Discussion: What about the Detroit Lions are you thankful for?

It’s been a rough week.

A week ago, the Detroit Lions required last-minute heroics by Jahmyr Gibbs and company to beat a 2-10 New York Giants team. That uninspiring performance led many to believe that the Lions are nowhere near where they need to be to make a playoff run this year. Those fears were essentially confirmed on Thursday when the Lions couldn’t catch the Green Bay Packers in a game they trailed for nearly the entire afternoon. Throw in an emotional-tolling Frank Ragnow unretirement that lasted about 72 hours and devastating wins from the Bears and Cowboys, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for just ignoring sports this weekend.

But in the spirit of the Thanksgiving weekend, let’s take a moment to pull ourselves out of the dumps and try to find some silver lining in our Lions fandom.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What about your Detroit Lions fandom are you thankful for?

My answer: While the playoffs are looking less and less likely this year, I am still thankful for the five remaining games on the schedule. Football is still thrilling to watch every week, and I will take frustrating—occasionally soul-sucking—football over no football at all. The excitement, the triumph—and, yes, the anguish—are all part of what makes football so special to me.

And this is still a very fun football team to watch at times. They’re chock-full of talent, and I consider it an honor to watch players like Gibbs, Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell, and Brian Branch—among many others on a weekly basis. It’s easy to lose sight of the past in which the Lions had one or two blue-chip players. Now it feels like they’re at double digits.

Few franchises have that right now. And even though the Lions don’t seem to be playing to the sum of their parts right now, it’s still exciting to me to watch these individuals play each week.

What about your Lions fandom are you thankful for today? Scroll down to the comments and share your thoughts.