Detroit Lions Look Ready as Ever to Take Down NFC North in 2014

It may be Week 1 of the NFL season, but the Detroit Lions sure looked like a team on the mend. Dominating the New York Giants 35-14 in front of their fans at Ford Field, quarterback Matthew Stafford led a redesigned offense up and down the field.

First and foremost, a cruise ship-sized chunk of credit goes to new head coach Jim Caldwell and his coaching staff. They came in this offseason, installed a brand new offense and also decided to change things up on the defensive side as well.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Establishing a new scheme takes time, as was evident by the shaky performance of the Giants. Unlike their counterpart, the Lions looked fresh and well-versed in the new ecosystem that was created this summer, especially when it came to the play of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Dating back to when Stafford was drafted in 2009, we've come to expect a high-octane offense in the Motor City. Since 2011 he's passed for 14,655 yards and 90 touchdowns. The biggest difference tonight was efficiency. Efficiency that could be directly correlated to offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's scheme.

Lombardi came to Detroit by way of New Orleans and cut his teeth under Sean Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. That experience working with one of the most creative and blistering offenses the league has seen looks to have translated over to the Lions.

Dealing with the Giants, Stafford didn't turn the ball over once. Instead, he dumped the football off short on third down when nothing else was open and made sure to avoid launching it down the field. That was a refreshing change of pace from what we've seen in the past. 

His previous propensity to throw the ball into globs of coverage was one of the biggest reasons why he's tallied 52 interceptions since 2011.

Lombardi's influence already looks like it's going to pay off huge dividends this season. As Jon Gruden repeatedly said throughout the broadcast, the Lions offense had flashes where it looked reminiscent of the New Orleans Saints' vaunted attack.

Like the Saints, the front office in Detroit did a great job of stacking personnel over the last couple of years. The Lions' two-headed rushing attack consisting of Reggie Bush and Joique Bell should be in for another big year, while the addition of Golden Tate will help give Calvin Johnson a capable sidekick at wide receiver.

Using all of these weapons, Lombardi sent out various personnel groupings to spread the Giants out and keep them off balance.

The strategy worked to perfection. Stafford completed 22 passes for 346 yards and tagged on two spectacular aerial touchdowns to Megatron. On the team's final scoring drive, the former Georgia quarterback put an exclamation mark on the game with a rushing touchdown that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

Offense isn't the only reason why everyone else in the NFC North needs to pay attention to this team. Defensively the Lions played with a channeled aggression from the moment the game got underway until the final whistle blew.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Collectively, as a unit the defense put a ton of pressure on Eli Manning. Watching the game, it felt like between Ziggy Ansah, Ndamukong Suh, George Johnson and the rest of the gang, Detroit made the Giants offensive line look nonexistent on just about every snap.

It's not going to be a cakewalk like it was at one point during the 2013 season for the Lions. Odds are injuries to Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler probably won't happen again. When you realize that the Minnesota Vikings are also a much better club than they were a year ago, the NFC North should once again become a challenging division.

That being said, what we saw out of the Lions on both sides of the ball on Monday Night Football was a dangerous, complete football team. It's still early, but if they continue to play like they did against Big Blue, this team is good enough to win a lot of games this season and as a result win its division.

Unless otherwise noted all college football stats and information courtesy of Sports-Reference.com. Game scores and information courtesy of ESPN.com.