8/17/10 Detroit, MI - Detroit Rock City has been fairly quiet this off season since the 66-0 Power Bowl win over the Bengals and I’m inclined to think that it is because they are so used to winning now that the excitement level has dropped off a bit.
Coming off their 3rd Power Bowl victory in 4 tries, the Lions have entered camp with fewer new faces than we typically see as owner Ron Edele is usually among the most active in the trade market. “I think that we did a great enough job over the past few seasons in the draft and the trade market that we could take a little break this off season. We obviously have the right pieces in place to win the Power Bowl again this year, so we spent a lot more time on vacation this summer” said Edele.
The Lions were able to fill the few holes that they had on the O-Line and at RB. They drafted Russell Okung and Jon Asamoa to shore up the right side of the line as well brought in a young Alex Mack to take over at Center after losing Nick Mangold in the expansion draft. At RB, they were able to bring in rising stars Jonathan Stewart and Pierre Thomas to compete for the starting job, replacing LaDanian Tomlinson who was also surprisingly taken in the draft. LT said in an interview with OLSEN “I really wanted to retire as a Lion, so I’m a little upset about getting picked by the Rams. I’ve never seen a more well run team than what Ron put out on the field last year. He’s the best owner in the history on the NML, Period!”
Shawne Merriman was a brief camp holdout this year as he was looking to restructure his contract to reflect bonuses for his offensive and defensive milestones this year. He did have 19 TD’s last year on offense, so Edele quickly met his demands as he has proven to be a very valuable player on both sides of the ball.
Ron Edele as always has predicted another Power Bowl for the upcoming season and I doubt that many people would disagree. The Lions are once again the class of the league and can feel confident that they have both the best offense and defense again this year.
On Sunday Night, opening weekend, expect the excitement to return as the Lions tear apart a weak division foe in the Bears. I predict that this will be the first shutout of many on the season for the Lions D. Welcome back to the league Chicago, 56-0 Lions is my prediction.
