Some Detroit Lions ‘fans’ show their true colors are NOT Honolulu Blue and Silver

Heading into the 2022 NFL regular season, I (and plenty of others) predicted the Detroit Lions would not only take a big step forward from a year ago when they won just three games but that they would be contending for a playoff spot by the time Christmas rolled around. Well, fast forward to the present and that is exactly where the Lions are with just two games remaining on their schedule. Yet, following Saturday’s debacle against the Carolina Panthers, there are plenty of so-called Lions fans who are crawling out of the woodwork to rip the team and to ignorantly shout out the phrase, “Same Old Lions” from the rooftops.

When I made my Detroit Lions’ final game-by-game predictions just over 24 hours before the start of the 2022 season, I settled on them finishing with a 10-7 record. I went through plenty of different scenarios in my head, but my gut told me that the Lions would catch fire following a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Bills, and they would make a run at the playoffs.

Here is how I had the Detroit Lions season unfolding back on September 10:

When that article was published, there were quite a few Lions’ fans who commented that they agreed the Lions would be much-improved from 2021, and that they would take advantage of what looked to be a rather easy schedule on paper.

But, there were plenty of other so-called Detroit Lions fans who stormed to either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and anywhere else that you can find content from Detroit Sports Nation, to call me an idiot (and plenty of other things) for having the opinion that the Lions would contend for a playoff spot. At the time, I just chuckled to myself. Mostly because it amuses me when people take time out of their day, the time they will never get back, to type out a paragraph to rip me because of my opinion, but also because I knew those same people would jump on the bandwagon as soon as the Lions got hot.

A Rough Start Makes Me Question My Beliefs

When the Detroit Lions stumbled out of the gates to a 1-6 start to their season, the haters, that also like to point out they are true Lions’ fans (HA), continued to shout out “SAME OLD LIONS” whenever they had the chance. In fact, many of them, including some local blogs, actually started chirping about how Dan Campbell needed to be fired immediately, and that Jared Goff is an awful NFL quarterback. (To be fair, we have a Goff hater or two at DSN)

To be completely honest, I started to question whether or not I had any clue about what was really going on with the Lions. Never once have I uttered the phrase, “Same Old Lions” to describe the team I have supported for over 35 years. You see, I just don’t believe that what happened in previous years has anything at all to do with what will happen in the present. When the Lions got off to a 1-6 start, a couple of doubts started to enter my head, but I truly believed that Campbell and his coaching staff, along with GM Brad Holmes, would eventually right the ship. Maybe that was not going to happen in 2022, but it would eventually happen.

A Detroit Lions’ Bounce Back Quiets the Critics

Following that 1-6 start to the season, there was plenty of talk about how the Detroit Lions should just tank for the No. 1 overall pick so that they could replace Goff as soon as possible. But, as we now know, the Lions did what many believed was not possible. They started winning.

Not only did the Lions start winning, but they started winning A LOT! In fact, heading into their Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Buffalo Bills, the Lions had won three straight to get to 4-6 on the season, and if they could somehow defeat a very good Bills team, they would climb to within a game of .500 on the season. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards, and the Bills won what was a very good game.

After losing to the Bills, the Detroit Lions easily could have felt bad for themselves, but, instead, they rattled off another three wins in a row to move to 7-7 on the season. Of course, as this was happening, the critics became much quieter. In fact, I noticed in the comments that a few of those critics were actually starting to jump on the bandwagon. Welcome aboard, there is plenty of room!

Some Detroit Lions ‘fans’ show their true colors are NOT Honolulu Blue and Silver

On Christmas Eve, the Detroit Lions had a golden opportunity sitting right in front of them. With a win over the Panthers, along with losses by the Commanders and Seahawks, the Lions move into the final wild card slot and they could control their own destiny moving forward.

Well, if you paid attention to some of the articles we published on DSN, you are well aware of the fact that EVERYTHING went right for the Lions on Christmas Eve, with the exception of one important detail. The Lions did not hold up their end of the bargain as they were utterly embarrassed by the Panthers.

Now, I pretty much live on Twitter during the Lions game (it is my job), and I was blown away by how many so-called Detroit Lions’ fans were tweeting out doubt, and hate, and… “SAME OLD LIONS!” It was almost as if the haters were just hoping and praying that the Lions would crap the bed so they could rip the team for all to see!

In my opinion, those “fans” only accomplished one thing with those tweets. They showed all of their “followers” on social media their true colors when it comes to the Detroit Lions. They proved that deep down, they actually take joy in the Lions’ failures, and they certainly do not bleed Honolulu Blue and Silver like a true fan does.

Some of those same “fans” will hop back on the bandwagon as soon as the good times start rolling again (we will save a seat for you), and some of them will go quiet again until the first sign of struggle. At that point, those “fans” will once again shout out, “SAME OLD LIONS”. Why? Because the Detroit Lions losing is REALLY what makes those “fans” happy.