Monday open thread: Do you feel better, worse or the same about the Lions after their win over the Packers?

Victory Monday is a beautiful thing, y’all.

Victory Monday heading into a bye week is even better.

Victory Monday heading into bye after beating your biggest rival is sublime.

It was far from a perfect win for the Detroit Lions, but look around the league right now. Show me more than a handful of perfect teams out there. As of Monday morning, there are only four teams in the conference with more wins than the Lions. 2-3 is not an ideal record for the Lions after five games, but it is anything but a death knell for this franchise. At the very least, this Lions team has proven they can hang with some of the best teams in the league.

So on this Victory Monday we ask the same thing we ask every Monday during the season:

Do you feel better, worse or the same after the Lions’ win over the Packers?

My answer: I feel a little better in the short term, but the same in the long term.

On the most basic level, simply the enjoyment out of this job and interacting with you all changed drastically with a win over the Packers. Had Detroit lost to Green Bay, fans would’ve checked out, cynicism would’ve reigned supreme for the next 14 days, and most people wouldn’t want to hear analysis, they’d tell us to “shut up, the season is over.” We’ve obviously been there plenty of times, and it’s not so fun.

Instead, fans will continue to be interested in this team, if for no other reason than they’re completely unpredictable and therefore fascinating.

All of that being said, I feel no more confident in this team’s 2018 chances than I did last week. The offense is still playing pretty well, but the defense is still a mess. Sure, they held Aaron Rodgers scoreless in the first half, but the Packers’ receiving corps was extremely shorthanded, and Green Bay moved the ball effortlessly for most of the game through the air.

There’s still no pass rush, there’s still sketchy run defense, and the secondary comes and goes.

I’m happy because the Lions won, but I am not budging from my 8-8 preseason prediction.

Your turn.