(97.1 The Ticket) The Detroit Lions played well on Sunday. In fact, they played just well enough to lose, according to Mike Valenti.
"And that's where it bums me out," he said.
They should have won, but they didn't. And it wasn't the fault of the refs or the field, an extraterrestrial force or anything else beyond their control. It was because they made grievous errors and paid for them.
Fans who flooded the 97.1 The Ticket phone lines to cry and complain that they lost because of the refs are wrong, Valenti said. Worse, they're losers.
Winners look inside to figure out why an outcome didn't meet expectations; Losers blame others.
"You should have beaten that team, but you made a couple of catastrophic errors," Valenti said.
He added the Lions got a few breaks, and then gave them right back ... "If you're calling in to blame the refs, you're a loser."
"I'm bummed out because I feel like, 'You blew this ... You couldn't keep them out of the end zone. It's not division winning football, it's just not."
He also criticized all the fans gloating that the silver lining of the loss is that it proves, "We can play with anybody."
"I'd be careful with that. You want to say you can play with anybody? You've got to say you can not only play with them, but win with them ... Be careful trotting out that refrain today."
On the positive side, the loss was not Matthew Stafford's fault because he proved he's one of the "toughest players in football."
Valenti said he thought the Lions could be a nine-win team and they're validating that.
"Yesterday, you had no business losing, none," he said.
He ended his opening segment by saying that if the Lions really want to prove something about their level of play they need to beat the Packers in two weeks.
"You've got two weeks," he said. "You put your balls on the table, Monday Night Football at Lambaugh Field ... Off the bye week, bright lights, let's go... If you want to talk division and you want to talk we can play with anybody ... Go and beat them. And them we can have all kinds of conversations. Conversations that are exciting and titillating."
