I Wish I Could Say I was Surprised, But...

17-0. The Lions finally broke through and beat the...oh shit, they lost? Again? 38-20? Oh for fuck's sake.

Only the Lions could lead a team 17-0, gain favorable field position on more than one occasion due to fumbles and mistakes by the other team and still end up losing by 18 points. I mean, every week it is something else, something ridiculous and horrible and unfair and this week it was the Lions looking like they not only were going to win but might actually run away with it only to end up being left naked and beaten on the side of the road, confused and afraid. Again.

The game featured a little bit of everything that has happened this season, from Calvin Johnson looking like a completely unstoppable superbeast to Calvin being inexplicably ignored for long stretches of the game causing even the dumbass announcers to start openly deriding the Lions for not getting him the fucking ball. There was the usual flash of hope which was, as always, overwhelmed in a sea of failure and ineptitude. There was Kevin Smith running the ball effectively only to be taken out of the game plan because once again the Lions had to play catch up. There was Daunte Culpepper making a couple of big throws only to fall apart and throw retarded interceptions later in the game. There was a defense which attacked at times and utterly disappeared at others. There were big plays from the other team which the Lions could never counter, and there was the sight of yet another 108 year old running back effortlessly gliding through the Lions defense. There was Rod Marinelli excited on the sideline and then angry and then depressed and then confused. There was Drew Stanton bounding onto the field just in time to get horribly concussed. And finally, there was the score at the end of the game and there was another Lions loss and there was me laughing and there was me shaking my head and there was me turning off the TV and saying fuck this shit.

Thursday the Lions play again in their annual Thanksgiving game and I will watch again and I will hope that they don't lose and I will start to get irrationally hopeful when it looks like they might have something going and then the game will be over and the Lions will have lost and then it will be on to the next week and then the next week and then the one after that and then the season will be over and every goddamn week the story will be the same. 0-16. We are only five games away and this really does seem like just the team to do it, doesn't it?