Cuidado La muerte peluda! Cuidado La muerte peluda!

Howdy my Lionettes!

No you did not read that title to my latest blog entry wrong. It is Spanish for Beware the Furry Death! I was inspired from an episode of one of my favorite shows South Park where they were poking fun at the movie Cloverfield. Instead of some big scary monster tearing apart New York City the South Park Episode had giant guinea pigs wrecking havoc. It’s pretty funny and I highly recommend checking the episode out.

Well Summer has ended and Fall is officially here with the kick off of football season. College kicked off last season and the NFL is tonight in fact with the New Orleans Saints facing the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions will open up on the road against the Chicago Bears this Sunday at Soldier Field at 1:00 p.m. It is away so it will not be blacked out.

Well anyhoo my Lionettes forward march! Let’s get to it shall we? My last blog entry had my projection of the Lions 53-man roster as well as the practice squad. Well I had a few wrong and was not anticipating the Lions trading TE Dan Gronkowski to the Denver Broncos for CB Alphonso Smith as one example.

Here is the press release from the Official Page of the Detroit Lions announcing the 53-man roster although I cut and pasted the depth chart from Wikipedia. Also they are hyper-linked so if you were to click on the individual player it’ll take you to their page on Wikipedia although I would not take Wikipedia for gospel.

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/article-1/Lions-Trim-Roster-to-Final-53-Man-Limit/04bfeefe-f4fb-4632-8186-ac9ead658059

Quarterbacks
14 Shaun Hill
9 Matthew Stafford
5 Drew Stanton

Running Backs
44 Jahvid Best
21 Aaron Brown
45 Jerome Felton FB
28 Maurice Morris
34 Kevin Smith

Wide Receivers
13 Nate Burleson
80 Bryant Johnson
81 Calvin Johnson
11 Stefan Logan
12 Derrick Williams

Tight Ends
89 Will Heller
84 Brandon Pettigrew
85 Tony Scheffler

Offensive Linemen
76 Jeff Backus T
77 Gosder Cherilus T
70 Jason Fox T
65 Dylan Gandy C
78 Corey Hilliard T
66 Stephen Peterman G
51 Dominic Raiola C
63 Manny Ramirez G
67 Rob Sims G

Defensive Linemen
92 Cliff Avril DE
96 Andre Fluellen DT
91 Sammie Hill DT
94 Lawrence Jackson DE
75 Turk McBride DE
90 Ndamukong Suh DT
93 Kyle Vanden Bosch DE
99 Corey Williams DT
79 Willie Young DE

Linebackers
50 Isaiah Ekejiuba ILB
49 Zack Follett OLB
41 Spencer Havner OLB
55 Landon Johnson OLB
54 DeAndre Levy ILB
58 Ashlee Palmer OLB
59 Julian Peterson OLB

Defensive Backs
32 Aaron Berry CB
39 C. C. Brown SS
26 Louis Delmas FS
23 Chris Houston CB
25 Randy Phillips FS
27 Alphonso Smith CB
42 Amari Spievey FS
24 Jonathan Wade CB
29 John Wendling SS

Special Teams
4 Jason Hanson K
2 Nick Harris P
48 Don Muhlbach LS

Reserve Lists
97 Korey Bosworth OLB (IR)
72 Trevor Canfield G (IR)
60 Joe Cohen DT (IR)
95 Jared DeVries DE (IR)
46 Richard Dickson TE (IR)
57 Jordon Dizon OLB (IR)
47 Jake Nordin FB (IR)
31 Jack Williams CB (PUP)

Practice Squad
61 Robert Callaway DT
53 Caleb Campbell OLB
40 J. J. Finley TE
64 Dan Gerberry C
33 Jonathan Hefney CB
17 Michael Moore WR
43 Paul Pratt CB
18 Tim Toone WR

They released some veterans like CB Dre Bly and OT Jon Jansen but the front office is looking at getting younger and finding players they can build a core nucleus around like Matt Stafford, Jahvid Best and Ndamukong Suh. Those are the kind of players that this team will be built around. The old adage is you build your team through the draft and supplement with free agency and trades. We are still two solid drafts away from being a major threat to the entire NFL. Someday fans from other teams will be saying “Oh crap we gotta play the Lions this weekend” and it’ll be fear. I can only hope to drink their tears like water when their teams are soundly beaten!

Tom Kowalski the beat writer for the Lions on MLive had a lunch time Q/A with fans and during my lunch break I posted a question and it was answered by him! I cut and pasted what I asked and his response and you can check out the link and read the other questions that were asked. Although my question is the only one of consequence LOL Just joking I am not that conceited well maybe just a little :-)

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2010/09/lunch_with_killer_tom_kowalski_5.html

Comment From Kenny:
Hey Killer love your stuff do you think the lack of a solid Bears receiving corp might nullify our weak secondary?

TomKowalski:
not at all ... those guys might not be marquee names, but they're very dangerous ... very fast ...

Here is a Poll question by Brian Van Ochten of the Grand Rapids Press on how many wins the Lions will get this season. Click on the link to vote!
http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2010/09/poll_question_how_optimistic_a.html

Here is a video podcast with Brian Van Ochten and Bill “the Huge Show” Simonson on the Lions Bears Preview. It’s only a few minutes long and well worth watching.
http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2010/09/video_lions-bears_preview_with.html

Here is an interesting article from the Lions website on how our offense can counter any Bears Defensive scheme Rod Marinelli throws at us.
http://www.detroitlions.com/news/article-1/Lions-Look-to-Negate-Whichever-Defensive-Scheme-Chicago-Tries/e18d1401-4691-4656-b272-7d815076408c

I know what your all thinking your like “Yeah, yeah, yeah this is all very good information and insite but what is your prediction for the game this Sunday? I have most excellent news for you my Lionettes! I believe the Lions will go to Soldier Field this Sunday and beat the Chicago Bears by a score of 38 to 31. The Bears are favorites by 6 points but I believe we will prevail! This is not the same team that has taken the field the past two seasons and it will be shown on Sunday!

I want to mention to the Lions players that this weekend begins a new era. It does not matter what has been in the past. All you need to know is a new day has dawned and you will be a part of this turnaround. Believe it and feel it. Sisu! If you don’t know what it means it’s a phrase they say up in the UP. Sisu is a Finnish word that stands for "strength of will, determination, perseverance and acting rationally in the face of adversity."

I will post most likely on Monday or Tuesday recapping the game. All of you have a safe and blessed weekend. Until next time enjoy the game drink some beer and eat some chicken wings :-) GO LIONS!