Because they easily could have not. You could see the dismay on Matthew Stafford’s face at times: the QB takes that win or loss. But, his wideouts, tight ends, and running backs played exceptional, allowing Stafford to set another Lions record with the highest completion percentage (88%) in our history! YES!

Hey, it’s been hard for all of us real Lions this year. The coaches really suck, don’t they? Even when Joique Bell rumbled inside the ten-yard line to seemingly end the game, Jim Caldwell elected to kick and miss a field goal, forcing us to face our Hail Mary demons. SO AGAIN, credit the players for surviving more chaos.

New Orleans’ defense is about to set the single-season record for passing touchdowns allowed. You could kind of see why. Stafford shredded the Saints for three first half touchdowns. Detroit’s defense and special teams gave us exceptional field position throughout the game, enabling the Lions to lead 21-3 at halftime.

Joique Bell must be the starter. I saw the numbers: a 1,000 yard back for the last two seasons has like 300 yards under this year’s coordinators. FIRE THEM ALL, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I love Ameer and Theo behind him, and I just think we still kind of suck at mixing the run in proper. It’s all about feel and where you’re at in the game.

LIKE LEADING 28-3. That defense ended the half with a goalline stand, then Staff Sauce took the opening drive of the 3rd quarter to the house, setting up that 25 point lead. Let my brother pick up a Madden controller and finish the game for us; better yet, let me do it!

In our defense, it may have been the worst reffing I’d seen since Sunday Night Football against Denver. On the primetime stage, bad calls are glaring. We’re all a little more alert than in the afternoon like the usual one PM-er, and they held us all game long. Then we’d get really weak hold calls. Every challenge went against us, resulting in zero turnovers. Shit’s gotta end.

Martha Ford sees you. SHE SEES YOU. And you know she did not enjoy watching that lead evaporate. What else were the Saints going to do trailing that much? But we blitzed too often, letting Drew Brees pick us apart deep. Like, seriously, how the fuck did we not see this coming? They earned their first touchdown of the game for a 28-10 score.

The momentum was shifting. I really couldn’t believe we withstood it, because we were caving in like a mine shaft, to quote oldschool. The defense came up strong at the goalline, keeping them to a field goal. But we weren’t finishing drives and Staff started to take too many sacks. HE HAS TO MAKE SLIGHTLY FASTER READS. There’s no time to pussy foot in the pocket.

On a close fumble call, they got the fucking ball back again. Brees seemed to effortlessly punch it in to begin the 4th for the 28-20 score. This was our moment, maybe for everyone’s future. If our offense doesn’t nut up right now, we don’t win this game. IT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING AND DYING, AS AL PACINO PUT IT IN ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, WHETHER YOU’RE WILLING TO FIGHT AND DIE FOR THAT INCH OR NOT. Until there are 0’s on the clock, you do not let up. YOU DO NOT STOP.

Finally working in Bell properly (along with some nice Abdullah), Detroit drove the length of the field for the touchdown. And it was necessary, for New Orleans was not done. They scored again for the 35-27 final. But first, we put our final drive together – oh, and they clearly were out of bounds on their final drive before replay failed to overturn it, WTF? – taking it into their red zone on that run by Joique.

We missed a field goal trying to secure the ball? Maybe? Or run out the clock or something, giving Brees a few final plays. If we don’t hold, we die – this era may have been over. Which is completely catastrophic when you look around our locker room. More talent than in Lions’ history. Megatron. Tate. Come on.

This year is over, but our fans and players are not. We can still show the world what we’re made of, and hope Martha Ford Firestone cleans house and sees our greatness. Maybe get some new offensive linemen, too.

Monday Night Football: Crown Me.