HA-cha cha!

Man, I cannot heap enough praise on the Lions for today. Fox's pregame parade of dunces saw both Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw pick the Rams to win today, and many other journalists saw St. Louis as a rising power in the West (again, blind guys, butt-touching). I'm not saying that St. Louis is gawd-awful, nor am I saying that they aren't improving at a pretty good clip. I'm just saying BOOM! LIONS WIN! As I've read nearly ad infinitum today, this was the Lions' biggest victory since a 44-0 drubbing of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995, and the first time they've won by more than one touchdown since their nearly identical thrashing of the Broncos in 2007, 44-7. Mmmmmmm, tastes like gingerbread cookies...

So, what made this game so spectacular? A Victorious Top Five:

1) Stefan Logan's Return - The other game, when Logan fumbled deep in enemy territory, I cursed his name. However, his diligence on special teams has been winning me back, play by play. Today? Wow. When was the last time the Lions had a returner who was a legitimate threat? Desmond Howard? Glen Milbyrn? Mel Gray? Either way, his electrifying run set Ford Field on fire.

2) Alphonso Smith - His Carlton Banks dance was the cherry on top of his fantastic sunday...sundae. He now has interceptions the past three games, and seems like a good corner companion to Chris Houston. (The scale is as such, from lowest to highest: the worst, terrible, pretty bad, bad, not bad, decent, okay, pretty good, good, really good, great, the best. Intense and descriptive!) He was a blanket on his coverage today, and he makes Jonathan Wade seem like a bad dream. It may be early, but it seems like Mayhew fleeced yet another team in a trade.

3) Honest-to-God Running Game - Rotating Jahvid Best and Kevin Smith was a dream come true. Both backs were effective and complimentary, and it seemed like both wouldn't accept anything like than positive yardage. It's so strange, to finally be like any other team in the NFL that has a solid-to-good running back tandem.

4) Ndamukong Suh, Destroyer of Worlds - Dude had an interception. That he deflected to himself. And his return? He moved like a linebacker. HE'S A DEFENSIVE TACKLE! Just watching him dominate the line of scrimmage....you almost believe him when he says that the Lions won't lose another home game.

5) Scott Linehan's trickery - It was fantastic to see him calling long strikes and appropriate running plays. Also, the fact he ran a trick play with personnel that can handle it was just fantastic. He really seemed to be enjoying himself today, calling plays that utilized the talents of his offense. Very refreshing.

Two sub thoughts:

1) Opening onside kick? Really, Rams? Assholes.

2) Nate Burleson really is a trillion times better than Bryant Johnson. Right now, I'm dreaming of the Lions cutting the lesser Johnson and picking up Devin Thomas. Sigh. Dreams.