Are The Detroit Lions For Real?

Who would have thought going into the season that the Lions would start 5-0? The usually mediocre Lions have captured the league's attention with their 5-0 record. Are they a legitimate contender in the NFL? Going into the season, the Lions seemed to have promise, and a 9-7 or 8-8 record appeared within reach.

They Lions logged their last win in front of a roaring sold-out home crowd at Ford Field as they beat the Chicago Bears 24-13 in front of Monday Night Football's national audience. Not so long ago (2008), the Lions were the laughingstock of the league at 0-16. 

Fast forward to 2011 with star nose tackle Ndamukong Suh predicting they could go 16-0. Outrageous. At this point in this season, though, it's still a possibility. The Lions' offense is very good at all positions with Matthew Stafford at quarterback and possibly the best wide out in the league right now in Calvin Johnson, also known as Megatron. The Lions have a decent rushing offense with Jahvid Best. Calvin Johnson has really emerged as a passing threat on the field, and he already has scored nine touchdowns this season, a league record for touchdown catches through five games.

The offense is averaging 284 passing yards a game, 7th in the NFL. Matthew Stafford is having a good season this year with 1400+ yards through five games and 13 touchdown passes. Nine of those TD passes were caught by Calvin Johnson, the league's best receiver this season.

The Lions defensive pass rush is absolutely incredible this season, and they are hitting the quarterback often and hard. The "Silver Crush", as they like to call their defense, already has twelve sacks on the season.  Nobody wants to play Detroit right now.

Yes, they are for real.