What Can We Expect From The Detroit Lions' 2009 Season?

The smoke from the 2009 draft has cleared. The Lions have made their bed with Matt Stafford and we Lions fans have little choice but to sleep in it.

On paper, it does look as though the Lions improved themselves. 

From the draft, they obtained players that did address areas of need. Though questionable at the time, taking tight end Brandon Pettigrew with the 20th pick may turn out to be the biggest impact from this draft class. At the very least, he will be the one player from this draft to gain immediate results.

Safety Louis Delmas should also have an immediate impact. As a unit, the Lions secondary was decimated most of the year. 

Part of that was due to an ineffective pass rush but most of it was due to a lack of talent, an issue prevalent throughout the Lions roster. With the additions of Delmas as well as CB's Anthony Henry, Phillip Buchanon and Ramzee Robinson, it's fairly certain the secondary will improve greatly over last year's squad.

But really, what can we expect from the 2009 Detroit Lions? As everyone and their brother knows, they were an 0-16 team last year. However, as bleak as the season was last year, the team made some significant moves, first and foremost, the removal of the most incompetent general manager ever to grace the earth, Matt Millen.

However, we still had the "talent" he drafted and signed to watch on the field.  There was little that could be done at the time. The Lions had little choice to go through that dismal season and did as much as they could to posistion themselves for yet another rebuilding year.

WR Roy Williams was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for multiple draft picks.

QB Jon Kitna and WR Mike Furrey were pretty much shelved by being placed on the IR.  Furrey was released and Kitna traded to Dallas for CB Anthony Henry.

QB Dante Culpepper was signed to replace him and despite the team showing signs of life behind Dan Orlovysky, his injury forced the Lions to start Culpepper who had played little in 2007 and not at all in 2008 until signing with the Lions. 

From his performance, it was evident just how out of football shape Culpepper was.  But I challenge anyone to attempt what he did.  He did the best he could with what he had.

Season over, 0-16. The Lions are on record as having the worst season ever in the history of the NFL.

On to 2009. A new coaching staff of head coach Jim Schwartz, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and defesnive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. This trio is perhaps the deepest coaching staff the Lions have ever put together. 

Linehan's attacking style of offense puts a lot of pressure on defenses. His offenses have put up some big numbers such as Culpepper putting up 4,000 yard seasons while in Minnesota and while has head coach with the Rams, QB Marc Bulger having perhaps one of his best seasons. 

Running backs and wide receivers consistently have 1,000 seasons. He runs the ball very well and he uses his weapons equally as well. He is very good at attacking defenses.

With the hiring of defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, we can all rejoice in the end of the Tampa 2 defense. Cunningham makes it very clear that his defenses "goes after people." 

The defense will be much more aggressive and expect the Lions to put more pressure on the quarterback then they have in the past. His idea of an ideal defense is to be explosive, disruptive, aggressive and go after people.

As for head coach Jim Schwartz, he looks for two things from a defense: stopping the rush and getting a lot of three and outs by opposing offenses. He wants the Lions to be big and strong, build them to play important games in cold weather and be able to stop the run. 

However, look to the Lions to have a multi-dimensional looks. They will do what it takes to win that week. No defense in the NFL can play one style and expect it to work week in and week out. He wants opposing teams to "play left-handed", a tactic he learned from Bill Belichick. 

What that means is if the opposing team is a good run team, force them to pass.  If they pass well, force them to run. Make other teams beat you with their weakest component.

If you can stop opposing team's strengths, it's a good bet you can win the majority of the time.

I'd like to see the Lions get to an 8-8 season in 2009. But I suspect that expectation is a little high.  But I believe in setting the bar a little higher than what's comfortable. It forces one to stretch a little more, try just a little harder to get there. 

As with anything, obstacles will always be in the way and the Lions have to battle a long and sad past as well as opposing teams.