When Lions Attack

October 26, 2004

-Blue

Well, boys and girls… that was fun, no?

I can’t begin to describe the despair I felt, sitting at Giants Stadium, watching the 4^th quarter fly by, with no hope in sight. Don’t get me wrong, I sat there until the knee was taken, to end the game, wavering between believing that A LOT can happen in one minute and forty-six seconds- Hey! We can still win this thing! - and cursing everyone on our sideline (and theirs) in a manner that would’ve made Satan himself blush.

I cannot take anything away from the Detroit Lions. They came to win, to prove their successes were not flukes and walk out with their pride. They did just that. Harrington suddenly remembered how to be a quarterback. Their almost already flawless rush defense was on high-octane. They were well coached and well prepared.

We, on the other hand, were not.

I’m not even sure anyone, except Barber and Griesen (yes, THAT Griesen) even realized there was a football game being played.

Was it the after-bye curse? Laziness? Were we just a little too high on ourselves for the 4-in-a-row wins? Too well-rested? Did we just not want it as much as they did? Just another “whoa moment” on any given Sunday in the Parity Era?

Seriously, what the hell happened here?

Granted, this is an ongoing problem with my boys in blue. We have a tendency, a strong tendency, to lose games we should win. Now, some may say that Fassel was the problem and that we’re a whole ‘nother team now, so we can’t look to the recent past in comparison.

Like hell we can’t.

I don’t know if it’s some chemical compound in the air or water, but, this has been a problem from even The Time Before Fassel. I’ll place blame on him for some of past wrongs, but, I can’t be the only one who can remember further back than 1997.

I don’t want to hear how we were going to lose a game sooner or later. That’s obvious (even those bastards in Philly will have to lose one). Or how happy I should be that we have been doing so well this season. I am. Gloriously happy.

I don’t want sensible, rational reasoning. There’s no place in Football Fandom for such things.

I can offer you no explanations, for I do not have any. Not even a fanciful guess.

See ya next week.