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| The last time the Detroit Lions made a football championship game? 1957. The game, played at Briggs (Tiger) Stadium in Detroit, was a 59-14 Detroit win over, coincidentally, the Cleveland Browns. |
While the past few days have not felt the part in West Michigan, autumn is coming, and with it another exciting season of NFL football. This season is a special one in the NFL as the Super Bowl has now reached 50 years-old, which is being commemorated through the painting of the every number 50 at midfield of each stadium in gold.
Of course, the focus of this article will be my beloved Detroit Lions, just one of four franchises that has never reached the Super Bowl. The others are the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars. If you have historical knowledge of the league, you know the Jaguars were started in 1995 and the Texans in 2002, which leaves the Browns and Lions to fight for worst modern era franchise in the NFL.
This leads to the question: will this
be the year the Lions reach the Super Bowl? Before we go that far,
what about the playoffs? Can the Lions make the playoffs in
back-to-back seasons for the first time since Barry Sanders's heyday
in 1994 and 1995?
It just so happens that I've been drinking the Kool-Aid. While this Lions team doesn't seem much better than last season's edition, it also doesn't appear much worse. I do believe Detroit can return to the playoffs. Super Bowl bound? Not as likely.
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| Barry Sanders rushed for more than 1500 yards in both 1994 and 1995, leading Detroit to three straight playoff appearances from 1993-95 and also landing Sanders on the cover of Sports Illustrated. |
Offseason
When talking about the Lions offseason,
the obvious starting point is the splash made by Ndamukong Suh to
spurn Detroit for Miami (two jokes here: Dolphins and Suh's short
stint on Splash).
While I don't think the Lions should have signed Suh for the amount
of money he drew from the Dolphins, I do think Detroit could have
prevented the difficulties that will arise from his absence.
It is hard to replace arguably the most
disruptive defensive tackle in the game. Suh commanded double teams
on nearly every play, and reaping the rewards were Detroit's
linebackers (DeAndre Levy led the league in tackles with 121) and
secondary (Darius Slay was 4th in the league in passes
defended and Glover Quin led the league with seven interceptions).
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| Glover Quin (right) and Ziggy Ansah (left) both benefited greatly from Ndamukong Suh's presence up front. |
While some of that can be attributed to
individual play, a lot has to do with the defense's pressure up front
– and a lot of that the past five years can be attributed to Suh.
So what could the Lions have done? First, they could
have taken previous offseason talks with Suh a little more
seriously.
And second, they could have taken Suh's
replacement in the 2014 draft. While Eric Ebron may still turn out
to be a fantastic player, Aaron Donald would have been nice right
about now.
The reality is that neither of those
situations are what actually happened, and to fill the gap, the Lions
worked a deal with the Baltimore Ravens for 32-year-old Haloti Ngata. Ngata is a solid
replacement – a run-stuffer – but won't create the pass rush that
Suh did.
The Lions then signed Tyrunn Walker
from the New Orleans Saints and added Gabe Wright out of Auburn in
the draft to provide depth. Jermelle Cudjo, Phillip Hunt, and Corey
Wootton were also added to a defensive line that will have a new look
as Nick Fairley, CJ Mosley, and George Johnson left along with Suh.
The linebacking corps will remain
largely the same, with Stephen Tulloch returning from injury and star
DeAndre Levy now on a new deal of four-years and $33-million. In the
defensive backfield, Detroit will again retain the same starters, led
by Pro-Bowler Glover Quin. The Lions did pick up some young depth in
the draft with cornerbacks Alex Carter (3rd round) and
Quandre Diggs (6th round).
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| DeAndre Levy had a very busy offseason. Along with signing a new contract, he went wing-walking and took a sled down an active volcano, amongst other exciting activities. |
On the offensive side of the ball,
Detroit's biggest changes come along the offensive line, with center
Dominic Raiola now retired and guard Rob Sims having been released.
Stepping into the starting lineup is second-year man Travis Swanson at
center and veteran and former-Lion Manny Ramirez beside him. The
Lions' first round pick in the 2015 draft, Laken Tomlinson, could
also see some time at guard should Ramirez or Larry Warford miss time
due to injury or poor play (or he steps up in practice).
Detroit's second round pick was Ameer
Abdullah, a running back from Nebraska who has had an impressive
preseason. Abdullah fills in for Reggie Bush, now with the 49ers, and
will split time with Joique Bell. The Lions also selected fullback
Michael Burton in the fifth round to help with blocking and short yardage situations.
In the receiving corps, Detroit added
veteran and former New Orleans Saint Lance Moore. Moore could very
well earn the third receiver position that is completely up for grabs
– Corey Fuller, Greg Lalas, and Jeremy Ross are also in the fray
for the spot behind Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
Finally, the Lions hope to see growth
out of a tight end group that totaled just 392 yards and two
touchdowns between Eric Ebron, Joe Fauria, and Brandon Pettigrew.
