By Dean Holden 

 

It’s finally time for the inevitable record prediction.

Despite being asked multiple times, I’ve avoided giving any concrete predictions on the season until now. Much like giving draft grades or making calls on free agent moves, it’s meaningless to do so until you get an initial idea of what the team looks like playing together.

Of course, then you have to make sure those guys stay on the team. A record prediction talking about Dre’ Bly making a resurgence would just be silly looking at it now, wouldn’t it?

But we’re past all that. The roster is full, and set for the time being. We have a decent idea of what the team looks like together, so I have no more excuses.

Therefore, here are my predictions for the Detroit Lions in 2010. Yes, the ones you can throw back in my face in three months when I’m wrong about everything.

Team Offensive MVP: Matthew Stafford

Yeah, I know. Big stretch. But the only thing that can derail this prediction is Stafford’s health. If he stays upright most of the season, Stafford looks primed to have a breakout season.

I know that’s a cliché, but if you watched Stafford in the preseason, you’d understand. Stafford looked like a completely different quarterback than the one who threw nine interceptions in the preseason last year. He was cool, confident, and exhibited good decision-making, which was one of his greatest weaknesses last season.

More importantly, management has put Stafford’s development high on their list of priorities, and consequently, he has been surrounded with weapons.

Stafford won’t be a Pro Bowler this year, but he is going to find himself on the map for it soon if he keeps himself healthy.

Team Defensive MVP: Kyle Vanden Bosch

I can’t speak highly enough of Vanden Bosch’s qualities as a leader. He plays harder than anyone else in football, and in leading by example, it rubs off on his teammates (you never heard about Albert Haynesworth failing conditioning tests in Tennessee, did you?). And that would be fine by itself, but he combines that with being a very good football player.

After a weak, injury-shortened 2009 campaign, Vanden Bosch again finds himself playing alongside a strong defensive tackle taking up two blocks in the middle. Those resulting one-on-one matchups outside should allow him to perform perform well enough be a strong candidate for both the Lions’ defensive MVP and the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year.

Offensive Breakout Player: Jahvid Best

Another no-brainer (assuming I can’t make the Stafford pick again). And another pick which could be derailed by prevailing health concerns.

Of course, that’s what they said about Adrian Peterson.

Best isn’t Peterson, and concussions aren’t knee injuries, so don’t try telling me that, I already know. Best has an entirely different skill set, and will be a completely different style of running back.

But it will be good. Scott Linehan knows exactly what to do with a running back who is as dangerous in the slot as he is in the backfield, and he’s going to show us he hasn’t forgotten.

Defensive Breakout Player: Randy Phillips

Whaaaaa? Not Suh? Not DeAndre Levy? Not even Cliff Avril?

Nope, it’s Randy Phillips. The maturity and intelligence he showed in the preseason, as an undrafted rookie, are unbelievable. It didn’t matter who he was in the defensive backfield with, what the play was, or what string he was playing against, if there was a play to be made, Phillips made it.

It doesn’t look like Phillips will be starting in Week 1, but he will in Week 17.

And he’ll only get better from here. Louis Delmas might have a respectable running mate yet.

Record: 6-10 (3-3 NFC North)

There, I said it. Six wins. For the most part, I’m not telling which six. I don’t know, and neither do you. But what you might be more interested in is my predictions for the divisional games. Yes, I predict a .500 record against divisional rivals.

I don’t claim to know which games those will be… except that the Lions will beat the Bears at Ford Field. I’m tempted to claim they will beat the Bears twice, and it’s a possibility, but not a certainty.

The Lions will also bring either their Metrodome or Lambeau Field losing streak to an end this season, but not both. If I had to pick one, I’d say the Metrodome streak falls first. The Lions have played the Vikings too well for too long to not come away with a “W.”

In addition, the defensive line did well generating a pass rush and stopping the run against the Vikings last year, which makes you wonder what the revamped unit can accomplish this year.

The Lions have come a long way in two short years, and they enter the 2010 season with a lot to prove. They won’t do enough to make everybody believe they’ve truly moved toward respectability, because there are too many hardcore pessimists out there.

But they will put enough exclamation points on this season to make it one to remember, if you’re willing to wait on those playoffs.

http://bleacherreport.com/users/64307-dean-holden