Lions' Offense A Rumor, But 3-2 Is Still 3-2

Well, if nothing else, the Lions' offense ought to be the most well-rested platoon in the entire NFL, when they resume play on October 21 following their bye week.

They essentially will have had two weeks off when they take on Tampa Bay at Ford Field on the 21st, because they were hardly on the field during yesterday's 34-3 vanishing act against the Redskins in Washington.

The Lions are now 0-21 in Washington.

Roy Williams -- every pizza delivery guy's arch enemy -- along with Mike Furrey and Calvin Johnson, probably were able to simply hang up their jerseys sans the need to launder them. QB Jon Kitna, on the other hand, is a candidate for a Whisk commercial.

When head coach Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz evaluate the offense on film, they'd better do so with toothpicks holding their eyes open, for if they blink they might miss an entire series. The Redskins held the football so much, especially in the first half, it was like watching "monkey in the middle" played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Manute Bol, and Danny DeVito.

It's one thing to have Donovan McNabb carve you up. But the Lions will continue to have the Jason Campbells of the world feasting if they bring the lovely defensive combination of no rush, no cover ability to the table. What NFL quarterback worth his salt -- and even the ones that aren't -- won't have a field day if the pass rush is nonexistent and the DBs play as if allergic to the men they're assigned to cover?

But look -- this isn't a season killer. The Lions are simply suffering thru the growing pains of a team trying to make the step from pretender to contender. Namely, the "I" word -- inconsistency. They're bound to be up and down throughout the year. It's just that when they've been down, they've been at the bottom of the valley.

The Lions, so far this season, appear very capable of winning close ballgames, especially in the fourth quarter and beyond. They also seem very capable of getting their asses kicked on occasion. It all may still add up to 8-8 or 9-7 when all is said and done. It's not atypical of the second tier NFL team.

But -- and call me crazy -- I have a different sense of optimism with this Lions squad. When they fall behind 14-0 or 16-3, as they did yesterday, I genuinely think their offense can awaken and those points can be made up. I haven't felt that way about any Lions team in over a decade, since the salad days of Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, and company. I thought that if the Lions, with the ball to start the second half, could put together a decent drive and get some points, that they were right back in the game. And the funny thing is, this time I actually believed it, as opposed to it being simply wishful thinking. Granted, it didn't happen against the 'Skins, but the belief that it could is a step in the right direction.

The Lions are a 3-2 football team that's been outscored in its two losses, 90-24. Win Small, Lose Big. That's the theme in 2007. But if the Ws somehow match the Ls, then it's still an upgrade -- no matter how one-sided the losses are. You get into the playoffs based on your record, not on point differential (unless you're #7 down the list of tiebreakers).

So the Lions lost, 34-3, to the Redskins in Washington. But they've already beaten the Raiders for the first time ever in Oakland, snapped a double-digit losing streak to the Vikings, and a five-gamer to the Bears. And all in September.

Take a step back from the edge, and ask yourself: would you have taken 3-2 going into the bye week?

I think so.