Lions fans may be basking in the glory of their team’s Week 5 win against the hated Green Bay Packers, but there’s no denying it, they aren’t an easy franchise to root for.
The numbers spell that out no matter how you slice it, but just in case you need a refresher, here’s another number crunch that illustrates just how bad they’ve been.
Commissioned by the healthcare supply company Perrigo, the “”Home Team Heartburn Ranking” uses a variety of football statistics from the last 20 years coupled with top tailgating food to determine the most agitated football cities
Detroit, the home of the Lions, finished No. 4 on the list, unsurprisingly trailing only Buffalo and Cleveland, but also Dallas due to the Cowboys postseason record in the last few decades. Factors include:
- Games over .500
- Close losses
- Blown leads
- Losses when favored
- Postseason game appearances
- “Big Game” wins
- “Big Game” losses
- Postseason games over .500
- Postseason blown leads
- Postseason losses when favored
- Star players
- Starting quarterback turnover
- Head coach turnover
- Team seasons per city
- Popular tailgating food likelihood of producing heartburn
“Though football season is a time that fans look forward to, favorite team disappointments and popular tailgate foods may trigger heartburn. Frequent heartburn sufferers often find themselves sidelined and unable to enjoy all the game has to offer,” said Mike Bachman, Marketing Director at Perrigo.
Detroit is a staggering 84 games under .500 over the course of the last 20 seasons – only Cleveland is worse. The Lions also became the first team in history to finish 0-16 and have only appeared in four playoff games over the past two decades, losing them all.
Detroit fans have seen their team blow fourth-quarter leads 47 times. The metric also notes that Detroit’s beloved coney dogs pack the punch with heartburn-inducing ingredients.
Jacksonville, Oakland, Washington, Miami, Cincinnati and Houston round out the Top 10 of the rankings.
