Detroit Lions Week 7 Song of the Game: ‘Linger’ by The Cranberries

It is becoming increasingly difficult to put my thoughts together in coherent and sensical fashion when it comes to the Detroit Lions. This is a team that was almost certainly never going to make any real noise in Year 2 of a rebuild. The lack of talent is still an obvious concern thanks to the previous regime, and while a lot of the young kids and new acquisitions are shining bright for the future, a 1-5 record still just feels so shitty.

Getting that first win in Week 2 over the Washington Commanders was a great feeling, but the high point of the year, to me, feels like it was before the season even started, during the filming of “Hard Knocks.” The feeling going into the season was different from previous years. Call me foolish, because maybe I was downing the Kool-Aid a bit too much, but 8-9 wins didn’t seem too crazy once upon a time.

Obviously there are a lot of things that have gone wrong since then, including an obscene amount of injuries, a schedule that has suddenly turned into a gauntlet, regression in QB play, among other things. It’s hard to put this all on coaching, but at points, this young coaching staff hasn’t helped itself out, either.

Lions-Cowboys Song of the Game: “Linger” by The Cranberries

All of these unfortunate circumstances have led to the Lions currently holding the worst record in the NFL. However, context does matter, and there are still some positive takeaways despite their record, like seeing most of their young core performing well.

Jeff Okudah just had the game of his life and is looking like a true No. 1 cornerback at the moment. Joshua Paschal just played his first NFL game after returning from his injury and looked like one of the best players on defense. Aidan Hutchinson just had his best professional game for the Lions. Kerby Joseph came up with a huge forced turnover and has been great in coverage all year. The list goes on.

At some point, though, this team is going to have to win football games. Coming off of a three-win season and being on pace for that same record, the wins will need to start coming soon. You can point to the injuries, but when this has become such a common occurrence, it might be time for the coaching staff to reconsider how they deal with training camp and practices.

Look no further than the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles, who notably took on a lighter offseason load hoping to lead to fewer injuries.

If you, if you could return
Don’t let it burn
Don’t let it fade
I’m sure I might be rude
But it’s just your attitude
It’s tearing me apart
It’s ruining everything
And I swore, I swore I would be true
And honey, so did you
So why were you holding her hand?
Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time?
Was it just a game to you?

If you ask me, this team is very clearly behind schedule in Year 2. This is a team that coaches expected to compete in every single game this year, and we’re coming off of back-to-back performances where the Lions lost by 18 points or more. We heard all the speeches. We know that this year was all about competing and getting rid of the mistakes in close games that lost us said games. But it’s all still there. Not much has changed.

But I’m in so deep
You know I’m such a fool for you
You’ve got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger?
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?

Each week, we’ll be providing a Song of the Game to create a full-season playlist. You can listen to previous year’s soundtracks right here: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

You can find the 2022 playlist here (or below):