DETROIT -- The Lions lost a football game to one of the best teams in the NFL on Sunday. They stayed in it longer than many expected, with the kind of defense against a Rams offense that few would have projected.
And yet, they lost. Again. By double digits, on their home field.
Sunday's 30-16 loss to the Rams on Sunday at Ford Field was far from Detroit's worst effort of the season; games against the Jets and Bears take that cake. But it was the one that eliminated a 4-8 team from the NFC North race with a month to go, in the first year after the general manager fired a coach because 9-7 seasons weren't acceptable any longer.