On January 5, 1992, I sat in the third level of the Pontiac Silverdome and watched the Detroit Lions utterly thrash the Dallas Cowboys, 38-7, in what was – until Sunday night – the last time the Lions won a playoff game.
For the 30-plus years since being among those 80,000 fans in the stands that afternoon, I have always puffed out my chest and noted I was at the last Lions’ playoff victory.
Today, I can no longer do so … happily!
Oh, I checked at what the get-in cost would be Sunday morning ($400 would have gotten me a standing room only ducat), but I chose to enjoy it from the cozy comfort of my home where there was a refrigerator and restroom steps away.
But I have a confession to make. I started heading to bed at halftime.
It was a Sunday night and while I didn’t have work Monday, I did have tasks to accomplish and wanted to treat it as a fairly typicaly start to a workweek. That means heading to bed by 10 o’clock.
As I settled in to do some reading, I put the game on the radio and listened to the Lions’ play-by-play team of Dan Miller, Lomas Brown, and T.J. Lang. Shortly before turning the lights out, I hit the sleep button for 60 minutes figuring I’d fall asleep at some point.
And, I did, but as I momentarily came out of my slumber, I heard the Lions’ had the ball and a 1-point lead approaching the 2-minute warning so I remained awake long enough to hear what would happen. And then this occurred:
I’m delighted for the 65,000 who were at Ford Field Sunday night. I’d imagine before the week’s up over a quarter million folks will claim to have been in attendance.
And, like most of them, I’m getting greedy. What with another home playoff game on the horizon for this week, I figure why not!?!
While I don’t know enough about the two potential opponents (either the Philadelphia Eagles or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) schematically speaking to understand who sets up best, I do know the play caller for the Eagles is a fella name Matt Patricia who drove the Lions’ franchise like it was a rental for a few seasons, posting a 13-29-1 from 2018-20.
Since this postseason seems to be about Lions’ paybacks (see ex-Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford‘s vanquishing Sunday), why not send the big bearded buffoon’s team packing as well. And, while we’re at it, who else is rooting for a Green Bay Packers’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers to allow for an exorcism of decades worth of Packers’ demons in the NFC Championship in Motor City?
(Update: That fella who used to coach in the D was embarrassed and eliminated by Tampa Bay, 32-9.)