So the trend seems to be looking in to the past and laugh at it for the fun. Well back in late 2010 I posted an article about Calvin Johnson, with a poll. Linky. At those times, a group of Lions fans were pushing for the trade of Megatron. The majority were against the idea and some were for trading only for a crazy amount. Maybe about 2% of us here now would even consider the idea, if that.

So lets have a little fun, IF you ever had to trade our most favorite wide reciever, what would you ask for him? Go as crazy as you need to. GO Lions!

(And here is a little poll as before)

So yeah Mikel Leshoure has had quite the day, with the marijuana charges. But no people, he is not freaking Charles Rogers. That is jumping to extreme conclusions due to his mistake.

I'll admit I am scared for the situation and memories of the past come to my mind as well. But when I see comments such as "cut him, trade up to get the bet running back in the draft" or "Leshoure only knows the streets, he won't change" it seems a bit harsh to me. I am not defending his actions, yes he broke the law, yes he will pay the punishment, but is he going to fail in the NFL, be talentless, get fat, lazy and go bankrupt? Probably not, so please stop jumping on your trampolines of conclusions. You can judge the man when those things actually occur.

This is just my opinion, after Stafford I will give players second chances. This is different due to law breaking but I also trust our front office to handle this wisely and do what is necessary. Technically he is still a second string running back, so breathe and have faith in our Lions.

So Long and far well our beloved third stringer. I do not think any NFL fans have become so attached to thier third string quarterback as Lions fans have with Drew Stanton. With some of the reactions I've seen you would think we lost our own Peyton Manning! The hometown boy, the swag, the kind-heart, and the Dougie. So I commend this post to Sir Stanton.

During his career here of thirteen games he posted:

A 63.1 QB rating

55.6 pct. Completion

1158 Yds Passing

5 TDS - 9 Int

Rushed for 166 Yds, averaging 5.5 a carry (Probably best out of all runners over the past few years), and 2 Td's. Not to shabby for our third guy.

So feel free to post pictures, videos, gifs, and share our favorite memories of great man! GO Lions! **** Mark Sanchez.

This is just a short post, but I appreciate and value very much the hard and constant work Sean has put into this site, especially today!! This man has been posting non-stop about everything and keeping us in the know for Free Agency. I have been a member here for 2 and half years. Best Lions site ever, and honestly the best NFL related site on the Web.

So I would and I'm sure many of you as well would like to give our fearless leader and thank you and a round of applause! Keep up the good work Sean. Go Lions!!

So my friend (unfortunately a Packer fan), put together a survey for the kids at the school he works at. A simple assessment. Predict who will win the wild card games and what will the score be. Here are the results:

Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints: 71% Saints to 29% Lions. Average score: Saints 34 Lions 24. (Probably receive more respect from the kids than any other media, ha)

Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants: 50% Falcons to 50% Giants. Average score: Falcons 28 Giants 24.

Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 71% Texans to 29% Bengals. Average score Houston 25 Bengals 19.

Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: 79% Steelers to 21% Broncos. Average score Steelers 32 Broncos 25.

So I suppose we shall see how the wisdom of children does against the experts and our own picks. Go Lions!

Well folks, after the years of turmoil here we are, in the playoffs! Exciting stuff, and whether win or lose I am just happy to be here and finally on the right track.

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That is what this game was ladies and gentlemen. From the beginning to the end. They took our best soldier in Calvin Johnson and contained him as best they could. We rarely found success from our ground troops and they were then able to focus on defending from our aerial assaults. While in turn they hit us with two big blows from their ground troops. Yesterday we fought hard and lost well.

