Why cant one of the best colleges in the country's blog stay up to date? I can understand certain lulls but we are in the middle of a basketball season and there is barely an update. This has turned into a ghost town once football ended and, to be honest, before that this site is updated once every two weeks. I would blame the lack of traffic to the site but if there was more content there would be more traffic.

You can boot me off the blog or not. It wouldn't matter. Its not like I would be missing out on any new content. Please keep up or pass to someone who will.

Don't get me wrong. The Saints are a great team with a legitimate chance of making it and winning the Super Bowl. The playoffs are insane and once you get to this level any team can win on any day. Just remember what happened to the Saints last year when they had to travel up to Seattle.

First off I don't think anyone wants to play the Lions in the playoffs. You never know what team is going to show up but one thing is certain. The Lions have the tools to put points up on the board, put offenses on their heels, and capable of spurts in the 2nd half if needed.

Keep in mind that when these two teams met earlier in the year the Lions were without Delmas and Suh among others. That game became a glaring example of how the Lions can lose their temper and take enough penalties that would keep the Packers from beating the Colts. Since that game the Lions have cleaned things up a bit and appear to have learned their lessons. We still see the occasional personal foul but nothing like it was that night in New Orleans. With all those issues going on the Lions were in that game in the 3rd qtr. A big play in our favor instead of a turnover and that game goes down to the wire.

The domed stadium is a nice advantage over teams like Green Bay and Chicago but the Lions are built for speed and should be able to feel comfortable on the turf. That is one thing that concerned me about a potential 5th seed was to be forced into the cold windy situation in New York were running the ball is essential.

Matt Stafford and the Lions offense are capable of putting up a ton of points on the Saints D. And don't be surprised if we see a pumped up offense just go in and hit the Saints right in the mouth. If this game turns into a shootout ... who knows? A timely interception from Phonz, big hit and forced fumble from Delmas, or if Avril is able to sneak behind Brees and knock the ball from his hand this game could easily change tones.

Guther will have our D asses all week and they will be hungry playing the underdog card. This is our first playoff game and I expect everyone to come out ready.

All I hear is people claiming David and Goliath and that these guys have no chance and I keep thinking to myself, "You have to be out of your mind." That's fine though ... go ahead and listen to all the talking heads claim the Lions have no chance and how they will just be happy to be there. I don't see it that way. This will be a great game and when the Saints struggle they can really struggle (getting beat by the Rams).

I say bring on the Saints.

Go Lions!

I just wanted to swing by and say thanks to the Vikings fans in general.  My wife and I drove up to Minneapolis to see the Lions play your beloved Vikings and couldnt have had a better time.  We already love the city and spent the better part of Saturday hitting the tourist type stuff like the Mall and the zoo.  Had a great dinner downtown.  Then sunday morning was filled with some good natured hazing.  Joked around with a few Vikings fans for a bit and went into the metrodome. 

The atmosphere was good.  We were surrounded by Vikings fans but the little bits of conversation were good throughout the game as we noticed little things about eachothers side.  The crowd was loud and the tone was quickly set against us.  I did have one complaint however.  I was behind the endzone almost all the way to the top right in the middle on the (South side I think).  If you were watching on TV I would have been way above the endzone on the left side of the screen.  Right before kickoff I noticed two guys come up the stairs wearing headphones.  Didnt think much of it at the time.  Thought they might have a radio broadcast of the game or whatever.  But I quickly noticed that they were noise reduction headphones and what they did was start banging on the side of the scoreboard.  There was a big piece of sheet metal sticking out and these guys just banged on it all day.  I would be curious to know what the season ticket holders up there think of that. 

The fans were great and seemed genuinely happy that we made the trip to thier city.  The city itself is always relatively easy to get around, a lot of great food, pleasant people, and overall very easy going.  I always enjoy myself up there and plan to be back any chance I get. 

Good luck the rest of the year.

 ... and onward. 

It is no secret that the NFL is watching the kickoff situations very closely.  They moved the line up and it appears to have had little effect on the number of big returns in Week 1.  The first thing I noticed was the Lions toying with having Hanson dropping the ball inside the 5 yard line and forcing the opposing team to return it with our coverage getting a 5 yard head start compared to last year.  In the preseason it looked good and we pinned the opponent inside thier own 15 a few times. 

As I expected the first kickoff in Week 1 was beautifully placed at the goalline by Hanson and the coverage team was down the field and meeting the returner at about the 15.  But what happened was that the returner made a couple guys miss and found a seam.  He ran up the sideline for about 70 yards and the defense did what we all expected and 3 plays later Tampa was lining up for a field goal. 

