Lion Lair Message Board: Thoughts

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Thoughts

Posted by Lisa on July 6, 2010, 6:07 pm, in reply to "New Rick Gosselin article (Lions better, but its not enough for playoffs)"

They should be better this year in all phases of the game. But frankly, I'll settle this year for them not being a laughing-stock.

I'm actually somewhat hopeful that the offense can consistently hang 30+ points on the board. Watching a team like Indy of 4-5 years ago, or the Saints of 2-3 years ago would be much more fun than what we've been subjected to watching. The Cleveland game was actually pretty fun to watch. We may get more offensive shootouts like that. I'm still hesitant about expectation because it's going to take the o-line gelling and then everybody staying healthy. 2 things that haven't happened lately.

I love defense, so this past decade has been agonizing for me. (Or has it been two decades? It feels like a lifetime, sometimes.) So, this offensive emphasis goes against my grain. IMO, the secondary is still a year away, and it's going to take another draft/& off-season to right that black hole. But the d-line can make up for a lot problems behind them if they are as dominant as predicted. Nevertheless, I'll just be happy for this defense to be middle of the pack. Okay, maybe I won't be happy ... but I might be able to unclench my jaw after a game.

So, anyway, I've been looking at some of the off-season rankings, which are mostly sound and fury by talking heads that don't know their Lions from Puddy-Tats. The last few years, it's been an expedition into masochism to read those rankings. But, I've been pleasantly surprised to see that the Lions have moved from a solid #31 to mostly around #24 and trending up for the last month or two.

ESPN had a fan vote that kept them clinging to the cellar, but I'll tentatively admit that ESPN & NFL Network announcers haven't been as supercilious towards the Lions as usual. However, the usual arrogance and patronizing language may be in hiding because the usual suspects haven't been on the air as much.

Could things really be less bleak this year? Aren't we fans due? Or is this just another set up to sink our hopes once again?