Getty Amani Oruwariye celebrates an interception vs. Washington.
The Detroit Lions are falling backward in the standings, but the good news for the team is the schedule starts to lighten up some in the coming weeks theoretically.
This week, the Lions are paid a visit by the Washington Football Team. Washington has been one of the worst teams in the league this season, and that is reflected in the early betting line for the team. This week, the Lions have opened as a 4.5 to 5.5 point favorites over Washington.
Vegas line opens with Lions favored by 4 over Washington next Sunday at Ford Field — and jumps to 5.5
Who ya got?.
It’s been a puzzling run for the Lions lately, and the team hasn’t been favored much if at all the last few weeks on the field until this point. That could be more of an indictment on where Washington is rather than where folks expect the Lions to go. Injuries have hurt Washington in recent weeks, and while the team has played decent defense, their offense leaves a ton to be desired.
This game is a must win for the Lions, considering where they are at in the playoff push and also with regards to their team leadership. The optics of a loss to Washington would be awful for Matt Patricia, and could help in sinking his regime moving forward.
Lions History vs. Washington
Historically, the Lions haven’t had an easy time against Washington, but lately they have been on a solid run of games. Since 2009, the Lions are winners in 4 our of 5 games against the Football Team. Their most recent result, however, was a frustrating one. Late in the 2019 season, the Lions imploded and lost a narrow 19-16 game to Washington which continued some late season misery in Detroit.
Washington has a commanding series lead of 31-14, but the Lions will be looking to reverse course and try to climb back in the series with another win this weekend. So far, the odds seem to favor them being able to do that on the field.
Updated 2020 NFC Playoff Standings
The Lions now are set to play Washington, Carolina and Houston. The record of those teams is a paltry 7-18. The best team they could play in the month lies outside that stretch in the form of the Bears, and they have shown some definite vulnerabilities lately. Theoretically, the Lions should be favored in at least a couple more of those upcoming games moving forward.
Even with Sunday’s loss, the Lions remain on the periphery of the NFC race at 3-5. They will be battling the likes of the Eagles, Giants, Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, Panthers, Buccaneers and naturally the Bears and Packers for the playoff push in the second half. A win Sunday could have been huge for Detroit to climb back into the thick of things, but the team will have to deal with the bitter taste of defeat and come through it to stay in the hunt.
The best way for them to do that is to take care of business on the field against a team that plenty of folks feel they should beat.
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