Lions hype officially out of control??

[BucD+ 648]

Per PFT:

Lions hype teetering out of control

Posted by Michael David Smith on October 4, 2011, 5:31 PM EDT

 

Here’s something we haven’t been able to say in a long, long time: The Detroit Lions are overhyped.

 

This week’s Sports Illustrated features the Lions on the cover, and every major media outlet is devoting plenty of attention to the Lions, and that’s just fine: They’re 4-0 and finally playing good football after Matt Millen’s decade of incompetence, and Detroit fans have every reason to be excited.

 

But let’s get real: The Lions aren’t as good as the NFL’s other 4-0 team, the Packers. They’re just not. And they’re probably not as good as several 3-1 teams, including the Saints, Patriots, Ravens and Bills. The Lions have been celebrated so much for their big back-to-back second-half comebacks that a lot of people have forgotten that those big comebacks were necessitated by terrible play in the first halves of back-to-back games against the Vikings and Cowboys.

 

However, the Lions hype is only going to explode in the next week. The Lions are hosting Monday Night Football for the first time since ESPN acquired the Monday Night rights, and you just know the Worldwide Leader is going to go all-in on promoting the Lions. ESPN’s Jemele Hill is first in line on that front with her column trying to make the case that Ndamukong Suh was a better draft pick for the Lions than Barry Sanders.

 

“Suh already seems to have done something Sanders never could: He’s changed the Lions’ losing culture or, at least, been the most important catalyst in that change,” Hill writes.

 

Let’s not go overboard here. Suh hasn’t changed anything in Detroit yet. He had a great rookie year, but the Lions’ 6-10 season didn’t exactly change the losing culture. And through four games this year he hasn’t had the same impact he had as a rookie. Let’s wait until he has played more than 20 games in his NFL career — and until the Lions have won more than half of those games — before we start comparing him to an all-time great player like Sanders.

 

And let’s not forget that Sanders did plenty to change the Lions’ losing culture. The 1988 Detroit Lions had one of the worst offenses in NFL history (one statistical analysis rated it the second worst ever, ahead of only the 1970 Boston Patriots), and Sanders stepped into that offense as a rookie in 1989 and became an all-pro. By Sanders’ third season, 1991, the Lions were in the NFC Championship Game. Since their 1957 championship the Lions have made the postseason a whopping nine times, and five of those, including the only time they ever won in the postseason, were during Sanders’ 10-year career.

 

Could the Lions be building something that exceeds what Sanders’ Lions of the 1990s accomplished. Maybe. But “maybe” is a long way from actually doing it.

 

The Lions should be proud of what they’ve done this season, and Lions fans should be excited about their talented team, but as the hype grows out of control this week (and as it inevitably extends into talk that a good football team can somehow rebuild a beleaguered city), let’s remember that they haven’t won anything yet. And even if they beat the Bears on Monday night, that just means they’re the second-best team in the NFC North.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

Gruden is going to be out of control with the "this guy"s when talking about Suh on MNF next week.

 

New drinking game? I think yes.

[Patriots2994 43]

I've grown up with my dad praising Barry Sanders, and for that I've been one to root for the Lions, but I can't seem to anymore. I understand that they're 4-0, that the Stafford/Johnson combo is lethal, that Suh is a "once in a decade" player, but they have not yet beat a legitimate team in my eyes. They beat the Bucs, a talented yet young and overrated team going into this season, by 7 points. They blew out the Chiefs, but we all knew that the Chiefs were overrated and the loss of Charles devastated them. They had to come back against the 0-4 Vikings and won by a mere 3 points. They came back against Dallas and won by 4 points, which is impressive in terms of the points that they needed to get, but Dallas had a weak run game, no secondary to speak of, and Romo who would throw 3 INT's to Wilfork if given the chance. People are suddenly annointing the Lions as a big threat, and I'm not so sure they are. Look, I'm not a Lions hater, but there are glaring holes in their game, such as having a terrible run game (29th in the NFL), a mediocre secondary, and a 1 dimensional pass game. The Stafford/Johnson combo is the Vick look of this year-scary to defenses right now but won't be nearly as threatening once a defense figures out how to stop it. Stafford has only been sacked in 1 game (given it was 5) against the Vikings, and it's only a matter of time until he plays an elite defensive line who will get to him. I'm not sold on his durability, and Lions fans shouldn't be either. I really hope this team takes a big loss to help set people straight.

