Monday open thread: Do you feel better, worse or the same about the Lions?

It’s Victory Monday and that means it’s tough to be in a bad mood. The Detroit Lions are 3-1, tied with the Green Bay Packers for first in the division, and tied with five other teams for the lead in the entire conference.

But there are still obviously some issues with the team. The Lions are drastically short at talent at linebacker after Paul Worrilow went down with a knee injury and did not return. The offense started slow again and was only responsible for one touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

Do you feel better, worse or the same about the Lions after their 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings?

My answer: A lot better. A lot of people thought the Lions were lucky to come out of Minnesota with a win, considering they won the turnover battle 3-0, all on Vikings fumbles, but I actually thought the Lions played one of their better games of the season.

This was a really tough Vikings defense, and although Detroit didn’t score many points, they were moving the ball pretty often against them. Most importantly, the Lions were able to consistently run the ball against one of the best run defenses in the league. The importance of that cannot be understated. Had Ameer Abdullah not suffered a minor injury—Jim Caldwell said he technically cleared medically during the game—he would have finally been their first 100-yard rusher in a game since Reggie Bush.

But defensively is where this team really shined. Case Keenum was coming off a game where completed 75.8 percent of his passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns. On Sunday, he barely completed 50 percent of his passes for just 219 yards and no touchdown.

It scares me to finally admit it, but this defense is for real, and they’re doing it with minimal pressure from their front four and second and third-stringers at linebacker. Teryl Austin deserves the key to Detroit.

Your turn.