Bleeding Continues As Lions Can't Catch Pack

So let's end this fallacy, once and for all, that says the Lions ALWAYS play well on Thanksgiving Day, and that they mostly win. At least fewer and fewer people are believing this misconception every year.

The Lions made it four losses in a row, and six of the last seven, on Turkey Day in yesterday's 37-26 loss to the Packers.

They're 6-5 now, off to a three-game losing streak, and getting more and more Lions-ish with every loss.

Jason Hanson is again their most prolific scorer. They are again being outclassed by quality teams. Receivers (Calvin Johnson) are again dropping passes. Opponents are again jumping out to big leads, turning the Lions into a one-dimensional offense. Kick coverage is again soft.

And ghoulish thoughts of 7-9 or 8-8, at best, are again taking over the Lions fan's psyche.

OK, so the Lions aren't yet in the class of the Packers (who are now 16-1 in their last 17 regular season games), or the Giants, or the Eagles, or the Cowboys. That much is clear. But they won all of three games last year -- the third on the last Sunday of the season. So 7-9 or 8-8 would mean a four or five game improvement in one year. Not all that awful. Now, whether they could, in 2008, make the leap from that level to 10 or 11 wins is completely circumspect. They could just as well regress.

But that's next year. The Lions are mathematically a playoff contender this morning, but not spiritually, or emotionally. Yet if they finish 8-8, while disappointing after starting 6-2, it nonetheless must be considered a good season. Anytime you make a five-game win improvement in the NFL, that's cause to celebrate, even a little.

It could very well be, folks, that we haven't seen the worst of the 2007 Lions yet. 8-8 isn't a given. They're getting worse, and while they showed some life in the fourth quarter yesterday, the result was the same as Sunday, when they perked up in the final minutes against the Giants. Next up is Minnesota on the road, a traditional house of horrors. 6-6 looks quite doable.

I'm mad at myself. I thought the 6-2 start meant the shedding of the loser's label, if only for one year. One-hundred and eighty minutes of football later, I'm realizing that I should have taken my own advice. The NFL season is 16 games long for a reason. It's the miniature, yet just as effective version of MLB's tool for separating pretenders from contenders. Anyone can lead the division at the All-Star break. But it's how August and September goes that will determine whether you make the playoffs. Right, Tigers?

So anyhow, I should have remembered that the NFL plays 16 games per team, not eight. It's bad enough that I should forget. Did the Lions have to, also?