Even at the end, the two generals were starting to fight. And this is probably why I am okay with this loss. Our General and Leader Jim Schwartz. Some people may call it childish to bicker and argue after a loss and even go after the opposing coach. But I have to stand with what Buffalo Wide Receiver Stevie Johnson said, Schwartz got swagger. In all honesty I am glad that Schwartz did not take any of Harbaugh's bullsh**. Have we ever had a coach with this much fire and passion for his team? I love it! A coach that actually cares, sure he may not have called his best game, but he marched onto that field with his head high and looked into the opponents eye with a glare that said, "Next time we meet, we are going to ef you up." And even considered punching those words into Harbaugh's face for a second. Fire, Passion, Swagger, Love it.

Now am I the only one thinking that we are viewing a future rivalry of two teams with their own style of play, but also similar. I will take a step and say that this was only one of many battles to come. The NFL is a war zone, and we just found one of rival enemies. Could we meet the 49er's in the playoffs? There is a chance, and I sure hope we do. Cause it would be a hell of a game. Now onto the next battle, Bird Hunting! Go Lions!

At 4-0 the big game is approaching. We as Lions fans have been waiting for this game since last year, the fact that it is a Monday night is even better. This game was also one of the fastest to sell out. So we all know it will be good and most likely close contest.

Plus, I know many of us are not big fans of the Bears, (As in many of you here have fantasies of a Lion tearing off a bears head every night), but yes, so I am going put up a poll. What Bears player would you prefer to have the most humiliating game? Who would you like to just be dominated or destroyed. You can either look at this from a stand point of who we take out of this game will get us a win. Or you can view this as I just cannot stand the existence of this player so I want them humiliated by our players.

For me, it has to be Julius Peppers. I will admit, he is a beast and it is hard for any team to keep him contained. But there are two reasons I want him taken out of this game. First of all, from a strategic standpoint. After a mentally horrible start to this season for Jeff Backus, plus many blame him for last years hit on Stafford, he will want to avenge his reputation as our starter. I want Backus to absolutely own Peppers, it is a long shot, but I know Backus can do it when he plays at a high level. (Unless he gets benched again, or was he hurt? I don't know) And when you shut down Peppers you have a much higher chance of winning this game. Number two reason, I know Peppers was doing his job at the time, but I cannot get over the fact he destroyed Stafford. REVENGE!!!!.......cough*

So who would you like taken out of this game? Strategically/for revenge.

At the time of the lockout, we as football fans were miserable. Any smidgen of football news we could find we sucked dry and any topic or stat we could talk about was used till even goodwill would not accept it. But now as we enter the 4th week of NFL, I can honestly say, even though there are many injuries (which suck) and the long wait for football was horrendous, that there are some great and also very intriguing aspects that the lockout has created.

Mainly, rankings. Now it is only entering the fourth week, and usually by now we can see the 4 or 5 teams that will definitely be going to the playoffs. The fun thing is, WE HAVE NO IDEA.

How many teams are undefeated? Three - Packers (Makes sense) Lions (somewhat expected) Bills (......huh?) Only one of these teams is an NFL "powerhouse".

The other powerhouses? Patriots (2-1 lost to Bills?!) Colts (0-3, I guess Manning was important.....) Steelers (2-1 Lost to Ravens) Falcons (1-2 Can't score?) New Orleans (2-1, lost to Packers so that's okay, but still, no defense). And of course there is Dream Team Philly (1-2, talent galore, but no team play).

One more look at the standings of the teams that lead there division. 

Bills, Ravens, Texans, Raiders, Cowboys, Packers/Lions, Bucs, 49'ers. Four of these teams at this time last year were ranked 22 and below on power rankings: Bucs, Raiders, Lions, 49er's.

So, is it possible that most of the teams in the lead now will end up winning the division and a new age of teams will take control of the NFL? Probably not, but I sure as heck cannot wait to find out what the heck is going to happen. This will be a season to remember and partially thanks to the lockout that sent the NFL into a spin of turmoil and entertainment.

Currently in the NFL homepage on Yahoo Sports there is a poll going on. The question being, "Who deserves the most sympathy during the lockout?" With three choices.

