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Lions Picked to Win NFC North in ESPN and SI Previews

By Sean Yuille

First off, this has been a hectic week.  School got started up and has completely caused me to lose valuable posting time.  Along with that, I've had to rearrange my schedule and I'm still trying to find a good time to put up more posts.  Don't worry though, once I get into the routine of things by next week the posting will be back to its normal amount.  

Moving on... The Lions are not a very sexy team when it comes to picking someone to win the NFC North.  Even though the NFC North is one of the worst divisions in the NFL this season, the Lions still have a big uphill battle to just get to .500.  Winning the division would be a bonus.  That's all I would like to see this season, 8 wins at the least.  The chances of doing that are about 50/50, but some of the "experts" that cover the NFL have a more positive outlook on the season.

First, we head over to SI.com where Peter King previewed the NFL during his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback posting.  The NFC North was the first division listed, and surprisingly, the team listed as #1 was none other than the Detroit Lions.

1. Detroit, 10-6: Just remember one free-agency and salary-cap era stat from this year's Sports Illustrated NFL preview issue: Over the past 13 years (since free agency with a cap came into play), 13 teams went from worst one year to first in their division. In the previous 26 years, 13 teams jumped from worst to first. Now, Detroit wasn't even worst in the NFC North last year. Green Bay was. But the Lions, as always, were close. Three reasons they turn around: Rod Marinelli is a my-way-or-the-highway guy, a desperately needed commodity in Detroit right now. Jon Kitna will make few of the glaring errors Joey Harrington made. And Mike Martz is the breath of offensive fresh air this stale offense needed.

That's a pretty bold statement to make, but I don't mind it.  10-6 is a bit of a reach in my mind.  I don't have an exact number picked out just yet for what their record will be, but I doubt it'll be as good as 10 wins.  Just glancing at the schedule, I'm thinking somewhere around 8 or so wins if they win the games against the less-talented teams.

In the rest of his preview, Peter King goes on to give the Bears a record of 9-7, the Vikings 8-8, and the Packers in last at 4-12.

Now, we make our way over to ESPN.com where there isn't an explanation of why a pick was made, but there are a couple of writers that went with Detroit to win the NFC North title.

Michael Smith and Sal Paolantonio both sided with Peter King in choosing the Lions to win the NFC North, something that would be a big shocker.  The consensus team for the most part was the Bears to win the North, but the few that did pick the Lions have my liking.  

The Pride of Detroit NFL/NFC North preview will be coming up tentatively on Friday to get you ready for the season opener against Seattle on Sunday.  Stay tuned for that.

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