Let me start off by saying that every fiber of my 29 year old body is a Lions fan, and has been since I first started following them in 1991. This is an exciting time for me, because for the first time in my adult life, you won't hear laughter after one mentions 'Lions' and 'playoff's' (playoffs?) in the same sentence. We are a relevant team again, and that is a very proud feeling. That being said, we are now in an offseason where the problems we face as a team are, in a sense, good problems. The hands down number one issue facing the Lions this offseason (besides Megatron's contract, but that's different) is what is going to go on with Cliff Avril after his very successful season? He wants to stay, and he wants a long-term deal.

However, the Lions seem to want to place the franchise tag on him, of which Avril is thoroughly resisting to the point of threatening to not report. Oy, yoy yoy. Well, I have a solution.

(more after the jump)

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That Eric Wright and Aaron Brown are rocking the same number? Has anybody else noticed this? Either I'm going insane or something is very strange. I swear that in each of the games I have seen #21 playing both sides of the ball, so I went on the detroitlions.com website and sure enough, they both have #21. I never would have thought that two players could play with the same number!!! Very odd.....hahahahahaha.

Now that the Packers are heading to the Big Dance in the Big D, LT Chad Clifton obviously will not be going to Honolulu next weekend. I hope that there is a way to have Backus replace him, because (bash me all you want) I really think he is one of the best LT's in the league, and most consistent.

Nick Collins is out too, so who will replace these guys? Discuss.

Go Lions!

This is a big game. A very big game and will be played in front of an undoubtedly sold out crowd at Ford Field. The Lions, to me and many of us other fans, are right there. We shouldn't have to keep winning games that everybody expects us to win. We need to start going toe-to-toe with 'elite' teams, and here is our first major 'elite' team on schedule. The Jets seem to have it all....big names galore on both sides of the ball....a ferocious defense, and an underrated offense. So far this season, at 5-2, they have lived up to to the hype. They are just coming off of a brutal 9-0 defeat at the hands of Green Bay, and are going to be very angry when they march onto Ford Field.

The Lions are coming off of their 37-25 (which should have been a Lions blowout win, in my honest opinion) win at home against much maligned Washington. The main thing here is that the Lions maintain this momentum into this epic battle coming to Detroit in six days. That being said, here are my five keys for the Lions/Jets game.

1.) Lions D-line vs. Jets O-line. Let's face it, the Jets have one nasty offensive line. The Lions are really going to have to come together and get after Mark Sanchez, because he's prone to making mistakes when under duress. I expect a lot of blitzing, but these guys really need to play well in order to have any chance at the Lions gaining the upper hand in this game. I think this is THE most important matchup of the day. Getting after Sanchez and forcing turnovers and limiting big plays.

2.) Lions WRs vs Jets Secondary. (Darrelle Revis vs Calvin Johnson in particular). Matthew Stafford must be on target because Revis and Antonio Cromartie can really hurt you if you're not on target. The Revis/Megatron battle is far and away going to be the most hyped and talked about battle of the week. The receivers, TEs, and RBs really are going to be a big factor in getting downfield. Ball security is a must (I'm looking your way, Nate Burleson).

3.) Lions LBs vs Jets RBs. Linebacker has been a big problem area for the Lions this year. Hopefully, DeAndre Levy has his injury issues behind him and is back to form. This unit really has to come together and not only contain a very good Jets rushing attack led by a revived LaDanian Tomlinson, Shonn Greene, and Tony Richardson who is among the best fullbacks in the league, but blitz and help put pressure on Sanchez. Very important matchup here.

4.) Lions O-Line vs Jets front seven. Expect Rex Ryan to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Stafford, so this unit must play well. Also expect a lot of max-protect and two tight end sets to help keep the flies off of Stafford. The Jets are a very difficult team to run against, so look for the check downs and screen passes to move the ball primarily. The Lions O-Line, in my opinion, has held together rather nicely this year and has been doing a very good job. This is going to be their ultimate test so far this season. Calvin Pace, David Harris, Bart Scott, Bryan Thomas and Jason Taylor make up one of the premier LB corps in the league and are going to be out for blood. Shaun Ellis, Sione Pouha, and Mike DeVito make up a very beefy interior line.

5.) Limiting mistakes. The Lions lead the league in penalties, and it has cost us at least a few games. The vast majority of these calls have simply been boneheaded plays and they HAVE to be limited in order to have a chance in this game. It seems as if every time I turn around there seems to be Lion penalty and its wiping out a score or big game. This HAS to stop. Smart, tough play and this will be one game to watch.