1. Owners

2. Coaches

3. Players

Sympathy.......really? None of the above is the correct answer. No one has handled this entire situation well or smoothly at all so no one deserves sympathy. If they want to give anyone sympathy or at least recognition it should be the fans! The ones who actually support this great sport! The ones who continue to try to support it while they all argue like political idiots.

Hey, maybe I am just venting because I am frustrated there is no football, but that poll is pretty pathetic.

In a recent article on Yahoo titled "10 Burning Questions", writer Joe Fortenbaugh conjured up some questions regarding the future of some NFL teams after draft picks had been chosen. Here was Question number 7:

"7. Familiar with the name Deandre Levy? If not, I have a feeling you’ll be hearing it called quite a bit next season. Levy is the Detroit Lions starting middle linebacker who will be entering his third season in 2011. But more importantly, he’s the guy who will be playing behind 598 pounds of defensive tackle beef known as Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. If Levy can stay healthy, he should rack up 120+ tackles no problem."

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As the First Round of the 2011 NFL draft has wrapped up and we prepare for the second and third who do you believe deserves the Fame or the Shame. In other words, who had the best and worst Thursday night?

Winners:

1. Saints

Who arguably got the best players of their position in the draft in DE Cameron Jordan and RB Mark Ingram. We know Ingram was the best running back prospect coming in, we shall have to wait and see if  Jordan turns out to be the top DE of the draft because there are so many.

2. Cardinals

Arizona got, I believe, the "best" player in the draft. Who can either play corner or move to safety, return punts, and just so damn talented.

3. Lions

New Williams Wall, Motown Maniacs, whatever you wanna call it, our D-line just went to another level with the Fairly pick. Mayhew is once again showing us his wisdom and drafting not for position or need, but he is drafting "Football Players". Seeing all the quotes and reacting Mavryk put together was great, but my favorite comes from Doug Farrar from Yahoo. "Well, you can pencil Ndamukong Suh in for about 20 sacks next year. Who on earth are the Lions' opponents supposed to block?"

Losers:

1. Titans

With so much talent on the board, the Titans drafted for need instead. Going with Jake Locker will either look great or the worst decision ever. Tennessee hopes that Lockers winning attitude will produce a winning record. Still a poor choice.

2. Vikings

Also drafted for need instead of talent, which could come back to haunt them for a while. Christian Ponder can become a good NFL QB, but was not first round worthy. Ponder will have to learn to play smart quickly in a division where being a rookie QB can be a nightmare.

3. Seahawks

While picking an Offensive Lineman was smart, James Carpenter? Really? He will start but with talent like Derek Sherrod and Gabe Carimi still on the board, not the best choice.

What an exiting year it appears to be with just a quick glance at our schedule.

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Hello southern neighbors, Lions fan here. Over at Pride of Detroit we are doing our yearly Community Mock Draft. Lucky me, I was given Indianapolis. I will be doing both your first and second round pick. I would like some insight as to what fans of the Colts are hoping to gain in this draft.

I will be making the first pick in two days. I have heard many different wants and views of what Indianapolis needs to pick-up in this years draft. Especially with a focus on the Offensive Line. I would like you to name your favorite players in this draft that you believe would fit well with your Colts. Whether you would like the Best Player Available at the time or would like me to focus on a specific area of your team. More needs on offense or defense? Need players who can start right away? Or players who can be developed to replace veteran starters.

Thanks for your assistance! Go Lions!

I saw a really good article over at NFL.com, thought I would share it.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81e981a6/article/drafts-passrush-talent-further-emphasizes-need-to-protect-qb?module=HP_spotlight

Elliot Harrison has this to say about the Lions pass offense.

"The Lions averaged a measly 6.3 yards per attempt, which ranked 29th in the NFL. What does that signify? Well, it means Stafford, Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton were completing a bunch of five-yard slants and none-yard outs, plays in which the offensive linemen didn't have to hold their blocks for very long."

"So how did Jim Schwartz's offense fare when it did take shots down the field? Not good."

