A team that has endured such an elongated period of restructing could do with being given a break. The Rams have suffered over the past few seasons, but play in a soft-bellied division that has, with the exception of the surging Cardinals, been hopeless. That has, this season, changed, but even so the Rams can hope to be at least competitative, the Lions may not be so lucky.
On the plus side, they are not the worst team in the league. That dubious honour probably goes to Buffalo or Cleveland. The Lions have done well to attract some great players to the den. Kyle Vanden Bosch left a prolific career in Tennessee behind to help them rebuild; Calvin Johnson has pledged himself to the team that setpped-up and took him at number two a few years back; and Julian Peterson dictates a solid linebacking corps that includes some tough-nosed youngsters like Ernie Sims.
With last year's addition of Matthew Stafford, who showed flashes of NFL-grade talent, they should be more effective through the air - a style of play that will be facilitated by their top-notch receivers, who are numerous enough to make double-teaming Johnson a difficult and risky strategy. The addition of former Bronco stud, Tony Scheffler, makes the Tight End pass over the middle a dangerous, and probably favoured option for the Lions.
And this year's rookie standout is likely to be Ndamukung Suh, who went top-three as predicted. He should be a disruptive force up-front and give those linebackers a chance to cause havoc. I think the Lions will pull a few surprises this year, maybe snatching a win or even a sweep off the Bears.
For a team best remembered for the running game of Barry Sanders, expect to see a lot of passes flying around come the regular season.
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