They’re 6-5 now.
Vikings, Cowboys, Chargers, Chiefs, and Packers remain on the schedule, and three of those are road games. The Lions have to beat the Vikings on the 2nd in order to remain credible for a breakeven season, much less a winning one. To break even, they need two more wins, and three to end 9-7.
They’ll need to beat the Vikings and Chiefs; the Chargers are only 5-5, maybe there’s a shot there. The Cowboys and Packers just happen to be 10-1 at this time. There’s an outside chance that the Lions will beat the Packers. I doubt that 9-7 will be good enough for wild card. The Giants (7-4) are likely in there, even though the Vikings beat them, as any tie will favor the Giants (Detroit lost to ‘em).
The Giants’ schedule finishes with the Bears, Eagles (division), Redskins (division), Bills, and Patriots. Getting two wins to tie a possible 9-7 Lions doesn’t look too daunting.
http://www.giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=26257
[snip] Eli Manning tied a career-high by throwing four interceptions, including three that were returned for touchdowns by Darren Sharper (20 yards), Dwight Smith (93) and Chad Greenway (37). [end]
The Lions were pathetic in their loss to the Vikings. It started to come apart in earnest when they followed their touchdown with another Special Teams fiasco, allowing a runback for a TD.
Another piece of stupidity was on their first drive, when it was 3rd and 3, and close to the end zone, and instead of going for short yardage and a 1st down (and a new set of downs, need I say it?), failed to score a TD and settled for a field goal.
Cowboys, Chargers, Chiefs, and Packers remain on the schedule, and half of those are road games.
In order to finish 8-8, they’ll need two wins. This has been an up and down season for me as a spectator, but I have zero confidence in them. I doubt they’ll win even one more game, and thus will finish 6-10.
The Eagles, Redskins, Bears, and Saints lost yesterday and trail at 5-7, and Detroit has a better divisional record than Minnesota, which is now also at 6-6. But the Giants won today, and I don’t see anyone catching them, certainly not the perennial blue and silver losers.