2016 Detroit Lions

The 2016 Detroit Lions have been one of the most intriguing teams in NFL history. They have trailed in the 4th quarter of every game they have played in yet have an improbable 7 victories on the season. In fact the only other team to trail in the 4th quarter of every game this year are the 0-12 Cleveland Browns. According to data at http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-detroit-lions-come-roaring-back-1478649824 collected on the lions 4th quarter comebacks as compared to other teams in NFL history with the highest percentage of come from behind victories in an NFL season its not even remotely close how truly clutch the Lions have been this season. As the bar graph suggests the Lions have come from behind in over 60% of their games which is unheard of. As the chart shows the next closest team in NFL history are the colts who in 2009 came back to win in the 4th quarter of 40% of their games. Interestingly enough Jim Caldwell current coach of the Lions was also coach of that Colts team back in 2009 before he jumped ship and moved to Detroit. There must be something about Caldwell's coaching style to spur all these amazing 4th quarter comebacks.

The Pie Chart above demonstrates each team in the NFC North's chance to win the division title and earn themselves a home playoff game. In the Lions case it would be the first time in nearly 25 years since they have hosted a playoff game. To put that in perspective in 1993 Michael Jordan was completing his first three peat with Chicago Bulls. The lions have suffered through futility over the past 25 years including an infamous 0-16 season several years back. As the pie chart suggests the Packers and Bears have little to no chance of stealing the division as it has come down to a two team race between the Vikings and Lions. This past Thanksgiving showdown between the two squads had huge implications on the playoff chances of each team. As according to  http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/21175/the-hottest-nfc-north-rivalry-of-2016-vikings-lions-believe-it prior to the Thanksgiving game the Vikings had a 65% chance of winning the division doubling the Lions chances who were pegged at 27%. Had the Vikings won their chances would have jumped to nearly 86% and dropping the Lions to 8% most likely wrapping up the division title with nearly a month to play in the regular season. However as we saw the Lions pulled out a victory on Turkey day vastly flipping the script on their division championship chances. As the pie chart shows the Lions are now in the driver seat to host their first playoff game in a quarter century.

This line graph illustrates point differential for 5 different NFL Teams. Based on the data one would conclude that the Detroit Lions are the outlier and have the worst record of the bunch based on their lowly point differential. However this is not the case as the Lions actually have the best record of the 5 teams above despite having their point differential doubled, tripled and quadrupled by the other teams represented in the line graph. The cardinals who have a plus 17 point differential actually are the 3 games behind the Lions in the standings despite having their differential double that of the Lions. The eagles are in the same situation as their plus 41 point differential means little as they have a head to head loss versus the Lions and sit 2 games back of the Detroit team. Overall this data shows the improbability of the season Detroit is having. They have won 7 of their 11 games in the final moments after trailing for nearly all of the fourth quarter which as explained in the bar graph is unheard of even with the expansive history of the NFL. The data for this line graph was collected from http://www.espn.com/nfl/standings which had the team records listed and their overall point differential.

Preview

Voting in Dearborn saw Ali Nasser support Proposal 1 which would continue to give extra funding to the police and fire department of the city.
  On Tuesday of last week voting was held to decide whether the public service people in Dearborn would see budget cuts to their programs.
   Ali Nasser was one of the people who strongly supported continuing to give police and firemen the extra funds they need to avoid cuts,
   "Its my duty as a citizen" said Nasser, "These men and women risk their lives everyday for us the least we can do is give them the cash they need to continue operating at their current state.
    The extra funds are coming from tax money and the vote was quite lopsided in favor of Proposal 1. Nasser added after hearing how the vote went " I am happy to see people in this community cherish our public service men as much as I do",



Review

Not everyone was leaned in favor of Proposal 1 however some in the community were against its passing.
  Nahlah Alriahi did not want to see the proposal passed after seeing that it would take money out of her taxes.
  Alriahi said " I know our police and fire departments are very important. But I have children and I am a single mother and honestly I would rather have that money in my pocket in order to pay for another expense.
   Alriahi was not happy with the outcome of the voting as it means it will take valuable money needed in other areas of her life.
   "I'm just going to have to work some more hours now knowing I am going to lose even more money in taxes" said Alriahi.
    "Still I went out and voted and other people saw the issue differently. Thats whats great about America the people decide how we will allocate our money" she added.