The NFL’s Detroit Lions are a historic, or lack-thereof, franchise with no championship appearance since the 1950s. This means that since the NFL renamed its title game, The Super Bowl, the Lions have never even made a cameo. Fast forward to the new decade of the 2010s and the supposed new age for football in Detroit, where the Lions made it to their first playoff game since Barry Sanders was in uniform. They had ten wins in 2011 when just three years prior, they had none. Despite making it, they got destroyed by the recent champion, New Orleans Saints. For the next two years, they fell and did not make the playoffs. This past year had the Lions with a brand-new coachand a fantastic defense that had people in Detroit believing that they have finally got something brewing. They promised us an improvement from Quarterback Matthew Stafford, which was the offense’s problem for the past two seasons. The Lions finished the season with 11 wins and got a chance at a second playoff game. While this may have fans thinking that they will be the same as before and then some for this season and beyond, it should not. Stafford didn’t improve, but instead threw less passes and only made plays when it felt like it was time to do so and no other rime. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who was hyped up so much before 2014 as being the guy to turn Stafford’s luck around, turned out to be a guy that mishandled the talent of Wide Receiver Golden Tate.

The Lions’ general manager Martin Meyhew and President Tom Lewand did what the team’s former heads have also done; they dismantled what made them good in the first place. After the team had a second overall best defense in 2014 according to NFL.com, they failed to re-sign star defensive tackles, NdamukongSuh and Nick Fairley along trading away defensive end, George Johnson, according to Bleacher Report.com, who broke out into a solid player that made the defense better than it already was. The only player the Lions have received in this offseason was defensive tackle, Haloti Ngata according to Bleacher Report.com. What this does now is put the Lions back to square one. They did do something miraculous on April 30, however, when they did something smart and traded their 23^rd overall pick for a later first round pick at 28, a couple fifth round picks, and a 32 year old offensive lineman, Manny Ramirez. With that first round pick, they did draft another offensive lineman, 23 year old Laken Tomlinson out of Duke. They then used their second round pick to draft a speed back in 21 year old Ameer Abdullah from Nebraska. They then drafted defense for the next two rounds, but middle round players most likely turn out to be a fraction in production compared to all-pros. While that may look pretty decent, they already had a mediocre offense that rated 19 among the NFL’s 32 teams and a very suspect Special Teams, and that was with Wide Receivers Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Kicker Matt Prater, and Stafford, so all of that just means minor improvement. I don’t expect them to prosper with this improved offensive line and running game, still considering all they have done is shown me that we are still witnessing a team that has not been the league’s best since Dwight Eisenhower was president.

So despite the entire buzz this team has received in the past four years or so, it will all end the way it always has. I am a huge Lions fan, but I will be the first to say when this franchise has reached the point of no return. There is point in making excuses for this mediocrity anymore. We are not the New England Patriots or the Green Bay Packers, we are that team that pushed Running Back Barry Sanders to retire early (allegedly), along with being the same team that did not win a game for nearly two years. We might be a good team in the future but as for a championship, I do not think this team can ever pull it off.