If Matthew Stafford starts the remainder of the Lions 14 games, there's a possibility the team could win two games (at home Nov. 1 and 22 vs. St. Louis and Cleveland, respectively). Winning just two games would most likely sew up the number one overall pick in next year's draft.

After guaranteeing Matthew Stafford $41.7 million of a $72 million contract, the Lions can't afford to have what would amount to around $80 million of guaranteed money (and at least $130 million total) sunk into two players still wet behind the ears. Not only would that murder the team's salary cap and scale, it could hurt morale in the locker room, since it's widely known that a number of NFL vets have a problem with the league's rookie pay scale.

I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Daunte Culpepper is over Stafford at this point in his 11-year career, but he has to be at least mediocre to Stafford's awful. If Culpepper plays last week, the Lions have a shot to beat Minnesota. Culpepper doesn't throw those two picks to Chad Greenway. The attack would have been much more balanced, as Stafford threw a total of eight passes until late in the third quarter.

With Culpepper at the helm, the Lions have a shot at winning four games. That's not an endorsement for Culpepper or the rest of his mates. It's more of an indictment against some of the team's on Detroit's schedule.

In Part Three: the games the Lions could win with Culpepper starting.