It was a massive boost of confidence for the Detroit Lions and their fans in week 13 of the NFL regular season when they finally won a game. It may have taken 13 weeks, but the Vikings had earned a massive win against a division rival to pick up their first victory of the season. They defeated the Minnesota Vikings with a last-second touchdown to win the game and pull off the upset at Ford Field.
However, just a week later they were absolutely crushed in Denver against the Broncos losing 38-10. Lions’ fans were left frustrated to see their team take such a beating only a week after picking up an impressive win.
“No one feels bad for us,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said following his team’s loss, via The Detroit News. “No one feels sorry for us, including ourselves. We went out here intending to win and came up short. Don’t care who was on the field. We had the guys that we believe in to win and made too many mistakes.”
It must be said that the Lions were suffering from a number of injuries and were forced to make several lineup changes. Running back Craig Reynolds had just been called off of the practice squad on Saturday and was one of the few bright spots for his team on Sunday.
“I thought Craig ran hard,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell told members of the media after the game, via the Detroit News. “And honestly, I don’t think anybody on this staff is surprised. We like Craig. We thought he would do a good job and certainly he did.”
Reynolds came up with a big 35-yard run at the start of the second half to help give his team some momentum going forward.
“Momentum really wasn’t on our side at that point, and just hitting that run felt like we needed to flip that a little bit,” Reynolds said after his Lions’ debut. “It was early enough in the game, there was a lot of football left. That’s one thing we talk about in the running back room is bringing juice and energy to the team. That’s what that was, just built up (energy).”
While the Lions may no longer be winless, they do remain the worst team in the entire NFL with a 1-11-1 record this season. It has been tough for fans to watch their team in recent years as this will be the team’s fifth consecutive year missing out on the playoffs. They have been to the postseason just three times since 2000, never winning a game during that span and they don’t look like they will be getting back there anytime soon.
They will look to earn their second win of the current campaign when they take on the Arizona Cardinals in week 15 at Ford Field. The Cardinals are one of the best teams in the entire NFL though and it could get ugly for the Lions if they aren’t careful.
Kickoff for the tilt is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday December 19th.
