The mysterious Detroit Lions

Opinions on how good the Lions will be this year are all over the charts. There are those, particularly from the Detroit area, that seem to think their team will be a serious contender. Yours truly has heard their predictions of 10-6, 11-5, even 12-4, while certainly bound for the playoffs.

They might be right. After all, hot-shot QB Matthew Stafford is entering what should be the prime of his career and wide receiver Calvin (Megatron) Johnson remains as freakish as ever. The Lions made a huge upgrade in their running game with the addition of Reggie Bush, their defensive line appears formidable, and they even plucked a couple free agents off the market to bolster their secondary.

Then again, every glass that is half-full is also half-empty. And it appears the NFL football "gurus" at Sports Illustrated seem to think the Lions' glass is not only less than half-full, but only contains a few drops as they get ready to enter the 2013 season.

To likely the surprise and chagrin of many in the Detroit area, SI has the Lions finishing dead last in the NFC North Division -- again. They predict a 6-10 record. No playoffs. Not even close. Yes, this would technically be an improvement over the Lions' abysmal 4-12 record of last year, including losing the last 8 in a row, but I don't think it's exactly what the Honolulu blue and silver faithful have in mind this year.

Somewhat incredibly, while ranking the teams, SI has the Lions at #15 in the NFC, thinking they are only better than the Carolina Panthers in the entire conference.

So who's right? Are the Lions over-rated by some and under-rated by others? Beats me. While most would probably agree such NFC teams as the 49ers, Seahawks, Falcons, and Packers will be pretty good this year, the Lions remain their usual enigma. On any given game day, the Lions can be very impressive and play like champions. Thing is, on another given game day, they can stumble, bumble,  light up the field with stupid penalty flags, and play like chumps.

Me? I think if more things go right than wrong for the Lions -- never a given, considering their not-so-storied history -- they have a shot at the playoffs. They're nowhere near Super Bowl caliber, and I dare say never will be under head coach Jim Schwartz (but that's a story for another day). But they could make things interesting in Detroit come January, if only for a short while.

For the record, I'll peg them at 9-7, with an outside shot at a wild card berth, depending on how a few other "border-line" teams fare.

Hey. Beats the heck out of 4-12, not to mention where SI ranked them.

Only the Carolina Panthers?

Wow.