"Detroit was 30th on deep throws (38.8 passer rating in 50 attempts), passes over 20 yards through the air, and had difficulty developing a vertical attack, throwing three touchdowns to seven interceptions on such plays. A big reason for the failure to throw deep was because the line couldn't hold its blocks long enough for the plays to develop. In fact, Calvin Johnson averaged the lowest yards per catch of his career last season (14.5)."

Now some of the reasons for the lack of deep passes may be due to the lack of strength in Shaun Hill's arm, and the fact Stafford only played one full game. But still the stats are there. Our Quarterbacks do not have enough time to throw the ball, even if they are not getting sacked or hit as much, this still can cause a lack of production from the offense.

Plus we know how important the blind side is. We all know if Stafford takes another hit from a Julius Peppers type player and his shoulder goes pop once again, we will consider him a bust.

Now I am not saying that we have to draft a LT or even a O-lineman in the first or even second round, but I will say that I am certainly not opposed to it in the slightest. Especially with all the talented DE's coming into the league this year. A projected 9 DE's are going to be taken in the 1st round alone.

So I shall just put a poll up to see how you view the situation.

Lions fan here wondering about Erik Coleman. We just signed S Erick Coleman to a one year deal. So I was just wondering if he will stick around with us based on how well he played for you?

How good is he basically? What are his pros, cons?

Can he start? We have Louis Delmas set at one side of our field, but the other position is wide open. Between Amari Spievey, C. C. Brown, Randy Phillips, and John Wendling, Coleman does not face much problems competing. So can he play a full game and play smart? We lost a couple games because of Safety mistakes.

I am hoping he is another player from the Falcons that can contribute. We traded for Chris Houston last year, and he has been a huge asset in bringing the Lions defense back to respectability. I have heard he was let go simply because you have better options, but just wanting to get some info on Coleman, thanks.

What were your favorite plays of the 2010 Detroit Lions? It was a crazy year, that for sure. Filled with many highlights and some heartbreaking lowlights.

But out of all the TD's, sacks, interceptions, fumbles. Which were your favorite?

Suh fumble return for TD vs. Redskins?

Or any sack made by Suh?

How about the many plays made by Calvin and Burleson?

Or The Phonz?

Or Deandre Levy's game winning Pick 6?

Or Rayner's OT field goal to win our first road game in forever?

Feel free to post videos, pics, whatever. Let us reminisce in the craziness that was 2010! Go Lions!

In nearly all the mock drafts so far, at number 13, everyone has the Lions picking a Defensive end. Why? Do we need a replacement for Kyle Vanden Bosch? What about Lawrence Jackson and Turk McBride, and even Willie Young? If anything, I see the most logical thing for the Lions to do is trade back unless somehow magically one of the top two corners falls into our lap. And I seriously doubt we would trade UP to get one of them.

So I'll just post a poll, would drafting a Defensive end in the first round be sensible or not? I know the draft is loaded with them, and we go with "BPA". But then again,"BPA" is mostly speculation.

As always, discuss whatever you like.

Now our pass rush was quite good this year, yet the thing is, this was all done by the D-Line. Suh, Avril, Lojack, McBride, these were the guys racking up sacks. None of our Linebackers. Wanna know how many total sacks our Linebackers manged this year? 2. Yah, TWO!

Once again, props to the D-line for pressuring the QB all by themselves. I'm just here to say, in order to take this Defense to the next level, we need a Passing rushing Linebacker, whether in Free Agency or the Draft. Can you imagine? You try protecting your QB with Suh and Williams in the middle, Avril and Lojack on the outside and yet another pass rusher coming from the right or left. Opposing O-lines have enough trouble with Suh!

I do not think we need a leader at Linebacker. Deandre Levy is the future there. I want someone to replace Julian Peterson, someone who can get to the QB and quickly. Someone who on their way to the QB can tackle the RB if necessary. Let Landon Johnson, Ashlee Palmer, and Bobby Carpenter compete for the other spot. GET ME A PASS RUSHER!

