Detroit Lions Fans Need To Be Patient

I know this isn't going to be easy.  But we are talking about the Detroit Lions, right?

This team is going through some serious growing pains.  On top of that, the Lions have had to deal with decades of mismanagement, most notably from 2000 to 2008.  Matt Millen's deconstruction of the Lions was epic.

Rather than write an article, yet again rehashing all of the pratfalls that have occurred in the past, I'd like to focus on the present and the future.

The Present

It is a given the 2009 Detroit Lions is an improvement over last years team.  I'm fairly confident that all can agree on that.  The question for this year is can this team compete?  I know a lot of people would look at the current 1-3 record and say no.  I beg to differ. 

The first two games the Lions played were against the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings, two teams that have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.  Both of those teams have gone through their own lengthy rebuilding process. 

In the game against the Saints, the Lions were definitley overmatched.  The Saints offensive line dictated the game and Drew Brees, perhaps the hottest quarterback in the NFL right now, lit up the Lions while throwing for six touchdowns.

Up next came the Vikings and much focus was put on Adrian Peterson and the Viking running game.  However, as much as I hate to admit, with the Vikings landing Bret Favre, they did make themselves a double threat.  With an upgraded passing game, teams can no longer try to contain Peterson and force the Vikings to beat them with the pass. 

But the question from the Saints game to the Vikings game I had was did the Lions improve from week one to week two.  I would say yes they did.  While they did get blown out by the Saints, they were more competitive against the Vikings.  They actually held a 10-7 lead going into the half.

However, as Greg Eno points out in his latest article, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/266745-lions-once-again-kings-of-30-minute-football the Lions forgot to show up in the second half.

In week three, the Lions face the Washington Redskins.  Everyone and their brother indicated this was THE game the Lions had the best chance to snap a 19-game losing streak.  They did just that but still face a lot of criticism because of the level of team they beat.  Despite that, the Lions played their best game in over two years.  And more importantly, the won the game, something they hadn't done since 2007.

Last week, the Lions went to Soldier Field to play against the Chicago Bears.  Hoping to ride the feel good momentum of finally achieving a victory, they played very well, especially in the first half and Matt Stafford had perhaps his best statistical game to date.  But the Chicago defense made their adjustments coming out in the second half and the Lions didn't.

The Future

Nope, this isn't going to be a break down for the next 12 games.  It will be more of a discussion of what the Lions need to focus on to continue to improve.

First and foremost, they need to keep starting Matthew Stafford.  Yes, I know that I was against him starting but over the last two games against the Redskins and the Bears, I have seen enough of Stafford's talent and presence to admit that I was wrong about him.  Stafford is going to be a difference maker for a long time barring any serious injury.

Let's also get out of the way that even of we did go with Dante Culpepper to start, I'm not so sure the Lions 1-3 record would be any different. 

Outside of an elite left tackle, the offense is pretty much set.  While Kevin Smith's 30 yard performance last week was less than stellar, he showed a lot of toughness playing through a shoulder injury while scoring two red-zone touchdowns.  And he did put up 101 yards against the Redskins.

The receiving group is on par with most teams in the league.  Calvin Johnson is the real deal but to shake him loose to allow him to be the playmaker that he is, other receivers such as Bryant Johnson, Dennis Northcutt and Brandon Pettigrew need to make defenses pay for double and triple teaming up on CJ.

The defense is where the Lions are hurting, most notably the defensive line.  While no longer at the bottom of the barrel, being ranked 21st overall doesn't give a whole lot of people warm and fuzzy feelings. 

But there have been improvements there as well.

Detroit Lions had four interceptions all of last year and only one of those was by the secondary.  This year, they have two so far and encouragingly enough, both by members of the secondary.

Middle linebacker play has improved as well with the addition of Larry Foote and Julian Peterson.  Both have provided the much needed leadership that Ernie Sims was unable to provide.  At least the defense doesn't look lost as much as they did last year.  Players are running to the ball and swarming more.  However, missed tackles and bad angles have burned them.

The defensive line is still a huge question mark and should be the focus for the Lions in next year's draft.  They are getting to the quarterback as they have seven sacks over four games but that's not nearly enough pressure.  They never got near Brees, sacked Favre twice and Jason Campbell once.  With four sacks against the Bears, that was the best they have done in a while.  But the game was pretty much out of hand for any of those sacks to make a difference.

So Lions fans, we need to cut these guys some slack.  Schwartz, Linehan and Cunningham are restoring lost confidence and Martin Mayhew will be responsible for undoing all of the damage that Matt Millen caused over the last eight years.

Look for the Lions to improve over the next 12 games.  They will compete and they should beat teams like St. Louis and Cleveland.  They might even be able to beat the Seattle Seahawks since they aren't near as good as they were advertised.

Have patience...let the Lions players develop and by the end of the year, they may have more wins then anyone predicted.