After having an excellent off-season, the Detroit Lions have been receiving a lot of hype in the NFL world. This hype is shocking to most fans as the Detroit Lions have been one of the worst teams throughout the entire Superbowl Era of the NFL. Today on ESPN, Analyst Louis Reddick took the Lions hype to another level calling them Superbowl Contenders. Today I’ll explain why this could be true and why it couldn’t, and my thoughts on it.
What Has To Happen To Make The Lions Superbowl Contenders?
The most important aspect for the Lions to be Superbowl contenders is Jared Goff. If Jared Goff plays like he did last year or plays even better then the Lions will be in a fantastic spot next season. However, if he takes a step back like he did with the Rams it will be harder for Detroit to compete, even though Detroit’s run game will be fantastic Jared Goff is still going to have to be a good Quarterback. Luckily, the Lions have set Jared Goff up perfectly to succeed, giving him good receivers, a great backfield, and one of the league’s best offensive lines.
The next thing Detroit needs to happen to be in contention for the Superbowl is for the defense to take a big step up from last season. Through half the season last year, the Lions had one of the worst defenses in NFL history and once they stepped up a bit the team went on a tear. The Lions’ defense is primed to take a step up this season, as they signed many big free agents on the defensive end to upgrade their weakest positions and let go of the weak links. They are also primed to improve as their biggest contributor from last year were all rookies and they have now had a full off-season to progress and come back better.
The Final thing that would shoot the Lions into Superbowl contention would be if Dan Campbell can make a jump in his coaching. Dan Campbell is already regarded as a top-15 coach in the league due to his leadership and risky but rewarding play calls. The problem the Lions had with Jim Caldwell was he plateaued as a coach and Detroit would win 7-10 games every year. So if Dan Campbell even makes a slight jump and doesn’t plateau, the Lions will be in a fantastic position. With Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn coming back as Coordinators it should be easy for Campbell to improve as a play caller and decision maker.
My Thoughts On The Lions Potentially Being Superbowl Contenders
As I listed before I can see why the Lions could be Superbowl contenders if everything goes right, but I feel Superbowl expectations are a bit big for year three of a rebuild. With going 9-8 last season and barely missing the playoffs, so in my opinion a division win and maybe one playoff win should be the expectation for the brand-new Lions. However, last year I was only predicting seven wins and they went way beyond my expectations and nearly made the playoffs, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they exceed my expectations again this season.
If everything goes to plan then yes I could see them easily being Superbowl contenders, but there is a lot of room for error when it comes to football so leaving the wiggle room of just winning the division feels right to me. However, if everything is the same from last season and the defense steps up tremendously, this Detroit team can and will be scary.
