Detroit Lions Have Chance to Prove Vegas Wrong

I think even my unborn niece knows that the Lions need a big change to at least have a shot this upcoming season.

Many people are already writing Detroit off, and from last years' record setting performance, they have good reason.But any average Joe of a fan knows that in the NFL you can go from Tom Brady backing up Drew Henson at Michigan, to Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl MVP.   

Marty Mornhinweg was known for saying those famous words, "The bar is set high."

I guess Vegas wouldn't agree with that quote if it pertained to the Lions this season. The over/ under for the win total this season is set at five. An 0-16 team doesn't deserve much more respect than that, but if your looking to get some of that pension or retirement money back, the Lions have made enough of a change to take a gamble on.  

The Lions got a whole makeover from last year. Martin Mayhew was hired as General Manager and the first order of business was throwing away that "Dummies guide to running a NFL franchise".

In comes Jim Schwartz. Schwartz brings his defensive scheme that ranked first with 14.3 points allowed last year with the Titans. I guess that might be a step above the Lions averaging a whopping 32.3 per game, good for last in the league and second worst in NFL history.    

Schwartz is known for his unorthodox style of play on defense. That is something the Lions lacked in 2008. Teams knew exactly what the Lions were going to do and when they were going to do it. It is easy to game plan against a team when you know everything they are going to run. 

When you know where players are going to be, you can single out the weakest links on the field, which was pretty much eight of the Lions eleven players. Gee, you could go 0-16 running a style as predictable as that!

Martin Mayhew has looked like Moses parting the Red Sea lately. Dare I say that this is the best roster since Millen brought that plague to Detroit? It's looking that way.   

Mayhew has brought in six potential starters on defense, five of which are proven veterans. Louis Delmas is the only exception but he has been the talk of the town lately.

Julian Peterson, Larry Foote, Grady Jackson, Anthony Henry, and Phillip Buchanon are all good, consistent players. Schwartz is the MacGyver of the NFL. He didn't have all first round draft picks either but he was known for making it work with what he had. 

The offense has gone from a offensive line coach running the offense, to a veteran play caller. Schwartz hired former St. Louis head coach Scott Linehan to run his attack.

Linehan had his best days while Culpepper was throwing bombs to Randy Moss. Calvin Johnson has Moss potential, maybe more. That was shown when Calvin was the only offense the Lions had last year. The only time the Lions would march down the field was on Johnsons' back.

Culpepper has shown up at camp thirty pounds lighter.

Some say his career died while in Miami. The only difference between now and then is that he wants it. I doubt that a guy well over thirty would shed that kind of weight just to impress the girls.

Now there hasn't been any flashy veterans brought in on offense, but the Lions emphasized getting bigger and stronger on the field. 

Daniel Loper (6-6, 320), Ephraim Salaam (6-7, 310) and Brandon Petitgrew (6-5, 263) will help shore up the offensive line. Ronald Curry (6-2, 210) and Bryant Johnson (6,3 211) are both guys that can move the chains while defenders key on the deep ball to Calvin Johnson.

There are many reasons people are saying why the Lions will fail.

"The defensive line isn't good enough!"

Poey. Tennessee beat the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular season without Albert Haynesworth. The Vikings still win without Pat and Kevin Williams, and those are the three best defensive tackles in the game today.   

Having big defensive tackles is what is necessary to stopping the run (see Grady Jackson 6"2, 345lbs). All you need are big bodies to take up space to free up linebackers to make plays. Cory Redding, whom the Lions traded away for linebacker Julian Peterson, was a small appetizer to who Schwartz will put on the field.

"The secondary still stinks!"

As long as you can stop the run, you can stop the pass. Dropping more people in coverage on second and third downs is the vicodin for a mediocre secondary.  

"They have no offensive line to protect the quarterback!"

Detroit has had Joey Harrington, Jon Kitna,  and Dan Orlovsky playing "quarterback" the last four years. The only adjectives to truly describe those three stooges is slow and indecisive. It plainly just took to long for them to get rid of the ball, especially when Mike Martz was there.

Mark my words, Matt Millen will be the only person in the history of sports to force his hometown crowd to wear the opposing teams' colors in an desperate effort to get him out of office. That is the sugar topping on why i like the Lions over total for this year. Detroit is just itching for a winning team. The karma is there.