When the Detroit Lions are your bellwether, your division is another NFC Least. The NFC was considered one of the strongest divisions in the NFL just a month ago. But since then, the Green Bay Packers lost Aaron Rodgers, degrading into a shell of themselves in the process. The Minnesota Vikings continued to stay in the dregs with the Jacksonvilles and Tampa Bays of the world. The Chicago Bears defense went on permanent bye week and the Detroit Lions just continue to act like the Detroit Lions.
They’re like the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA; very talented, but playing dumb. Very dumb. Every games.
They make stupid plays, dirty plays, commit dumb penalties, and get stupid penalties for playing dirty. And now they went and lost, at home no less, to the LOL of NFL teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thanksgiving Day against Green Bay will be huge for the Detroit Lions.
NBC NFL Analyst Rodney Harrison: “And it starts with Matthew Stafford. When you watch him on tape, he makes some great plays but he also makes some careless plays.” Fellow panelist Hines Ward thinks the Detroit Lions will still win the division. And Tony Dungy likes their chances too: “I like Detroit, too. I think they’re the most talented but, they have got to play better.”
So why do so the so called experts believe the Detroit Lions are the favorite to win the division? Despite their tendency to keep getting in their own way? Well the obvious answer is A. A. Ron Rodgers being out for awhile, and well the Chicago run defense or lack thereof. Said Harrison on the Bears defense Sunday vs the Stl. Rams: “This is the first time in years I can look at this defense and say they straight played soft.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan