Every year, SB Nation tracks NFL fans’ confidence levels of their favorite teams with weekly Reacts Surveys posted at their team websites. For Pride of Detroit, we get the pleasure of gauging Detroit Lions fans’ confidence heading into each game.
Heading into Week 1, Lions fans’ confidence was very high, with 94% of fans believing the team was headed in the right direction. But that number took a dramatic drop following the Lions’ Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers, plummeting to 53%, the lowest mark since we’ve been running these weekly polls.
But things change quickly in the NFL.
The Lions returned to form against the Chicago Bears in Week 2, dismantling their division rival 52-21 in the home opener. Detroit was simply dominant on both sides of the ball, and they put to rest all of the “brain drain” narratives that had been surrounding the team all offseason.
“Good win yesterday. It was good to get back on track. Had a lot of guys play really good football for us,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said, before naming 17 players that stood out in a positive way against the Bears. “So, a lot of good performances, we got two takeaways – really should’ve had three, one came back with the penalty – and then two fourth down stops, converted two of those into 14 points. We’ve got to do better than that, though. We had an opportunity, we missed on two, went three-and-out after a turnover and a fourth down stop. We have to capitalize when those come up, but we talk about takeaways, and that’s good game two to be able to get some of those, and now we’ve got to just build on that and get better and better and better. So, wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than game one, so I’m proud of the players, proud of the coaches.”
Now, heading into Week 3 with a battle against the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football” on the horizon, it’s once again time to vote.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Detroit Lions fans and fans across the country. If you want to get these surveys emailed to you weekly, sign up here.
