[phinzphan1372]

I predict they'll go 11-5 this season, but in all reality they're going to end up 6-10.

I say 8 - 8 going 2-4 in the division and 6-4 out

[SGC300ier]

To add to my earlier post, the ONLY difference between the Playoff Lions of 2 years ago and the 4 win team from this past team was they lost all the last minute games rather than winning them. If you were go to back and see the games they lost at the end this year, and then how many they won at the end the year before, it would show you. They really aren't that good. We're used to it here

[pudge27t]

I say 8 - 8 going 2-4 in the division and 6-4 out

I agree with that as well..

[monsterx]

First off, LOVE the Lions.

That being said, something always happens for them to not go all the way. They can get close, like a couple years ago... Like people have mentioned, until the Ford's are out, which will never happen, they're gonna be just mediocre.

---

I think 10-6 with 1 playoff win

Oh dear God, I hope!!

[pbean]

okay, seriously ??? ..... what does the Ford family have to do with how the team performs ??? if you blame them for picking poor GM's and coaches that's one thing ..... but it's coaches that build winning teams and develop players.

Schwartz is too immature to be a good head coach, as a "controlled" assistant coach he does a great job but until he can control himself he'll never control the team.

Folks used to beach about Wayne Fontes ..... but he was probably the last good coach the Lions had.

Poor draft choices (thank you Matt Millen) injury plagued seasons, and poor player attitude have made the Lions what they are today.

I'm hoping for a 8-8 season, but expect to be in the playoffs next season

[monsterx]

okay, seriously ??? ..... what does the Ford family have to do with how the team performs ??? if you blame them for picking poor GM's and coaches that's one thing ..... but it's coaches that build winning teams and develop players.

Yeah, I blame them for Millen and the years behind they are. The Ford family seems to care about the profit and worth.

[rjcj2017]

I'm one of the few Lions fans that doesn't despise Millen, as odd as it sounds.

This is why ... I've been a fan about as long as I've been a card collector, so about 25 years.

On almost every one of those draft picks that people already mentioned, I was pretty excited when Detroit drafted them — especially Harrington and Rogers back to back ... I was like, "Holy crap, we have our Montana to Rice for the next 15 years."

Card wise, I was chasing their RCs like crazy.

So my point is, I thought they were going to be great players — just like Millen did.

Obviously it didn't work out that way — though I still think Joey could have been a good player with more continuity in the coaching department (just look at Alex Smith) — but I just feel like a hypocrite for ripping on Millen after the fact.

It just seems like a cheap excuse ... "Good lord, Millen, I mean, I was totally stoked when you drafted them, but how could you not know they were going to suck?"

Case in point — Ziggy Ansah.

I am VERY leery of picking someone that high with that little production in college, especially at a non-juggernaut like BYU.

(If he had to wait his turn at Alabama or whatever, I wouldn't be as worried.)

So if he sucks, I won't be surprised.

And I won't feel like a hypocrite, because I already "called it" ahead of time, not after the fact.

Although I will say this, to answer the original question ... if they are like the Heat, that means they lose this year's Super Bowl but win the next two.

Yeah, I could live with that!

[jfrench91]

if lions had matt barkley id say superbowl :p

[SGC300ier]

if lions had matt barkley id say superbowl :p

LMAO. I'd rather have Joey Harrington, no scratch that, I'd rather have Andre Ware back then have Matt Barkley lol.

I miss the days of Erik Kramer leading the Lions to the NFC championship game after Rodney Peete was injured, only to get destroyed by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Redskins. I miss the 55 yard field goal the Bears hit to knock the Lions from getting a playoff spot. I miss watching Barry Sanders making a whole lot of something from even less than nothing. I miss Morton, Moore, and Perriman catching amazing amounts of passes from a little known free agent by the name of Scott Mitchell. In fact if you look up that teams stats, you'll see they were just as good if not better than the Rams teams run by Warner and Faulk (statistically). Google it, there's an article

The Lions have never made it to the Super Bowl. I'm not sure if it's something I'll ever see in my lifetime, but you can bet your bottom that if they do I'll be there!

[bojesphob]

I'm one of the few Lions fans that doesn't despise Millen, as odd as it sounds.

This is why ... I've been a fan about as long as I've been a card collector, so about 25 years.

On almost every one of those draft picks that people already mentioned, I was pretty excited when Detroit drafted them — especially Harrington and Rogers back to back ... I was like, "Holy crap, we have our Montana to Rice for the next 15 years."

Card wise, I was chasing their RCs like crazy.

So my point is, I thought they were going to be great players — just like Millen did.

Obviously it didn't work out that way — though I still think Joey could have been a good player with more continuity in the coaching department (just look at Alex Smith) — but I just feel like a hypocrite for ripping on Millen after the fact.

It just seems like a cheap excuse ... "Good lord, Millen, I mean, I was totally stoked when you drafted them, but how could you not know they were going to suck?"

Case in point — Ziggy Ansah.

I am VERY leery of picking someone that high with that little production in college, especially at a non-juggernaut like BYU.

(If he had to wait his turn at Alabama or whatever, I wouldn't be as worried.)

So if he sucks, I won't be surprised.

And I won't feel like a hypocrite, because I already "called it" ahead of time, not after the fact.

Although I will say this, to answer the original question ... if they are like the Heat, that means they lose this year's Super Bowl but win the next two.

Yeah, I could live with that!

As with Mike Brown (my local experience with terrible owners), the Ford family hates to spend money. This issue shows its ugly face when it comes to the scouting department. The Lions and Bengals scouting departments put together still probably have less guys in it than the teams that always find the good players, like the Packers, Patriots, Steelers, etc. For instance, even though the Pack has had some bad picks over the years recently (Brohm comes to mind), look at who they've gotten that the Lions could have had since 2005: Randall Cobb, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Aaron Rodgers, BJ Raji, Clay Matthews, Morgan Burnett, Casey Hayward, and then they even had 2 undrafted free agents step up during the 2010 playoffs in Sam Shields and Tramon Williams. Every single one of those players could have been drafted by the Lions, but they passed on them, and the question is, why? Because their scouting department watched one or two tapes on them and listened to the draftniks and thought that was good enough, since that's all the Ford family paid them to do.

And, that's the thing that separates the good teams from the bad: Winning starts at the top, and works its way down. That's why we won't be seeing the Cowboys in the Super Bowl again any time soon. Jerry Jones makes the draft picks and completely ignores the picks that the scouting department says are the best on the board. Losing is the same. If the owners are losers, like Brown, Ford, and Jones, the team won't accomplish anything. I mean, do we need any better example of this than the Raiders for the past 10 years under Davis?