Lions play like kitties on Thanksgiving

I heard it – I knew I would hear it eventually but I thought it’d be some cliche-spewing television announcer during the Titans/Lions pregame show. Hell, I predicted it about an hour ago in the Best Bets.

But it happened on the Dan Patrick Show this morning on the radio. There has been some discussion of ending the tradition of having both Dallas and Detroit host games every season on Thanksgiving. While Patrick was discussing the issue, someone named Tom called defending the traditional Detroit Thanksgiving game.

He said because the Lions are so bad it’s usually the only time he gets to watch them on television. And when further question by Patrick about whether or not he enjoyed watching bad football, Tom responded that the Lions generally put up a decent fight on Thanksgiving no matter how bad they are.

I have no strong feeling either way on the Cowboys/Lions debate. As long as there is football on Thanksgiving I’ll watch no matter who is playing. It’s part of the fabric of my favorite holiday.

But in the 2000s, Tom is absolutely incorrect about the Lions. Not only has Detroit lost six of the last seven times it has kicked off on Turkey Day, they’ve done so by generally lopsided scores. Last year, the Lions actually entered the game with a 6-4 record after a solid start. Green Bay easily dismissed Detroit, 37-26, in a game not as close as the score indicated.

The three years previous, Miami, Atlanta and Indianapolis crushed the Lions. The scores: 27-10, 27-10, and 41-9.

In 2003, despite a 5-11 record for the season, Detroit did manage to take out Green Bay by a 22-14 score. But in the two years previous, the Lions lost to New England (20-12) and Green Bay again (29-27).

Perhaps the end of the Matt Millen era will help make the Lions more competitive. Football is a cyclical sport. And again, I don’t care if the tradition ends or not. But let’s not delude ourselves – the annual statements about the Lions fighting fiercely on Thanksgiving regardless of record is a turkey argument. It’s simply not true.