Today's Open Thread is brought to you by the spirit of hate (and Bud Light, I guess). As always these posts are intended entirely in good fun and if you happen to be offended you're probably an idiot.
Congratulations, Detroit Lions fans. I'm sure the entire 2008 Detroit Lions roster indulged in a little champagne last Sunday as the Indianapolis Colts' quest for the perfect 0-16 was foiled by a really lousy Tennessee Titans squad that clearly wanted the L more. Really, though, what can you say about the only franchise to ever field a team that could go winless over a 16 game season? That sort of thing is just incredible. Think about how hard it is to lose that many consecutive games. Truly a remarkable accomplishment. My hat's off to you, Orlovsky & co.
This is a different Detroit team we're looking at this week, though. They are an unremarkable 9-5, slightly above average team that features one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. I am, of course, referring to the monstrous Ndamukong Suh and he is, in fact, a monster*. The man named Suh is as much one of the premiere defensive players in The League as he is one of its premier assholes. Here's hoping he manages not to snap Philip Rivers over his knee after the whistle this afternoon.
That brings us to Detroit. The city of Detroit isn't just known for crime, unemployment and the manufacture of inferior automobiles**. They also have some pretty good fans. You have to be a good fan to weather the storm that was 2008. I have to ask, though, where do these people get off acting so cocky about this year's club coming into today's game? Don't get me wrong. The Lions sport above average offensive and defensive units, but neither is elite and they've both been trending downhill coming into this game***.
Ultimately, though, I don't give a crap about Detroit's crappy city, its crappy people, its crappy cars or any of that. Much like I only hated Jacksonville because I was afraid they were bad enough to lose to my Chargers when it looked like losing out was our best case scenario, I hate Detroit because they just might be good enough to win when as a Charger fans I can practically taste the playoff berth.
I apologize for the lateness of this week's Two Minutes of Hate and its low quality****, but I hope you all hang around to discuss the game with us.
*In the off season, I hear he actually hides in children's closets at night.
**That's not fair. Those totally are the only things they're known for.
***That's per FootballOutsiders.com's DVOA stats in case any of you morons wanted to argue with me.
****I think we all know I'm not sorry for anything.