This defense is so close to being a contender. Give me that LB and a play maker or shutdown corner. I'm getting way to excited just thinking of how close we are.

What are your ideas? Are there some good LB's in FA that can get to the QB or should we look for that in the draft?

Go Lions!!

Just thought I would throw some final stats into a post.

Game averages rankings.

Offense:

22.6 Points per game. (15th)

238.1 Passing yds. per game. (12th)

100.8 Rushing yds. per game. (23rd) Yay! Finished with 100+ yards per game

338.9 yds. per game. (17th)

Defense:

23.1 point per game. (19th) So if you combine the averages of point for and point against, we were losing by .5 per game. Fitting eh?

218.6 passing yds. per game. (16th) This one surprises me after all our worries and fears.

124.9 rushing yds. per game. (23rd)

343.6 yds. per game. (21st)

Other fun facts.

Three Quarterbacks started for the Lions this year. All of them finished with a positive TD to INT ratio.

Matthew Stafford: 6 TD 1 INT

Shaun Hill: 16 TD 12 INT

Drew Stanton 4 TD 3 INT

And the lowest QB rating was a 78 by Stanton.

The fact above may have to do with the O-line. Giving up only 27 sacks this year. Compare that to last years 43.

The Lions top two running back, Jahvid Best and Maurice Morris, finished with a total of:

261 Att.

891 yds.

3.5 Avg.

9 TD

This fact above is also in part to the O-line. (Ha)

Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson finished with 12 and 6 touchdowns respectively. While Bryant Johnson and Derrick Williams finished with none.

Stefan Logan finished with 1448 kick return yards and 1 TD.

Kickers Dave Rayner and Jason Hanson finished 5 of 6 from 50+ range.

Punter Nick Harris finished with an average of 44.6 yards per punt. With a long of 66.

Even though Louis Delmas had a "quiet" year. He finished leading the team in solo(62) and combined(84)  tackles.

Julian Peterson finished second with 56 solo and 83 combined. Unfortunately he did not do much other tackle.

Ashlee Palmer and Turk McBride finished with 3 Forced fumbles each, leading the team.

Turk McBride also finished with 5 sacks. Considering he is the 3rd DE in rotation. Talk about depth.

Sack Stats.

Ndamukong Suh- 10 sacks.

Cliff Avril- 8.5 sacks.

Lawrence Jackson- 6 sacks.

Turk McBride- 5 sacks.

Kyle Vanden Bosch- 4 sacks.

Sammie Lee Hill- 2.5 sacks.

The team finished with 14 INT. Compared to last years 9.

Enjoy! Go Lions!

Cliff Avril and Lawrence Jackson will be key in this game if we are to face Joe Webb.

In his first start as Vikings QB, his mobility kept him out the defenses hands and got the ball into Percy Harvin's. He also showed off a little bit of Vick skills, dashing in for a nice TD run. But let's remember he is a very young QB, now going up against arguably the best D-line in the NFL. Webb apparently loves to run to his right or left to give himself time. Now with our beat up secondary, even though vastly improved, it still gives up those big plays at least once.  It's up too Avril and Lojack to make sure he does not have that time to run sideways. We need to make Webb step up and into the loving arms of Suh and Williams.

I hope all of you here at POD had a fantastic 2010! I certainly did. I also hope you enjoyed this season of Detroit Lions football. All in all, through disappointment, injuries, bad luck, bad calls, blowouts (both ways), the lengthening of streaks, then breaking multiple streaks and then a winning streak, this season was a heck of a lot of fun! I'm pumped for the off-season! But we got one more assignment. - Let's put some Viqueens in the dirt and leap out of the cellar! GO LIONS!!

Happy New Years!!!

Unfortunately this is not a Hill vs. Stanton post. But the title is fitting for what I wish to discuss. Who deserves credit for these few wins we have had these last few games?

