Detroit Lions Fifth Round Pick Tyrell Crosby Has Seen More Reps At Tackle Recently And Could See An Increased Role Next Season.
For those who are lacking the motivation to see a Lions victory in their final game this Sunday, here’s a stat that may sway you otherwise. If the Detroit Lions win in Green Bay, not only will it be the Lions third win at Lambeau Field in the Last four matchups, but it would also be the Lions first four-game winning streak against the Packers since they won four straight between 1982-83. That makes it 35 years since the Lions last won four-in-a-row against Green Bay.
Not every Lions fan is going to be rooting for a victory on Sunday and that’s completely understandable. Detroit has not selected in the top five since 2013 and a loss would guarantee a top-five pick in this year’s draft with potential to move up to number two overall. Winning could put the Lions as far back as ninth. Here’s a layout of how Detroit could end up in each of the two through five spots with a loss on Sunday:
Second Overall: OAK, NYJ, and SF all win
Third Overall: OAK and NYJ win, or OAK and SF win, or NYJ and SF win
Fourth Overall: OAK wins, NYJ and SF lose; NYJ win, OAK and SF lose; SF wins, OAK and NYJ lose
Fifth Overall: OAK, NYJ, and SF all lose
This Weeks Opponent: The Green Bay Packers
Plain and simple, the Green Bay Packers are a different team then when they came into Ford Field and trailed 24-0 earlier this season. Detroit would go on to win that first game 31-23 which I predicted perfectly months prior I might add. These days, the Green Bay Packers have no Super Bowl aspirations, at least for this season.
Just realized I predicted the exact score of today’s game back in July pic.twitter.com/LTPYRAVwmT
— Charlie Kelbel (@CharlesKelbel) October 8, 2018
Since then, Green Bay has been eliminated from playoff contention and locked into a third-place finish in the NFC North. They also fired longtime head coach Mike McCarthy who sustained a solid amount of success during his time with the Packers, however, only one Super Bowl appearance in the Rodgers era does seem a little underwhelming. Joe Philbin has taken over as interim head coach for the team since then and they’ve seen little immediate returns. Last week Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to a thrilling overtime victory over the lowly New York Jets. The Packers also put defensive tackle Kenny Clark on IR this week so there’s some potential for running lanes in the middle of that Packers defense.
Despite the Lack of Stakes You Should Probably Still Watch
I’m sure that a lot of people are writing this game off and planning on something else this Sunday because there’s nothing of value at stake here. Hopefully, the idea that Detroit could do something they haven’t done in three and a half decades is a little incentive but think about it this way. There will not be another Lions game for eight months. Sure this promises to be an interesting offseason with a high draft selection and a lot of cap space going into free agency, not to mention the likely addition of a new coordinator. It will be an interesting time, but something else is sure to be true. Just as every other offseason is, this will be another long one. Think about that before you miss this game.
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