The Detroit Lions had seven players go down with COVID this past week. And even more with the flu. Keeping that in mind, expecting them to defeat the Denver Broncos wasn’t logical. Sunday’s beatdown at Mile High validated this notion.

With heavy hearts, the Broncos took down the Lions, 38-10, improving to 7-6, and dropping the Lions to 1-11-1.

It was an emotional Sunday afternoon in Denver. Several days ago, former Broncos wide receiver, Demaryius Thomas, died at age 33. Thomas, a key factor in the Broncos winning Super Bowl, was a beloved figure in the Denver community. Before Sunday’s kickoff, the team honored his legacy several times over.

And because of that, the Lions didn’t stand a chance.

There was no way Denver was losing this game to the Lions. It was in a similar fashion to the Lions-Vikings game last week. By now, the whole country is aware of the tragic events at Oxford High School in Oxford, MI last month. When the Lions took the field last Sunday, they were playing for themselves, but they were also playing for the Oxford community. They wanted that win. And they wanted it badly. Even when things looked bleak, it was evident the Lions wouldn’t fall to the Vikings.

Jared Goff proved that by delivering an emotional walk-off touchdown pass to rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown.

So take that same mindset, and apply it to the Broncos.

Whether the Lions were undermanned or not, they had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning Sunday. If the Lions weren’t down so many key starters, the game would’ve been much closer. However, the result would have been the same.

Things don’t get any easier for the Detroit Lions next week.

After Sunday’s butt-kicking, they’ll return home to prepare for the surging Arizona Cardinals. Kickoff is at 1pm on Sunday, Dec. 19th.

Follow Kory Woods on Twitter at KoryEWoods.