I find it slightly sad, that even right after a Lions INT for a TD that gives us the lead in a tight game we already start discussing who deserves credit for this win. It was Hill!! He had a great game and led us to victory. No! It was the defense that showed up and got us this victory! Or. If Stanton had been in, we would not have needed that last defensive score. No! Hill will always be better than Stanton, Stanton is in, we lose easily.

All these types of comments, throwing around debates who deserves credit for this win or the last. Can we not bask in the glory of a win for three seconds. I know this is a sports blog, and the purpose is to bring up these topics, but come on.

Before I get to the my main point, I would like to make a note of my own credit that seems to have not been given much. The Coaches and GM. These last 3 games we have won, we have had make-shift defenses put together in a week, sometimes bringing in starters 3 days before a game. Did we even have a starter in the secondary for most of today's game? This is not just a bunch of luck that helps keep us in these games. This is good coaching. Yes, its the players who make the plays. But who makes a lot of the calls? Who brought these players in, in the first place? Who coached them and prepared them to lead us victory? We have played against three teams, fighting for a spot in playoffs, while we fight for nothing but respect. We have fought against teams who have been twice as healthy as us, teams with a starting QB, teams with elite defensive players. And we have won. That's not just the players showing up, that is the coaching showing up.

Now my main point. While some players show up more than others in a game, while some coaches call the right plays at the right time, it is not these one players who lead us to victory. Then who? Who deserves the credit. No ONE. Because this is the Detroit LionS. Not the Detroit Suh's, not the Detroit Hill's, not the Detroit Levy's, not the Detroit Stanton's, not the Detroit Johnson's, or the Delmas's, or Best's. This is the DETROIT LIONS. A team. And that who deserves credit. The team.

Am I making too much out of three wins? Perhaps. But then again a lot of us here were wanting to get to the off-season already, just end the injuries and bad calls and bad luck.  So I say No. These three wins, in a row, two on the road, are a huge boost to our hope and the future.

Together WE made it
WE made it even though WE had our backs up against the wall
Forever WE waited
And they told us WE were never going to get it
But WE took it on the road (to the riches)
On the road (to the ghetto)
On the roooooad.

(We Made It. by Busta Rhymes ft. Linkin Park)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas day and is ready for a great game tomorrow! I don't know how many of you watched the Dallas vs. Arizona game tonight. Obviously not a very exciting game to look forward too, but it turned out to be fun.

Kitna got beat up and hurt his hip after throwing two INT for TD's (Good ole' Kitna). Steven Mcgee replaced KItna and played a great game. 11/17 111 yrd 1 TD. That TD was a beautiful 37 yard strike with 1:47 seconds left to go. That put Dallas up 26-24 after Buehler missed the kick. Arizona had about a 1:30 left to play with. First big play was a 4th and 15 when John Skelton hit Larry Fitzgerald for a 26 yard gain. Then on 2nd and 10 John Skelton threw a 19 yard strike after dodging a sack to put Arizona in Field Goal position. Both passes were beautiful. Jay Feely kicks the 48 yarder. Arizona wins 27-26.

I don't know about you guys, but I always enjoy seeing young QB's develop and come up big for a team even under pressure. Just fun to see the possible future leaders of the NFL. Im sure teams are showing great interest in Skelton right now, but he will prolly stick around in Arizona.

Anyways Merry Christmas ya'll from Texas! Go Lions!

In other words, can we finish third in our division?

Current records Detroit Lions 3-10/ Minnesota Vikings 5-8

Schedules

Lions @Tampa Bay, @Miami, vs. Minnesota

Vikings vs. Chicago, @Philadelphia, @Detroit

I order for the Lions to finish third they would have to win three in a row, along with the Vikings losing their lat three. Whether or not we finish third is up to Detroit. Minnesota has a high chance of dropping their next two, and hopefully three. Minnesota is discovering what life is like without a first or even second string QB, and then to lose your stadium, that's rough. This leaves the Vikings in shambles, with very little momentum.

