Perhaps the Detroit Lions were doomed regardless. Scheduled to face last year’s divisional champions, the Minnesota Vikings at home in Week Nine, the Lions foolishly decided to trade away their leading receiver, Golden Tate, prior to the matchup. Suddenly, Detroit’s offense was a shell of itself, losing to the Vikings on Sunday 24-9.
Again, maybe the timing of the trade was simply a coincidence. Perhaps the Lions would have lost to the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium anyway, even with Tate on their roster. But missing a key player who had racked up a team-leading 44 receptions on 69 targets in their first seven games certainly didn’t help their cause.