They weren’t that bad, really. Although the Lions went 0-16, they weren’t an 0-16 team. Sure, they gave up the second most amount of points in the history of the NFL, but did you see the detailed picture behind the “0-16” poster boards? I’m guessing you didn’t watch many Lions game in 2008, let alone all of them. Understandable, you probably didn’t even know which of 5 quarterbacks was playing that week, and since they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in week 11 and practically eliminated from the playoffs after week 5, you most likely didn’t care too much about how they did (except of course to see if they’d lose every game of the season). Or you may have seen the “low light” film capturing Orlovsky taking a snap and running through the back of his own end zone on a boot leg, only to find himself out of bounds for a safety after the officials blew the whistle. But really, they weren’t that bad.

The Lions had a decent shot to win every game they played deep into the game except for three blowouts including the Thanksgiving Day Titan game and New Orleans Saints punishment. Yes, I believe the Lions lost 13 games in which they had a decent chance to win well into the game. 6 of the 14 games ended within reach of one possession. I realize that they gave up an amazing amount of points with an awful secondary, but the team played with several different quarterbacks and had a mid-season coach change. What does it say to the team if the owner decides to fire the coach 4 games into the season? It seems like the owner gave up on the year and was building for next year.

Sure enough, the Lions are gearing up for the future with their arsenal of high picks including first rounders Stafford and Pettigrew. By putting a face on the franchise and stability to the position along with a better roll of the dice this year, the Lions should have a much better year. I see how it would be hard to not have a better year, but I’m not talking winning 0 games to 3 games. I see the rising Lions and the wildcat fluke riding Dolphins having matching records. After all, I believe half of football is chance. I don’t like to call it luck, because that seems to indicate strong tendencies to have good or bad chance. Simply put, the Lions suffered bad chance in 2008, much like how the Cowboys suffered bad chance the same year due to a ridiculous amount of important injuries. Who would have thought that the Cowboys would suffer major injuries to so many important players? After all, footballs are a funny prolate spheroid shape with pointy ends and they don’t always take a “home-field” bounce.

Gabe Pinchev