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| Eric Ebron's rookie season in Detroit saw just 25 catches for 248 yards and one touchdown. |
Upcoming Season
On the schedule this season for Detroit
is the AFC West, NFC West, Philadelphia Eagles, and New Orleans
Saints along with their six contests against the NFC North.
As someone who grew up watching the
Lions at the beginning of the Millen Era, I was easily able to fall
into the routine of watching the Honolulu Blue every Sunday at either
1:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. However, with success comes an influx of
primetime games, and this season features six for Detroit.
The Lions will play two Monday night
contests at Seattle and at New Orleans, while also facing Denver in
an early season Sunday night game. Add to that a Thursday night
matchup against Green Bay in week 13, an early Sunday game against
Kansas City in London (“primetime” is debatable, but it is the
only game on at this time), and the classic Thanksgiving game in
Detroit versus Philadelphia.
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| The Lions will face Super Bowl XLVIII quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson in back-to-back weeks early in the 2015 season. |
Here is the complete 2015 schedule with my predicted outcomes.
1. Sunday, September 13 @ San
Diego 4:05 p.m. W
2. Sunday, September 20 @
Minnesota 1:00 p.m. W
3. Sunday, September 27 Vs Denver 8:30
p.m. W
4. Monday, October 5 @ Seattle 8:30
p.m. L
5. Sunday, October 11 Vs Arizona 4:05
p.m. W
6. Sunday, October 18 Vs Chicago 1:00
p.m. W
7. Sunday, October 25 Vs
Minnesota 1:00 p.m. W
8. Sunday, November 1 @ Kansas
City 9:30 a.m. L
9. BYE
10. Sunday, November 15 @ Green
Bay 1:00 p.m. L
11. Sunday, November 22 Vs
Oakland 1:00 p.m. W
12. Thursday, November 26 Vs
Philadelphia 12:30 p.m. L
13. Thursday, December 3 Vs Green
Bay 8:25 p.m. W
14. Sunday, December 13 @ St.
Louis 1:00 p.m. L
15. Monday, December 21 @ New
Orleans 8:30 p.m. W
16. Sunday, December 27 Vs San
Francisco 1:00 p.m. L
17. Sunday, January 3 @ Chicago 1:00
p.m. W
While my initial thoughts when first
seeing this schedule were that the Lions had no chance at playoff
contention, upon further review, I do believe Detroit can make a run
and have back-to-back appearances as well as back-to-back
double-digit win seasons.
Fortunately for Detroit, the
cross-country trip to San Diego is the first game of the season.
While playing Minnesota will be no cake walk, again, fortunately, it
is early in the season as the Vikings play out-of-doors this year at
TCF Bank Stadium. Denver will be a tough game, but Detroit gets the
benefit of playing at home. The Lions then travel to Seattle for what
promises to be an energetic and exciting Monday Night Football
contest.
Returning home, Detroit has three
straight games at Ford Field that are all very winnable before
finishing off the first half of the season at another tough venue in
Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Coming off a bye, Detroit has arguably
its best chance in years at winning at Lambeau Field against the
Packers, but I still don't foresee that happening with Aaron Rodgers
at the helm (even with Jordy Nelson out). The Lions again return home
for three straight games, the first which should be a win against
Oakland. Detroit then faces the Eagles on a short week on
Thanksgiving Thursday before playing the Packers for the second time
in four weeks.
I then have the Lions splitting their
final four games of the season to finish at 10-6.
Detroit's schedule is very favorable to
their style of play. Five of their final eight games will be played
in domed stadiums, with two others during the season in California.
The worst game weather-wise will likely be the season finale at
Chicago. Games in Kansas City and Green Bay in November and Minnesota
and Seattle in October should be favorable as far as weather is
concerned.
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| Sans the game in Chicago on January 3, Detroit shouldn't have much trouble avoiding chances at playing in another "Snow Bowl", seen here against Philadelphia from December 8, 2013. |
If a 10-6 season is to happen, however,
it will require the improvement of a Detroit Lions offense that was
below-average in 2014. With the majority of Detroit's skill players
now reaching their prime – Stafford is 26, Johnson is 29, Tate is
26, Bell is 28, Pettigrew is 29 – there is no better time than now
to show how explosive this offense can be. With another year in
offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's system, familiarity should
increase and the playbook should open up.
Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Teryl
Austin has his work cut out for him if the defense is going to
replicate its 2014 performance as top three in the league. The Lions
have the benefit of having veterans at every position to aid the
up-and-coming youngsters. Rotation and a high work rate is going to
be important for Detroit's defense.
In conclusion, I do believe the Lions
have what it takes to return to the playoffs. If in fact they do,
it'll be time to party like its 1995.
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