Detroit Lions' Compass is Pointing North

Every team in the NFL knows the importance of having talent.

Some teams, like the newly awakened Detroit Lions, understand that you have to have talent in the front office and on the coaching staff in order to assemble a winning, cohesive team on the playing field.

Talented young players are available every year in the draft. They are the key building blocks of teams that hope to improve their records.

But talented players who land on a team that lacks a long-term, sustainable plan to build a dynasty are lucky to achieve more than one-and-done glory.

Some teams are clearly better than others at identifying, evaluating and acquiring players that can help them win football games.

Who are these good teams?

It's easy to tell who the good teams are.

They are the organizations that tend to make it to the playoffs at least two years in a row and have more then one Super Bowl win.

What do these teams have in common?

It's not just deep pockets, or Dan Snyder's Washington Redskins would have won a Super Bowl by now.

It's not just a good GM, or Bill Polian would have won more than one Super Bowl in his 25-year history as a general manager.

It's not just good coaching, or San Diego wouldn't have fired Marty Schottenheimer after leading the Chargers to a 14-2 record in 2006.

And it's not just having an abundance of good talent on the field, or the 15-1 1998 Minnesota Vikings and the 16-0 2007 New England Patriots would have gone on to win the Super Bowl those seasons.

Being a consistent champion requires integrating the whole package, year-in and year-out, plus a little luck on the side.

All-In, Shrinking Window-Of-Opportunity Teams

If you happen to be a fan of a team that feels compelled to go all-in in an effort to capitalize on what is perceived to be a shrinking window of opportunity to make the playoffs or capture the Super Bowl, chances are that your team has mortgaged its future in a foolish attempt to gain fleeting glory.

This is typically attempted out of desperation in order to sell more season tickets and/or save a GM or head coaching job.

Are you paying attention here, Jets, Vikings, and Bears fans?

If your team has traded away tomorrow's early round draft picks for speculative "franchise" players today, or has signed aging veteran players with dubious character, on-again off-again work ethics, or players with very little gas left in the tank, you're basically screwed.

Sorry.

Building a Solid Foundation for Success

Quality franchises that have put together enduring dynasties like the '70s Steelers, the '80s 49ers, the '90s Cowboys and Broncos, and the 2000s Patriots all built teams that could compete for a decade or more, not just a single year.

These teams tended to feature smart front offices and stability at the head coach position. They all generally built winning teams from the quarterback and defensive front line positions on up through the draft.

Sure, these teams all had some outrageously skilled players at other positions that they might have acquired through trades and other acquisitions, but it was the rock-solid foundation that was already laid in place at key positions that allowed the additional flash players to flourish and help take these teams to the next level.

Looking Forward, Not Backward

Now that the regular season is about to begin and most team's key roster positions have been filled, the expert prognosticators are out in full force. Most of them make their living basing their predictions on past performance.

Fair enough.

The past is a fair baseline for future success, at least most of the time.

However, baselines don't tell the whole story.

For example, standard progressions don't account for the basement-to-ballroom success of teams like the Bengals, who went from 4-11 in 2008 to 11-5 in 2009. Or the 1-15 to 11-5 jump of Miami and the 4-12 to 11-5 jump Atlanta made from 2007 to 2008, or the Saints' move from 3-13 to 10-6 in 2006 to winning the Super Bowl last year.

The truth is that ESPN, SI, and NFL.com suck when it comes to recognizing breakout, talented teams. And they always will. These guys don't get paid to separate themselves from the herd.

The 2010 Season

This year, the Detroit Lions have talent in the front office and on the coaching staff and they play together well.

Together, they've put some very talented players on the field so far, and they're not done. In fact, they will never be done!

Last year, this same organization fine-tuned their roster by adding/subtracting over 20 players from the time their roster was "finalized" through the end of the season.

This year you can expect them to do about the same or better.

No desperation moves were made in the process, or will be now.

The Lions' management and coaching staff didn't mortgage the future or sell the ranch to make a one-year splash.

Instead, they worked together to strike a healthy balance between putting a team on the field that can get to the playoffs this year, while at the same time laying the foundation for a future dynasty.

Say what you will about the Lions' prospects this season.

But the franchise is heading north.