Lions off to roaring start
It wasn't quite on par with Joe Namath predicting a New York Jets victory over the powerful Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, but Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna certainly raised eyebrows over the summer when he predicted the Lions would win 10 games this season.
Upon hearing Kitna's prediction, mathematicians and probability theorists from all corners of the globe gathered to try to figure out how the heck Detroit, a team with a record of 33-79 in the 2000s, possibly could put together a .500 season in 2007, much less reach double-digit victories.
OK, that never happened.
But it was a stunning pronouncement for the quarterback of a team that has been mired at or below mediocrity for the past decade and was fresh off a 3-13 mark in 2006.
But a funny thing happened this season: Kitna and the Lions started winning. And winning at a fairly regular clip, including a stunning comeback victory over the Bears a few weeks ago in Detroit.
And with a 4-2 record under their belts, the Lions will be feeling pretty good about themselves heading into Soldier Field for Sunday's rematch.
"We're playing as a team and have really gotten a hard edge to us. We're fighting hard," said second-year coach and former Marine Rod Marinelli. "In this league, talent is important, but attitude is just as important.
"We're playing every down, snap to whistle."
They've needed to, considering how hard fought each of their wins have been. Marinelli is convinced having to rough it out on the field has brought his squad closer together off of it.
"Yeah, and you know why?" he said. "I believe it's how we've won those four games.
"They've been brutal. Every one of them has been late in the fourth quarter, and we've fought back all the way through those 4 wins. They've been a fight."
But as good as their start has been, the Lions have been less than stellar on the road (1-2), including thumpings from Philadelphia and Washington their last two times away from Ford Field.
"You've got to be a .500 team on the road," Marinelli said. "We've got to be more consistent.
"No matter where you're at -- it doesn't matter if you're at the North Pole -- we've just got to take the mind-set to take it one snap at a time as hard and as well as we can."
Kitna, when reminded of the Lions' struggles on the road this year and in years past, refused to look any direction but forward heading into Sunday's game.
"I don't know about what's happened in the past here," Kitna said. "That doesn't include me and I'm not concerned about it. I think that makes for good stories.
"We've had a lot of trouble here in the past on the road and at home. This is just another part of our growth process. We understand how hard it is to win in this league, especially on the road in this division.
"It's going to be hard (against the Bears). We have to play an almost perfect game this week if we hope to have a chance in the fourth quarter."
The Lions picked up their fourth victory last week against visiting Tampa Bay, and afterward Detroit players doused Marinelli with Gatorade to celebrate.
They were joyous.
Marinelli wasn't.
"You never put a focus on one person, especially a coach," he said. "But I couldn't control it, so I just move on."
He's hoping his players will as well.
"They're starting to see how much fun this is and how hard it is," Marinelli said. "Sometimes in this league when you're losing and can't see a light at the end of a tunnel, it's like, 'OK, I'm just going to play this thing out.'
"But when you're winning, every meeting counts, every walk-through counts. The pressure mounts and that's what's fun."