Jon Kitna says the Lions still have good chance to go 8 - 8. I wouldn’t say its a good chance, but it is there. The Lions have a decent shot this week against Kansas City. I hope the early season Lions show up and try to put on a good final show of the season for the Ford Field fans. The game against Green Bay will be much harder unless the Packers rest most of their big names and just try to coast into the playoffs. All teams want to enter into the playoffs on a positive note, so I think the Packers will show up and make it a difficult win for the Lions.

We won’t see Roy Williams any more this season. He has been move to the Injured Reserve list with his knee injury. This is the right move. With the playoff shot gone, no sense in rushing Williams back into action. Its better to get him fully rested and healed and ready for next season. I would also take it easy with Kevin Jones the rest of the season. Get him some action, but don’t overdue it. It will take him most of the offseason to be fully recovered from that foot injury. Lets get some more looks at TJ Duckett and maybe even Tatum Bell, though I see no way he stays with the team after this season.

Five Detroit Lions have been named as alternates to the Pro Bowl this year. Not a single Lion actually made the roster, which isn’t surprising considering the free fall they have taken. The five named as alternates were: center Dominic Raiola, quarterback Jon Kitna, nose tackle Shaun Rogers, wide receiver Roy Williams and linebacker Ernie Sims. I have no clue why Rogers was selected. It must have been on past history because he has not had much of a year. The only one I really like in that list is Ernie Sims. He has been a solid performer with the exception of the game last week.

If the Lions don’t win one of the two remaining game this season, they will set a new mark for NFL futility. No team has ever started the season 6 - 2 and then lost its last 8 games of the season since the 16 game season started in 1978. For the Lions to set that record this year, it would be a shame and completely overshadow and forward strides the team has made. While its hard to find a lot of good things in the season, it has overall been better than the past seasons in the Matt Millen era.

I still find myself a bit at a loss after the humiliating defeat last week to the Cardinals. It was definitely a step back last week. The Lions players, especially Kitna, have been talking this week about how the playoffs begin this week for the team. Given their schedule ahead, he may very well be correct. They may be hard pressed to get to 10 wins.

We have 7 games left. The opponents are the Giants, Packers, Vikings, Cowboys, Chargers, Chiefs and Packers again. Do you see 4 sure wins in that group? I don’t… We ought to be able to get past the Chiefs and maybe the Jekyll and Hyde Vikings, but finding two more wins will be tough. The Packers, Cowboys and Giants are the cream of the NFC right now. The Chargers are a good team playing better ball each week. We have to hope that our home record continues to be solid as the Giants, Cowboys, Chiefs and one of the Packers game is at home. We may need to win one against the Packers and then either upset the Giants or Cowboys. Ten wins will get us in the playoffs - nine will put us on the bubble.

One thing I didn’t mention about being at the Cardinals game last weekend was the traffic getting out of there. I don’t get the issues they have with traffic. Its a brand new stadium built away from the city pretty much in undeveloped area, though that is changing. It took us well over an hour just to get out of the parking lot after the game. Then there was the time navigating the roads away from the stadium. It seemed way too excessive and poorly designed. We were actually one of the last folks to leave the stadium itself because my son and I were waiting for my wife to come pick us up with the car. Also, given the never really in doubt game, many fans left the game early. Very poor traffic flow design in my opinion.

In a couple of roster moves today, the Lions claimed TE John Owens off of waivers. If you remember, the Lions signed Owens out of Notre Dame back in 2002. The last couple of seasons he has played for the New Orleans Saints before being released. He will back up TE Sean McHugh. To make room on the roster for Owens, the Lions signed TE Rudy Sylvan to the practice squad.

In Pro Bowl news, Jon Kitna is currently fourth amongst NFC quarterbacks. The top three get to go to Honolulu. This weeks performance isn’t likely to help him. The only other Lion in contention for a Pro Bowl slot is Shaun Rogers who is third for defensive tackles.

There has been speculation running on the various Lions boards this week that Kevin Jones is hurting and with Thanksgiving coming up meaning only 4 days between the Giants game and the Packers game, the Lions may tend to sit Jones more this week so he is really ready for the Packers. If that happens, then TJ Duckett would have to shoulder the load this week.

Personally, I don’t really see that happening and certainly hope it doesn’t. I think we need to get Jones in this week, get the best performance he can give and worry about the Packers game when that comes. I don’t like our chances against the Packers if we lose this week to the Giants. We need to take care of business this week first which means play Jones until he can’t play anymore. If that means he can’t go against the Packers, then you deal with it then.