|
 I woke up today with a little more jump in my step. I was seen smiling by my wife and she hasn’t seen that since the Tigers made it to the World Series.
After I showered and got ready to work I decided not to drive the Ford focus to work. “No, today I am hitching a ride on the Lion’s bandwagon.”
The Detroit Lions are 6-2 and fans around the city have been buzzing.
“Are they for real?”
Ready or not Detroit, here they come.
Detroit's offense has quietly become an effective smash mouth attack behind the running of Kevin Jones.
At the beginning of the year critic after critic has dogged the Lions
for not being able to run the ball. NEWSFLASH, in the last three games,
Kevin Jones has run for 252 yards on just 55 carries. His ability to
run effectively between the tackles is allowing the Lions to lean on
the rushing game when teams make a concerted effort to take away the
pass. As Mike Martz is showing more patience with the
run, Detroit is building an offense that is able to move the ball
against a variety of defensive looks. That versatility allowed the
Lions to score on their first four drives against Denver.
“Yeah Yeah Yeah but what about that shaky defense.”
Shaky? Maybe, but 24
takeaways definitely gives you reason to smile. In eight games this
year they are averaging three takeaways a game and three sacks a game.
Convinced?
What about the dangerous
Ernie Sims, the only non offensive player taken by the Lions in the top
10 since Chris Claiborne. He is sixth in the entire NFL in tackles
while Keith Smith is eighth in interceptions.
“But isn’t special teams big deal and Jason Hanson is 90?”
Jason Hanson is showing
that just because you lose your hair doesn’t mean you can’t get the job
done. He has already scored 68 points this year, converting 16 of 20
kicks including two 50 yarders.
As my Mom might say, “MVP, MVP, MVP”.
They have a shot to do
this. Just check out Ford Field. The place is abuzz with excitement.
One by one fans are beginning to not only enjoy it while it lasts, but
they are beginning to expect to win. Shaun Rogers stiff arming his way
to a touchdown? It’s a team on a mission.
Now I am not claiming to
be driving this bandwagon. We all know someone who has been riding this
train since this season began. You know who I am talking about. When
everyone else went out and had their “B” team and rooted for them
because the Lions were bad, the drivers stayed true and cheered on.
When some of us worried more about our Fantasy team than how many games
the Lions won, they stayed true and cheered on.
So for every Chris, Danny, Stan or Lisa who cheered all along, I salute you and you get to drive.
For everyone else, hop on, it promises to be a fun ride.
|
