Is Detroit the new Cardinals?

I saw this on Sportcenter this morning (paraphrasing): Can the Lions win 10 games? Huh. Yeah, I know I was pretty positive about the Lions in my NFC North preview (though I believe I projected 7 wins, not 10), so this may seem like I'm contradicting myself (trust me, it won't be the first time). The Lions are picking up momentum as this year's 'surprise team'. Jon Kitna was laughed at when he initially proclaimed the Lions would win 10 games (and later revised as more than 10 games). Now with a couple months of perspective... that was a brilliant move. Without it, nobody is talking about whether the Lions will win 10 games or not. Besides taking the lead for his team, Kitna got the media talking about the Lions' ability to win 10 games, which will produce a feedback loop that will increase his teammates expectations. That's an important step towards reversing the culture of losing.

So where have I heard this before? How about the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Arizona Cardinals. Many of the most respected football writers jumped on the Cardinals' bandwagon at least one of those years. I think the Cardinals have bitten everybody enough by now that there will be plenty of skepticism towards them (which, ironically, could make them the actual sleeper, but that's for another time). The Lions though... they're new, they have a flashy receiver core, they're building with youth... and they have a horrible offensive line. Sound like the Cardinals? Yeah. Let's hold off on the 10 win discussion. Get to 8 wins, then go from there.