I get it. You want a win. Preferably another, followed by a few more. That’s the point, right? To win?
And if the Detroit Lions don’t win Sunday against the Washington Commanders, falling to 0-2 — again! — and then that beginning leads to 0-6 — as it easily could — momentum and curses and 60-plus years of suckitude being what they are … well, the season will be over.
Or at least it will feel like it will be over — familiarity breeds contempt, and all that.
No matter how many times the coaches talk about teams that climb from 0-2 to respectability — or even the playoffs. Those teams aren’t this team. Those mucky starts aren’t what this one would signify:
A franchise feeling the hydraulic pressure of history.
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So, while Aaron Glenn, who happens to coach the Lions defense, and who happens to possess the most endearing of grins and the most can-do of spirits, may suggest that a loss this Sunday at Ford Field won’t end the season — and while it’s tempting to be seduced by his positivity and cool — the past suggests otherwise.
That past tells us that other teams find their way from slow starts; the Lions just find more losing. Though Glenn was having none of it Thursday when he met with reporters in Allen Park.
“Listen,” he said, “we coach every week to win. So to me, every game is a must-win. And I don’t know if that’s the right way or wrong way, but that’s how I coach, and that’s how I look at it. And as far as the stat (is) concerned, I think in ’98, with the Jets, we started 0-2, and we ended up going 13-3, so regardless of how you — you’ve just got to keep on chopping wood. And I’ve actually been a part of that twice, so I don’t know if that’s — we’re trying to get on the other side of that stat.”
If we’re parsing words and deducing meaning (yes, we are!) then Glenn makes a tiny admission here when he says “We’re trying to get on other side of that stat.”: Of course this Sunday’s game is critical. He and Dan Campbell and the rest of the staff and the team don’t want to try to pull themselves from two losses to start the season.
Because he knows what it means, despite playing for a team that found the playoffs after such a start, despite playing for another, or coaching another. For while Sunday had its pleasant moments — especially the opening moment, when the Lions blew the Philadelphia Eagles off the ball and ran down the field to take a 7-0 lead — the end was achingly familiar.
Again, you want a win. Not because this is a playoff team, but because all the buzz and the hope and the hype, all the speeches on “Hard Knocks,” all the hey-the-Lions-are-America’s-darlings talk would mean a lot more if the Lions beat a team they can beat and maybe even should beat this Sunday at Ford Field.
It doesn’t matter how. It doesn’t matter if Washington’s kicker flubs the winning field goal kick, or if Jared Goff throws a fourth-quarter interception, or if the running game that looked so promising against the Eagles produces nothing against the Commanders.
One point. Three points. Six points. Ten points.
There will be time for handwringing after. But handwringing is much less painful after a win.
Besides, the NFL is designed for close games. Although there are talent differences between the worst and best teams — obviously — any team can beat any other team.
Except for Jacksonville.
Everyone else?
Yeah, that’s why the Lions just need to win. Complain about the offense or defense or special teams later. Because one win can lead to another win, because there is still such a thing as learning how to win. Coaches don’t say this to hear themselves talk. They say it because it’s true.
They also say it because it’s hard to do. Harder here for whatever reason — heck, for thousands of reasons — than in most places.
This is what Campbell and Glenn are trying to do. They know how much the taste of winning matters.
Beat the Commanders on Sunday and maybe the following game in Minnesota is a little closer. Maybe the Lions are the ones that kick the late field goal.
Knock off the Vikings and who knows?
The Lions’ schedule suddenly doesn’t appear too bad:
Seattle at home. New England on the road. Dallas on the road. Miami at home.
None of those are gimmes — not that Lions fans have ever thought of any Lions’ game as a gimme, no matter the opponent.
Yet none of those are so daunting, either.
The Seahawks beat Denver but that was at home against their former quarterback making his first appearance back in Seattle: Hi, Russell Wilson, thank you, now take this loss.
New England always gets better but the Patriots are coming from a (relatively) dark place after fumbling around against Miami.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, just lost their starting quarterback, and Dak Prescott will presumably still be healing when the Lions arrive in Arlington, Texas, with former CMU quarterback Cooper Rush under center.
The Dolphins?
The Lions can’t play with the Dolphins?
This is why this Sunday is so important. Get to .500. Get the winning vibe in the locker room … while it’s still September! Get into a schedule that may open up a little after Minnesota (and the Lions owe Minnesota, too).
They owe everyone, truth be told. Not that I need to tell you that.
Mostly, they owe themselves the chance to get to October playing meaningful games. That chance arrives Sunday against the Commanders.
All they have to do is win.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@shawnwindsor.