Lions Lose "Winnable" Game -- Whatever That Is

I've heard it several times already. The term is "winnable game." It's supposedly what the Lions had on their docket yesterday, in Arizona. Another way of putting it was "trap game."

The inference is clear. That the Lions, puffed up with their 6-2 record, were in danger of overlooking the 3-5 Cardinals (trap game), in a game that looked favorable, if only because of the two teams' records (winnable game).

Hogwash -- to both claims!

Pardon me, but isn't just about any NFL game "winnable"? Isn't that what the league's higher ups want -- parity for all and to all a good night? You know, the "on any given Sunday" thing. But at least that line rings true.

I think the Cardinals went into yesterday's contest thinking the Lions afforded them a "beatable" opponent. So does that make next week's Lions game against the New York Giants "non-winnable"? Or is it a "trap game" for the Giants?

Please -- let me know.

OK, so a 6-2 team visits a 3-5 team, and right away we label the game as winnable for the 6-2 team. Then you look at the schedule and see that the 6-2 team has a couple of games upcoming against teams with gaudy records. So now the game against the 3-5 team becomes a "trap" game.

Nobody seems to want to acknowledge that the NFL is a strange bird. Indianapolis' Peyton Manning threw six interceptions -- four by the time the second quarter was but a few minutes old -- in his team's loss to the San Diego Chargers. Was the Chargers game winnable? The Chargers were 4-4 going into it; the Colts 7-1.

Hey -- do ya think the Denver Broncos' fans looked at the Lions game a week ago Sunday and thought "winnable"? You bet your fanny they did.

Here's what the NFL is: you play the best you can, try to limit your mistakes, and make more big plays than the other guys. Simple as that. Sometimes you do that and you win. Sometimes you don't, and you lose. Or you do it and lose, or don't do it and win. Like I said, the NFL is funny.

But I will say this: the Lions proved what we pretty much all knew to be true. And that is, they are not, yet, an elite NFL squad. They're still a work in progress -- just like 27 or 28 of the teams in the league. They have had the skill, moxie, and big play capability to etch out a 6-3 record after nine games -- mostly against other league works in progress. And that's all you can say with 100% accuracy.

Here's something else that you cannot say is innacurate: the Lions' seven remaining games are against opponents who, for the most part, have their act together more than the ones that dotted Detroit's first nine matches. Now, what that means, I have no idea.

The consensus is that the Lions' true test is about to hit them hard, beginning next week against the Giants at Ford Field. That's probably pretty accurate, too. But enough about winnable and trap games. They're all winnable, and they're all losable. And they're ALL fraught with traps.

Such are the NFL's weekly mine fields.