The next time and everytime after that the Lions quickly abandoned that plan and had Hanson put it out of the end zone (or close to it).  I am not certain if the NFL kickoff coverage practice during the preaseason got a little less attention than before with the new rule or what but I think it is fair to say that at least the Lions did do some serious work there and they tried and it failed. 

I will be very curious to see if they work on it again this week and continue to try to have Hanson put it on the goalline (which amazes me how accurate he is) or if they just have him blast it through the endzone and tell the Cheifs to go 80 yards everytime.  I didnt get a chance to watch a whole lot of the other games this week so I am not sure if other teams tried similar things or not.  Just kind of curious what you guys think about the idea.  Personally I would love to see them try to cover some of these a little tighter and who knows maybe create a turnover or two.   

http://www.cbssports.com/#!/mcc/blogs/entry/6315047/30586692

I could easily see either side trying to do something like this.  The fact that it is the owners rings a little more true for me and look at the effect it has already had on us.  My office is already buzzing about the upcoming date.  I dont like the smell of this one bit. 

For some reason I find this to be very easy to believe. 

I like a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy but I just dont know how to take this one.  Could it be one rouge hold out player?  Maybe it was Cam Newton or maybe its true. 

Thoughts?

In the NFL rumors section of ESPN they have a heading saying "Lions shopping for a CB,  Which one will land in Detroit?  Here is the latest."  Obviously nothing that is even a little bit surprising but I am interested to see what they are calling "the latest".  If someone would check out the link below and see what the rest of this little snip it talks about I would be very thankful. 



http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/features/rumors?&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2ffeatures%2frumors

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6178205

I might be a little biased about former Hawkeyes but Robert Gallery is a serious talent that could be an instant upgrade either at LG or LT.  The Raiders just mistreated this guy and didnt use him properly.  Is O-Line a big enough need at this point or should we spend our free agency money elsewhere.  Personally I would love to see this guy sign with Detroit.

Thoughts?  

Hey everyone ... I must admit that it has been a little while since I have been by but the news of Dunn and the Tigers in "serious" talks caught my ear.  I like the idea of bringing in a guy like Dunn but his lack of fielding is the strongest concern.  Personally I would really like the Tigers to take a serious look at Derrick Lee.  He doesnt have the overwhelming power that Dunn has but what he lacks there he makes up in the rest of his game.  He is a good to great fielder who could easily spell Cabrera at 1st if needed and in the meantime swing DH for us.  Just curious what you guys think of this option instead.  

Sorry if this has already been brought up and talked to death but I didn't see it. 

Hi.  I just joined a slightly more complicated Fantasy League than I am used to where you take over an existing franchise and work from there.  I was given the option of choosing the Angels or Yankees and I despise the Yankees so the choice was pretty simple.  I never really cared much about the AL West (I am a Tigers fan BTW) with the expection of an unnatural hatred for the Rangers.  So I will be taking the Angels up as a fan and now I need to immurse myself in Angels baseball to get a grasp of the entire organization.   

I am pretty familiar with the MLB level of the Angels and the offseason moves are really attractive to me right now but the question that I have for you guys is this ... Who are the youngsters down in the minors right now that I should keep an eye on possibly making the jump up to The Show sometime this season? 

Anyway ... thanks in advance for the response and I look forward to following Angels baseball with you guys this year (and into the future). 

PS ... I am in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  The home of your Single A Cedar Rapids Kernels.  So if anyone out there wants information on any of those guys just let me know.   

OK ... here we go again.  This week we are at home again against a struggling Redskins team that barely got past the Rams last week.  There have been some significant steps forward and I am looking for it to all come together this week.  Stafford will be a little more comfortable in the pocket and I expect Kevin Smith to have another impressive game (without fumbling).  If our defense can play possessed again and continue to get pressure and hopefully our corners are learning this week how to keep containment. 

Just a few minor corrections could play a big part in how this game turns out.  I still think it is a mental thing and all we need is to catch a few breaks and get one under our belt.  This is the one. Lets go Lions!!! I dont care how we do it but lets get it done!

http://www.fannation.com/peter_king_challenge/peter_king?eref=sihpT1

I have to say I agree with this one.  I like that it is the first home game.  I like that the stadium will be at least 90% full.  I like that Brett Favre and the Vikings won convincingly enough last week as to not need this as a statement game.  I like AP running at our linebackers and Delmas.  I like the gunslinger to make a few mistakes.  I am pumped I wish I could be there.  Go Lions!

I guess it was a little over a year and a half ago when the news that Terrel Pryor had decided to go to Ohio State instead of giving Rich Rod his first building block at Michigan.  I remember thinking how much that move was going to hurt us and began to brace myself for at least  2, maybe 3 years of struggling under the Buckeyes but Saturday sparked a new hope for this team and the next few years of Michigan football. 

