It’s Actually Happening

The last time the Detroit Lions won a division title was in 1993. You read that right. Thirty years ago was the last time this franchise won a division title. So far this season, the Lions have looked really good in their 3 victories. The last one coming on Thursday night against division rivals Green Bay. Under current head coach Dan Campbell, Detroit has now won four consecutive games against the Packers. This is a far cry from the kind of Lions teams I’ve been accustomed to seeing during most of my lifetime. They are an easy team to root for, as long as they’re not playing my favorite team. If this keeps trending up for Detroit, they could be the third best team in the NFC behind Philadelphia and San Francisco.

They Aren’t Messing Around

If there is one thing that frustrates me watching the 49ers since Kyle Shanahan has been their head coach, it is the lack of urgency in finishing off their opponent. Reason I say this is that more often than not the Niners will barely eke out a win when they clearly outplayed them. The only time that has happened this season was against the Los Angeles Rams. To be fair, the 49ers started out that game a bit sluggish, but came back to put it away in the second half. In their other three games they thoroughly outplayed their opponents from the start and didn’t let up. It’s an encouraging sign going forward for a team that has appeared in 3 conference title games and one Super Bowl under Shanahan in 6 seasons prior to this one. For their sake they can’t let up or get complacent if they want to get to a second Super Bowl with Shanahan.

We Learned A Few Things

For one, I get that the NFL wants to get Taylor Swift fans to be interested in football, but the coverage has been insufferable. You’ll get more eyeballs in the immediate future, but once the so-called ‘relationship’ with Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is over. She’ll write a new breakup song about it and her fans will never watch another football game unless she’s the halftime performer at the Super Bowl. The other thing we learned from Sunday night is that New York Jets QB Zach Wilson was drafted second overall in 2021 for a reason. We saw that with his play against the Kansas City Chiefs. The only bad play by him was a fumbled snap late in the game. He was 28-39 for 245 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. The Jets didn’t have the kind of balance on offense rushing the ball with only 16 rushing attempts in a close game. That needs to change if New York wants to salvage this season without Aaron Rodgers. But two things can be true at the same time. The Taylor Swift coverage is mind numbingly dumb and Zach Wilson isn’t the worst quarterback of all-time.