Do The Detroit Lions Have A Chance At The Playoffs?

The Detroit Lions just came out and absolutely smoked the Jacksonville Jaguars at home 40-14, showing that they are playing at an elite level right now. The biggest question out now is do the Lions have a shot at making the playoffs in the final stretch of the season? Let’s break down what would need to happen in order for them to make a wildcard spot.

What Do The Lions Need To Do To Make It?

The Lions have potentially the two biggest games of the season coming up these next two weeks and if they want a chance they need to win both of them. First up is the Minnesota Vikings, the biggest key to beating them is shutting down Justin Jefferson and answering on offense. The last time Detroit faced this team, they were in Minnesota and only lost due to a 30 second collapse that ended in a game-winning touchdown. The Lions were in that game mostly because Jeff Okudah absolutely locked down Jefferson and the Vikings’ offense couldn’t get going, if it wasn’t for a missed field goal they had it in the bag. If Detroit can do what they’ve been doing and lock down Jefferson they should win this game.

The Jets are the next biggest game because not only are they a good team, the Lions have to play them in Metlife Stadium. While the Lions have already won at Metlife once this year, the atmosphere disrupts play a lot and will always be a problem. The biggest key to beating them is establishing a run game early and making Mike White uncomfortable. The Jets have one of the best secondary duos in Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed so establishing the run is essential to get going on offense. The Jets’ offense doesn’t have much going for them other than Garrett Wilson so if you can lock him up and pressure Mike White, the defense should be very successful.

The rest of Detroit’s schedule isn’t nearly as hard as those games but they should not be taken for granted. They proceed to face the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and Greenbay Packers. The Panthers are in a bad spot in terms of their team, but this is also an away game, either way, this should be a win. The Lions have already beaten the Bears, but this time they are even more injured and will be playing at Ford Field. Finally, they play the Packers in Lambeau, this matchup may be the scariest of them all purely due to the atmosphere of Lambeau, so this one is a toss-up.

What Do The Lions Need To Happen To Make It?

The first thing Detroit needs to happen is for the Seahawks to lose most of their upcoming games. The Seahawks are the only team ahead of the Lions in the “ In The Hunt” for the Wildcard and have the tiebreaker over the Lions. If the Lions win out or even lose just one game and the seahawks lose four of the next five that puts the Lions ahead of them. They also need the Giants to lose a lot of these upcoming games, specifically their game against the Commanders. 

The Commanders losing a good amount of their upcoming games will also help greatly since the Lions have the head to head tiebreaker against them. So ultimately the Lions do have a decent chance at the playoffs, but they would need a lot to happen. They would have to nearly win out to even have a shot. Then they would need other teams to collapse to make it.