[Patriots2994 43]

Gruden is going to be out of control with the "this guy"s when talking about Suh on MNF next week.

 

New drinking game? I think yes.

 

This comment is great! I used to play this game when Tebow was at Florida.

[Shotgun 442]

Suh better than Barry Sanders? Are they fucking kidding? He's had ONE full season and from what I hear he's pretty mediocre at run stopping. The 2 games I have watched him in he wasn't exactly getting great pressure, either. So far this year McCoy has outplayed him in my (possibly biased) opinion.

 

And yeah, I agree with the article. The Lions look much improved but they're getting way over hyped way too early in the season. They got lucky Romo decided to go all Romo on them or they would be 3-1 after an overall very poor performance.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

LMAO. The Lions hype is so crazy. Even though they are a divisional opponent, I am glad to see them see a little success... But this is just getting to be absurd. Suh himself is probably one of the most overhyped players in the league today.

 

I can not wait until the Lions lose, and I hope it is to a pathetically bad team.

 

The worst part about this is... that they match up extremely well to Green Bay, and it wouldn't shock me in the slightest for them to win that game. And when / if that happens... Get ready.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Honestly, the Lions have improved a lot. I don't think anyone can deny that. But just how good are they?

 

Trying to speak as generally as possible, I think they're a 9-7 team. Not quite playoff caliber yet.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

It is what it is. Everyone saw the 'hype' coming with the success no matter when that success arrived. IDK how good this team really is, but I do know it's a team that's just getting better. Consistently, and it's gotten to the point where if we don't make the playoffs it'll be a disappointment.

 

A lot of people like to acknowledge that both teams we played chocked at the end. But nobody wants to acknowledge the fact that coaches made huge adjustments in both games as it went on to the fourth. But I know for a fact that we can hang with any team in the league.

[badgers 380]

Okay wait wait wait.

 

This author refers to the 3-1 Bills as a team that is better than the Lions. The Lions are better than the Bills without question in my opinion.

[Phins4life 271]

“Suh already seems to have done something Sanders never could: He’s changed the Lions’ losing culture or, at least, been the most important catalyst in that change,” Hill writes.

 

 

I'm having a hard time understanding the amount of sheer stupid this statement contains.....

 

Never before would I have expected to see 5 playoff appearances in 10 years (including an NFCCG) referred to as a losing culture.

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_14_18 3]

Well, I am from Michigan and I know fans have been waiting for YEARS to see a good Lions team.. So it is nice to finally see that and nice to finally see some hope, however I do think they are a bit over-hyped right now, which is hard not to I suppose given their recent history. I want to see what they can do against teams like the Packers, Saints, Chargers etc. There's a few things that worry me with them and that is no running game and the CB's aren't real reliable as we seen against the Cowboys in the first half, they were getting torched but made some plays in the second half. The offensive line seems inconsistent at times, but have managed decent thus far. They also can't afford continuing starting games off losing by 20+ because that just isn't going to work for long, they are lucky that they managed to pull off a win the last two weeks, most good NFL teams will not blow a 20+ point lead, they need to start off faster. I'm glad to see them doing well, I hope they keep it up.

[badgers 380]

Well, I am from Michigan and I know fans have been waiting for YEARS to see a good Lions team.. So it is nice to finally see that and nice to finally see some hope, however I do think they are a bit over-hyped right now, which is hard not to I suppose given their recent history. I want to see what they can do against teams like the Packers, Saints, Chargers etc. There's a few things that worry me with them and that is no running game and the CB's aren't real reliable as we seen against the Cowboys in the first half, they were getting torched but made some plays in the second half. The offensive line seems inconsistent at times, but have managed decent thus far. They also can't afford continuing starting games off losing by 20+ because that just isn't going to work for long, they are lucky that they managed to pull off a win the last two weeks, most good NFL teams will not blow a 20+ point lead, they need to start off faster. I'm glad to see them doing well, I hope they keep it up.

 

That is true. 2 of their games (Kansas City, @Minnesota) are easy wins but they still had to comeback from a 20 point deficit to win the latter. It'll be very interesting game on Thanksgiving, when they host divisional rival Green Bay, in what might be a matchup to take control of the NFC North.

 

And you're right. They won't be able to comeback so easily against stronger NFC teams like Green Bay or New Orleans.

