(Image source: It's Always Sunny In Detroit)

BY TOM MARTIN

“Detroit pride” -- once merely a moniker for the city’s football team -- now, a shared sentiment. The Lions are 5-0 after beating the Chicago Bears Monday night:

“Lions fans are waking up, of course with big smiles on their faces. This morning the team is now 5-0 for the first time in 55 years. ‘Football game’s over. Your Detroit Lions are 5-0 for the first time since 1956, and if you couldn’t tell, the man who made that tackle on the last play was Ndamukong Suh. You could hear the crowd, the Suh squad, calling his name.’”

Detroit’s defense has helped key the team’s renaissance -- led by big bruising defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Opponents know Suh well -- 49ers center Jonathan Goodwin went as far as to say Suh could be -quote “one of the best to ever play the game.”

So how important is Suh to the Lions’ success? ESPN’s Jemele Hill makes a bold assertion -- she places Suh ahead of Lions great Barry Sanders.

“Suh isn't just a better draft pick than Sanders because he might be the next Reggie White or, worst-case scenario, the next Warren Sapp. It's because Suh already seems to have done something Sanders never could: He's changed the Lions' losing culture.”

Losing, Lions -- for years, the two terms have been one in the same. Detroit hasn’t had a winning season since 2000. But after a prime-time win over the Bears, CBS’ Gregg Doyel is convinced: this Lions team is unlike any before it:

“I could wait for the Lions to get to a Super Bowl, and then write that something special was brewing in Detroit way back in the fall of 2011 … Or I could do it now … It's going to happen. This team is going to the Super Bowl, and it's not going to stop at one. That's my prediction, and not merely because of what I just saw Monday night.”

The Lions have been trying to groom young talent for years. But after a slew of failed draft picks under old GM Matt Millen, the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay notes -- the Lions’ front office has finally struck gold:

“... The roster's high draft picks are actually performing like high draft picks … Matthew Stafford —a No. 1 pick in 2009—ranks among the NFL's top ten passers … Receiver Calvin Johnson, a No. 2 pick in 2007, is Stafford's most dangerous target, with eight touchdown receptions—two in each of the first four games.”

The players are certainly doing their part. As Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel writes, so too are the fans:

“The combination of a crowd rowdier than the normal NFL gathering and the Lions’ ‘Apocalypse Now’ defensive line breathing down their throats led to the Bears getting called for a ridiculous nine false starts … Ford Field, finally with a winner to back, can be the most intimidating facility in the league."

So they can run, pass, defend -- and their fans are turning decades of frustration into unbearable noise. But Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki spots a weakness -- health.

“But still some areas of concern. Left tackle Jeff Backus has given up a lot of pressure. I think there’s a chance that if he continues to play the way he has that Matt Stafford could go down once again. If they’ve got to turn to Shaun Hill, I think that’s a 6-10 team.”

Stafford has never played a full season in the pros. He’ll need to be in top form when the Lions host 4 and 1 San Francisco this week.