much about the game other than we had our concerns about winning it , but I do recall the drive into the city . '' Schwartz said . `` You could just see and feel what was happening at the time . It was eye-opening . '' That was in stark contrast to what is happening in Detroit three years later . In 2011 , the Lions are 4-0 for the first time since 1980 . Their matchup Monday night against Chicago at Ford Field is perhaps the most anticipated football game the Lions have played since they advanced to the NFC championship game in 1991 . Meanwhile on the mound in Detroit , the Tigers are also showing amazing promise . In a thrilling game , the Tigers beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Thursday to advance to the American League Championship Series . The Tigers did capture the AL pennant in 2006 -- eliminating the Yankees -- but had been a high-payroll , low-achieving club since until this summer , when they ran away with the AL Central title . The pressure to deliver the division title this season was so intense that on the night the
Detroit -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Thanksgiving Day 2008 shows where Detroit has been . The Detroit Lions have played at home every Thanksgiving since 1934 . It is the city 's greatest football tradition . Yet instead of a source of great pride , the game had become an embarrassment , as well as representative of everything going horribly wrong in Detroit . The auto industry melted down with alarming and unprecedented speed . The City of Detroit was rife with political scandal that eventually put Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and several other prominent public officials behind bars . All this turmoil came while the Lions were poised to be the only team in NFL history to go 0-16 . The sentiment ? The Lions were viewed as incredible losers in the NFL landscape , so we must be incredible losers , too . However , the fans maintained their love for the team in spite of their obvious difficulties . The Tennessee Titans ended up thrashing the Lions , 47-10 . Tennessee 's defensive coordinator that day was Jim Schwartz . Less than two months later , he was the Lions ' head coach . `` I do n't remember