The Detroit Lions defense is ranked 26th in total defense this season after 4 games, giving up an average of 26.5 points and 375.5 total yards per game. Despite those gaudy numbers, the Detroit Lions aren't as bad as it appears on defense.

The Lions defense, by any stretch of the word, is not dominant or anything like the Steelers or Ravens defense, obviously. However, the Lions stay competitive in games and keep them close despite the numbers given up. How is that possible? Well, I'll tell you: defensive turnovers and sacks. The Lions defense is a sack machine and makes the opponent turn the ball over more often than the average Lions fan may realize.

Lions forced fumbles -( 7)- Ranks 3rd overall in the league

Lions recovered fumbles -(6)- Ranks 2nd overall in the league

Lions sacks -(13)- Ranks tied for 5th overall in the league

Lions interceptions -(5)- Ranks tied for 8th overall in the league

There you have it folks, top-10 in 4 major defensive categories. Yes, the Lions pass defense is supposedly one of the worst in the league, but the secondary is a lot better than stats reveal. They picked off probowlers Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. Mike Vick would've gotten picked off a couple of times had Jonathon Wade and C.C Brown not drop those balls, putting us into the top-5 for all four categories.

The offense is also as good as advertised, even without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. They are putting up huge passing numbers with a career back-up quarterback, with 4 different receivers having 20 catches or more in 4 games. They fight back until the very end, like they've done in each game, but  just seem to lose at the end. With a healthy Jahvid Best and Kevin Smith, the running game should eventually come around. I'm confident that when Stafford does get back and most of our starting offense is on the field, the offense will be even more of a threat to opposing defenses. This 2010 Lions team, despite the 0-4 start, is a lot better than the previous decade of teams that we had to stomach on Sundays. Let's just hope the improvement adds up to wins soon.