[Shotgun 442]

 

I'm having a hard time understanding the amount of sheer stupid this statement contains.....

 

Never before would I have expected to see 5 playoff appearances in 10 years (including an NFCCG) referred to as a losing culture.

 

It's ESPN. I don't think half their writers for the NFL even watch football.

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_14_18 3]

That is true. 2 of their games (Kansas City, @Minnesota) are easy wins but they still had to comeback from a 20 point deficit to win the latter. It'll be very interesting game on Thanksgiving, when they host divisional rival Green Bay, in what might be a matchup to take control of the NFC North.

 

And you're right. They won't be able to comeback so easily against stronger NFC teams like Green Bay or New Orleans.

The only game they've won convincingly was at home against the Chiefs, who aren't very good right now. Other than that, they struggled with the Vikings, Bucs and Cowboys for the most part. Had one or two things not went there way, they could've easily lost all three of them games. They have been living on the edge the past two weeks, they can't continue the slow starts because it won't work for long, not against better teams. They are very fortunate to be 4-0 right now, and I'm glad to see that they are. But yeah, if they got behind by even 10 against teams like the Packers/Saints etc, they'd be pretty much done, them teams just don't fall apart, if anything they keep going or get stronger as the game goes on.

 

They cannot afford to keep letting games get away like they have been, it will come back to haunt them. I thought they were done against the Vikings and Cowboys, but they somehow managed to pull it off and came back. They haven't really played four good quarters, except against the Chiefs. I hope they win the NFC North, but I do have some concerns with them.

Edited October 5, 2011 by WHO-DEY-BENGALS_14_18

[Guest MikeyDay]

Come on its the Lions. Let em get hyped up they havent had this excitement in forever. I mean they are good.

 

Why couldnt they come back against a team like New Orleans? I mean its hard to do on any given day but they have a offense to score quick. The Lions can win 10 games.

[RANGA+ 1,210]

I'm glad the Lions are doing so well. If they keep going all the way to the playoffs, it would be a great success story. Not just for the team but for the city. They've done everything right the past couple of years. Getting rid of the old baggage in the front office and building through the draft. Any team which enjoys such a hot start after being bottom-feeders for so long is going to get it's fair share of hype.

[PackIsBack 124]

We're only four games into the season and we all know how unpredictable the NFL season can be. I think Lions fans and other sports fans have the right to look at the Lions and be surprised and excited to see what happens next. But let's be serious - they're 4-0 right now and have had a few comeback wins and have displayed that they're not the same-old Lions that you could walk all over. Their record itself displays that they are competitive in this league. If it can continue...well, that remains to be seen. But for now, why not let the fans and the team enjoy it for a while? It's not like they don't deserve it.

[Milla4Prez63 678]

And they’re probably not as good as several 3-1 teams, including the Saints, Patriots, Ravens and Bills.

 

lolwut?

 

 

The Bills? The Lions at least deserve hype at this point IMO. They have a TON of talent on both sides of the ball and are finally playing like it. When I look at the Bills' roster, it screams 4-12 to me. I give Chan Gailey a lot of credit, I think his offense is getting a lot out of guys who aren't as good as they look. But I'm not that impressed, I think they will falter as the season goes on and end up like 7-9/8-8.

 

The Lions hype reminds me of the hype for the Saints when they became good. When shitty franchises all of a sudden start winning, it's a big deal. I still lol at all the "feel good" stories the media tried to make out of them winning the Super Bowl connected to Katrina. They won the Super Bowl five years AFTER Katrina, jeez. But the Saints hype has kind of faded now that people have accepted them as a winning franchise and forgotten the years of the 'Aints. Same thing will happen to Detroit.

 

The Lions do deserve hype though, they're good. Really good. I think they could end up as good as 12-4 this year, though I'm sticking with 11-5. If anything about Detroit is overhyped, it's Ndamukong Suh. He's not playing as well as he did last year and some people have made claims that he is the best defensive player in football (he's not even the best DT, that goes to Haloti Ngata) and then I hear crap about how he's better than Barry Sanders. lolno

[seanbrock 1,684]

Come on its the Lions. Let em get hyped up they havent had this excitement in forever. I mean they are good.

 

Why couldnt they come back against a team like New Orleans? I mean its hard to do on any given day but they have a offense to score quick. The Lions can win 10 games.

I agree with Mikey on this.