Ahhh....hmm.

Just read an interview with Justin Tuck pertaining to the Lions. He made some pretty intelligent observations, mostly regarding the competitiveness of the Lions, vocalizing how they should be 4-1 right now, maybe even undefeated.

The tone of the rest of the article, however, seemed to intimate that the Lions have a twinkie's chance in fat camp. The Giants physically destroyed Jay "the Incredible Sulk" Cutler; I've seen shark attacks that were more merciful than what NY's defensive line did to the Pouty One. The Giants then went out and put a shellacking on Houston. Houston, supposedly this year's "It" team.

Now, granted, my tirade against the Rams was fueled by irritation born of many pundits picking them as a better team against the Lions. I railed against them and presented them as a sham. I was wrong - they're no sham team, they're a team on the rise. The point I was trying to get across was that the Lions are the better team. However, some of my observations weren't that far off. Let's try a bit of that with the Giants, eh? Schedule examination!

Sunday, 9/12	1:00PM ET	FOX		W, 31-18
Sunday, 9/19	8:20PM ET	NBC		L, 38-14
Sunday, 9/26	1:00PM ET	CBS		L, 29-10
Sunday, 10/3	8:20PM ET	NBC		W, 17-3
Sunday, 10/10	1:00PM ET	FOX		W, 34-10

Their first game is against a Panthers' team that may or may not be deserving of a top 5 pick this April, and they got murderized. The Colts are a wounded animal thsi season, and they murderized the Giants. The Titans, well, I can't seem to get a read on them, but they beat the Giants. The Bears? Probably the definitive sham team right now, and the Texans, although a good team, have collapsed previously against the Cowboys and did so against the Giants.

What does that tell us? Aside from the fact that parity has rendered the NFL a crapshoot in terms of picking a winner, it tells us that the Giants run either hot or cold. They are a good team, but their consistency seems a bit off, as exemplified by Eli Manning and his unpredictable performances (as many INT's as TD's). The parity thing actually seems to work in the Lions favor, though: if the Cardinals can topple the Saints then certainly Detroit can beat NY. Actually, it seems like there's a weird upset every week, and I certainly don't see why Detroit can't be that upstart this weekend.

So, for now, I'll say that if it's a clear day void of rain, the Lions will win this game as long as they force Eli into bad choices (not that difficult) and contain Bradshaw and Jacobs (this can also be done). Also, God willing, the Lions offensive line can play its best game, because this game will feature a Giants' defensive line that could be arguably better than the Lions, and that's terrifying.

Yikes.

Rams look v.1.0

So, the Detroit columnists are beginning to hypothesize about the impending matchup this weekend with the St. Louis Rams. Drew Sharp touches upon it in his own impish, antagonistic way (I can only imagine how absolutely dire he'll make it seem by this weekend), and Carlos Monarrez gives a brief description of how the Rams are rolling this year.

Granted, I do think this is a must-win game, if that phrase can even exist this early in a season, but if the Lions do lose, it will be close and probably due to some cruddy officiating. I just don't think the Rams are capable this time around. Let's break their schedule thus far down:

1	Sun, Sep 12	vs Arizona	L 17-13
2	Sun, Sep 19	@ Oakland	L 16-14
3	Sun, Sep 26	vs Washington	W 30-16
4	Sun, Oct 3	vs Seattle	W 20-3

This doesn't seem like the hardest schedule when you actually look at it, eh? Losses against a Cardinals team that is absolutely atrocious and a Raiders team that is, well, pretty bad as well. They beat Washington at home (Washington is pretty inept, honestly) and Seattle at home (Look at the Seahawks roster. Is it even better than a collegiate team? Really?). Steven Jackson is pretty beaten up, so running into the Lions healthy front seven could knock him around. The defensive line has been pretty dern good against Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. They did an okay job against Mike Vick, but really, how do most "good" teams do against him? Bradford is, lest we all forget, a rookie. If the Lions keep constant pressure on him, give him little to no time to make decisions, then I don't see why they can't force him into turnovers.

Get ahead, attack the QB when they need to air it out, and just keep grinding with Best and Smith, and I don't see why this can't be the first decisive victory of the season.