Week Twelve

Packers @ LIONS

The Thanksgiving Game is the fixture all Lions look to when the season schedule is announced and for the second time in three seasons we host the Packers. It was a hobbled Matthew Stafford who probably shouldn't have started the last Thanksgiving encounter that ended in a hefty defeat and Lions fans will be hoping a healthy Stafford can repeat last years victory in this years national spotlight. There is a strong case to be made for this being the game of the season, so this would be the perfect occasion to show the watching NFL world just how far these Lions have come. That's a far cry from the days not so long ago when there were increasing calls for the Lions to lose the right to stage the traditional Thanksgiving Game because they were so uncompetitive. Thankfully the NFL realised that there is no tradition without the Lions on Thanksgiving Day no matter how good, bad or indifferent the Lions team of the day may be. The last time this fixture was this competitive was 1962 when the 10-0 Packers visited the 8-2 Lions and this years 7-3 Lions will be hoping that this years 10-0 Packers suffer the same consequences as their predecessors. The 1962 game finished in a 26-14 Lions victory.

Week Eleven

Panthers @ LIONS

It's in weeks like the one that has just gone that you realise how limited the general press is in its ability to accurately reflect the form of teams, such as the Lions, who tend not to play in the national spotlight. I'm not one that subscribes to the view that last weeks loss to the Bears was a reflection of how limited the Lions are and that they will now drop back into the pack. However, the visit of the Panthers is a perfect example of the NFL maxim 'Any Given Sunday' and there is more than the potential for an upset. Hopefully the Lions have had a productive week of preparation and will come out focussed on this game and not be already looking ahead to the big game around the corner. Looking beyond the Panthers to the Packers on Thanksgiving represents the biggest danger in this one for me and I have to believe that these Lions are too good to be doing that.

Week Ten

LIONS @ Bears

The march to the playoffs begins here for the 6-2 Lions as they visit the 5-3 Chicago Bears. The Lions are coming off their bye while the Bears come off their impressive win over the Eagles in MNF. Since these teams met on that memorable Week 5 MNF game the Bears have gone 3-0 while the Lions have gone 1-2 and the general media view seems to be that this return fixture will see a different result to the one at Ford Field. The Bears appear to have picked up their game and must be relishing the prospect of having a home field that will not drown out the play calling of Jay Cutler when he takes his position behind center. This game offers the Lions the chance to send out quite a statement to not only their divisional rivals but the wider NFL as well. It's an intriguing matchup of that there is no doubt.

Bye Week

Half Season Review

Having predicted a Lions win in each of my eight game previews so far this season I suppose I should be disappointed that the Lions have reached half way at 6-2. Thankfully my disappointment is tempered by the realism that to get to the midway point in an NFL season with 6 wins and 2 losses is no mean achievement. There is many a team that would happily swap records with the Lions right now.

Despite my predicting otherwise I believe that 6-2 is a fair reflection of where the Lions are. The two defeats they suffered were to good teams and they were games that could just as easily have resulted in Lions wins. It is also true to say though that two of the Lions wins could easily have been defeats and fans of the Vikings and Cowboys will no doubt tell you they should have been. The remaining four wins though were all games in which the Lions dominated and which showcased just how good this team can be. The quality of the opponents in those four games is not to be sniffed at either as three of them are entering their eighth game with a 4-3 record. Even the lowly 2-5 Broncos have only suffered one other defeat by more than 5 points and that was a 26 point margin of defeat at Lambeau Field to the defending Super Bowl champion Packers.