It was right there for the taking. The Detroit Lions sat at 9-4 and controlled their own destiny for a home playoff game and possibly more. As we now know, the Lions managed to lose their final three games of the season, including a Week 17 matchup against the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North title.
The loss did not knock the Lions out of the playoff picture, but it did force them to play an opening round game in Seattle, where they were beaten soundly by the Seahawks to end their season.
As a fan (and I am sure you felt the same way), I slowly started to feel an uneasiness in my stomach towards the end of the season as the Lions continued to lose, while the Packers just kept on winning. In fact, I still feel sick to my stomach about what happened and what could have been if the Lions were to have hosted a playoff game at Ford Field.
Lions WR Golden Tate, despite having a solid season as an individual, feels the same way about how his team played down the stretch.
“If you look at the stats, yeah, I had a decent season,” Tate said Wednesday while working radio row at Super Bowl LI. “But if you look at team-wise, you’re sitting in the driver’s seat, two games up in your division and you find a way to blow that? That kind of makes my stomach hurt.”
But losing four straight spoiled the season for him.
“It hurt to lose that many games straight,” said Tate, who is here repping Body Armor. “However, we’re excited for where we’re heading. Things just felt different this year. We got on a roll and won seven of eight games at some point. But this year, I think injuries got the best of us.”
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Source: Lions WR Golden Tate is sick to his stomach, and it ain’t the BBQ | MLive.com