A lot is riding on these late-season games for the Detroit Lions, and all of it is for far-too-familiar reasons: draft status.
Once again the Lions are playing unimportant games in December. Something more in line with the 2000s rather than the 2010s where the team saw a marked improvement in team performance. A big reason for that uptick in success was former Lions general manager Martin Mayhew and his ability to hit on top draft picks—for the most part.
Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh, Ezekiel Ansah: all of these players nabbed within the first five picks of the NFL Draft and all of them integral to the resurgence of professional football during the 2010s.