to believe how bad they were just a short time ago.
On Nov. 21, 2021, the Lions went into Cleveland for a matchup with Baker Mayfield and the Browns. The stats from that game were sickening.
Tim Boyle, who started for an injured Jared Goff, threw for 77 yards on 23 pass attempts. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 18 receiving yards. Jason Cabinda was the team’s second-leading rusher.
Even though the defense forced two turnovers and held the Browns to two scores, the Lions lost 13-10 because they managed just 245 yards and 12 first downs.
It’s hard to fathom that type of offensive ineptitude after we all just watched the Lions score touchdowns on seven straight drives against the Jaguars, but no, that Browns game wasn’t a nightmare. It was real.
Losing to Cleveland is never fun. But losing to Cleveland to fall to 0-9-1 felt even worse. Those were hard times.
Fortunately, the Lions have done a whole lot of winning since then. After they lost on Thanksgiving four days later, the Lions won three of their final six games and then went 9-8 the following season.
In 2023, they won 12 games, earned the NFC North crown for the first time and came a play away from the Super Bowl.
Now they’re the betting favorites to win the whole thing. It’s incredible what Holmes and Campbell have built in just three short years.