Prediction: Jets 21-Lions 10

What do you guys think?

All of us are well aware of the Calvin Johnson touchdown fiasco, but it is what it is. The sad thing is that rules like this, however odd and questionable they may be, are in place for a reason and rules are rules. I don't agree with it, but whatever. It's in the past now.

To me, I was impressed with the Lions defense. After Stafford went out of the game, the Lions offense was just stuck. The defense really hung in there, however. With the exception of that long run by Matt Forte after a short pass from Jay Cutler, the Lions brought high energy and solid tackling to the forefront. Cutler put up good numbers, but that's to be expected in a Mike Martz offense. Our secondary played very well and our defensive line played outstanding, finishing the day with four sacks. Tackling was solid across the board especially with the four down goal line stand. Aaron Berry had a nice interception (tip drill!!!) after the ball was tipped twice by Julian Peterson and C.C. Brown. The Lions struggled mightily on offense all day, with both touchdowns coming off of turnovers.

Losing Matthew Stafford is certainly a blow, but I'm confident in Shaun Hill. The Bears defense played very well too, limiting the Lions to 200 or so yards of offense. Jahvid Best scored two short touchdowns.

Looking ahead, the Lions host the Eagles at Ford Field next weekend. After the heartbreaking loss to the Bears, the Lions will come into this game with a chip on their shoulder. It's a must-win situation as after this game, Detroit goes on the road to Minnesota and Green Bay respectively. For the next few to several weeks, this will be the Shaun Hill show. Let's get behind and support him. We brought him in as our backup for a reason.

Here's to munching on some EAGLES next week. This is OUR house baby.

Last year, as we all know, the Lions secondary was an absolute disaster. With the exception of Louis Delmas, there was not a single playmaker in the group. None. Zip, zero, zilch. To the tune of La Cucaracha, different players came and went like a carousel through the secondary, all to the same effect, which wasn't effective. But it wasn't as if the coaching staff had a choice. Coming fresh off of an 0-16 season, the talent pool was dry so there was no option but to start players (Anthony Henry, Phillip Buchanon, Will James) who were all past their primes or simply weren't starting caliber material (Marvin White, Kalvin Pearson).

There was no choice. However, late in the season, Jack Williams was waived by the Denver Broncos and Detroit immediately picked him up. Unfortunately, literally on his first play as a Lion, he suffered a severe knee injury that ended his season. I was looking forward to seeing what he could do because from what I have seen, this kid has tons of upside. Fast forward to today, he's been placed on the PUP list which means he will miss the first six weeks of the season at least. I was glad to see the Lions stand by him and give him a chance when he eventually returns from injury. They could have simply cut him, but they decided to keep him and give him a shot with the hopes that he returns ready to go in a few months.

The change in the secondary has been astounding, and I am going to give a big round of applause to the coaching staff for putting faith in a youth movement back there. Jonathan Wade, Chris Houston, Aaron Berry, Amari Spievey, John Wendling, C.C. Brown, Randy Phillips, Jack Williams, Alphonso Smith, and Louis Delmas are all 27 years old and below, and I think that this bodes well for the future for these Lions and the team as a whole. The Lions staff and front office, in my opinion, did an excellent job in searching for guys with unlimited upside. I was also glad to see Paul Pratt and Jonathan Hefney make the practice squad. Both had some impressive plays in the preseason but need a little more work.

Based on past transgressions, the Lions secondary is totally written off for this season according to most people and the 'experts'. However, there are a small majority of people such as myself that think that something special may be in the works here.

-During the preseason, Randy Phillips really was a fascinating player to watch. This kid, who wasn't drafted and wasn't even on the team when the Lions started training camp, rocketed to the top of the depth chart in a matter of days, and played absolutely lights out during the preseason making plays all over the field and in the backfield. I'd love to see him start alongside Delmas, like they did against the Browns. He's one to watch this year.

-Amari Spievey looks much more comfortable and natural at safety, who still retains the ability to play corner in spot or nickel situations. Another one to keep an eye on.

-Aaron Berry, even though he was nursing an injured hamstring most of camp, was very impressive when he did play. Gunther Cunningham, who in all his years of coaching and wisdom, was left in awe after this hit that set up an amazing leaping interception and return by Ashlee Palmer. Now if that's not faith in a young player, I don't know what is.

