Who are the Detroit Lions?
The Lions red hot 5-0 start was exhilarating but more than a tad bit precocious. The Lions have played well and they are on their way to being a legitimate contender for sure. However they are still a team that has not arrived yet. Fortunately for them and their coaching staff, they are aware of it. Even if they weren’t, Jim “Handshake” Harbaugh certainly gave them an unfriendly reminder Sunday.
The Lions are a team that is doing a lot of things the right way, and it starts upstairs, figuratively and literally. You see, the Lions made a bold and controversial decision after they got rid of Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli. Getting rid of them wasn’t bold, but who they brought in to replace them was. Promoting from within a failing regime made the fans cry out for blood when the Ford family gave the reigns to Martin Mayhew. He was not the Bill Parcels or Scott Pioli that the fans clamored for. He had no General Manager track record, outside of being a part of the failed Millen regime. To top it off, they decided to go after a completely inexperienced and unproven head coach in Jim Schwartz. No one trusted this bright young defensive coach with their team of misfits. Almost believing he could run this franchise further into the ground.
However after time has gone by we have seen that not only that these men know what they are doing, but that they are good at it. Mayhew has been a shrewd negotiator and has made many great acquisitions for bargain prices. Some of those moves include landing Chris Houston, Bobby Carpenter, and Corey Williams for next to nothing. These players have all been big time contributors. Just as important as these moves and decision making, the Lions have overhauled the “culture” that we hear so much about. That cliché is tossed around so freely but what is this culture change? It is not some magical formula. Rather it is a refusal to be a doormat anymore. It is a willingness to fight against any odds. We have seen that this year with multiple come from behind wins, and most recently in a hard fought loss to the 49ers. Then, unfortunately we saw that same fire from Jim Schwartz after the game where he tried to fight Jim Harbaugh.
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