Advertisement

As free agency nears for Suh, Lions feel sense of urgency

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – They are the Children of the Calamity, now here on the brink of finally, possibly accomplishing something. The last thing they discuss, they say, even privately, is the past … or the future, because that could be just as fleeting and fragile.

They are the byproduct of a bad franchise bottoming out; when you get so many top picks that you can't help but be the blind squirrel of the NFL draft (Matt Millen even picked one of them).

It's resulted in this, life in an unfamiliar present, the Detroit Lions sitting at 10-4, the current second seed of the NFC playoff race, the postseason so close that they could earn a bid with just a Philadelphia loss or tie on Saturday. If not, well, Sunday brings a trip to the flailing Chicago Bears and starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

A franchise tagging of Ndamukong Suh could cost Detroit more than $26 million. (USA TODAY Sports)
A franchise tagging of Ndamukong Suh could cost Detroit more than $26 million. (USA TODAY Sports)

Almost no one sees the Lions as a viable Super Bowl threat but around here that isn't the point. They all know the history: just one playoff victory since 1957, the only franchise to exist for all 48 Super Bowls but never reach it, just a single playoff appearance since 2000 and so many more. Wednesday there was a new one being brandished about – 16 straight losses when the temperature is below 40 – as it'll be expected Sunday in Chicago.

"Man, there's been historical hurdles here from the jump," wide receiver Calvin Johnson said.

Johnson arrived in 2007, the No. 2 pick overall (by Millen, and a wide receiver no less). By his second season Megatron caught 12 touchdowns for a team that lost all 16 of its games. That produced the No. 1 selection overall, quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose rookie season begat two victories and another second overall pick, massive defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

The triumvirate forms the core of the team, five, six and eight seasons in the fold. Two of them (Johnson and Suh) have been better at their position than anyone in the league. Yet together they are still seeking tangible evidence that their time in Detroit was worth more than big contracts and big individual numbers. About all they have to show for it is a 2011 season wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Yet this doesn't feel like a team on an upswing, the first big run in something that could be even bigger, because there is no certainty going forward. Suh's five-year rookie contract ends after this season and he's free to go wherever he chooses unless the Lions slap an expensive (a reported $26.9 million) franchise tag on him to buy themselves another year.

For a guy who willingly played the year without the security of a long-term deal (a rarity), another season on the edge may not play well and he could want out then. He could also sign a long term, J.J. Watt-or-more-level deal to stay.

No one knows. Or at least they aren't saying. That includes Suh, who previously claimed he would let his agent make the decision.

During Sunday's victory against the Minnesota Vikings, Lions fans chanted for him to return. What did he think?

"[I] focused on the game," Suh said.

What about when teammate C.J. Mosley joined in?

"[I] told C.J. to be quiet," Suh said.

Calvin Johnson has six TDs this season. (Getty Images)
Calvin Johnson has six TDs this season. (Getty Images)

The Lions have allowed just 238 points (average of 17 per game), lowest in the league. Perhaps best of all is their consistency; only the New England Patriots scored more than 24 on them this season.

Suh is the cornerstone in which the entire operation is built around, both as a run-stopper and a commander of double teams that open up all sorts of mismatches. His stats (6.5 sacks, 34 tackles) are meaningless. Everyone here knows his value.

"You hear Suh say it all the time, 'Hey, I want to draw the double team,'" safety James Ihedigbo said. "That selfless attitude has really allowed all of us to excel."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, Johnson's numbers are too down from his career bests, when he dominated the league. He has just six TDs, a far cry from the 16 he put up in 2011. Double teams are also a factor, and second receiver Golden Tate III has benefitted from that. So too are injuries. Then there is just the worry that at 29, Johnson may still be really good, but never again as great as he was.

So now is the time to win. Now is the time to seize an opportunity a long time coming. This has been known all season, since Suh's contract talks broke off and Johnson's ankle was hurt.

No time to look back. No time to look forward.

It's how Detroit got here. The Lions aren't a dominant team. They are winning the games they are supposed to win, playing with discipline, avoiding self-inflicted wounds and just maximizing the day under new coach Jim Caldwell.

A team that a year ago blew seven fourth-quarter leads – and thus wasted a year of these guys – is now tied for most fourth-quarter comebacks in the NFL. A club that went an abysmal minus-13 in turnovers through Week 15 last season is now plus-8, a whopping 21-turnover swing. That's the offense helping the defense and vice versa.

Matthew Stafford (AP)
Matthew Stafford (AP)

So that's the focus here. When you arrive with as much hype and hope and these guys, with high expectations that they'll be the one to turn it around and it takes this long to perhaps get here, every game, every play matters.

"Every practice rep," Stafford noted. "At this time of year you may not get as many as you did earlier in the year. So they count double."

They say they don't talk about how they got to the edge of the postseason or playing for a division crown. It's just what to do now that they are. Namely, prepare to beat Chicago and then find out what's next.

They say they don't talk about what's coming next because no one knows, and even contemplating life without Suh could rattle them.

So the Lions are stuck in the present. Perhaps just one shot to prove this was real, that out of the ruins came real talent, a real team and a real January contender at last.