NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Jon Kitna is at it again. He is calling for 10 victories, but for a different reason.

No, Jon is not crazy. Well, maybe a little, he did agree to play for the Detroit Lions. Nobody made him do it.

This year Jon is calling for 10 victories, because that would mean they are in the playoffs and that would mean they are more than competitive. That would mean a very successful season for the team.

Just as he did last off-season — and again earlier this year — Kitna said Tuesday that the Lions should not accept less than 10 wins. The team went 7-9 in 2007.

“Our expectation is we will be disappointed if we don’t win 10 games,” he said after the Lions’ first Organized Team Activities practice in Allen Park. “Because that will mean we’re not in the playoffs and that (stinks). I can’t make it any simpler than that. Anybody who says that’s not their expectation level is, unfortunately, not very much of a competitor.”

source

Ok, all that scoffing has to stop right now. The Lions will be better and even though that does not always translate into more victories, Jon believes it will.

Let’s take a look at their schedule.

Sun 9/7 at Atlanta 1:00 pm
Sun 9/14 Green Bay 1:00 pm
Sun 9/21 at San Francisco 4:05 pm
bye
Sun 10/5 Chicago 1:00 pm
Sun 10/12 at Minnesota 1:00 pm
Sun 10/19 at Houston 4:05 pm
Sun 10/26 Washington 1:00 pm
Sun 11/2 at Chicago 1:00 pm
Sun 11/9 Jacksonville 1:00 pm
Sun 11/16 at Carolina 1:00 pm
Sun 11/23 Tampa Bay 1:00 pm
Thu 11/27 Tennessee 12:30 pm
Sun 12/7 Minnesota 1:00 pm
Sun 12/14 at Indianapolis 1:00 pm
Sun 12/21 New Orleans 1:00 pm
Sun 12/28 at Green Bay 1:00 pm

source

Certainly playing in a division without any other proven quarterbacks, now that Brett Favre is gone, has to help.

There are also games with non powerhouse teams like Atlanta, Houston, Carolina, and Washington.

Certainly a lot of winnable games on the schedule, but what Detroit Lions team will we get? Gone is Mike Martz and the least fabulous show on Earth and in its place is a running offense without a tailback. Ouch.

Gone is the on again off again Shaun Rodgers from defensive tackle with more emphasis on speed and youth.

This will be Coach Rod Marinelli’s team to live with or die with.

Good Luck, Jon Kitna, on your attempt at 10 victories.

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Let’s take a look at the NFL Playoff picture.

NFC
Dallas, Green Bay, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Giants are in.
Dallas has the home field advantage.
Green Bay gets a first round bye.
The Giants got one of the wild cards.
Minnesota gets the other wild card with a victory or Saints loss.

Comments - Dallas, Green Bay, and Seattle all look pretty solid. Is Tampa really in the playoffs? Wouldn’t you love to see Brett Favre get one more ring!

Knocked out - Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and St. Louis. Wow, Chicago after a dominant Super Bowl year! Detroit in spite of Kitna’s 10 or more wins prediction. Up and coming San Francisco was never up and coming.

AFC
New England, Indianapolis, San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Jacksonville are in.
Jacksonville is one of the wild cards.
Cleveland needs a victory or Titans loss to get the other wild card.
Tennessee needs a victory, and it won’t be easy, facing the Colts, if they are to get the other wild card.

Comments - New England looks incredible. Colts and Chargers are solid, but will eventually have to visit New England. Name one Jacksonville player. Cleveland can continue the Derek Anderson story.

Knocked out - Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, N.Y. Jets, and Oakland. Baltimore after a surprising playoff year last year with great defense. Poised to be in the playoffs Denver never could get it really rolling. Now we know the real reason Saban left Miami.

NFL Football Fan Question Who are you picking to win each conference?

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Peyton tells Tom his game is earlier, so the record is his first!

Some will say that if you hang around the NFL long enough and play enough football on Sunday, then all kinds of awards, titles, records, and other assorted good things will come your way.

Now of course there is some truth to that, but a whole lot more is going on in this case.

Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady, three for sure Hall of Fame quarterbacks, all with division leading teams have a chance to do something really special over the course of the next 2 weekends. Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Tip the Pizza boy? No Way!

What a very different season of NFL Football is on top of us this year.

The surprises are everywhere to be had or to be bad.

Patriots are great, no surprise.
Colts are great, no surprise.

So where are the surprises?

San Diego

The bad?

Well, try Norv Turner and the Chargers. The new coach is struggling to put it all together and LT is not getting his carries and not getting many touchdowns.

But the season is long and even though many of us have our doubts about Norv Turner, the coach could turn it around and in fact, they seem to be heading towards an easier stretch in their schedule.

New Orleans

Also the bad? Read more