The Lions, who have not made the postseason since 1999 are on the verge of making the playoffs as the talent level is finally where it should be in Motown.

It is indisputable that Detroit boasts the NFL's best defensive line as Kyle Vanden Bosch, Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, if he can recover from his recent injury, will be giving quarterbacks lots of headaches in the NFC North.

The Lions' resurgent defense also features playmakers in the secondary such as Louis Delmas and Amari Spievey while the offense is good enough to give this defense big leads.

If Detroit can get a full season from burgeoning star quarterback Matthew Stafford, we will see the Lions take a quantum leap.

Stafford has all the essential skills to being an elite passer and with weapons like wide receiver Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, Nate Burleson (who is currently the only NFLer to follow me on Twitter) and tight end Tony Scheffler, the skies of Ford Field could be filled with lots of long passes for big gainers.

Although tailback Mikel Leshoure is out for the season, I think the Lions adroitly made the most out of a bad situation by getting both Jerome Harrison and Mike Bell, two backs who have shown in complimentary roles they can be effective.

The major impetus for all of the Lions' success, will prove to be head coach Jim Schwartz, who has brought an attitude and swagger to Detroit that has not been seen for ages. (Wayne Fontes had a great attitude and consistently led Detroit to the playoffs but Fontes and Utah football hero Scott Mitchell are not popular names in the "D" so I digress)

Even though I am a Broncos fan, I so want the Lions to be successful.

Detroiters deserve this more than anyone as they have remained loyal fans no matter how bad things got.

What the NFL needs more than anything in this new era of labor peace is a successful team rocking Honolulu blue and silver jerseys and that's precisely what they're going to get.