Tundra Vision: The Lions, Rivalries and Respect

Today's game has the NFC North title on the line, and a far easier path on the playoffs for the victor. But the Lions never measure up as a "rivalry game" for the Packers like the Vikings and Bears do. Why is that? It all has to do with respect.

T.J. Lang and Ndomukong Suh by Tim Fuller—USA TODAY Sports.

T.J. Lang and Ndomukong Suh by Tim Fuller—USA TODAY Sports.

What makes a good rivalry ... really? We can sift back through time and look at many of the Green Bay Packers' rivals and look for different elements that make those rivalries fierce. Some, like the Bears, date back decades and decades, with the hatred handed down from generation to generation. Others, like the Cowboys in the 1990s, were simply a result of one team being the perpetual road block of the glory of the other. 

So many elements factor into rivalries. For the Packers and the Minnesota Vikings, much comes down to geographic location with friends and families gradually wearing more purple the closer you get to the Mississippi River. Brett Favre heading over there didn't exactly hurt the fan passion, either.

Thinking about the Seattle Seahawks, so much of it comes down to both Matt Hasselback's "Famous Last Words" in 2004, paired with the Fail Mary just a few years ago. Those kinds of plays make you want to get revenge in the next matchup, circling the game on the calendar.  We couldn't wait to tee it up again.

And there's Colin Kaepernick, the guy who sliced and diced our defense to shreds in a playoff game back in 2013. They beat us again in the regular season the following September, and we actually dreaded facing them again in last year's playoffs, but there wasn't an eye taken off the television as we played them close, narrowly lost and spent the entire past few months relishing in the implosion of the San Francisco 49ers.

And, of course, Da Bears. Doesn't matter if both teams are 2-13; that final game of the season would still sell out and be one of the most passionate of the season. After all, those little old ladies knew what they were talking about when the approached new coach Mike Holmgren in the grocery store and not having too much faith in the actual team success, told him "just beat those Bears."

But for all those factors that add up to a great rivalry—geography, history, familiarity, backstabbing, controversy—almost all of them have one thing in common. The two teams have the potential to end the other's dreams, the talent to spit on the passion of the other team's fans, the ability to make the outcome far from certain.

No matter how you cut it, there has to be a level of respect. Maybe not respect for individual players (I'm looking at you, Jay Cutler and Chris Hovan), and you certainly don't have to like the team. But you have to respect their ability to win, their ability to create that level of passion. 

Even hate is a form of respect. It's a whole lot better than not caring. I'm looking at you, Jacksonville Jaguars.

Which brings me to today's game against the Detroit Lions. In so many ways, this should be a rivalry game for the Packers. After all, it has so many of the critical elements of the rivalry puzzle. We're close to each other (I have several friends from the U.P. that still hold alliegance to the Lions), we play each other twice a year, and there's been a couple of controversial games. So much has been made about the Lions not winning in Green Bay since 1991, but they have won three out of the last five in Detroit, including the last two. That should count for something, shouldn't it?

And yet, the Lions just can't seem to generate the same kind of passion that the Bears and even the Vikings generate. I have been to many Lions games at Lambeau over the years, because for some reason, those tickets always seem to be available and cheap. When I sit with Lions fans in the stands, they watch the game with a sense of hope, but the knowledge of the impending loss to come.

The game today is a high-stakes game: the division title is on the line, along with a first-round bye (and if a lot of things fall the right way, potentially the No. 1 seed). A loss sends the other team on the road next week. But you don't have that same feeling we did last year when the Bears came to town for a play-in game in the season finale. You knew you were going to get a fight from the Bears, and it came down to a last-second miracle to pull it out. Heck, even the Vikings draw more vitriol in the first game of the playoffs at the end of the 2012 season, having defeated the Packers in the season finale that season.

What it comes down to, and what it is always going to come down to for the Detroit Lions is the fact they are a hard team to respect. 

I was perusing my TimeHop earlier this week and came across a tweet I made years ago, one that could just as easily stand today.

The reality is that the Detroit Lions haven't changed. Dominic Raiola was caught on nearly everyone's Vinefeed across the nation last week for stomping on a defensive tackles foot. Hard. 

Why? According to Raiola, it was an accident. The Bears didn't buy it. Fans and non-fans across the nation didn't buy it. And the NFL didn't buy it, suspending Raiola for today's game and denying his appeal.

Why? Why do the Lions continually lower themselves to these kinds of acts? On more than one occasion, I've watching the Lions playing well enough to win a game, even in Green Bay, and eventually allow their own emotions and frustrations get the better of them. It's like Jay Cutler, but it's an entire team of Jay Cutlers. And Jay Cutler as coach too.
 
