I know you felt it on Sunday because I felt it too. Just sitting there before the game and watching the highlight packages and interviews put together for the Eagles and the Chiefs all I could think was “That should have been the Detroit Lions.” I saw the same sentiment from Lions fans all over social media.
Then I saw some of the responses from Lions players too. They were feeling it just like we were.
This team is upset, but not upset in the way that you might see before a downfall and loss of confidence. They’re upset in the way you usually see before someone is about to go out and get some revenge.
There’s a new era in Detroit and while we haven’t seen it written on Brad Holmes’ hoodie like we did with “villain” or “grit,” it’s in the air and you can feel it. This team is salty and they know that they’re only in this position because they lost what felt like a record amount of players to injury. They want to claim what’s theirs and get it right this time.
This has to be the mindset right now. Grit got you here and it can still be a big part of your identity. Being the villain is cool, but the villain always loses in the end. Being salty and mad usually leads to a group that is ready to kick, scratch, and claw their way back to where they want to be.
Getting punched in the mouth sucks, but it also prepares you to take more punches, and that prepares you to learn how to absorb the blows and keep on fighting.
It feels so dumb to say it, but this loss might have been what this team needed to get to where they wanted to get. There couldn’t be a Return of the Jedi without The Empire Strikes Back. Wow, I’m a nerd. The rebels got pretty salty in that movie and Luke Skywalker was the saltiest of them all.
We’ll see what the Lions eventually crown this era and what will be the rallying cry for this team, but for me, it’s going to be salty, and salty is a good thing in this case.