Before the season began, I expected the Lions to finish the 2011 season with a 10-6 record. In the first half of the season, I had the Lions starting 6-2, and my only error was having them lose to the Cowboys instead of the 49ers. The rest went as expected, and my expectations in general for the 2011 season have not been altered by the first eight games.

When I posted a poll about the Lions' 2011 record back in early September, 10-6 ran away with it. 9-7 and 11-5 were also popular picks, but 10-6 received the most votes. So far, the Lions are in very good shape to hit that mark of 10 wins, as they only need four more the rest of the season.

With eight games in the books, what do you now think the Lions' final record will be? As a reminder, the remainder of the schedule is as follows: at Chicago, vs. Carolina, vs. Green Bay, at New Orleans, vs. Minnesota, at Oakland, vs. San Diego and at Green Bay.

Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments.

The last time Pride of Detroit readers graded Lions head coach Jim Schwartz (in February), 52 percent of the votes were for a B and 41 percent were for an A. Unlike the most recent time readers graded Martin Mayhew, the options in the poll were not broken down beyond the simple letter grades.

This time around readers can give Schwartz an A+, B- and so on. I will be interested to see if things change at all with more options being available, and I will also be interested to see if the Week 1 victory and what has happened since February affects the numbers at all.

Make sure to vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. My thoughts can be found after the jump.

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Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew has received an A grade every time Pride of Detroit readers have been asked to evaluate his performance. The only thing changing from one poll to the next is how many votes for an A grade Mayhew is receiving. The numbers have been increasing each poll, and I have a feeling they would go up even more after the moves made in the last week.

To change things up a bit, I decided to break the letters down and include more options in this edition of Grade Martin Mayhew. You can now choose to give Mayhew a perfect grade of A+, decide that he is only a little more than average with a B- or opt for one of the many other selections.

Which overall letter Mayhew receives probably won't be too interesting, but I will be interested to see how the votes are spread out. That will reveal just how good (or bad, I suppose) of a job you all think he is doing, and it will generate more discussion than the A vote simply running away with the poll yet again.

So, make sure to vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. If you are interested in my thoughts, they are after the jump.

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The last time Martin Mayhew was given a grade was two months ago. Nothing had really happened since the end of the season, and really the only thing that has happened in the last couple months is the 2011 NFL Draft. Obviously what happened during the draft could have changed some people's grade for Mayhew, but without free agency and trades, he hasn't been given a chance to make a ton of moves.

Regardless, I think now is a good time for everyone to once again evaluate the Lions' general manager. If the lockout ever ends and free agency happens, we can once again grade Mayhew. In the meantime, let's see if Mayhew's grade has changed at all since February, when he was given an A by the majority of voters.

Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. My thoughts are after the jump.

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Based on how readers of Pride of Detroit voted this month in polls that handed out grades to Detroit Lions coaches, the consensus is that their performance since coming to Detroit is worthy of a B. General manager Martin Mayhew is the only one who had more A votes than anything else, as head coach Jim Schwartz, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham all received more B votes than the other choices.

A full breakdown of each poll is below. (Note: numbers are as of the time of this post; percentages don't add up because decimals aren't included.)

Jim Schwartz (1693 votes)

41% - A | 52% - B | 4% - C | 0% - D | 0% - F

Martin Mayhew (1724 votes)

68% - A | 28% - B | 2% - C | 0% - D | 0% - F

Scott Linehan (1157 votes)

26% - A | 57% - B | 13% - C | 1% - D | 0% - F

Gunther Cunningham (1045 votes)

31% - A | 55% - B | 12% - C | 0% - D | 0% - F

The next round of polls likely won't be until the summer for the coaches, as there isn't a whole lot that can change from now until then. For Martin Mayhew, I'd venture to guess we'll have one after the draft and after free agency (whenever that may be) or at the very least periodically throughout the offseason. So stay tuned.

Wrapping up our series of grades for February 2011, we turn our attention to Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. We have already handed out grades to head coach Jim Schwartz, general manager Martin Mayhew and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. Now it's Cunningham's turn to receive a grade for his performance as Detroit's defensive coordinator.

Cunningham, like Linehan, has been here since Schwartz took the head coaching job in 2009. He has preached an aggressive attitude and is one of the fieriest coaches I've seen. He doesn't hold back what is on his mind, and usually that provides for some interesting things to read about the defense (and, unfortunately, comments that help lead to tampering charges).

In his first year as the DC, the defense struggled quite a bit, mainly because there just wasn't much talent on the roster. This year, however, with a strong defensive line and improved play with the secondary, we got to see the defense play much better. The added talent allowed Cunningham to use some interesting formations that confused offenses, such as Ndamukong Suh lining up as a linebacker. Throughout the season, despite the injuries being racked up (especially in the secondary), the defense seemed to get better. They led the Lions to a win over the Packers, holding the eventual Super Bowl champs to only a field goal, and during the winning streak turnovers and sacks became a big part of Detroit's success.

Keeping in mind what happened in 2009 and this past season, what grade do you think Cunningham deserves? Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. My vote is after the jump.

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I think Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan's 2010 season can be summed up by the phrase "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." During most of the season, Linehan had to base his offense around a backup and third-string quarterback, as starter Matthew Stafford could not stay healthy. This led to Linehan having Shaun Hill as his starter for much of the season early on, Drew Stanton later in the season and then Hill again to close out the year.

Despite not having Stafford for most of the season (and also having an unhealthy Jahvid Best for a good part of 2010), Linehan's playcalling put the Lions in a pretty good position when it came to statistical rankings in the NFL. The Lions finished 15th in points per game and actually were at the top of this category during the early portion of the season despite only having one win. Detroit was at the top of the league in red zone touchdown percentage. The Lions were 11th in third-down conversion percentage, 12th in passing yards per game and 23rd in rushing yards per game. During the Lions' winning streak, the rushing game improved greatly and played a big part in the Lions' success down the stretch.

Based in part on his performance in 2010, what grade do you think Scott Linehan deserves for the job he's done as the Lions' offensive coordinator? As usual, my grade and thoughts are after the jump, and you can vote below.

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Martin Mayhew became the Detroit Lions' interim general manager after Matt Millen was fired during the 2008 season. Following the season, Mayhew became the permanent GM and continued making moves to build talent and help the Lions turn their bad fortunes around.

Although many of the moves Mayhew made in the 2009 offseason were very important to building a foundation for future success, the 2010 offseason served as an even bigger step for the Lions with all of the moves they made. Via the NFL Draft, trades and free agent signings, the Lions improved the talent they had in a big way and put themselves into a very good position this offseason. There is still a need to add talent, but the gap between the Lions and some of the top teams in the NFL is quickly shrinking.

After seeing the 2010 season play out, giving us all a look at the players he brought to Detroit last offseason, what grade do you think Mayhew deserves for the job he's done so far as general manager of the Lions? Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. My vote and reasoning is after the jump.

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