In the midst of this recession, no city in the United States has felt the wrath of the economy collapse more than the city of Detroit. Among the worst unemployment rates in the country, there's little to cheer for in the Motor City. The sports scene, however, in Michigan's largest city has never been better. While the Detroit Red Wings are almost guaranteed to make a push for the Stanley Cup playoffs as always considering they've made a North American professional sports record 20 consecutive playoff appearances, hoisting four Stanley Cups in that span, it's the other Detroit based teams who have been creating quite the buzz.
Coming off a 3 games to 2 triumph of the New York Yankees in the ALDS, the Detroit Tigers have muscled their way into the ALCS (American League Championship Series for you noobs) to face the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers. And though they trail Texas 2 Games to 1, the series has shifted to Detroit for Games 4 and 5. The biggest surprise, however, is that of the football team -- the Detroit Lions. Having been the laughing stock of the NFL for years, the Lions have not only shocked, but have silenced the critics thus far by way of their first 5-0 record since 1956. The Lions claimed their most recent victim last night in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football, defeating the division-rival Chicago Bears by a final score of 24-13.
While the high draft picks of Matthew Stafford, Jahvid Best, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and Calvin Johnson aka Megatron among others were bound to pay off, nobody thought the Lions of all teams would be the only undefeated team in the league alongside the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers heading into Week 6. Hoping to improve on that mark, Stafford and company will have their hands full this Sunday as they get set to host a revamped 49er squad that has also surprised and has been clicking on all cylinders since the hiring of former Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. With both teams benefiting from a greedy defense, a low scoring affair is almost inevitable, but with both squads also among the leagues highest scoring offenses, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a high scoring game either.
Coming into the season, who would've thought the 49ers and Lions would be a combined 9-1 after the first 5 Weeks? Not I. The Lions are indeed for real, but I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon just yet. Not because their only route to make it to the Playoffs is through the Wild Card assuming Green Bay wins the division, but for the simple fact that the Lions aren't a Playoff-ready team...yet. Keep in mind this is the same Detroit Lions franchise that finished the 2008 NFL season with an imperfect 0-16 record. And while Stafford to Johnson appears to be the reincarnation of Montana to Rice, the dynamic duo can only get them so far. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy riding the wave while it lasts. In fact I encourage it given it's somewhat of a breath of fresh air seeing someone not named Eminem or Kid Rock putting the 'D' back on the map.
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