Detroit Lions: Gearing Up for a Promising 2011 Season

The Detroit Lions are 4-0 this preseason and looking strong. Of course, we all know preseason means nothing—especially this year with so little time to truly evaluate players.

And of course, everyone and their brother just has to remind us that the last time the Lions went 4-0 in the preseason was in 2008, when the Lions went 0-16.

News Flash: These ain't them Lions.

Matthew Stafford has looked great so far and appears ready to prove the very reason why the Lions drafted him in 2009. He has made some great connections with Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson.

Jahvid Best hasn't played much, but he has shown us in the past what he can do, so I'm not worried about him. Too bad about Mikel LeShoure, though—I was looking forward to seeing him get the tough yards.

The defense also looks great and has garnered some high praise from the media, coaches and players alike.

And please, calling Suh a dirty player? Tell me which of the other 31 NFL teams out there wouldn't love to have a "dirty" player like Suh. Besides, I saw nothing dirty about his play. But then, what everyone else views as dirty, we Lions fans view as "intensity."

I was roped in at work to pick two teams as my "hot picks." Being from Detroit, I naturally took the Lions and my sanity was brought into question. All I said was that these Lions are going to surprise a lot of people. And I may be going out on a limb to say they will take the division, but I don't care.

My other pick is the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, I would really like to see the NFC title game with the Cardinals coming to Detroit.

Okay, that's enough of putting the cart before the horse. The season opens in eight days, with the Lions heading to Tampa Bay.

It's going to be a tough game. Tampa is going to be looking for some revenge since the Lions beat them—in Tampa—to screw up their playoff chances.

But like I said before, these ain't them Lions and Stafford is going to claim his place in the NFL.

Ah, yes, let the games begin!