The reality is that most of us fans would welcome the Lions as a rivalry game. The Lions went 0-16 in 2008, the first team ever to do so. But let's be honest: this team drafted six times in the top ten of the draft during the 2000s. In an era of free agency and salary caps, you almost try to do that poorly before the law of averages would eventually force you to become competitive. Yet the Lions managed to be one of the worst teams in NFL history—perhaps the worst team in the modern era of football—and you had to feel for them at some point. 
 
No one understood the Matt Millen debacle, constantly questioning whether or not he had incriminating photographs of the Ford family, justifying him keeping his job as general manager far longer than any same owner would have allowed. No one understood why Barry Sanders suddenly retired, why they kept drafting wide receivers year after year without drafting a quarterback to throw to him, or offensive linemen who could block long enough to allow a pass to be thrown. 
 
So, in an era of competitiveness, you would think that even Packer fans would welcome the Lions back to the upper echelons of the division. Face it, we love having the Vikings and Bears in our division, even in years that they do better than the Packers. We value the rivalry and the history. We would be heartbroken if the Vikings or Bears were suddenly moved to Los Angeles next season and became a new AFC team with a new name. 
 
We hate the Vikings and the Bears. That's a sign of respect.
 
But the Lions continue to represent themselves as undisciplined rapscallions who aren't afraid to echo the Bad Bay legacy handed down to them from Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and Adrian Dantley. It worked for them, right? But NDonkeyKong Suh, Raiola, Matt Stafford have all had their share of controversial and stupid plays. Unfortunately, they keep happening. Over and over again. Hey, trust me ... Detroit could use something positive in that community right now. Kind of like New England winning the Super Bowl after 9/11 or New Orleans winning the Super Bowl after Hurrican Katrina. But both of those teams epiomized class from Tom Brady to Drew Brees*.
 
The Packers have a "nasty" player in Mike Daniels, a guy who takes pride in bringing hard hits and demoralizing the opposing team. But he's never crossed a line of stomping on a player, making homophobic comments to college band members while on the road or dissing the fans in the huddle while knowing a camera was on you. In fact, you'd have to believe Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson would not only put a stop to such activity immediately, but Daniels might not be back on the team the following week. Or ever again.

That's the difference, and the line that not only Detroit Lions constantly cross, but that management constantly allows and passively encourages.
 
In the end, the Lions won't hold our respect until they step up and earn it. Chances are, if the history of the last 23 years are anything to be trusted, that the Lions will play hard for the first half, struggle, fall behind, implode, and do something stupid that will be their mark on the game. They won't realize that no one will remember some of Staffords pretty plays under pressure, or a ferocious pass rush that put Rodgers on the ground more than once. 
 
All people will remember is the stupid play. And when you consider the legacy of the Lions, right now in the Stafford Era, it's one stupid play after another, a litany of foolish antics that would make Randy Moss blush.
 
Like I said three years ago, the Lions can win a game and still be losers.
 
But until they figure out how to win with a little class, they'll lose today to the Packers on the scoreboard.
 
And they'll continue to be losers in the big picture of the NFL, the NFC North, and the Packer-Lions rivalry.
 
Respect is earned.
-----------------
* Yes, I know..."bountygate". We didn't know about it at the time, and it was still a feel-good story at the time. I'm just trying to make a point. Let me have this one.
-----------------
C.D. Angeli is a longtime Packer fan and feature writer for Cheesehead TV. You can listen to him as the co-host of Cheesehead Radio on Thursday nights, and he plays the good cop over at PackersTalk.com.Follow him on Twitter at @TundraVision, and look for him at Lambeau Field today, once again at a Packers/Lions game.
0 points
 

Comments (4)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Doug_In_Sandpoint's picture

December 28, 2014 at 09:49 am

"It's like Jay Cutler, but it's an entire team of Jay Cutlers. And Jay Cutler as coach too."

Perhaps one of the best quotes of the season.

0 points
0
0
4thand1's picture

December 28, 2014 at 10:23 am

No one respects a dirty team. Suh seems to have cleaned up his act, but I'm sure its because he wants a long term contract. Fords don't get it as owners.

0 points
0
0
DrealynWilliams's picture

December 28, 2014 at 07:19 pm

Respect my A**! Eff Suh! Eff the Lions!

0 points
0
0
Allison Hendricks's picture

December 28, 2014 at 07:23 pm

Right on cue, Suh does another dirty play with most of the nation watching and it becomes all I can think of.

0 points
0
0