The Lions haven't played any truly meaningful football games for awhile.
It's been at least since 2007 when they also started out 6-2, and whatever promise that season held faded quickly.
Sunday at Chicago is very different. 2007 was a mirage. The suspicion now is that the Lions are serious contenders to not only make the postseason, but possibly do some damage once there. The Lions are listed by Las Vegas oddsmakers as having a 20-to-1 chance of winning the Super Bowl, up from 30-to-1 during the preseason, and an 11-to-1 chance of winning the NFC and reaching the Super Bowl.
But to do anything of note this season, they will have to go through the Chicago Bears. The Bears started out sluggishly, but are now 5-3. If they beat the 6-2 Lions Sunday in Chicago, they are all even. It's the Bears, not the Lions, who advanced to the NFC title game last season, remember? Perhaps they have been underestimated.
It's key the Lions beat the Bears Sunday because:
- It would put them a game ahead of the Bears (and other wild card contenders) in the NFC.
- It would give the Lions the first tiebreaker should they end the season with the same record as the Bears.
- The Bears remaining schedule is easier than the Lions. They only play two games against teams currently above .500: The Packers and the Raiders. Four of the Lions' seven games after Sunday are against better than .500 teams, two against Green Bay, against Oakland and New Orleans.
- The Bears have already played the Packers and Saints and lost. All three of the Bears' losses have been against NFC teams, both Lions defeats have come against NFC teams. It's another tie-breaking factor.
This is not a make or break game for the Lions in the sense there is still a lot of season remaining after it but it ultimately could be. Certainly it falls under the category of pivotal.