That’s right, we are exactly one week out from one of my favorite days of the year; the NFL DRAFT. Its been a busy week for the Lions. The 2012-13 schedule was released and I’ll be the first to tell you, I’ve got the Lions having an identical record to last year, 10-6. For those of you that had a chance to take a peek at the schedule, I love the fact that the Lions are starting to play more nationally televised games because it’s a sign that the NFL sees the Lions as an up and coming team. They have a very tough road schedule with match-ups against San Francisco, Tennessee, Arizona, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville on top of their in-division opponents. Their home dates include match-ups with St. Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, Indianapolis and a Thanksgiving Day showcase against Houston with the remaining games inside the division. This schedule is no cake-walk by any means. They will be facing the eventual champion of the AFC South (Houston) NFC West (San Francisco) and NFC East (Philadelphia) and the Packers twice. That easily could be 5 losses so they’d have to be perfect the rest of the way to best last year’s record.
CONCERNS? Well, duh! To name a few, they are getting the televised attention that team with winning records receives. The Lions on the other hand have done anything but win in the last 20 years, and frankly you would be an idiot (http://bit.ly/Jivzyt) to think that the Lions are anywhere close to being NFL Elite. NEWSFLASH they have the exact same team as last year and unless they hit a homerun in the draft (DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE) I do not see them improving on last year’s win total.
My thought process is based on the Lions schedule. Aside from having to face the Packers twice, the Bears bolstered their receiving core by reuniting Jay Cutler with Brandon Marshall and the Vikings Percy Harvin is no cake walk. On top of that, the Lions face Larry Fitzgerald, Kenny Britt, DeSean Jackson, Andre Johnson and Roddy White throughout the year. When I look at that line-up of Pro-Bowl caliber receivers and I look at this Lions roster which is already weak in their secondary, I do not see how they improve from last year without major improvements.
This is all the more reason why the draft is so important. Martin Mayhew has done a great job since taking over the Matt Millen era. He’s made sound draft choices and has done well with free agency and trades. Mayhew needs to stay the course and draft defense. It’s the only way the Lions start to earn these nationally televised games. The offense will be there. Matthew Stafford is the quarterback of the future and Megatron is the best receiver in the league. I will admit there is a hole at running back but that position has now become a “dime a dozen” spot where a team can call a guy who’s sitting on his couch one week and make him their starting running back the next week (Oh wait, the Lions already did that, right Kevin Smith?)
Stay tuned for my draft special this weekend where I breakdown potential fits for your 2012-13 Detroit Lions. As always, hit me up on Twitter @Sportsinthe313, like me on Facebook and drop me a comment!
I think 10-6 is reasonable for this year...but like you said, projections can change depending on what we do in the draft. Expectations are going to be very high for the team this year. Anything less than a playoff berth and fans will definitely be saying "same old Lions."
ReplyDeleteI love the nationally televised games. Hosting the Falcons on a Saturday night with playoff implications likely at stake? Detroit is going to be absolutely rocking that day. It'll be like last year's Monday night game on steroids.