Last weekend, the Detroit Lions suffered another blowout loss, this time to divisional rival Minnesota by a score of 42 - 10. With the loss, the playoff aspirations of the Lions pretty much went out the window. Despite a very nice 6 - 2 start, they have lost their last four games and now find themselves at even .500 with a record of 6 - 6.

Luckily no one else, seems to want the last wildcard spot in the NFC. There are 8 teams vying for that last spot. The Lions, Cardinals and Vikings are all 6 - 6 while the other 5 teams are 5 - 7. Currently, the Cardinals have the tiebreaker edge since they beat Detroit head to head. Detroit has the edge over Minnesota having a better divisional record.

The Lions, however, have the toughest finishing schedule of any of the contenders. In their final four games, they play the Cowboys, Chargers, Chiefs and Packers. The Cowboys and the Packers are the cream of the NFC and given Detroit’s play of late, its highly unlikely that they would beat either of those teams. The Chargers got off to a bad start but are playing really good ball now and have taken charge of the AFC West. Its probably not a game the Lions will win either. That leaves Kansas City which is 4 - 8 this season and will sit out the playoffs. Lets go ahead and give that game to the Lions. That would make them 7 - 9 on the season. I don’t see them making the playoffs with that record, especially since Arizona is playing good ball and has the easiest finishing schedule. Don’t forget Minnesota either since they too are hot.

For the Lions to have a shot at the playoffs, they are going to need some help from the other contenders. Since all those teams have been all over the place this year, thats not entirely out of the question. If the Lions can steal one of those games from Dallas, San Diego or Green Bay, it would help their chances quite a bit.

Now, lets say Detroit does finish up 7 - 9 and misses the playoffs. Would the season be a success? A failure? If you had told me before the season that the Lions would go 7 - 9 and actually give a playoff spot a run, I would have said that the season was a success given the past years. However, after the solid 6 - 2 start, I am not sure I can say the same thing. That may not be fair, but to finish the last half of the season with the kind of record they are likely to, cannot be considered a success. Any gains the team seemed to have made in the first part of the season will have been wiped away. They will be in the same place they have been at the end of the previous seasons. In fact, they are likely to end up more in turmoil at the end of this season than they did at the end of last year. I suspect we will see some serious shake ups at the end of this year.

Don’t get me wrong - I am still an avid, devoted Lions fan as I have been my entire life and will continue to root strongly for them the remainder of the season. Who knows, maybe they can pull an upset or two, get some help and still eek into the playoffs. The injury to Roy Williams certainly isn’t going to help with those odds.

There a lot of info floating around this week and I thought I would just recap some of it. Tomorrow, I will do my Vikings pregame discussion.

Evidently, Jon Kitna is bothered by a sore knee. Today, he admitted in an interview, but refused to identify which knee it was. I presume it was to keep defenders from going after it. He looked okay in practice according to reports, so I hope its just a gimmick to get the Vikings thinking. If Kitna were to do down, I don’t think the Lions would have any shot at the playoffs.

Roy Williams has announced he wants to return to the Lions in 2009 when his current contract expires. This is unusual for modern day athletes. He says he doesn’t care about the money, just wants to be part of something he started. For some reason, I tend to believe him. He also states that at that point, Calvin Johnson will have surpassed him as the star receiver of the Lions. He’s showing some smarts too.

The Lions also placed cornerback Stanley Wilson on injured reserve ending his season. While he began the season as a starter his play has deteriorated and he became a backup. To fill his spot on the roster, the Lions signed Ramzee Robinson from the practice squad. Corner continues to be one of the Lions major weak points that will need addressing in the off season.

Despite a three game losing streak, the Lions still lead the pack for the last wildcard spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they also have the toughest schedule to close the season. Obviously, if they win, they are in. In a bit of a quirk, if the Vikings beat the Lions this weekend, its possible that there will be a 7 way tie for that playoff spot. The Lions would fare well in tie breakers when compared to NFC North rivals as they would have split with Minnesota and beaten Chicago twice. However, all the other teams would own the wildcard tiebreaker as of this coming Sunday. Regardless of how Detroit does down the road, the playoff picture will be an interesting one. To have much chance at all to be in that picture, the Lions have to beat the Vikings this weekend and also beat Kansas City. If they can grab another victory from their other final games against Dallas, San Diego and Green Bay, their odds are greatly improved.

In this week’s game, Adrian Peterson is expected to return to the lineup for the Vikings. Despite missing some action, he is still the leagues leading rusher.

In a move to shore up the huge hole over on the right side, the Lions have announced they are moving Damien Woody to right tackle. He will be the fourth player to start in that position this year. When George Foster was acquired from the Broncos this past off season, he was supposed to be the answer there, but has been inconsistent at best. Jonathan Scott and Blaine Saipaia have tried to step in and play the spot but have also been inconsistent. Woody was the right guard, but recently lost his starting position to Stephen Peterman. Personally, I like this move. All three of his predecessors have been susceptible to the bull rush from the defender and been pushed back into Kitna. While Woody may have lost some speed which may limit his ability to play the guard spot, his size should help him in the tackle spot. The only question will be how quickly can he adapt to the new position. I look for him to have a good game this week.