The Detroit Lions' Lengthy Injury Report Could Be a Good Thing

The Detroit Lions' current injury report reads like a list of Lions impact starters.

Matthew Stafford, Gosder Cherlius, Kevin Smith, Calvin Johnson, Grady Jackson, Sammie Lee Hill, Ernie Sims, and a handful of others populate the team's injured list, with various levels of practice participation between them.

Some will play, some will not.  We likely won't know which until Sunday.

This is the injured list heading into Sunday's game against the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

So why am I not concerned?

Simple.

The Lions are almost certainly going to lose this game anyway. Starters or no starters, it's going to be very difficult to overcome this Steelers team, even though they've struggled thus far in the season.

What this is, instead, is a sort of preseason game.

Yes, I know the game counts, and yes, I know the Lions would have a better chance of winning it with a fully healthy roster.  But winning only really matters if you're trying to get into the playoffs.

And if you've watched the Lions for the first four weeks and you're still thinking playoffs, they make very special padded rooms for people like you.

I've said since before this season started that the 2009 season would be sort of an extended preseason for 2010, and it still rings true.

Sure, you want to win preseason games, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.  All you really want is to evaluate your roster top to bottom, work on team chemistry, and identify areas of need for the future.

In other words, winning this game is not as important as getting a look at a few depth players.

Don't believe me?

Consider the case of one DeAndre Levy.

Buried on the depth chart for the first two games, Levy got the call to start after an injury to star linebacker Ernie Sims. Almost unanimously, Sims's injury was decried as a terrible blow to the Lions' defense.

But Levy responded to the call, notching 14 total tackles (including two straight on the goal line against Washington) and a forced fumble in the two games since Sims's injury.

Now, we know Levy is a pretty good football player, and we owe it all to Sims's injury.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about injuries to any of these players.  And indeed, seeing rookies like Stafford and Hill go down is a blow, since those players need to develop (though if Stafford misses time, Drew Stanton getting some reps would make it easier to swallow).

But I can't be upset about getting to evaluate players with upside like Aaron Brown, Landon Cohen, and Zach Follett as a result of injuries to Smith, Jackson, and Sims.

We already know the starters are good, and we know more or less what they can do.  They will help the Lions win when they return.

In the meantime, can Brown produce?  Will Cohen's 50 reps translate to on-field impact?  Can Follett unleash the hurt in the NFL like he did in college?

Answering these questions now, in regular season action, only serves to improve the Lions' outlook for the future.

If any one of these players proves capable of performing, even on a second-string level, then that's one less free agent signing needed. One less draft pick needed. One roster spot secured, at a time when the entire roster has been somewhat transient.

Personally, if I had to choose between the starters playing and coming out with a win against Pittsburgh, or losing and finding out one of the Lions' seventh-round picks can play at a starting level in the process, I'd rather fill the roster spot.

The Lions' management spent the entire offseason signing bargain players, hoping some might impress, given the chance. It's time to find out if they can.

Because the difference between the Lions and teams gunning for the playoffs is not wins and losses—it's players.

If the Lions beat the Steelers, would you think the Lions were a better all-around team?

Of course not.  The Steelers have more guys who can play the game, whether they're do-it-all superstars or solid role players.

A good team has its fair share of both. The Lions lack both.

But maybe, after this Sunday, they'll be one or two steps closer.