Dave Birkett, and Carlos Monarrez

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press sports writers Carlos Monarrez and Dave Birkett debate which team Lions fans should root for Sunday:

Carlos: The Detroit Lions are on the cusp of making the playoffs. They’re also on the cusp of hosting their first playoff game since 1993. Hoping for anything more than that is pure folly.

There’s growing sentiment among Lions fans, and some seriously mistaken and confused reporters, who believe the Lions should openly root for the Green Bay Packers to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. If that happens, and the Lions beat the Bears, the Lions would overtake Seattle and be on track to get a bye as the NFC’s No. 2 seed.

There’s just one teensy problem with that scenario. IT’S BEYOND INSANE!

I’m not usually given to hyperbole, but anyone who suggests rooting for the Packers will work out for the Lions was either dead, asleep or, most likely, checking his fantasy stats when Aaron Rodgers made a javelin throw to Richard Rodgers and stuck a dagger through the Lions’ hearts last year.

The Packers are 6-6. They’re only one game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the sixth and final playoff spot. They’re two games behind the fifth-seeded New York Giants, but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the G-men.

Anyone who suggests letting the Packers back into the playoff hunt and having the Lions flirt with a Week 17 showdown at Ford Field must be president of the Aaron Rodgers Fan Club.

Dave: Is that a paid position? If so, sign me up. I might need the extra income if my fantasy team poops out in the playoffs.

Carlos, my hyperbolic friend, you're the crazy one here. Any Honolulu blue-blooded Lions fan should be rooting for Rodgers and the Packers this weekend because that's what's best for the team.

I know the Lions haven't won a division title in 23 years, and I’ll be the first to admit that two-game leads can be fleeting in the NFL. But the fact of the matter is nothing the Packers do this weekend should impact the Lions' pursuit of the NFC North title.

Why? Because the Lions control their own destiny at this point when it comes to winning the North. If they win this weekend — a virtual lock considering the toothless Bears team that’s coming to town — all they need to do is beat the Packers at home in Week 17 and they’ll take the title.

What they don’t control right now is their playoff seeding. The Cowboys and Seahawks are penciled in as the top two seeds in the NFC, but a Packers win over Seattle would put the Lions in the driver’s seat for a first-round bye.

I understand why you’re not thinking big picture here. You’re taking the Jim Caldwell approach of not looking too far ahead. But let yourself go for once and admit that big things for the Lions could be on the horizon.

Carlos: Dave, Dave, Dave. Dave? You still here, buddy? Or are you passed out on cheese fumes?

Every playoff run is different, as coach Caldwell and I understand. But what’s not different is the Packers, a franchise that has owned the Lions and actually owns the Upper Peninsula. Try finding some Honolulu Blue and Silver there, buddy.

Oh, and since you brought up the Lions’ last home playoff game, let’s go ahead and revisit that, shall we?

Dave, where you going? You’ve got a basketball game to referee? I know that’s a paid position, but that can wait. First, let me remind you about what happened 23 years ago, when the Lions beat the Packers, 30-20, for the NFC Central crown in the regular-season finale at the Silverdome. Then they lost six days later to the Packers, 28-24, at the Silverdome.

The Lions just can’t afford to tempt fate and let the Packers back into this thing. I could just see the Packers beating the Seahawks, then the Lions losing a couple more games and either having to beat the Packers in Week 17 just to make the playoffs or facing them in a treacherous wild-card playoff game.

Dave: If that happens, guess what? It’ll make for a great storyline that I’ll be happy to write about (notify the Pulitzer committee for me, please).

But anyone who’s paid attention to the Packers this year knows this is not the same team we’ve come to expect out of Green Bay.

The Packers have less of a running game than the Lions. Their defense is a sieve, allowing 30 or more points five times this year. And Aaron Rodgers is apparently taking part in his own version of Family Feud.

Look, Rodgers is still an incredible talent, and I’m not discounting the possibility that he gets hot and the Packers go on a late-season run – even one that includes a win at Ford Field.

But I think the Lions are good enough that they don’t need to look in the rearview mirror, where things are not as close as they appear. Their focus should be on making an extended playoff run in the mostly mediocre NFC, and one thing that can help them accomplish that is a Seattle win in Green Bay.

Carlos: Yes, their defense is banged up and struggling. But the offense is just fine, averaging nearly 26 points in their past seven games.

And what were we saying about the Packers when they came — limped? — into Ford Field last year with a 7-4 record having lost to the lowly Bears, 17-13? They’re done! Finished! Rodgers isn’t the same Rodgers!

And then — dagger!

The Packers beat the Lions last December to jump-start a three-game winning streak that vaulted them into the playoffs and helped them even beat Washington in the wild-card game.

Maybe you’re right. Maybe the Lions should just write off the Packers and dream big. Maybe you’re right about a lot of things. Maybe vegetables are bad for you. Maybe playing Candy Crush is an acceptable lifestyle choice.

But maybe, just maybe, the Lions and their 21st-ranked offense and 15th-ranked defense are going to need more help getting to the postseason than anyone can imagine.

Dave: Don’t live in the past, Carlos. Life is too short for that. Focus on the present, and the present is the Lions have a two-game lead in the division and a chance to wrap up a playoff spot before the Packers come to town.

You keep bringing up the Hail Mary. You know what else happened last year? The Lions went to Seattle and got robbed of a win when officials missed a batting penalty on K.J. Wright in the end zone.

The year before, the Lions lost a playoff game in Dallas when officials picked up a pass interference flag.

Do you think either of those happens if the games are in Detroit?

So you take your path to 10 wins and be happy with a division title. I think Lions fans should expect more, and it's BEYOND INSANE to suggest rooting for the Seahawks will help their chances.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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