The Detroit Lions got the best of the Chicago Bears in both meetings between the NFC North rivals this season, and as a result Jim Schwartz’ team is currently in first place. However, Brandon Marshall is not quite ready to give the Lions the credit they may deserve.
While standing in as a host on “The Jay Cutler Show” on ESPN 1000 Monday, Marshall compared the Lions to an annoying “little brother” who is not better than the older brother but simply managed to beat him.
“It’s the little brother that kind of grew up a little bit,” Marshall joked. “He may be a little taller than the big brother. He’s not stronger. He’s not better than the big brother at anything. But that one day, he just says, ‘I’m fed up. I’m done. I’m gonna punch my brother in the face.’
“It’s the little brother that, big brother wants to go out and play with his friends and the little brother is annoying, [saying], ‘Hey, can I go?’ No, you can’t go, Detroit Lions. Sit back. Sit in your little city. Fix your financial problems and all of that, you know. You can’t come with us right now. But right now, they’ve got the best of us. They beat us twice. They swept us. But what matters is when we see them in the playoffs. It’ll be a great show. It’s gonna be tough. But I guarantee it’s not gonna go down like it did the first two games.”
With Jay Cutler nursing multiple injuries, the Bears are hardly a lock for the postseason. Marshall also indicated that he felt some late hits from the Lions contributed to his team’s diminishing health.
“They’re borderline illegal,” he said. “I’ll attach my name to it. I’m looking at film today, and it was kind of disgusting to see the D-line go out of their way to knock our quarterbacks down after every single play. The ball was gone. They’re pushing them down. They’re hitting them below their knees. It was kind of disgusting.”
The Lions are certainly used to hearing people call them out for cheap shots and illegal hits, but this is a no-win argument for Marshall. Detroit beat Chicago twice, and both wins are huge given how close the standings are. Now, it is Marshall’s team that will have to find a way to make up for it.