I dont want to get too far ahead of myself but watching the calm, confident, rock solid performance turned in by Tate Forcier shattered all the demons conjured up by the struggles of last year.  It really hit home that night when I was watching the OSU/USC game.  OK ... first of all, lets start this off by saying Barkely looked good but not great especially on the final drive of the game.  That drive was packed with little dink and dunk plays made for McKnight who actually deserved more credit for driving the Trojans to that victory.  But on the other side of the ball I saw that physical manifestation of my inital hopes and dreams of the spread offense in Maize and Blue and was seriously dissapointed.  Pryor is a sophmore, and I certainly dont expect perfection out of a sophmore QB, but he has shown very little leadership in big games and is developing a nasty habit of buckling under the pressure.  He was facing off with a much more powerful opponent in USC than Forcier saw against Notre Dame but when the chips were down it was Forcier who stepped up and took it to his opponent.  His running was downfield and he made good decisions with the ball.  He made a couple mistakes but made up for them in the long run.  Remember, Forcier hit a reciever in the end zone on the play right before the final TD pass and the reciever bobbled and dropped it in the end zone (it was tipped and I know I couldnt have made that catch) but the kid wasnt shook.  He came right back and fired a bullet that Matthews was able to pull in and he walks off with a big victory.  Pryor throws a horrible pick on the first drive of the game, consistantly made poor choices, almost never looked comfortable in the pocket, and when he did run it seemed very hesitant as if he was constantly second-guessing himself.  Of the 4 QBs I watched Saturday (Clausen, Forcier, Barkley, Pryor) I would take the freshmen Forcier 10 out of 10 times.  We've got a good one on our hands and I shocked to be sitting here thinking how lucky we are to have him and not Pryor.   

Well ... I am a little bored this afternoon at work and caught myself daydreaming a bit and I stummbled across an interesting senerio that might intrest a few people around here.  Lets go ahead and start setting the stage you know especially if the Lions start to struggle again Stafford will see some time in the second half of the season.  The first real big checkpoint is the Lions bye week on week 7.  Let’s assume Daunte is the starter and the Lions get out of the gate in ok shape and go into their bye week with a 3-3 record.  Daunte is looking "good" showing a little mobility still and finding his recievers down field. Even scoring a Lions victory over the Vikings as Lions QB Daunte Culpepper outperforms Vikings QB Brett Favre.*   Would you stick it out with Dante and see what he has left or give the kid a shot with a little excitement building in the stadium? 

*wow thats an odd sentence but I am getting used to the idea and liking it more and more everytime I read it.

Is someone an ESPN Insider or just know what this may be referencing?  I was strolling around the internet looking for updates and came across this little gem refering to Jiri Hudler on ESPN.  Normally I try not to worry too much about what ESPN thinks but for some reason I am extremely curious as to what this is about.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/features/rumors?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnhl%2ffeatures%2frumors

This is a slow time so any thoughts or even theories would be appriciated.

OK ... a bit of a reach but how about this senerio. 

The Lions take Curry with the first pick, everyone gasps and wonders how far he will fall.  Picks 2-9 go more or less as planned (Jacksonville taking Sanchez).  The Lions offer San Fran pick #20 and the 1st 3rd round pick for pick #10.  San Fran having about as many holes as Detroit accepts the deal to get 2 solid players.  The Lions swing in and snatch Stafford with a far more reasonable price tag. 

Lions walk out with both players and Detroit goes crazy!  I know I know everything lining up in the universe has a better chance but, hey the idea is out there. Now the wishful thinking is up to the rest of us.  And its possible ... kind of.

OK ... setting everything ESPN has shoved down our throats aside for a second lets take a look at this.  If the Lions pick Stafford we are stuck with a gigantic contract for a QB, who by most accounts isnt a #1 lock. 

The Lions should keep it simple and go after a "relatively" cheap Curry or a solid LT in Smith or Monroe.  All three of these players are guaranteed to be at least solid for years to come.   

I love the Lions but thier QB history is absolutely horrible.  Something funny happens to QBs who put on that blue and silver. Putting anyone back there that isnt 100% ready for it is a complete mistake. 

That being said, Pat White could be picked up in the 3rd round.  He may not be the next Lion QB to bring us to the brink but he will bring an extremely exciting slot reciever and kickoff specialist who could take a few snaps to see how he works.  If it doesnt work out as a QB, you have a much smaller contract to deal with, and he still a playmaker who can be used immediately.  I think it is safe to say that no matter what the Lions do this year we will be looking at another Top 10 pick in 2010.  The next draft class of QBs will be much stronger and far less risky. 

Just a thought ... new to the board ... great to be here ... Go Lions!!!!!!