The Detroit Lions won their 11th straight game last Thursday night, and at 12-1 they are tied for the best record in the NFL. But they haven’t yet clinched the NFC North, with the now 11-2 Minnesota Vikings and the 9-4 Green Bay Packers in close proximity.

Last Friday, before the Vikings won their sixth straight game on Sunday, cornerback Byron Murphy made it clear to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson that he’s tired of hearing about the Lions, with last Thursday night’s win over the Packers as the launching point.

“Obviously Detroit came out with the win, I didn’t like that. It was a good game, feel like some plays Green Bay could’ve done better,” Murphy said. “But it’s football, things happen and obviously Detroit won the game. But we’ll see them soon.”

“I’m not liking all this Detroit talk right now. I just keep hearing it over and over,” Murphy said. “I’m just over them. I’m over Green Bay too, but Detroit, they just talk about them too much and I’m over that as well.”

A 12-1 team is going to get talked about a lot, in good or sometimes critical light. And it’s not like the Vikings are being ignored. But use whatever it takes to motivate you.

After Minnesota’s win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Murphy was back at it about the Lions in his conversation with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

“Y’all need to start talking about us. We’re tired of the Detroit talk”, Murphy said. “We’re going to get to that [Week 18] game eventually, but right now, [we’re] just focused on every single Sunday and we’ll see them soon. But right now, talk about the Vikings because we on one right now.”

Players carrying derision for division rivals is nothing new, it’s totally expected and it’s totally fine. The Week 18 game between the Lions and the Vikings is shaping up to be huge, and both sides are looking forward to it.

But Murphy is also following the lead others have set. There are segments of people; rival players, rival fans and even some analysts, who seemingly cannot handle that the Lions are good and thus worthy of being talked about (and talked about in a positive light).