The Detroit Lions are five and two, that is "cinco y dos" in Spanish. That is some unfamiliar territory for the lowly Lions of the twenty-first century. Things are starting to click in Mo-Town where a newly healthy Kevin Jones has provided the pass heavy Lions with a little zag to their zig in the run game. This past Sunday's win over the Bears showcased KJ when he went over 100 yards rushing for the first time this year. Along with KJ getting to his peak, Jon Kitna's solid play continues as he picks from any of his talented receivers. It seems that any given week one of the pass catchers can have a breakout performance. The league is quickly finding out that it is hard to game plan for an offense that has this many weapons.The downside to this surprise team is that they seem to forget to come to some games. When they have lost it has been ugly. The first loss came in week three when they went to "The Link" and played the Eagles where they got obliterated 56-21 in an offensive assault on the Detroit defense. The second loss was not much better as they lost at the Nation's Capital to the Washington Redskins. They lost 34-3.
What seems to be the difference this year then in year's past is the coaching. Head Coach Rod Marinelli keeps the moral and chemistry on an even keel. They don't get to high nor do they get to low. The Lions also had a roster makeover at the request of their head coach. They got rid of the bad attitudes and what seemed to be the cancers of the team. In addition to getting an attitude adjustment and other locker room issues the coaching has also changed on the field. It seems like everybody is pulling their weight. O-coordinator Mike Martz is showing what he can do with weapons. D-coordinator Joe Barry is showing his knowledge of HC Marinelli's Tampa 2 system. Even the Special Teams coordinator is pulling his weight as Stan Kwan came up with a way to put returner Devin Hester in check, keeping his big plays to a minimum.
The wins have been both ugly and a thing of beauty. At this point I think any Lion fan will take a win either way. It just seems they are playing beginning till the end in every game, like a real team. With this past weeks win against Chicago they not only swept the season series against them but stayed undefeated in the NFC North, which will help if playoffs come down to tie-breakers. Wait...did I just mention the Lions and the playoffs in the same sentence. It's called drinking the kool-aid. I think I just took my first sip. Yes I finally, not only hope for wins but, believe that the Lions can win games. They have the coaching, players, and now the fans to make a real run at the playoffs.
Knock on wood...
2 comments:
The Lions are terrible. They have only 1 victory thats worth anything, and thats the lucky win over the Bucs. They get their asses force fed to them when they play a mediocre team like the Redskins. The Redskins got beat by the Patriots 52-7, and then cried like bitches that the score got ran up on them. After seeing the Lions loose to them do you actually think the Lions can compete against the NFL's elite teams?
Yea, they do have only one win that has actually been against a decent team. Because winning over the Bears TWICE surely didn't mean anything, considering how grossly awful they are! Oh, your a Bears fan, well I guess you can always reminisce about last year. Good run with a crappy team, all you had was Thomas Jones and you decided that Ced was better, good call.
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