Why do Lions fans hold up "3" signs? Explaining fanbase's viral tradition at NFL games

The Detroit Lions are hosting the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football, and there is one tradition that should be expected to happen: Lions fans raising signs with the number "3" when the opposing offense is on third down.

This is one of many intimidation tactics fans use to psychologically break visiting teams, but its origin is debatable. So the question to be asked is, why?

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Why do Lions fans hold up 3 signs at NFL games?

According to Distractify, it is so that the fans can "get rowdy," disrupting the offense enough that they are mentally thrown off and fail to convert, thus having to punt. In fact, Ford Field has an entire section dedicated to such fans.

The effectiveness of such a move is debatable, but here are a couple of successful instances. First, against the divisional rival Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving in 2019:

This next successful instance is from last season against the Las Vegas Raiders (who fired then-head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler right after the loss).

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Lions' current gameday report vs. Rams

Back on the field, how have the Lions been doing?

They have been doing decently against the Rams, taking a 10-3 at at the half. After an exchange of field goals, Jahmyr Gibbs rushed into the end zone for six within the final two minutes. Then, with just seconds left, Kerby Joseph interceptted Matthew Stafford.

At the time of writing, Jared Goff has completed nine of 14 passes for 129 yards - not as dominant as predecessor Matthew Stafford's 22 of 22 for 165. He has also been sacked twice, against a shared one for his counterpart.

However, their run game has been a cricual factor in the game, with David Montgomery rushing 12 times for 46 yards and Gibbs five times for 18. Even WR2 Jameson Williams, who is also the Lions' leading receiver so far with 89 yards from three grabs has had a 13-yard rush.

Defensively, Alex Anzalone leads all tacklers with seven (all but one solo). Cornerback Carlton Davis, who joined the Lions as a free agent during the offseason, has five (four solo). Levi Onwuzerike and Marcus Davenport share the team's only sack so far