Attention NFL: The Detroit Lions Have Arrived and Are Staying

This Detroit Lions team is exciting. I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, so their little resurgence has had me captivated, but the Lions are having an absolute renaissance.

Remember when Matt Millen drafted Calvin Johnson and the team was a laughingstock? He drafted four receivers in first rounds and three consecutively. Then 0-16. Well, they've been to the bottom. There was, however one thing they got from those terrible seasons: lots of top five draft talent.

Starting with Johnson the Lions stockpiled blue chip players while playing at a low level. Go to the next year and you get your left tackle, Gosder Cherilus.

Follow-up with the guy he protects, Matthew Stafford, and his safety valve, tight end, Brandon Pettigrew. Grab the best defensive tackle to enter the league in years with Ndamukong Suh and starting running back, Jahvid Best.

Then, a player who is talked about as the best player available, Nick Fairley, slides into their lap because of character issues. They even still have Jeff Backus and Dominic Raiola, who were first and 2nd round picks in 2001.

They've done well beyond the first round, starting with Raiola and adding Titus Young, Cliff Avril, and Louis Delmas. And we mustn't forget the players they've snagged in free agency, such as Nate Burleson, Bobby Carpenter, and Justin Durant. 

Four of those players, Johnson, Suh, Fairley, and Pettigrew, could be considered freaks.

Yes, there have been growing pains. They're not even fully matured yet, but we're seeing it in motion. It doesn't help that they're in the same division as the defending champion Packers, but they don't care. They're creating a whole new culture in Detroit. Jim Schwartz has these guys believing they can beat anybody.

Anybody that saw last night's game in Detroit saw that this team is excited. They were maybe a little excited at times, but as long as Schwartz can keep them down enough they'll be fine. Not only were they excited, Detroit is excited. The Bears offense had three false starts on their first series because of the rowdy fans. The Lions are clearly great for the NFL and especially for a city like Detroit that has been so down in the recent past.