A tale of two cities
Though they both begin with a "D," they could not be further apart in terms of zeitgeist. It's the best of times in Detroit and the worst of times in Dallas. Meet the new "America's team."
The Detroit Lions won their first playoff game in three decades last night after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 24–23 in a thrilling game at Ford Field in Detroit. The Lions are a gritty team of young players (the fourth youngest team in the NFL), built through the draft and astute trades. Indeed, the Lions have adopted “313 (a Detroit area code) GRIT” as a mantra and rallying cry. It fits.
QB Jared Goff, who the Rams acquired in a trade for Lions QB Matt Stafford four years ago, leads the Lions' on the field. The Lions potent offense starts upfront with an excellent offensive line adept at both maintaining a clean pocket for Goff and blocking for twin running threats, David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. When Goff slings it, he has outstanding receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and rookie sensation Sam LaPorta to throw to.
The Lions can put up some points. The Lions are, in fact, at or near the top in most offensive categories in the league. Their offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates for next season.
Goff is an interesting story. A former number one draft pick of the Rams, he bore the brunt of the blame for the Rams failure to win Super Bowl LIII against the Patriots (not like there was Tom Brady on the opposite sideline or anything like that). After a few more seasons with the Rams, Goff got both the goodbye and good riddance looks from LA.
It’s a rough part of the business of pro sports. Goff, a talented athlete, is an example of a good player who was a poor fit for the system he was in. Rather than play to his strengths, the Rams decided to use Goff as Vin Santo, after two high-round draft picks, in the trade for Stafford.
Goff admits that this was tough. But upon his arrival in the Motor City, rather than wallow in “woe is me,” he embraced Detroit: the team, the fans, the city, and the opportunity for redemption.
After a slow start, a reborn Goff has been playing at a very high level for several seasons on a team that believes in him and that he has a chance to lead to this year’s Super Bowl. Fans chanted his name before the game began. His teammates chanted his name after the game was over. That’s some redemption for you right there.
The Lions are strong on both sides of the ball in the trenches. On defense, the Lions linebacking corps actually leads the team in tackles—something that is unusual. The Lions are one of the best teams in the league at stopping the run. The only real weakness of the Lions is their defensive secondary, and they are getting better with each game. Whether that’ll be enough remains to be seen.
The undisputed leader of the Lions is their head coach, Dan Campbell, also known as Motor City Dan Campbell, or “MCDC.” Dan Campbell (along with GM Brad Holmes) has managed to inspire and unify an entire city with his devotion to his players, the Lions organization, and the city of Detroit. In the process, he’s brought the Lions their first division title and first playoff victory in decades.
My favorite MCDC quote from earlier this season, comparing this year’s team to his first in Detroit, which sent 3-13-1:
“We're the same gritty team; we're just more talented. That's what I would say. The core of that group, man, you talk about a bunch of dudes that were just gonna battle. And we didn't quite have the horses that we've got now. But those guys, you talk about laying it on the line, going toe-to-toe with anybody, and willing to fight to the end; I'll never forget those guys. I appreciate guys that lay it on the line. Maybe you're outnumbered, maybe you're not the most talented, maybe the odds are against you, nobody believes in you, and uh, I respect the hell out of those guys who will fight, you know? And that's what we're about.”
I’m pretty sure that Campbell’s players would run through a wall for him if he asked. I also think that Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, and Alex Karras are out there somewhere smiling big time right now about what Dan Campbell has wrought in Detroit.
One of the great things about sport is the power that it has to unite disparate individuals for a common cause. Just like the players in the Lions locker room in Ford Field, the Lions fans are a diverse lot. The Lions are a genuine microcosm of the complicated melting pot that is our nation and wonderful representatives of the American Dream.
As the cameras panned around the stands at Ford Field at the conclusion of Sunday night’s game, many tears of joy were evident—all for the same reason, but from wildly different individuals. Some of those joyful fans were black, and some were white. There were Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and atheists. Some of those fans were well-off, and some were not. Some were professionals, but most were trade or service workers. A few were movers and shakers, but most were just ordinary folks. One of them was an 89-year-old season ticket holder, unsure that he’d live long enough to see another Lions postseason win. I can only imagine what that game meant to him.
But in that moment, they were all Lions fans. That’s all that mattered. Anything that unites people like that without involving war, murder, bigotry, or violence is, at least in my view, unambiguously good.
None of this could have happened in a place in this country more in need of a morale boost than Detroit, which has been a hard-scrabble place for decades. The decline of the domestic automobile industry, accelerated in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis, hit Detroit hard—to the point of eventually becoming the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy in 2013. Crime, drug abuse, poverty, inept governance and urban blight on top of a rapidly declining population have left a shell of Detroit’s former glory in it’s mid-20th-century halcyon days
But last night, at least for a little while, all of that was put aside. It was unadulterated joy, and why not? Detroit earned it. Next week, the winner of tonight’s dumpster fire bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles comes to Ford Field. Whoever it ends up being had better be ready to gird their loins too. The Lions, their fans, and an entire city are on a mission.
As far as I’m concerned, when you look at the totality of things, it’s the Detroit Lions, not the Dallas Cowboys, who are America’s team.
Let’s talk about “Dem Boyz.” In the other NFL game yesterday, the Green Bay Packers went to Dallas and shellacked the Cowboys, 48-32, in the ode to American excess known as AT&T Stadium. In a game that was not nearly as close as the final score might indicate, a Green Bay team that is the youngest in the league dismantled a veteran squad of NFL stars who were playing at home.
Can you say “comeuppance?” Sure, I knew you could.
The Internet, as one might imagine, was hilariously cruel. My personal favorite meme:
Dallas is to America what television is to the real world, i.e., a gaudy illusion far removed from what it pretends to represent. Whereas Detroit embodies a hard-scrabble melting pot of grit, sacrifice, work ethic, redemption, and determination, Dallas represents the blowhard; all it takes is money, ethos, and a lot of other things about this country that are fake: boob jobs, hair color, testosterone supplements, and the scholarly achievement required to become President of Harvard.
The Dallas Cowboys don’t even live up to their own team name, being about as close to authentically representing cowboys as I am to jumping to the moon in my Red Ball Jets.
I don’t know how far the Lions are going to go this year. But for my money, they, not Dallas, are America’s team.
Associated Press and Idaho Press Club-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer, and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time with family, riding bicycles and motorcycles, and arranging and playing music. Follow him on Twitter @MartinHackworth and on Substack at martinhackworthsubstack.com
Martin, great article. Best game I saw all week.
Excellent!