2010 Won't Be Another "Same Old Lions-Tale" For Detroit Lions Football

Yesterday afternoon while on an overnight “virgin” family excursion to Sault Ste. Marie and the Straits area of Saint Ignace and Mackinaw City, Mi., I was blessed to find the company of a Detroit Lions fan from Iowa (not a Hawkeyes fan), born in Michigan, and a Michigan State fan to boot.

Gee, this could quickly turn ugly on such a crisp, but beautiful mid-August afternoon with the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge in all her glory and the billowing waves of Lakes Michigan and Huron in our background.

Just kidding Spartan fans.  I love to eat (just ask my tailor), and my people around here are the world’s professional farmers; they are proud Spartans, and I am proud they have a passion to feed the world.

This gentleman had brought his son and his friend to visit a spot that he and his folks had visited before, the same as I with my father and mother back in the early 1980s.

Quickly the Detroit Lions became the topic of conversation (can’t imagine why…), and the traveler asked what kind of team I thought the Lions had going into the fall.

Opportunity was met with preparedness.

From what I’ve witnessed at Lions training camp and the first twenty-or-so minutes of the game last Saturday night against the Steelers at Heinz Field, I was able to give a more-than-cautiously-optimistic evaluation and prognostication:

This team isn’t going to be the “same old Lions.”

Now, without mixing up an extra-sweet jug of peach-flavored Kool-Aid and breaking out a full sheet cake of the warmest, tastiest, moistest cornbread you ever did taste, I was actually able to give my most glowing report of the Detroit Lions since the 1993 or 1994 seasons.

It’s been a while.

I can’t begin to say enough about how impressive the retooled Detroit Lions defensive line looks, both in practice and in the exhibition season.

Detroit Lions fans are all too familiar with the 4-0 preseason start to the ensuing “OwenXVI Championship” season of 2008.

Every Detroit Lions fan has to be super guarded or jaded for fear of being ridiculed for being a “slappy” or a “Kool-Aid drinker” or a “cornbread eater.”

I think those days are quickly coming to a close, my friends, because I sense a real shift of what’s going on in Allen Park.

I’m not saying you have to get “punch-drunk giddy” about the prospects of the Lions franchise during the lead up to the 2010 campaign.  Not at all.

But you can if you want to, and don’t you dare let anybody else tell you that you can’t.

The Detroit Lions have made huge capital investments, both human and financial, over the past two seasons.  My last month-and-a-half’s worth of articles are devoted to discussing the same at length.

If you have an affinity for watching line play or should you happen to see the game from a defensive bent, I think you have to come away with a favorable impression of the team the front office has assembled.

Let me tell you, folks, the 92nd overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft has been cat-quick this August.

Defensive end Cliff Avril appears to be taking very well to the tutelage of three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, along with brewing optimism and confidence entering his second year in the Schwartz-Cunningham system.

Vanden Bosch seems to be showing no reduced signs of wear—he’s a beast, Lions fans.  Honestly, it almost seems too good to be true—have to keep my “buyer beware” sign within reach.

If you’re like me, you like to see colossal men engage in an every-down battle of the “clash of the titans.” 

From that middle linebacker’s perspective, it’s got to be awesome to watch defensive tackles Corey Williams, Sammie Lee Hill, and newcomer Ndamukong Suh get after the opposing offensive line with serious attitude.

I know this crew has yet to play a meaningful regular season game together, but I’m telling you, this group may be our best defensive line since my childhood heroes, The Silver Rush, departed the scene.

Again, it’s been awhile.

As much as I despised the pick by Matt Millen, I was very saddened to watch MLB Jordon Dizon in tremendous pain and taken out for the season on Saturday night. 

That was bad news and a lousy break for a player who seemed poised to handle more than adequately his role the Detroit defense this year.

I’m not going to speculate as to how Saint Martin the Kaizen Magician will address this personnel issue, but I do know it’s never too late for Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew to “strike the iron” when we least expect it.

Vanden Bosh.

Burleson.

Scheffler.

Best.

Sims (either way—correct).

Williams.

I think the Detroit Lions general manager will continue to find creative and effective ways to improve the team’s roster all the way up to game day on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 12.  And then Martin will be right back at it again on Monday.

I told my newly acquainted Lions fan from Iowa that the defensive backfield looked improved with the additions of cornerbacks Chris Houston, Jonathan Wade, Dré Bly, and safeties C.C. Brown and Randy Phillips. 

If safety Louis Delmas is not healthy enough to take the field during the Lions’ road opener in Chicago, Phillips may experience a similar learning curve during his first NFL game as did Delmas.

Remember Delmas swatting the ball out of New Orleans Saints TE Jeremy Shockey’s hand after Shockey’s touchdown grab early in the game? 

It could be a frustrating opener for the Detroit Lions and their fans if Delmas is unable to start the season against da Bears.

Former California Golden Bear rookie running back Jahvid Best is going to give Detroit Lions fans a real thrill this fall.

When is the last time you saw a Detroit Lions running back who was fast enough and athletic enough to take the corner and get up field?

On Saturday night at Heinz Field, Best took the corner and got after it against the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers starting 3-4 defense.  Those runs were made available in part by some very good looking blocking. 

The addition of left guard Rob Sims plus the second year in the Linehan scheme under the tutelage of offensive line coach George Yarno has this group looking much better than I’ve seen anytime lately.

Thank goodness.

On Saturday night we witnessed quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson show glimpses of what they are ready to do to NFL defenses this year—make them pay. 

The 2010 Detroit Lions receiver corps is hungry and ready to deliver with a renewed intensity driven by outstanding competition.  The passing game can only benefit from those players who survive the looming 53-man cut down.

And none of my tales to this dear traveler were fabrications or embellishments.

Except for the part where I spoke nicely and courteously about the Michigan State football program.

Naughty HäMMëR!