Show Me My Opponent: Preseason Week 1

Coming up this Friday the Dalton lead Cincinnati Bengals will be playing their first preseason game. Fortunately for them, it’s against the Detroit Lions. This game should be a great test to see where the fiery new signal caller of the Bengals offense is as a NFL Quarterback.

I was lucky enough to get a hold of Zac Snyder the editor of SideLion Report. Zac was able to shed some light on what’s going on in Detroit and what to expect come Friday night.

CB: What are the expectations of the Lions QB position? Does the team believe Stafford can stay healthy?

"Zac: Expectations, and excitement, are high. The sentiment is that Stafford doesn’t need to develop, he needs to perform. He played in just three games last season and the team led the Bears before he got hurt, beat the Redskins in the only game he started and finished and were leading the Jets before getting hurt again. He has looked good, he just needs to stay on the field. The team has all the confidence in the world he can stay healthy through an entire season but a lot of fans will be holding their breath every time he takes a hit."

CB: How are injuries effecting the team so far?

"Zac: Losing Mikel Leshoure to an achilles injury hurts, that’s for sure. The good news is that he was going to be counted on as a complimentary piece, not a foundation. Fellow rookies Titus Young and Nick Fairley have been severely limited but both should contribute this year. Jeff Backus and one of his back-ups, Jason Fox, have injuries of the week-to-week variety. They’ll miss time in camp but should be ready to play in a few weeks."

CB: The Lions defensive backfield has caught a lot of flack over the past offseason, how comfortable are you with them DB’s?

"Zac: They have the benefit of playing behind one of the best defensive lines in the NFL, that will certainly help cover any talent deficiencies they may have. I do like that they are a rather homogeneous group talent-wise so playing time will be up for grabs and I expect the competition to bring out the best in each man. It isn’t the Lions style to make a big splash in free agency. Instead, they made a value play by retaining Chris Houston and signing Eric Wright from Cleveland. There are other bright spots that will push for playing time as well."

CB: The NFC North looks to be a pretty challenging division this year, what changes has the team made in order to be more competitive in one of the toughest divisions of football& what does the team still need to do?

"Zac: It is basically the same answer to both questions: add talent to the roster. The Lions core was pretty much in place last season and the front office has taken up the task of loading as much talent on to the roster as possible. They admit that it is a continual process so the job is never done but the roster is deeper this year than it was last year and that should produce some results.The NFC North is tough but the Lions were a rulebook technicality away from a week one win in Chicago that would have given them a .500 record in the division last year. The Packers will be very good but the Lions beat them late in the year last year, the Bears still have to prove last season wasn’t a fluke and nobody in Detroit is particularly scared of the Vikings."

CB: What expectations do you have about the upcoming season?

"Zac: You know that graphic the networks put up on the screen to show the playoff picture? I expect the Lions to at least show up in the “in the hunt” column late into the season. To put a number on it, eight or nine wins."