Sometimes, the rock pounds you

Anyone else ready to check out on the 2006 Detroit Lions if they lose to Green Bay (one of the very few NFL teams that actually looks worse than the Honolulu Blue) at Ford Field on Sunday?

After two weeks, I'm already riding the roller coaster with these guys, feeling optimistic after the Week 1 loss to Seattle, but finding Week 2's meltdown in Chicago all too familiar. The schedule's being nice to the Lions by sending the Packers to town, and the polite thing to do would be to acknowledge that kindness. (Actually, this is the beginning of what could be a nice soft spot in the schedule, if the Lions can manage to play well. Three of their four October games are on the road, however.)

Favre's always good for a couple of interceptions at whatever terrordome the Lions play their games in, right? Especially if the Lions' defensive line can crumble the pocket as they did against Seattle. Get Favre frustrated, push him into trying to force a play, squeeze a few bad throws into coverage, and voila!

This would also be an excellent time for the Detroit passing game to really click. Green Bay is near the bottom of the league in pass defense. If some of those passes start to connect, or receivers can break free over the middle, Mike Martz might finally have something to smile about. (Unfortunately, they're quite good against the run, so this probably won't be the week for Kevin Jones to find 100 yards.)

Would that mean that Mike Williams, Detroit's next first-round draft cut, might see the field on Sunday? It's not looking for Big Mike, judging from much of the chatter around town.

Yesterday, MLive.com's Tom Kowalski detailed several of the issues that make up the current "he said/they said" snipping going on between the Lions and their embattled wide receiver.

Meanwhile, why did Fox Sports Detroit edit Terry Foster's probing questions on Williams' lack of playing time out of the tape of Rod Marinelli's Monday press conference? The testy exchange between T-Fos and the Sarge may have been the best part of the presser. If you watched the live broadcast, you saw it. On tape, you didn't. Tinfoil hat, anyone?

By the way, the wide receiver corps is a total mess right now. Corey Bradford, maybe the team's biggest free-agent signing in the off-season, was benched last week because he's been botching pass routes. And Matt Millen supposedly called the Raiders to inquire about Jerry Porter. That's our Millen!

Soap opera aside, this should be the week the Lions get it done and give people a Monday morning smile. Much like The Sports Dude, I'm picking a win for our gridiron heroes.

Lions 24, Packers 13.

Other quickies:

▪▪ Could the Lions really be on Monday Night Football? Well, they could at least be playing on a Monday night. And they'd have their Brush St. neighbors, the Detroit Tigers, to thank. If the Minnesota Twins end up winning the AL Central, they'd have home-field in the first round of the playoffs. And if that series went to a Game 5, it would be at the Metrodome, and the Twins have first dibs if there's a conflict.

▪▪ Hey kids! Want to read a blog from a Green Bay Packers rookie? Linebacker Abdul Hodge is posting a diary at the University of Iowa's student newspaper, The Daily Iowan. (Go Hawks!) Will he say anything about the Lions game next week?