Saturday open thread: What’s your biggest Detroit Lions hot take?

The heat wave of 2019 is here. There isn’t enough Gatorade or H2O to fight this one off. It’s nasty out there. However, having worked outside on the coldest and hottest days of the year, I say bring on the heat.

Speaking of heat, it’s time for a heaping dose of sizzling, smoking, Skip Cowherd (names combined intentionally) level Detroit Lions hot takes. Whether it be delusions of grandeur or putrid prophecies of pandemonium we want you to lay it all out on this one. Let’s start with a bang.

What is your biggest Detroit Lions hot take:

My answer: The 2019 Detroit Lions will be a top-three defense. All the stars will align for one of the best defenses in football.

Let’s start with the transformation this unit experienced after acquiring Damon “Snacks” Harrison in late October last year. The run defense instantly went from a bottom feeder to one of the best. There are a number of different metrics to highlight how good a defense is, but all signs pointed to a marked improvement overall as the year went on in 2018.

Detroit also has a nice mix of established vets (Darius Slay, Quandre Diggs), young guys primed for improved play (Jarrad Davis, Tracy Walker III) and some new toys to play with (Trey Flowers, Justin Coleman). We can look to the 2014 defense for the blueprint. It’s foundation was a sick run defense with every other unit following.

Admittedly, the Lions benefited down the stretch by playing some lackluster offenses late last year to help aid their cause (Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals). To make matters worse, this year’s early slate features some top-end offenses (Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles). The road to an elite defense will be put to the test right out the gate. The X-factor could be Year 2 of Matt Patricia. His maturation and the team getting more and more comfortable with him should go a long way.

There’s my piping hot take... what’s yours?