Whoa!!! Not so fast there, Bub!

Expect to see a lot of this
Driving home yesterday, I heard not one but two radio personalities predicting a Lions victory over the Bears on Sunday. I know hope springs eternal, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's look at this situation logically...

First, the offense. Many foolish Lions' fans believe the Lions actually possess the superior offense. Not true. The Bears are not sexy, but they're effective. First, the quarterbacks. The Bears have former Pro-Bowler Jay Cutler with a career QB rating of 83.8. The Lions have bright young thing Matt Stafford, who led the Lions to a 2-14 record last year as a rookie and posted a 61.0 QB rating. The Lions may have the supreme Calvin Johnson at WR, but who on the Lions can keep up with Devin Hester (2 Pro-Bowls) or even the unheralded Johnny Knox whose 5 TDs matched Megatron's total last season?

Supporting Cutler and Hester, the Bears have Olin Kreutz (6 Pro-Bowls). That gives the Bears 3 former Pro-Bowlers on their offense. The Lions? Zero. Now, I know Pro-Bowls are not the end-all-be-all, but it shows the Bears un-sexy offense is significantly more accomplished.

The defense just gets uglier. Tommie Harris (3 Pro-Bowls), Julius Peppers (5 Pro Bowls, 81 career sacks), Lance Briggs (5 Pro-Bowls), and Brian Urlacher (6 Pro-Bowls). The Lions do counter with 2 Pro-Bowlers of their own with Kyle Vanden Bosch (3) and Julian Peterson (5), but the drop in talent after that is stark. The Lions front four might be solid, especially with new addition Ndamukong Suh, but the back seven is brittle to say the least. Rookie standouts from last year - Deandre Levy and Daniel Bullocks - are dinged up. Neither practiced yesterday and may miss the game. Without Bullocks, the secondary could easily be the worst in the NFL. In fact, they could be the worst in the league even WITH Bullocks. Folks, they're dreadful, and Hester should have no difficulty running wild.

Oh, and the Lions are also playing on the road, where they haven't won since 2007.

Still feeling good about Sunday?

Now, my point is not to poke holes in the Lions. I do believe that Schwartz & Co. are doing the right things. But, the fact is that Marinelli and Millen left this team in worse shape than an expansion team. At least an expansion team has the "Expansion Draft" where they can pilfer players from other rosters. The Lions had no such luxury, so it'll take even longer for them to build a winner. They've got too many holes, and the opposing teams will have no difficulty exploiting them.

Bears 38

Lions 13

And, since we'll be seeing Devin Hester on Sunday, that's all the reason I need to re-live this gem:

Big Thanksgiving

Three games each for the Wings and Pistons during the Thanksgiving break. With so many injured players, these games will likely not serve as a true barometer of where they'll end up.

For the Wings, I expect them to hover around mediocrity until January. My guess is the new faces will settle in around that time. Bertuzzi and Eaves will start contributing goals, not just effort (though the fans do appreciate that too). Franzen, Fil, Kronwall, and Williams will come back, and the penalty kill problems will suddenly disappear - or so I hope.

For the Stones, I love the effort. Most years we'd be fuming at a 5-9 start, but these men have battled. Coach Q brought back the defensive intensity, and we love it. Eventually, the wins will follow, but I don't expect that to happen soon. Certainly not this week. The Cavs and Hawks sandwich the Clips on the schedule. Sure, the Pistons could and should beat the Clips, but the other two will likely be losses. The Pistons just can't match those teams' chemistry yet.

So, I'll hope for a few wins, but, more than that, just play hard and don't get injured.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. And if you're stuck far from home this Holiday season, perhaps this will put a smile on your face: