Why the Lions can win in Chicago...

#1 Mike Martz.

Again, I realize I put him on the reasons why the Bears should win, but the madness of Martz is a very sharp two edged sword. Whereas he can dissect an opposing defense like few others and can definitely produce very high quality play from his players...he's also incredibly stubborn and will surely spend most of his day fighting down the demons deep within him that will be clawing at his soul to go back to his seven step drops and deep passing to take full advantage of the Lions putrid secondary.

If he does that, Cutler will get sacked, probably often.

It is not within Martz's nature to leave such a glaring weakness alone. He is a nasty fiend who loves to use his powerful magnifying glass on burning opposing defenses as much as ants and, as is his fondest desire in the future, people.

#2 Sgt. Pick and Shovel

Lovie Smith saw the Lions abysmal record over the three years that Marinelli steered the ship. He saw the historically worst defenses ever displayed in the game of professional football. He saw 0-16 and he said to himself...."I need that guy!"

Smith is on his deathbed in Chicago. The fans are calling for his underachieving head and then will march on the complex and most likely toss him and GM Jerry Angelo from the tallest building. Their bodies will be tarred and burned. The corpses will be mercilessly left on Michigan Ave to be run over for 24 hours by all forms of passing traffic.

Chicago is a football town. They have let the Chicago Cubs get away with putrescence for years, but they will not be so lenient with their own Monsters of the Midway.

Eight years of Millen would have never stood in Chicago. Millen's head would be displayed on a pike next to the highest flag pole of Soldier Field.

So in these conditions, under this kind of life or death pressure, Smith and Angelo decided their best course of action would be to promote an arguably mentally disabled former Lion coach to the position of defensive coordinator.

I fear that some time in December or November, there's going to have to be a public service announcement in Chicago which will read, "No, we didn't install any new speed bumps on Michigan Ave this week..."

#3 The Franchize

Stafford has looked very, very good this offseason. He now has more than one weapon in his offense. It is no longer the Stafford to Johnson show followed by the Stafford to (quadruple covered) Johnson show.

He now has the ability to hand off to Jahvid Best, a serious threat to score any time he gets the ball. Nate Burleson is now available to take some of the coverage from Megatron, along with two very good tight ends in Scheffler and Pettigrew.

And most importantly, a very porous offensive line has looked very good with the addition of Rob Sims and the return of injured RG Stephen Peterman -- and improved play of Gosder Cherilus.

The Franchize has shown complete command of the offense and for the most part has displayed a much better handle on his decision making, drastically cutting down on his interceptions -- so far.

And did I mention, he's going up against a defense that's being run by Sgt. Pick and Shovel?