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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Michael Rosenberg

The Lions Keep Defying the Laws of Football Gravity By Knowing Exactly Who They Are

Dan Campbell Lions Football Packers Detroit Jared Goff Tim Patrick Ben Johnson Junfu Han Green Bay Packers
Tim Patrick (17), who scored two touchdowns Thursday, was one of the Lions players that stepped up to keep Detroit's impressive run this season going. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions should have lost Thursday night. Not because they were outplayed; they weren’t. They should have lost because they are injury-riddled and the Packers are really good and because even the best teams lose a few games. That is how the NFL works. Except, maybe, in Detroit this season.

The Lions are not immune to the laws of football gravity. They are just remarkably good at defying them. To understand why, consider a single play in this game: Fourth-and-inches at the Green Bay 21-yard line, 43 seconds left, game tied at 31.

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