The Detroit Lions Have Roared Back To relevant's

The Detroit Lions Have Roared Back To relevant's

Having two 5 & 0 teams at this stage of the NFL season is not surprising, the fact one of the undefeated is the Detroit Lions is well.....shocking!! The super bowl champion Green Bay Packers being one of the two is not that unexpected, however if you were given three teams at the beginning of the season who beside's the Packers would be undefeated at this point, the Lions would not have made anyone's list. Yes they are an up and coming team, but one of two yet to lose I don't think so.

If we go back to last season and throw in this preseason, the Detroit Lions have won 13 games in a row. We are watching this young team from the motor city grow up in front of our eyes. Everything starts with their rising star at quarterback Matthew Stafford who even tho he has taken some big hits this season he's been able to stay on the field. And with Calvin Johnson ( aka mega-tron ) at the other end of his TD passes, they are forming one of the best quarterback-Receiver combo's in the NFL. Also if you add in rookie receiver Titus Young, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and second year back Jahvin Best to the mix the Lions have an offense that will give any defense in the NFL trouble.

While the Lions defense is still a work in progress, their defensive line is In my opinion the best in football. Led by all world tackle Adamukong Suh the Lions D-line has the ability to rush the passer with four which helps to protect a weak secondary, and their linebackers opportunities to get to the quarterback on blitzes. The Lions defense as has every other defense around the NFL had it's share of problems stopping teams this season, especially on the ground. But like all playoff caliber teams, their D has step up and made plays when needed.

The Detroit Lions served notice last season they would be doormats no more for teams in the league, however I for one and I might guess many Lions fans never saw this coming.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Three NFL Teams that grew up Sunday?

Three NFL Teams that grew up Sunday?

Three teams took big boy steps in the NFL Sunday to show the rest of the league they will not be over looked this season. The Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders won games after spotting their opponents double digits leads. Without any recent history of winning anyone's of theses teams could have roll over and just laid a giant egg and no one would have been surprised at all. But this is a difference season and theses three teams have a difference look to them.

How easy could it have been for the Lions knowing their history in Minnesota ( 13 years of losing in the dome ) falling behind 20 to 0 at halftime to say to themselves here won go again And call it a day. But this Detroit Lions team has a stud at quarterback ( Matthew Stafford ) and weapons to come back on any team in the NFL.

Facing the best QB in football ( Tom Brady ) and spotting him a 21-0 lead who would have blame the Bills if they packed it in and started thinking to their next game knowing nobody expected them to be in the game anyway. However the Buffalo Bills have proved already in this young season they can score a lot of points, and let's face it New England's defense is not very good. The Bill's took advantage of 4 Brady int's and manhandled the Pat's secondary with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing darts all over the field to snap a 15 game losing steak to the New England Patriots.

After losing a heart breaking shootout in week 2 to the above Buffalo Bills and falling behind by 10 to the New York Jets and their supposedly great defense, the old Oakland Raiders might have seen this as a sign of bad things to come and just gave up. But this is a new Raider team with a new head coach ( Huge Jackson ) and a running attack that open holes in that vaulted Jet's D my grandmother could have run thought. The Raiders showed sign last season they might be turning a corner and heading in the right direction ( by beating every team in their division in all six meetings )
but with no change at quarterback and a coaching move in the after going 8 & 8 it's hard to know how this team might react to a game like Sunday's'

I wrote in an earlier post that I didn't see any surprise teams coming out of this 2011 season, but I can now say I am happy to be wrong. I thought the lockout would put young teams behind the eight ball with little or no time to prepare for the coming season. But theses three young teams with no recent history of winning, pasted a huge test Sunday by coming back to win games that in their recent pasted would have been unthinkable.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Five young NFL quarterback with everything to prove in 2011.

Five young NFL quarterback with everything to prove in 2011.

Jay Cutler-Chicago Bears
Matthew Stafford-Detroit Lions
Matt Rayn-Atlanta Falcons
Josh Freeman-Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Joe Flacco-Baltimore Ravens

With the 2011 NFL season a week away I have five NFL quarterbacks who need to take their games and team's to the next level. All theses QB's but one has in some way shown they have what it take to get their team to the ultimate goal of winning a super bowl. Often injured Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford With all the ability in the World in get the job done, has yet to show he can physically stand up to a 16 game season. If Stafford can find a way to stay on the football field for a whole season, he just might be the guy that can take his team to that next level.

Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman has taken the NFL by storm with his ability to make plays, and his strong leadership skills has Buccaneer's fans believing there could be a super bowl in their future. Going into his third season as a starter Freeman must now prove he's ready to take that next step toward greatness. The Bear's Jay Cutler has the most to prove in this group of five. Regardless of what Bear's management, coaches and players, or Bear fans say, what happen in the NFC championship will be hard to overcome. That one game could be the defining moment in Cutler's career. The 2011 NFL season is a make or break season for Cutler, he's needs to prove that he is not only a physically tough quarterback but is also mentally tough enough to lead his team to the next level. In my opinion the the Bears won the NFC central despite Cutler not because of Cutler.

Matt Ryan of the Falcons is number two on this list of young QB's with the most to prove this coming season. Given the nickname matty- ice by the football media and leading his team to home field advantage in the NFC playoffs with a13&3 regular season record; Ryan looked very uncomfortable being in the spotlight in the biggest game's of his young career. The time is now for Ryan to take his game up to the level of his hype up nickname.

Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens has the best resume of all theses young QB's,three years as a starter, three playoff appearance, 4 playoff win. But he also has the biggest mountain to climb. He has to over-take not one, not two, but three hall of fame quarterbacks ( Tom Brady, Payton Manning, and Big Ben Roethlisberger ) playing at a very high level at the same time. And if you add Philip River of the Chargers and Mark Sanchez of the Jets to the list, you might see how Flacco could be the right guy playing at the wrong time for the Ravens. Flacco has proven he's a winner, however taking that step to the next level Flacco will need to go inside himself and find a way to climb that mountain.

With the NFL being a quarterback driven league, the time is now for one if not all of theses young QB's to take their turn at the wheel and lead their team to the next level.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com