-Alphonso Smith was a guy that the Lions were very high on coming out in the 2009 draft, but Denver sacrificed a 1st round pick to trade up into the second round to draft him. He was recently Mayhewed (this is what I'm calling Lions trades from now on) from Denver for Dan Gronkowski (in which both players were going to be cut anyway) due to him falling out of favor (really, who hasn't?) with the McDaniels regime. Nothing but upside here.

-Jonathan Wade was brought in during the offseason after a disappointing season in St. Louis, but if he lives true to the coaches claims of him being 'the most consistent corner of the the offseason', then I think that there's some potential here, broken finger notwithstanding. Remember back in  the day when Dre' Bly had that cast on his arm that looked like a club? Well, here we go again.

-Chris Houston is by far the most intriguing pickup of the offseason after he was Mayhewed here from the Atlanta Falcons, since Dunta Robinson's arrival meant Houston was expendable. This kid obviously has the talent, just needs to be consistent. His constant covering of Calvin Johnson, among the best receivers in the game, during the offseason only helped him along. He needs to limit mistakes and start finding the ball. Once he does that, he could be one of the premier corners in the game. Much upside here.

-Louis Delmas is the unquestioned leader of this young secondary. As long as he's healthy and able to play at a high level, he's Pro Bowl bound. Bank on it.

-John Wendling. I didn't know too much about this guy, as did many of you. Mad props goes out to evilsmurf for posting this writeup on Wendling. He apparently is an absolute special teams stud, as well as being able to play safety in a spot or nickel situation. He did have an interception last year. I love how  the Lions went out of their way to upgrade an absolutely laughable special teams into what has the potential to be a very potent unit. Stay tuned.

-C.C. Brown came over as a castoff from the Giants, but all indications are that the Lions are comfortable with him starting at strong safety opposite Delmas. Let's hope he doesn't live up to the 'can't cover' moniker and makes some plays out there. He looked steady and reliable during preseason. Upside.

-Paul Pratt/Jonathan Hefney. Both are young, gritty players who are hard workers, and they worked their way onto the practice squad after a solid showing in the preseason. Hefney played far under the radar, but was steady. Pratt showed flashes, coming up with some big hits and big plays (like his game-sealing 102-yard interception return for touchdown), but also made some mistakes that are correctable with more practice and hard work.

All in all, I have a gut feeling that there's something special brewing in the secondary this year. Our first major test is tomorrow against Da Bears. I'm going out on a limb here with this post, so if Cutler's cannon toasts us for hundreds of yards and some TD's, I won't mind munching on my size 13 shoe. My gut feeling is more often than not correct.

But as of right now, I'm saying that we're going to be much improved over last and previous years. We'll soon find out.

From Adam Schefter on Twitter:

Adam_Schefter    Filed to ESPN: Chiefs traded S Jarrad Page, who signed his contract only on Friday, to New England for a conditional draft pick.

Whelp, Lions fans, it looks like Jarrad Page will come to Ford Field after all, except in a New England Patriots uniform.

Call me crazy, but I'm unusually comfortable with our safety position. Randy Phillips has been a pleasant surprise to me. This kid is like Delmas lite, making plays all over the field and in the backfield. Spievey has some serious potential back there as well.

Hmm, interesting.....

http://twitter.com/DetroitLions

DetroitLions    I guess we bid farewell to @EKizzle29. Best of luck out there!

We have a very young secondary. Last year, we had a very old secondary. I'm liking this youth movement back there. Lots of upside it would seem...

Last year William James and Anthony Henry were old and couldn't cover anybody. Hopefully this newfound youthful energy in the secondary could pay more dividends. WE can only hope...

Now that Suh is signed and that headache is over with, I'm curious as to see what nickname the new, and potentially dominant, defensive line should be given. I've heard some names like 'Motor City Wrecking Crew' and such, which I kind of like. Let's see what you all think!

Minnesota has the 'Williams Wall' which in my honest opinion is aging and slowing down, or another one I heard like '3 men and a mullet'.

Let's see what you all can come up with! Should be fun.

You know, I'm tired of this holdout business. Now granted I'm no agent and no team front office guru, but from the outside looking in, rookie salaries are out of control. Absolutely out of control. I know nothing of that side of the business, so if anybody has any real insight on that side of the business, I would gladly welcome your input on this.

It's all about money. Football and all of sports is a business. As well all know, any business revolves around and depends on money. For a business to be successful, it has to make money. In order to make money, most businesses have to pay people to produce, present, and sell their product to the masses. In this case, it's football.