The first step to the Lions finishing third would obviously be, beating Tampa, on the road. Now I am not as afraid of Tampa as I am of the "on the road'. Yet, if we pull out this victory on the road, we will more than enough momentum, hope, and belief in this team to win a second game in a row ON THE ROAD. At Miami. Now Miami is notorious for being good one week, and then dropping the ball the next, look at there schedule. For the past nine weeks, it been W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W. Some of those wins? Cincinnati, Oakland, Tennessee.  Miami wins the games they should and loses the games they should. Now whether they should win the game vs the Lions depends on how well the Lions play @ Tampa. The chance of finishing third or at least tying for third rests on Sundays shoulders.

How cool would it be. 5-10 Lions vs. 5-10 Vikings. Stafford vs. Favre. Favre's last game. Stafford's game back. Now that would be a fun matchup. If the Lions were to finish 6-10, it would be a huge boost for next season.

Drew Stanton, as we all know by now, will be our starting QB on Sunday. We can moan and groan and look to the heavens for help. OR we can get behind him, cheer him on, and try to win a dang game for once.

Think about it. Winning against a leading NFC team with our 3rd string, woo hoo! While highly unlikely, not impossible. I'm excited to see the kid play, he has not shown great skills and huge potential, true, but I have seen some football out of him where he can drive a team down the field, not make a mistake, and get the score. And that's what he will have to do, NOT MAKE MISTAKES.

Now do not complain when he throws an interception....or two. Because it will occur. IF we want to win Vs. the Bears, Mistake free is what we need to be.

History and numbers are not on Stanton's side.

With a Measly rating of 49.0 in his time here in Detroit and a 2 TD to 7 INT ratio. Its.....scary.

But, in the one game he played in this year. 19/34 for 222 and 1 TD, 1 INT. Definitely not horrifying stats, especially for a third string QB. O, that was against the Giants too.

So basically its a team effort to win this one. No QB alone will get us this win, but we can still cheer him on, for if we as Lions fans did not put our hope in even the smallest things, none of us would still have been fans after 08.

Keys to winning: O-Line protects Stanton very well. Stanton does not throw more than 2 picks. Rushing gains are consistently positive. Defense puts pressure, sacks him at least 4 times, and picks off Jay Cutler. Linebackers watch and play smart football on Matt Forte. Megatron gets a TD.

GO Lions!

Talk of trading Calvin, seems to be becoming more consistent. And I am sure it will increase in the off season. Would you ever consider it? Totally against it? Or if it gets us another first round pick or defensive leader sure! Or, do you find this entire consideration as absurd as I do. "Hey lets get rid of our biggest offensive weapon so that when our possible future Quarterback and savior returns he can throw to Burleson, a rookie, and whoever else! Nice! (Just saying)

And if anyone is for it, please give me and others some sensible reasons to trade CJ.

Here we go, Thanksgiving comes around again. Good food, good family time, and good football (That is, if you are the fan of the team playing the Lions)

When the schedule first came up and I saw that we got to play the Patriots on Thanksgiving, what the heck? There have been complaints to end the tradition, which will never occur, because the game is never competitive. So why give us this match-up, seems almost hopeless?

Well, while it is unlikely, it is not hopeless the Lions pull out a win. As we have seen this year in the NFL, any team can win, at anytime, anywhere.

So, how do the Lions win this match-up? Keep the engine firing smoothly and powerfully. The running game is in shambles with injuries and lack of blocking. So do not even try to run I say. Except on some draw plays and third and short, keep the running game extremely limited, because that is what it is anyways- limited.

If the Lions win, it will be in a shootout. Our secondary, while definitely improved, goes up against a genius at QB, a mastermind of the game, and a perfectionist at knowing how to win. IF (big if) the secondary somehow, shuts down Brady, they still have to deal with two explosive young backs in Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Who, if the D-Line does not show up, can each take one to the house in a screen or simple run.

