Towards the end of watching Bill Belichick and Tom Brady slowly but viciously claim another soul on Sunday night, I asked myself the tough question: Is there any plausible path to the Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions next season?
My immediate answer was a hard no, followed by an eye roll at myself for even asking the question to begin with.
Even so, as I dug around a little deeper, I did manage to find one solid reason for optimism next season, one that’s easy to overlook.
Lost in the shuffle of the overall pitiful season is the fact that the defense actually ended up being a lot better than many of us cynical fans would care to admit.