Prior to their first meeting, I was actually feeling pretty optimistic about the Lions’ chances against the Minnesota Vikings. They had just been fresh off of an unfortunate loss to the Green Bay Packers, where they should have won. Minnesota seemed to have been getting some of their mojo back offensively, but the Lions’ defense had not shown their true identity yet. It was a matchup that, at the time, looked like it could have favored the Lions.

Now it’s December. A month where the Lions should be hitting their stride, according to Matt Patricia’s regular season philosophy. Instead, the best thing Matty P’s squad has going for it is a chance at a top-4 NFL Draft pick. Whoopty doo.

Lions - Vikings Week 14 Song of the Game: “December” by Neck Deep

Stumbled ‘round the block a thousand times

You missed every call that I had tried

So now I’m giving up

A heartbreak in mid-December

The Lions really haven’t had a meaningful December since the Caldwell years. That 2017 loss to the Bengals still haunts me and is a gentle reminder that it was indeed time to move on from that regime.

Of all the sad punk songs out there, there is something beautiful about “December,” a song about heartbreak, and instead of feeding off the negativity, the lead singer turns it into a positive and wishes nothing but the best for the ex-lover that screwed him over.

I can be very cynical at times. I went into the year having extremely high hopes for this team and I was given heartbreak in return. It may be difficult for me to regain any of the optimism I once had heading into next year, but this is the life I chose. I’m a Lions fan forever, and I will continue to wish and hope for nothing but success for this franchise.

Song of the Game is an opportunity for our staff to express their weekly feelings of being a Lions fan, but through the art of song. Each week, we’ll provide a song that perfectly encapsulates the Lions’ game and how we experienced it. By the end of the year, we’ll have a full Spotify playlist telling the story of the 2019 Detroit Lions season.

You can listen to previous year’s soundtracks right here: 2016, 2017, 2018

You can catch up on all of our Song of the Week choices right here. And our season-long Spotify list is embedded below (if you can’t see it, click here)