I've told this story before and I'm going to tell it again, because it's true and it's scary and it is, after all, Halloween.

It was late fall and the 5-2 Lions were playing the Denver Broncos.  The Lions crushed the Broncos, scoring more than 40 points and getting two defensive touchdowns in the rout. 

Was this yesterday?  Yes...but it was also November 4th 2007.  That day defensive end Dwayne White recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.  That day, Shaun Rogers picked off a pass and rumbled 66 yards for another defensive score.

Yesterday, again, the Lions rolled on to a 6-2 record.  Yesterday, defensive end Cliff Avril recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.  Yesterday, defensive back Chris Houston intercepted a pass and returned it a 103 yards for a second defensive score.

The score then, 44-7.  This was the pinnacle point of the Millen/Marinelli era.  The score yesterday, 45-10.  What did the Lions do then?  Won only one more game that season and followed it up with 0-16...what will these Lions do this time?

I've brought this game up a lot, mostly because it scares the crap out of me as a Lions fan.  I am very superstitious when it comes to the Lions.  There are a lot of things I like about the way the Mayhew/Schartz regime has rebuilt this franchise.  Granted, I being a fan and not a GM would have probably done things a lot differently. I love that the Dline is the heart of the team.

In 2007, the Dline was also, supposedly, the heart of the team too.  In 2007, the Lions built a 6-2 record on lesser opponents and a lot of turnovers...This week the Lions are currently first in turnover differential...

In the NFL, you cannot rely on turnovers.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I am seeing an awful lot of parallels in this scenario.  The hardest part of the schedule is coming up after the bye week.  There are still two games with the undefeated Packers and another at Chicago.

Now, do I think that Jon Kitna was better than Stafford is now?  No.  Would I take Roy Williams over Calvin Johnson?  Not on your life. And I'd take Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams and Nick Fairley over anybody on that 2007 defense, including Shaun Rogers...But I might take a young healthy Kevin Jones over a sidelined Jahvid Best...

So do I think that history is going to repeat itself?  No...not really...but I am jittery about it and now I have two weeks to fret about it as the Lions go into their bye week...

The old saying goes, "It's easy to be a holy man on top of the mountain."  I don't think that anybody was thinking of Mile High Stadium when this saying became famous...but up there in that stadium lives the likes  of the newly anointed Bronco QB, Tim Tebow.

Rarely has the ever been a quarterback that has been so wildly popular with the fans and so wildly unpopular with people actually working in the game.  The Fans see a very high character guy with amazing athletic tools.  Football people see a tightend who wants to play quarterback and has a three day release on his passes.

The Tebow machine ramped up the rpm's last week as the Broncos were able to come back from a 15-0 deficit against the Dolphins to win 18-15.  A very promising, exciting game...but....

It was the 0-6 Dolphins, guys...and they were down 15-0 to perhaps the worst team in the NFL.  That doesn't bode well for the guys formerly known as the Orange Crush.

Denver Offense vs Detroit Defense

This  is going to be all about Tebow...can the Lions stop him?  Traditionally, the Lions have had really big problems stopping mobile quarterbacks.  Mike Vick eats them alive...Daunte Culpepper owned them...Donavon McNabb...well, the Lions handled him pretty good this year.  The Broncos are without on of their top RB's, Willis McGahee (remember when the Lions were going to have the second overall pick and were destined to pick McGahee?)...and they just traded away their best wide receiver. 

It's not that I think Tim Tebow isn't any good, even though I kind of do think that, it's the fact that the Broncos have no weapons.  Who are their wideouts?  Moe and Curly? 

The Lions will have to ratchet up their defense in any case.  Last week, once again, the Lions pushed the pocket a lot, but did not manage to put the quarterback in the dirt nearly enough.  This has to change this week.

Advantage: Detroit

Denver Defense vs Detroit Offense

Even with the anemic running game the Lions have been trotting out for this entire season, which doesn't appear to be about to change as Jahvid Best is still doubtful for this game, the Lions should be in good shape in this game.  The Broncos defense is 21st rated defense in the league and is giving up approximately 40% of 3rd down conversions.

The Broncos also feature a very good, but very old secondary.  Calvin Johnson should still be able to get another hundred yards and a touchdown. 

Advantage: Detroit

Prediction

Typically, I hate doing this.  I hate throwing the jinx on the Lions...but I'm doing it.  They are a far better team than the 2-4 Broncos with their holy show pony quarterback.  I don't like the Bronco offensive line and I can't believe that the Lions won't be able to get to Tebow before he can release a pass with his "calander measurable release."  I really think that the Lions should be able to register between 3 and 6 sacks on Sunday.  My only real worry is that they won't be able to contain him in the pocket and he may run for miles.  We'll see.

Detroit 31 Denver 17

The old saying goes, "It's easy to be a holy man on top of the mountain."  I don't think that anybody was thinking of Mile High Stadium when this saying became famous...but up there in that stadium lives the likes  of the newly anointed Bronco QB, Tim Tebow.

Rarely has the ever been a quarterback that has been so wildly popular with the fans and so wildly unpopular with people actually working in the game.  The Fans see a very high character guy with amazing athletic tools.  Football people see a tightend who wants to play quarterback and has a three day release on his passes.

The Tebow machine ramped up the rpm's last week as the Broncos were able to come back from a 15-0 deficit against the Dolphins to win 18-15.  A very promising, exciting game...but....

It was the 0-6 Dolphins, guys...and they were down 15-0 to perhaps the worst team in the NFL.  That doesn't bode well for the guys formerly known as the Orange Crush.

Denver Offense vs Detroit Defense

This  is going to be all about Tebow...can the Lions stop him?  Traditionally, the Lions have had really big problems stopping mobile quarterbacks.  Mike Vick eats them alive...Daunte Culpepper owned them...Donavon McNabb...well, the Lions handled him pretty good this year.  The Broncos are without on of their top RB's, Willis McGahee (remember when the Lions were going to have the second overall pick and were destined to pick McGahee?)...and they just traded away their best wide receiver. 

It's not that I think Tim Tebow isn't any good, even though I kind of do think that, it's the fact that the Broncos have no weapons.  Who are their wideouts?  Moe and Curly? 

The Lions will have to ratchet up their defense in any case.  Last week, once again, the Lions pushed the pocket a lot, but did not manage to put the quarterback in the dirt nearly enough.  This has to change this week.

Advantage: Detroit

Denver Defense vs Detroit Offense

Even with the anemic running game the Lions have been trotting out for this entire season, which doesn't appear to be about to change as Jahvid Best is still doubtful for this game, the Lions should be in good shape in this game.  The Broncos defense is 21st rated defense in the league and is giving up approximately 40% of 3rd down conversions.

The Broncos also feature a very good, but very old secondary.  Calvin Johnson should still be able to get another hundred yards and a touchdown. 

Advantage: Detroit

Prediction

Typically, I hate doing this.  I hate throwing the jinx on the Lions...but I'm doing it.  They are a far better team than the 2-4 Broncos with their holy show pony quarterback.  I don't like the Bronco offensive line and I can't believe that the Lions won't be able to get to Tebow before he can release a pass with his "calander measurable release."  I really think that the Lions should be able to register between 3 and 6 sacks on Sunday.  My only real worry is that they won't be able to contain him in the pocket and he may run for miles.  We'll see.

Detroit 31 Denver 17