Lions talk optimistically of making a run
At 3-6 and riding a three-game losing streak, the Detroit Lions are freefalling toward playoff elimination. But safety Glover Quin said the team has drawn inspiration for a potential turnaround from its last playoff run two years ago.
The Lions opened the 2016 season 1-3 before returning home for three straight games at Ford Field. They swept those games, and rode the momentum from a three-game winning streak to a 9-7 record and wild-card appearance.
“We had that situation come up a couple years ago,” Quin said Wednesday. “So anything can happen, we just got to go out and do it.”
The Lions start a three-game homestand this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers that will go a long way towards defining their season.
They host the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving and the Los Angeles Rams the following week, and likely need wins in all three games to maintain reasonable playoff hopes.
“I’m not saying it’s not daunting,” Quin said. “I’m not saying it’s easy, but I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure any other team that’s in the situation we’re in will take three home games in a row, (then) Arizona-Buffalo on the road, Minnesota back at home and then a close at Green Bay.”
Of the Lions’ seven remaining games, they play their four toughest opponents – or the four teams with the best records, at least – at Ford Field.
The situation isn’t an exact parallel to 2016, when the Lions got hot in October then cooled off down the stretch when Matthew Stafford suffered a finger injury. Given the time of the season, there’s little room for error now.
But Quin insisted there’s reason for optimism in how the Lions have played of late, too. The Lions have lost their last three games by double digits after falling behind big early, but they held the Chicago Bears to just eight second-half points in last week’s 34-22 loss.
“We prepare this week and we go out and get a win, that’s a big win,” Quin said. “Big win, confidence fly high and good thing for us, we get to turn around four days later and go play again against a Chicago team that like I said, we look at the film and it’s like, man, we killed ourselves in the first half. Really first quarter, quarter and a half, we killed ourselves. We play a clean game like we did in the second half and close out the first half, why can’t we beat Chicago? That’s two wins in a matter of a week. Who says it can’t happen? Like I said, at the end of the day, we got to prepare and we are the ones that got to go out and do it.”
SERIES HISTORY: 9th regular-season meeting. Panthers lead series, 6-2, and have won two of three meetings at Ford Field. Last year, tight end Ed Dickson caught five passes for 175 yards to lead the Panthers to victory.
