Lions win, but should fans be happy?

DETROIT – For a Detroit Lions fan, it's the worst spot to be in.

For sure, the season is all but over. But you already bought the tickets. Do you eat them or go anyway?

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Do you cheer wildly like there's no tomorrow or stare blankly onto the field, wondering why you are even at Ford Field?

Better yet, do you root for the Lions to lose or win, even if winning might hurt the team from getting better players in the draft down the road? Under normal circumstances, you always want your team to win. But when your team starts 1-7, are you really happy that the Lions have won two games in a row?

If you're an honest Lions fan and hope this franchise gets righted as soon as possible, the answer is no. Winning meaningless games isn't a good thing long term.

Nonetheless, the Lions won again on Sunday. They followed up their win in Green Bay last week with an 18-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders before a crowd of 60,202 at Ford Field.

It wasn't pretty, or anything to signal the turning of a corner. It was just a lousy win. And no one should ever have to apologize for winning.

"It's a great turnaround," Lions cornerback Darius Slay said. "We told ourselves, 'We're just going to start over. It was rough in the first eight games, now we're just turning the whole thing around.'"

It's hard to ask players to tank the season with the goal of getting the first overall pick or a top pick. Current players need to play well to keep their jobs.

But remember, with every win, the Lions move farther away from the best player available. And the Lions need to add good players to help turn this organization around quickly in 2016.

That's why we're here, last place and rock bottom. Lions' owner Martha Ford wasn't happy with how her team was playing, especially that debacle in London. Unlike her late husband, Ford took action and fired president Tom Lewand and GM Martin Mayhew, both longtime front office executives.

Head coach Jim Caldwell got to stick around after he fired three coaches before the London trip, including the offensive coordinator. As the Lions move forward, it's more than just winning and losing on the field. What the Lions do from here on out will have an impact on the long-term future of this franchise, starting the Caldwell.

If the Lions finish 4-4 in their final eight, does that mean Ford will make sure the new general manager keeps Caldwell for his third season? The case for Caldwell will be that he made it to the postseason in his first season. Plus, in his two seasons in Motown, he would be 16-16.

In most cases, it probably wouldn't get you fired. But because the Lions had so many high expectations, it was a huge bummer that they started 1-7. They weren't just losing, they were getting embarrassed. Ford made it clear she would do everything she could to get it right.

Plus, wouldn't a new GM want to hire his own coach to start his regime?

The other question is that if the Lions keep winning, do they keep interim GM Sheldon White? He's a long time employee that was promoted from within. Fair or not, Lions fans want the Lions to do a national search, with help from the NFL, and go get a sharp general manager who has had experience building a football team.

Fans here don't want that guy to be someone who's already under the Ford umbrella.

Then there's the product on the field. Some fans believe that the Lions need to make a change at quarterback, dumping Matthew Stafford. And there are some that also believe all-world receiver Calvin Johnson's best days are behind him and the Lions would ultimately be better off using his money to build the roster. It's hard to imagine this is going to work out for Lions fans. Things never seem to happen the way they want.

Hence, fans will still show up. The stadium was about 90 percent full against the Raiders and fans cheered for their team even though it doesn't help a thing for the future.