Tight end Eric Ebron still believes his Detroit Lions are ‘great’ (they aren’t)

Following a 24-12 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron maintains his team is “great.” While it might seem like Ebron doesn’t realize the Lions are 0-3, he does.

This is what he told the Detroit Free Press after corralling four catches for 61 yards in defeat on Sunday:

“I mean, I’m surprised, yeah, because of the players and how great we are, how good we look every day,” he said. “So I’m really surprised. But it’s the NFL. A few mistakes can make you 3-0 or 0-3. I mean, we’re 0-3 because of the mistakes we’ve been having and the mental errors and things like that. So we’ve just got to continue to work hard and get better.”

[…]

“Yeah, that’s why we’re 0-3,” he said. “We’re hurting ourselves. No one in this league can match us or play against us unless we hurt ourselves. And we’ve been doing that for three straight weeks. So we’ll get better at it.”

Let’s remember that only five teams in NFL history have ever made the playoffs after an 0-3 start. Considering the Lions visit the defending champion Seattle Seahawks and host the undefeated Arizona Cardinals in the next two weeks, things aren’t going to get any easier for Detroit anytime soon.

The Lions own the worst running game in the NFL (their 135 total rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry both rank dead last). They currently rank 25th in total yards and 24th in points scored after losses to the San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Broncos. None of those losses are all that bad, especially since the first two came on the road. And their defense has been decent, allowing 56 points through three weeks. That number looks even more impressive when you consider Detroit’s eight turnovers are tied with the San Diego Chargers for the league’s second-most through three weeks — behind only the Indianapolis Colts’ 10. So, Ebron certainly isn’t wrong about the Lions shooting themselves in the foot.

But when Ebron says, “because of the players and how great we are,” he’s probably referencing Detroit’s three returning Pro Bowl performers on offense — quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, only one of whom should ever be classified as great (Johnson). And when he says, “No one in this league can match us or play against us unless we hurt ourselves,” he’s ignoring that there’s another team on the other sideline contributing to all those turnovers and losses.

For what it’s worth, Ebron has been a solid third option behind Johnson and Tate in the passing game this season, catching a touchdown pass in each of his first two games of the season. In fact, his two TDs are one more than that wideout duo has combined to score thus far. Stafford’s five picks haven’t helped.

Still, if the Lions are going to return to the playoffs this season, it will be on Stafford, Johnson and Tate to carry the load on offense. They only have to look to the 1995 Lions for inspiration, as that group was one of the five teams to make the postseason after starting 0-3, thanks to Herman Moore and Brett Perriman each submitting a 1,000-yard receiving season. Of course, they also had a dude named Barry Sanders.

Regardless, the Lions aren’t great. They haven’t been since the 1950s. So maybe start with getting good.

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(h/t Pro Football Talk)

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach