Detroit Lions Are The New 'Greatest Show On Turf'
Move over, 1999 St. Louis Rams, there's a new "Greatest Show on Turf" and it's the 2024 Detroit Lions.
After decades of futility, the Lions finally won a playoff game last season, and they're looking for a lot more this year.
Detroit went 30 years without a postseason victory before beating the Los Angeles Rams, and former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, in the Wild Card Round. Then, they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to advance to the NFC Championship.
The run ended there, though, as they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
However, the Lions clearly haven't suffered a successful season hangover and far from that. They're the best team in the NFC, and they're putting up points at a record pace.
Detroit pummeled the hapless Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon, and they hung 52 points on Tennessee. The Lions didn't even need the fourth quarter, the only quarter in which they didn't score with the game well in hand.
Detroit led 35-14 at halftime, outscored the Titans 17-0 in the third quarter, and won by a final score of 52-14.
Amazingly, starting quarterback Jared Goff threw for just 85 yards in the game. He didn't have to do much, considering running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a 70-yard touchdown run and Kalif Raymond returned a punt 90 yards for another score.
Outside the Gibbs touchdown run, Detroit had five offensive touchdown drives. The longest one was 25 yards as the Lions took advantage of Tennessee turnovers and a big kick return.
Which just shows that the Lions can score in MANY different ways.
It was the third game in the past four that Detroit scored at least 40 points, and they've averaged 43 points per game over that stretch, outscoring opponents 172-81.
The 1999 St. Louis Rams scored 40+ points four times in their incredible season and averaged 32.9 points/game over the course of the year.
The Lions are averaging 33.4 points through seven games this season.
So, yeah, the Detroit Lions are the new and improved "Greatest Show on Turf."