There are 32 teams in the National Football League, with each team representing cities of people of every different demographic in the spectrum in all four corners of the United States and everywhere in between. These teams depend on their fan base to come out and support their team in order for the team to create revenue, which is spread among the players of the team and other things. There are many teams that are full of established veterans and some that are on that path. Each year, there is a new group of rookies drafted by these teams in order to help them on the team's path, which is every team's goal, and that is the Super Bowl.

However, there is one glaring problem that has been eating at me for years, and now I've absolutely had it. Popeye sums it up best with "I've had allz I can standz, I can't standz no more!!!"

Rookie salaries.

It's always about more. I'm not sure if it's totally about the agents, or the players, or both, but someone has to put their foot down about this and restructure the whole system. Rookies, especially at the top of the draft, seem to see only dollar signs and that's encouraged by agents. Now I may be talking out of my butt here, but once again this is from the outside looking in.

Why can't rookies sign like two or three year deals with a modest, but certainly not excessive payday? That way they can prove themselves as well as motivate them to make the big money if they produce? Everybody wants money. I'd prefer to work for it instead of having it tossed into my lap. I know as for me, if millions of dollars were thrown into my lap instantly, I wouldn't want to do a damn thing. I'm sure you all could agree with me, ESPECIALLY if I'm a young 21 something kid who has yet to prove anything. If they don't produce, then they don't get paid. Period.

Now I'm certainly no businessman, accountant, or math whiz, but in my honest opinion, 'paying by potential' is a route that is certainly NOT the way to. Ask JaMarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf, whom are two of the biggest busts in NFL history. Russell, with Micheal Crabtree following in his footsteps two years later, decided to hold out all of training camp and into the regular season. Why? Because it wasn't enough. They wanted more. As a result, their reputations, images, and teams suffered because they wanted a few more measly million dollars on their already insane contract offers. Leaf and Russell were both busts all around, and pocketed millions and became the poster boys for spoiled babies that wanted the world to revolve around them.

Now that both have come crashing down back to Earth with us regular folk, it makes my point increasingly clearer. Crabtree decided that since he was rated higher than Derrious Heyward-Bey on pre-draft analysis, even though Heyward-Bey was drafted before him, felt he should make it all about him and hold out into the regular season threatening to rejoin the 2010 draft. Seriously? That was and still is up there with one of the most ridiculous things I have heard in my life. Ever. Something needs to be done to rectify this situation, like yesterday.

Contracts should be two or three years, at a rookie minimum. A set amount of guaranteed money cap should be established, with some incentives along the way. In the past several years, the main holdup for people holding out in their new rookie contracts was the amount of guaranteed money they would get, which (correct me if I'm wrong) they get even if they don't pan out and regardless of how they perform on the field.

The way the system seems to me currently is that teams are hamstrung with these massive contracts at the top of the draft, which leaves little flexibility to do anything else. Let's take a look at the New England Patriots or the Indianapolis Colts for example. Two teams that consistently draft towards the bottom of the 1st round, if they are even in the round altogether. They don't mind trading down stockpiling up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks and finding diamonds-in-the-rough later on (Tom Brady ring any bells??). These teams from what I have seen have more maneuverability to spread the money around and put it to better use, instead of lumping it all on one person.

Teams like the Rams, Raiders, Lions, etc. all have struggled mightily the last half of this decade, and they all have been drafting inside the top ten consistently pretty much with rare exception. They lack the financial maneuverability that the better teams have because they're doling out so much money on the draft every year on people that haven't proven themselves, and at the time are unknown if they'd prove themselves or not. My vote is that the veterans get paid on performance, and the rookies get paid only after a few seasons if they've proven themselves. In so doing, the teams would have more flexibility to share the wealth and thus create a better team instead of one unproven rookie who's never taken a snap in the pros instantly making more money than any of the other 1,700 players in the league. It's asinine the amount of money paid to those who are unproven, and to anybody who supports the argument that these people should be paid on potential instead of production, well I'm sorry but your head is in the clouds.

I hope that this CBA is a wake-up call to the agents and the Union that they need to revamp the system. The agents seem to be destroying the league from within because of their price-gouging and selfish senses of entitlement they they pass on to the players that they represent. It's destroying the very foundation that teams, their players, and ownership is built on: the fans. You know us nameless, faceless, insignificant folk that pay those dollars (or not) to see our teams fight for us on Sundays. But in the big picture, my argument don't and will never make sense to those involved.

