[Senator Clay Davis]

Tampa has more defensive talent than Detroit does. Really Tampa might have as much defensive talent as any team in the league. One of the rare teams with an elite player at every level of the defense (McCoy at DL; David at LB; Revis at CB). The offense also isn't really that bad, it just needs a QB. But Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams is a strong 1-2 WR tandem, the backfield is loaded all of a sudden (Doug Martin, Mike James, Bobby Rainey) and this Tim Wright guy comes out of nowhere as a rookie to finish as a top 10 TE. The Vikings meanwhile lost 4 (4!!!!) games in the last 60 seconds of the game this year, plus a tie. They are pretty close to being a good team right now. Houston, Tampa and Minnesota are also all in better cap shape than the Lions.


As to the QB part...what exactly makes Matthew Stafford anything other than what his history says he is: A middle of the road QB. Sure, he has the physical ability, but so have many guys. His play in the big games is uninspiring, his stats are over-inflated due to Megatron, and he's in the Romo zone in terms of decision making. His career low in INTs in 16, meaning he basically averages 1 a game, and only 1 season over 60% completion. Stafford can be an upper echelon QB, but to date there's nothing in his play that suggests he's anywhere close right now.