Can you sense it? That feeling. The Detroit Lions...they're almost there. It's a little bit of everything, you know. If the play callers would understand that you're not going to force Javid Best up the middle for even half a yard, everybody...EVERYBODY but the coaches understand the basic principle of little vs. big. For an example; I cannot inhale a Buick. Small nose, big car. A basic principle of physics, not that I'd want to try, but you get the idea, big walls vs puny fist. You remember those guys trying to fix their cars with handtools, then after failing, they spend the next hour trying to beat the crap out of their cars. Point is, that's a losing proposition. Oh sure, David beat Goliath, with a lucky shot, 3000 years ago, but as a rule we can expect big to beat small on the field of play. That's 2 weeks in a row Lions. Repeat after me...Don't run it up the middle.

     There is however, some good news to report. The Lions are playing good football in the 4th quarter, as a matter of fact, they're playing their best football in the 4th quarter, and very soon, they will understand, that in the NFL, no lead is good enough until the clock reads 0:00. When they get there, and they will, these guys will not only win, they'll dominate. This switch may be flipped in Minnesota next week. The Vikings look like a team that has lost their faith and if they take Detroit lightly it could be a bad week for our friends up north. We have managed to hang tough against two good defenses in a row, and there is no disputing that the Vikings have a good defense, and there is no disputing that the Detroit secondary is a half step slow, but there are still some encouraging signs. We are still giving up a couple of big plays, but have you noticed that the tackling is improved? It's not quite there yet but it's coming. The breakdowns are fewer, less wide open guys in the defense backfield. The Lions start strong and they finish strong, it's just that space in the middle where they fall flat. They are almost there. I feel better about this team despite the 0-2 start. I say if we can beat the Vikings on the road, they'll turn it around, they may have to suffer a 1-4 start but the seeds have sprouted and the clouds look like they're breaking.

And now the portion of the program where I break my arm patting myself on the back. I've been saying, since week 1, that the NFC East was a division full of lousy teams with great public relations guys.  That Chicago beat Dallas is no surprise. Dallas plays like they deserve something, it's a mentality problem. Philadelphia will go back to suc*ing as soon as they give the ball back to Kevin Kolb. New York has no defense to speak of and they play soft. Washington has McNabb so they'll win the division, but only because someone has to. Right now, and I expect them to stay this way, the toughest division in the NFC is the North, even including the Vikings, who I suspect will lose to Detroit next week. The Lions, for all their woes, nearly killed Michael Vick, if they hit Brett Farve like they hit Vick...well, keep an ambulance handy. Green Bay appears to playing to the level of their opponent, Chicago will beat them if they continue that deplorable trend.

     With one notable and gratefully, deleted exception, I would also like to say how much I enjoy reading the posts on this website. You guys really know your stuff and I encourage to keep at it. Good writing and good thinking usually march together, and the country could use an awful lot of both. Eventually we'll need to write and think about things more important than sports and I feel better about the future knowing you are out there being helpful. Thanks again.