Because it makes too much sense.

In my last post, we examined how perception affects how teams are viewed in the greater scheme of things in the NFL. Today, I'm going to kind of piggyback on that thought and talk about respectability and how it affects teams, and the Lions especially.

Throughout most of the 1990's to 2000, the Lions fielded decent, competitive teams for the most part basically making the playoffs every other year or so, just missing them, or falling wildly out of contention for only a relatively few years. Reason being, the coaches (Wayne Fontes, are you reading this? Your input would be welcomed!) pretty much acted in the role of GM after Russ Thomas aka 'Mr. Settle-for-Mediocrity' finally exited stage right in 1989, thus having a better view of what kind of players were needed to fit the system.

These Lions teams drafted relatively well as well as brought in several key free agents and played with and defeated some of the toughest teams, even after Barry Sanders suddenly retired, but still just couldn't seem to pull it together. Free agents didn't mind coming here, and several of them shined. However, as the 20th century drew to close, so did the remaining respectability the Detroit Lions organization had. The ushering in of the now infamous Matt Millen regime was viewed upon as a dawning of a new, and brighter future for these Detroit Lions. One that was promised playoff and Super Bowl victories and the hopes that the Lions would be mentioned in the annals of NFL history. Oh how they were, but certainly not how they (or any other team) hoped to be mentioned.

More after the jump....

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Since this is my first fan post, I thought I'd point out an important feature in professional sports: perception. It's all about the perception. As we all know, the Lions have been consistently viewed as the bargain basement bottom feeders of the NFL.

An afterthought, good enough for a silly soundbite from some national media talking head. Quick swipes, because it's easy to kick a crappy team when it's down, and the Lions were the kings (pun intended) of that group. Every year, especially in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Green bay, teams circle the Lions on the schedule as pretty much guaranteed wins. Their backups get excited because they'll probably get some playing time as the score would be hopelessly decided by halftime. Well fear not, there is a solution: winning.

For years and years, there has been some terrible teams. However, if you give those team the pieces to build around, both player and staff wise, the team should start to turn around as well. Let's examine a few of those teams:

New Orleans Saints.

The 'Aints became the Saints again and respected literally overnight. For years and years, this team is one that has been stuck in mediocrity. Even the great Archie Manning couldn't rescue them. After a few marginally successful teams in the 90's, they just could not seem to get out of this funk. Enter 2006, Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and an absolute 7th round steal in Marques Colston. This team went from an eye-rolling at the mere mention of the name, to a powerful and legitimate threat to deal with, and propelled them to the NFC Championship game with a heartbreaking loss to the powerful Bears defense. However, this was important in it was the very foundation that has led them to be the current defending champions after their first trip to the Super Bowl. This is really one of the premier stories in NFL history.

Arizona Cardinals.

Another one of the teams people would snicker about and figure an easy win for years and years. Well, after a few years of solid drafts and one Kurt Warner, this team shocked everybody and played their hearts out from their Wild Card playoff berth all the way to the Big Game, which was also their first playoff victories. Super Bowl XLIII one of the most exciting Super Bowls in recent memory, if not ever. Sadly, after finally taking the lead towards the end of the game on an amazing Larry Fitzgerald touchdown up the middle, Pittsburgh pushed their way to the end zone and put the game away on one of those plays that only seems to happen in the Big Game with a Santonio Holmes tip toe catch in the corner.

These are two of the most prominent of the many other examples that I could have used. The point I'm making here is that these two teams chose the correct way to build their teams, and with a little luck, they changed the perception from ho-hum to think-twice-if-you-face-us.

This is something I think of every day about the Lions. I long for the day that I no longer hear the same jokes and one-liners that have been rehashed over the years. The current regime for once (gasp!) seems to have their heads working together...from the front office to the coaching staff...and this all seems to be pointed in the right direction for once. So far since the end of the Matt Millen era, I haven't seen any silly trades, signings, ridiculous contracts for mediocre players that don't pan out.....you know all the things we're used to seeing.

It's refreshing to me that this team has a game plan, and is locked in and focused on what they want: to win.

Winning means everything when it comes to the Detroit Lions. Nothing else matters. We aren't going to struggle forever, and I'm going to pouring that kool-aid when those W's start showing up on the schedule. Then we will start getting the respect we oh so long for.....

.....because it's all about the perception.