The Detroit Lions have no business beating the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The good thing is, they don’t have to.

The story so far…

In the battle of the undefeated teams, the Lions currently stand as a 7 point home dog. Patrick Mahomes is on pace to eclipse his MVP season of 2018. The Chiefs are a well-oiled machine that has a “next man up” type of quality, making them almost immune to injuries and personnel changes. 

The Lions have done some work to dispel their “can’t beat good teams” narrative, beginning with their 2018 performance against the eventual champion Patriots and carrying over to the early season wins against LAC and PHI, two playoff teams from a year ago. Still, to expect a win from the Lions, who go into this one banged up at key positions, is setting the bar too high. 

At the end of the day, that’s ok, because the Lions have done enough up to this point to afford getting rolled up by Mahomes and company. Such is life when you take care of your business (for a change). It gives you room to breathe. Room for error. Room to be the “same old Lions” without nuking your season. 

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Managing expectations

2-0-1 is not where this team was expected to be heading into week 4. The first chunk of the season was supposed to be about survival. How many wins can they steal in the first seven weeks, until the schedule finally eases up with a week 8 home date against the Giants? Not only has this team survived, it has put itself in a position to have a low-risk high-reward matchup with a Super Bowl contender. 

This team has not played as well as their record suggests, which has led to many questioning their legitimacy. This is expected from a national perspective, where the Lions tend to range anywhere from afterthought to laughing stock on a yearly basis. What surprised me was the amount of fans who weren’t satisfied with just winning. Apparently, they need it to look pretty, or it doesn’t count. 

An SB Nation poll asked fans how they feel about the Lions following the Week 3 win in Philadelphia. Nearly 30% of respondents said they feel “The same” or “A little worse”. You can call Lions fans a lot of things, but I didn’t know spoiled was one of them. I found it thoroughly entertaining to watch another team give a game away for a change. Playing turnover and drop-free football makes me feel very good about this team, but apparently that’s not enough for some. Boring wins > exciting losses. All day.

Perspective and managing expectations is what I preach here at The Warm Take. If you are unsatisfied with the Lions to this point in the season, what exactly were your expectations headed in? Even if you had them going 10-6, which is the edge of sanity, a 2-0-1 start can’t possibly be viewed as a disappointment. There are also a slew of positive narratives brewing around this team. The Matthew Stafford bounce-back season and Matt Patricia locker room buy-in come to mind. 

House money

Based on my modest expectations, the Lions are playing with house money on Sunday. They earned it by winning in Philadelphia, something no reasonable person would have predicted before the season. A true juggernaut now comes to Ford Field to test whether or not to believe in the Lions hype. Only there isn’t much hype at all around this team.

Do yourself a favor and watch this game with an open mind and a full heart. This is a rare opportunity to watch a game where losing is expected but not all that impactful in the grand scheme of things. Winning, on the other hand, oh baby…

If the Lions beat the Chiefs on Sunday, that “how do you feel about the Lions?” poll should only have one option…

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