Now, can our offense keep pace? Yes. If we pass and limit stupid penalties. Young corners, Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington have surrendered on average 300 yards and 2 TD to opposing QB's. That being said, Shaun Hill is capable of putting up good numbers, and against these two corners, whom our WR's greatly outmatch, he can definitely keep pace. Thats is, if the first play of 20 yards or more is not called back by a Peterman Personal Penalty or a Raiola Hold.

(Also if the Lions want to win, Special teams or Defense will need to score once, IMO) 

Lions win - 34-31

or

Lions lose- 35-20

Thoughts?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at POD! Go Lions!!

When I heard the Lions were coming to Dallas I had to go, so my Dad and I headed to Dallas, had a great time. Here are some side notes from observing the game.

Ndamukong Suh will be Defensive rookie of the year. We already knew this, but he continues just to dominate. Getting into the backfield disrupting plays. And how awesome was it to see him try and rip off Marion Barbers head. Start calling him the Head Hunter.

This defense is a great Linebacker away from being one of the best run stopping teams. WHAT? Yah, I said it. The defensive line is dominate at stopping the run, but it cannot do it every time, we need a play making, hard tackling, Linebacker.

O-Line Penalties. Biggest controversy at the moment. When I saw that 22 yard play, and then i saw the flag, I knew it was Peterman. How bad is it, when we already know, who committed the foul? Raiola and Peterman will be replaced in the next two years. (hopefully)

Encroachment penalties. While extremely annoying, EXTREMELY. It shows a young defense, wanting to go go go. With more concentration and growth of this defense, silly penalties will dissipate.

The Offense is boring without Matthew Stafford. It does not function like the well oiled machine Linehan created it to be with Stafford in the drivers seat. I am very grateful for Shaun Hill, but he is a back-up for a reason.

Special Teams. Either amazing, or horrible. Returns were par, punting and coverage was fantastic. Except on that one, stupid, idiotic, Old Lions, punt return for a TD. Our team thought the play was over, downed them inside the 5 again. NOPE. By by momentum.

Speaking of momentum, I consider a huge factor in the game of football. The Lions had control of the momentum, and were able to hand it over on a silver platter saying your welcome and bowing in the process. With the Punt return, a penalty, and fumble. All in about 2 minutes.

We have three receiving backs, and no running back at the moment. Actually two since Kevin Smith went on IR.

Nate Burleson would be destructive in the slot. He is already productive as the #2 wideout, if we had another large deep threat, and then put Nate in the Slot, Deadly.

Red zone run defense gets an A. Red zone pass defense gets an F.

And until our team figures out there is a 4th quarter, we will continue losing games.

One more thing, why do we not have a giant screen and cheerleaders on it? Just asking.

One of the hotter topics at the moment is the inability of the Lions to run the ball.

So what do you think is the problem? Do we need a different style of running back? Or is it all on the Offensive Line?

If the running game does not improve before the end of the season I believe we could use a late round pick or most likely the FO will pick someone up in the Free Agency.

If they do not do that then it will be the offensive line that gets a house cleaning or bring in players preparing to house clean. Who stays? Who goes? I say replace Stephen Peterman as I am sure many agree. Also Dominic Raiola. A good center is difficult to find in the draft, anyone know of one this year?

If we got a a new RB, what type. Power back? Home run hitter? Or just someone solid who gets us 4 yards when we need it?

Or should we just remain patient with our current running backs, and they just need time to develop?

What does POD think we need?

I have been around many of the SB Nation sports blogs and they all say, If this would have happened, or if this person had not been injured, or if you could have finished that one game, the Lions would be 4-5 or 5-4 right now. Now many times a teams gets a hit of bad luck through the middle of the season and since they have already won enough games and have momentum. But we all know, when this "turning point" occurred for the Lions.

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