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.)
As an Eagles fan, I posed on Sunday night about how the Eagles would not win last night. One thing I asked is “ask a Lions fan about Matt Patricia.” You sir, have answered all…
Yep, pretty much. He was the worst and I’m both saddened and jubilant that he seems to have sunk the Eagles.