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Another Thanksgiving Day game, another loss for the Detroit Lions. The Lions are a proud franchise but they have been suffering for a long time. They have not won a single match this season. The Detroit Lions may have hoped to turn it around on Thanksgiving, but their record for the past four years has failed to raise much hope. And thus it came to pass that this year, too, the Detroit Lions failed to win on Thanksgiving and spread cheer.
A tale of recent woe on Thanksgiving for the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have an overall record of 37-43-2 on Thanksgiving Day after their latest loss. It is not the worst possible record, with the number of losses and wins close. But what it does not show is that much of the losses have come in recent seasons.
Their loss against the Chicago Bears marked the 14th time in the last 18 games that the Detroit Lions lost on Thanksgiving day. This is an abysmal record by any measure. The game also marked the fifth straight loss for the Detroit Lions in a Thanksgiving Day fixture (they last won in 2016 against the Minnesota Vikings).
Ultimately, though, the issue is not about losing just on Thanksgiving Day. The losing culture in the organization, especially in recent times, should be a cause for concern for anyone associated with the team. The continued lack of success within the organization has caused elite players such as Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson to call time on their careers.
The Thanksgiving Day losing record is just part of the wider losing record that the Detroit Lions have racked up in the past few years. 2016, when they last won on Thanksgiving Day, was also the last time they made it to the playoffs. 2017 was a winning season but they failed to make it to the postseason. Since then, they do not have a winning record in a single season, having gone 6-10 in 2018, 3-12-1 in 2019, 5-11 in 2020 and the winless 0-10-1 record so far in 2021.
The Detroit Lions need to initiate a rebuild of the organization's roots and branches, starting with management off the field. Once they do so, wins will follow automatically.
