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- Thanks to Madden 25, we can imagine a world where Matthew Stafford led the Detroit Lions to a Super Bowl victory.
True story: This image was captured after I scored a touchdown on the final play of Super Bowl 53 to beat the Miami Dolphins by a point.It's fun to dream. pic.twitter.com/mQiI2oQhW7
— Pride Of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) February 4, 2014
- Back to the real world, this is a pretty depressing stat (via Don Banks):
From @DonBanks' Snap Judgments, Lions, Cowboys, Minn, Wash only NFC teams not to reach the Super Bowl since 97. Who's next in that group?
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) February 4, 2014
- On a somewhat related note, the Lions checked in at No. 3 on Sports on Earth's list of the most tortured fan bases in the NFL, behind only the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns. Cleveland I get, but Buffalo went to four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s. Yes, the Bills somehow managed to lose all four of them, but the Lions have only won a single playoff game since 1957. I'd easily take the heartbreak of four straight Super Bowl losses over the heartbreak of never even getting to experience any real playoff success.
- Ty Schalter has a good breakdown of what exactly a futures contract entails.
- Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald restructured his contract this week by turning his base salary into a bonus for 2014. This created cap space for this year, but his cap hit for 2015 is now a ridiculous $23.6 million. That almost makes Ndamukong Suh's $22.4 million cap hit for 2014 seem reasonable by comparison.
- The Atlanta Falcons released cornerback Asante Samuel and linebacker Stephen Nicholas on Wednesday.
- Minnesota Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel has reportedly decided to void the final year of his contract, making him a free agent for 2014.
