Pride of Detroit
With the Detroit Lions’ win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, suddenly there is hope again in the Motor City. The Lions suddenly have very realistic paths to the playoffs, whereas a loss would’ve likely dealt a death blow to their 2025 season. And once a team gets into the postseason, anything can happen.
Now, the Lions have a weekend to rest up, hopefully get healthier, and prepare for a big game against the Los Angeles Rams next week.
Many of us fans, though, will spend our Sunday watching NFL football and hoping the Lions get as much help to aid their path to the playoffs. To help navigate Sunday’s action, here is your Week 14 Detroit Lions rooting guide, outlining the best possible outcomes for the Lions.
Who to root for: Falcons
While this is an unlikely outcome, a Seahawks loss would drop them just a game ahead of the Lions. Perhaps just as notably, a loss to the Falcons would drop Seattle’s conference record to 5-4, matching Detroit’s current mark. Conference record is the second playoff tiebreaker, behind head-to-head. So with no Lions vs. Seahawks game on the docket this year, conference record is huge for both Detroit and Seattle.
Who to root for: Saints
It remains relatively unlikely that two NFC South teams make the playoffs, but the Buccaneers (7-5) and Panthers (7-6) are certainly lingering. Whichever team doesn’t win the division will be a moderate threat to Detroit, but the Lions would be in a better position if the Bucs were the Wild Card contender, because Detroit has the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.
Who to root for: Packers
Who to root again: Bears
Either outcome is technically good for the Lions—as long as that team loses again when the Packers and Bears face off again in two weeks. All Detroit needs is a sweep in the Bears/Packers rivalry to make that losing team catchable. However, the Bears are the preferable team to lose for a few reasons. First, the Lions will have their own opportunity to gain an extra game on the Bears with their Week 18 game. So technically, it would only take one more Bears loss to make they catchable with the Lions winning out. But if the Bears lose twice before Week 18, suddenly the Lions can lose one of their next three games and still catch them. If Chicago gets swept by the Packers—and then loses to the 49ers in Week 17—suddenly the Lions have even more cushion down the stretch (although they’d still have to beat Chicago in Week 18).
But if the Bears win—and sweep—the Packers would be catchable if the Lions win out. Green Bay also has games against the Broncos and Ravens, so if you add one more loss on top of...
