On Sunday, the Lions have nothing to play for. But they say they’ll still try to win the last game ever played at the Metrodome.
“It would look even worse to people that still are following this team if we went to Minnesota and mailed it in,” receiver Nate Burleson said Tuesday, via the Associated Press.
Whether they intentionally mail it in may not matter. In recent weeks, the Lions have been trying hard to win, and they’ve been losing. Five out of six times to be precise, with the only victory coming on Thanksgiving, against the Packers.
Some embattled coaches reportedly are talking to their players about tenuous job status, but Lions coach Jim Schwartz hasn’t said anything to the troops, yet.
“He didn’t say anything,” Burleson said of Schwartz. “It’s business as usual.”
For the Lions, business as usual means a road win against the Vikings would be extremely unusual. Other than an overtime victory at the Metrodome in 2011, the Lions have lost every game in Minnesota since 1997.