Things can only get better…they hope!
At least there is one thing that can be guaranteed this season in the NFL – the Detroit Lions cannot possibly be any worse than they were in 2008!
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The sad, hopeless, helpless Lions (change of nickname required perhaps?) made history last season with the first 0-16 regular season record, and although they did come close to winning a couple of games there is no ‘N’ for ‘N’early a win in the NFL standings at the moment.
But even though the Lions went winless there are signs of promise for the future, both in some of the performances last season and the players that the new staff (no Matt Millen thankfully) of new coach Jim Schwartz recruited.
Chief among them, in the long run at least, is expected to be quarterback Matthew Stafford, the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Georgia, even though he is likely to start the season second on the depth chart to Daunte Culpepper.
Culpepper is not that far removed (well five years) from a 39-touchdown season, and he has a decent arsenal of targets ahead of him. Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in the NFC North and Bryant Johnson (no relation) is a serviceable No 2.
But it is the youngsters that give long-suffering Lions fans most cause for hope, and it’s not just Stafford.
Their second pick in the draft was an intriguing tight-end in Brandon Pettigrew, a star at Oklahoma State when he was able to play. Injuries blighted his college career, and he has already had trouble in training camp, but when he is fit, he could soon become one of the better pass-catching tight ends in the league.
On the other side of the ball, Louis Delmas is a ball-hawk of a safety who could start from week one and DeAndre Levy might make an impact in his first season if one of the starting linebackers goes down.
So, no 0-16 for the Lions, but what might they manage? Well two battling exhibition wins are already under their belt, and the NFL North, while being decent, is not the hardest division in the world to be in.
One reply on “Detroit Lions 2009 Gambling Preview”
Detroit has gotten a lot of press this preseason for their ongoing quaterback battle between Daunte Culpepper and #1 pick Matthew Stafford. I think the Lions should de Stafford a favor and let him set on the bench for awhile, until Culpepper takes such a beating they will have to put him in.