The Lions Worst to First?

They will be improved….but they are not at all division champion capable simply because of the competition. I could see a possible wild card at absolute best. And that is only if we got some major momentum.

Our secondary will get scorched against Green Bay at least, so just get ready for it.

that the Lions were 7-9 and started the season 6-2 (wasn’t it even 4-0 to start the season?). Then, the season took a turn for the worse. The d-line stopped getting/forcing turnovers. The offense stumbled virtually every play. The coaching staff showed their true colors and the team won one game out of the next 24.

Thankfully, that regime is gone (except for a few players). The new coaching staff is building using a talent first philosophy, and so far seems to be working. Drafting Stafford, Suh, Best, Levy, Pettigrew, Delmas, & Follett in their short two drafts has worked so far (hey it’s only pre season). The front office has done their part… Peterson, Williams, Sims, Burleson, Scheffler, and the list goes on because of the draft picks acquired and waiver wire transactions.

Are the Lions headed in the right direction? It sure seems to be the case. Will they win the division? Probably not. I can see them sweeping the Bears this season and possibly stealing one from Minn. I still think that GB will be at the top of the division, mostly due to the development of Rodgers. Take a good look Lions fans… this will be Stafford in a couple years.

Here’s my bold prediction…
By 2013 the Lions will be at the top of the NFC North and contending for the NFC Championship. They will have no less than 6 Pro Bowlers (Stafford, Delmas, Suh, Peterson, Best, CJ, Burl, Grew, & KVB all in contention). By 2013, the Lions will win double digit games (yes, better than 10-6/8 depending on the number of regular season games).

They seem to be similar to the Lions in a number of ways though. Great throwing QB with great receiving talent and a defense that’s spotty and forces Rodgers into shootouts. I can’t explain how they got #2 in total defense. It’s well beyond me.

But the Lions have some better spots on offense. The OLine is better (somehow) and they also have a better set of RBs than Green Bay does. Yet Green Bay is predicted to go all the way while the Lions are predicted to go 6-10. Sense????

wow am I immature…

for me, the Lions have to prove it first. I think the offense, barring injury, should be a top ten offense. But I truly fear for the defense. Up front… no issues. But the lack of containment on third and long will play like broken record all season, I think. Again, not that I’m pessimistic, I just don’t feel we are that close yet and it’s an expectation thing. When I say they could get as many as 7 wins, I feel that’s optimistic in contrast to coming off a 2-30 record the past two years. There will be growing pains this year guys. Brace for it and put expectations in check and you’ll be very happy with this year’s product. I think that a lot of people are going to be very disappointed this year. Look at the schedule again. It’s not easy at all.

This is a team sport and we don’t have a complete team yet. Could they push the other teams in the division for the top… maybe. Will they be improved… yeah, I think it would be more shocking if they weren’t markedly better than in ‘09. But you won’t see a 9+ win prediction from me until the product on the field proves that they can hang with the big dogs in the NFC. They go 2-2 to start the season, I will be changing my tune, because that means we beat a division rival or two on the road or took down the Eagles.

I do believe that the lions are a capable 9-7 team this year, could that warrant a playoff shot in the NFC by years end, maybe if the right wins are taken. But to go as far as worst to first not quite yet.

I would change this statement very quickly however if two things happened,
1. Minnesota figuring out a trade for Jackson (WR) from the chargers
2. We obtained a 1 solid LB that could go opposite Peterson (who would need to have a pro bowl season )

Im not so on the fence and feel slightly more confident than i think most do about the secondary, they are all young for most part and unproven but they are also here to prove something and stay in the league, Delmas, Phillips, Bly, Wade, Houston, Speivey (secondary that will see most playtime probably) seems like a solid core of rotation, its that LB crew that has me like 6-10 5-11 record if they dont push their game w/ who they have now.

Look at the Kevin Smith cut possibility yesterday.

It started with an article in the Free Press yesterday, Seifert at ESPN picks up on it, Kowlaski throws something in, and it’s nothing but rehashed links from NFP,PFT, Yahoo sports all day, and the “national media” is just rehashing something put out by a local writer. There’s nothing new there.

So when the Lions are getting love nationally, chances are they don’t have a clue what their talking about and their just rehashing over something from a local writer.

Anything over 4 wins would be pretty good in my book.