FanHouse TanardJackson

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with Jamie Kiefer of Atop the Crow's Nest, a Most Valuable Network column that covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Dan Benton: "Although he was a little shaky last week, Jeff Garcia has played very good football this year. Has he been everything Bucs fans had hoped for, or do they still miss Chris Simms?"

Jamie Kiefer: "Jeff Garcia has been basically everything the Bucs fans had hoped for. You can't go wrong with a guy who had zero interceptions in the first seven weeks of the season. Chris Simms appeared to be the franchise quarterback, but due to a shaky beginning of the season last year, and his injury, he hasn't really had the chance to prove himself. I feel bad for him with all that he's been through, but I can't ignore what Garcia has done for the Bucs. The first seven weeks he had a passer rating over 100. If Garcia sticks around for the next few years, Chris Simms will be a distant memory."

OK, so I was wrong. I didn't think the Lions could beat the Bucs at their own game. But they did. Jon Kitna played conservatively, not completing a pass over 20 yards. They ran it 24 times for 147 yards, including 76 yards, 5.1 yards a carry, and a touchdown for Kevin Jones. And the defense stepped up with timely turnovers. It was anti-Martz football. And it won.

Jeff Garcia, returning to Detroit for the first time since taking no responsibility for anything bad, completed 82.2% of his 45 pass attempts for two touchdowns, showing some Brady-esque precision. But Tom Brady actually produces points and doesn't typically fumble twice, as Garcia did, both of which led to Lions touchdowns. Both teams also had fumbles overturned, one of which would have given the Bucs another touchdown on the return.

But the most exciting play of the game might have come early, as Shaun Rogers and Jeremy Trueblood got into what some might call a "tussle." The second: Calvin Johnson's 32-yard touchdown on an end-around, where he made Cato June, Tanard Jackson, and Barrett Ruud his prags. Get on it, Tubers.

This was undoubtedly the most convincing win of the Lions' season. They played outside of their comfort level and won convincingly. They showed the ability to do things playoff teams do. And they're -- gasp -- 4-2, close to taking over the NFC North.

To go along with Louisville's 2006 Big East Football Championship, and a nifty pair of Big East Golf Championships, Louisville is also this years winner in the 2007 NLF Draft among Big East teams. The Cardinals were able to land four players on NFL teams in this years draft. They were followed by Pittsburgh and Rutgers with three each, Syracuse and Cincinnati with two each, South Florida and Connecticut each had one player drafted, and dammit I'm missing someone here. Let's see....oh yeah, West Virginia with zero players drafted. Ugh!

Another sign that the Big East is crawling out of obscurity, this was the first year since 2004 that the Big East had two players drafted in the first round. The 16 players drafted this year also compares favorably to 11 Big East players being drafted in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Next years draft should consume more high profile players from the Big East with the likes of Brian Brohm, Steve Slaton, Mario Urrutia, and Pat White all eligible.

Previously at the Fanhouse:

West Virginia Shut Out in the 2007 Draft
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Dan Mozes
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Brandon Myles
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Brian Leonard
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Tanard Jackson
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Darrelle Revis