“Lions crowd dazzles, Lions fizzle in overtime loss to Seahawks”

This felt like the Pontiac Silverdome without the fights.

Ford Field came alive in a way it rarely does. The fans came for Sea chickens and a Lions victory. Usually I hate making fans the center of a story. But this effort by the fans on Sunday was hard to ignore.

This wild and crazy mob left the way it usually does at Ford Field. In silence. The fans in the stands did not fail the Lions. But the players on the field failed validation day. They came for a coronation of the brand new Lions. Instead we got a dose of Same Old Lions during Seattle’s 37-31 overtime win Sunday at Ford Field.

“I give credit to our fans,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “They showed up but we did not finish.”

Now we are left to ponder if the Lions are no different they have before after big wins. A week ago this city was on fire after a stunning 21-20 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

We cannot pin this all on the Lions. Seattle’s offensive line played better than expected with tackle Abraham Lucas on the injured reserve list and right tackle Charles Cross nursing a sprain toe. The offensive line could not ignore the crowd noise either which reached upwards of 122 disciples.

It was so loud that ski mask no longer were the story.

“Defensively you love it,” lineback Alex Anzalone said. “It’s awesome to see.”

For the record ski mask sales were brisk outside the stadium, going for $20 each.

Lion fans were more hyped for this game than normal. Outside Greek town a group of men wearing ski mask did a mean conga line to hip hop music. That must be a first.

We may have to give up the notion that the Lions are going to be this high powered offense that blows up score boards.

The offensive linemen are told to how grit every day of the season. They obviously are the key to this team.

The Lions will maul you more than dazzle., which means a lot of close games.

At the end the Lions lost because they could not muster enough of a pass rush to disrupt Seattle’s offense. Geno Smith looked like a world beater again as his receivers had time to run their routes and adjust to the Lions defense.

“They came in and took that game,” Campbell said. “They earned it. So we wanted a fast start in both halves, but we didn’t do that. We did the opposite.”

At the end this loud crowd stood in stunned belief. They wanted to believe so much in this team. But for at least one week doubt has crept into people’s minds.

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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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Original Photo Credit: © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK