It’s been 645 days since the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan has seen its professional football team win a regular season game. For the first time in a long time, Lions fans have something to smile about with a 19-14 win.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw no interceptions, which he wasn’t able to do in the first two games. Running back Kevin Smith ran for over 100 yards and the defense held Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis to just 42 yards rushing. Doesn’t sound like the Lions we all know and love does it?
That’s simply because this is not the same old Lions. This is a completely different team.
The “New” Detroit Lions
The announcers on FOX mentioned several times how this is not the same team that went 0-16 just one season ago. They mentioned the new logo, the new workout facility, the new locker room arrangement, the assigned parking spots, the new quarterback and the new head coach among many other changes.
While many of these things have absolutely nothing to do with playing football, it’s all about creating a new persona. Jim Schwartz wanted to create a new atmosphere when he took over this team. He didn’t want the players to dwell on the negative, but instead focus on the future and the potential of this team.
Sure, people are going to discount this win because it was against a team who only scored 9 points against the St. Louis Rams the week before. But people don’t ask how, they just ask how many? And in the case of the Lions, they can safely say at least one.
The Lions Will Win Next Week in Chicago
A two-game winning streak for the Detroit Lions? This has to be a typo, right? Wrong. Obviously, this team will not be making a trip to the Super Bowl this season. However this team had something last year’s team did not have…confidence.
This team knows they can win games and it will greatly affect the way they play each and every week. Don’t expect them to win the next 13 games and win the division, but do expect them to pick up as many as 6 wins, including one next week against the Bears.
The Bears lost veteran linebacker Brian Urlacher in the first game of the season. He is the face of the Bears’ defense and they will be hurting without him. If the Lions can establish the run early, then the passing game will open up for Stafford.
And if Stafford can learn to put some touch on his passes, the Lions receivers can make some plays against the Bears’ secondary.
