Pride of Detroit
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks have booked their tickets to the Super Bowl. The Detroit Lions, meanwhile, are left wondering what it would take to be in their shoes.
After a 9-8 season in which the Lions barely sniffed the playoff picture, Detroit has a lot to envy from these two Super Bowl teams. It is also not difficult to envision the Lions in a similar situation. They have had an elite offense, they have had star players on defense—why did success not materialize like it did for Seattle or New England?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
My answer: Consistency.
Despite a rough season for the Lions, I think we can all agree that we saw flashes of a Super Bowl-caliber team. The offense looked dominant at times. Even the defense, marred by injuries, performed like a shutdown unit at times. The key words, however, are “at times”—great football teams are great on a weekly basis, and the Lions simply were not.
The Patriots and Seahawks got to the Super Bowl on two very different paths. New England lost their Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady. The team had a flash of success with Mac Jones at first, but they quickly bottomed out and found themselves staring down another quarterback selection. This time, however, the pick worked out thanks to MVP-candidate Drake Maye. Coupled with the hiring of Mike Vrabel, the team has found their way back to the championship game.
Seattle, meanwhile, traded away their star quarterback Russell Wilson for a king’s ransom, a ransom that turned into some key pieces (OT Charles Cross, CB Devon Witherspoon) for an on-the-fly retooling. The Seahawks found a resurgent Geno Smith to quarterback the team and led the team to three seasons with a winning record. Despite his new-found form, Seattle aimed higher and dealt Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and signed Sam Darnold. Safe to say that the gamble paid off.
Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) tells an interesting story of the Patriots, Seahawks, and even the Lions. The Patriots had the third-overall offense by DVOA, a unit that undoubtedly carried them to the postseason. Their defense lagged behind (23rd overall), but they were also a unit that surrendered more than 30 points just once across the entire season—that is impressive, DVOA be damned. As for the Seahawks, they secured the top overall DVOA ranking with relative ease, thanks to the top-ranked defense and a top-10 offense.
Where do the Lions stack up? Surprisingly well. DVOA has their offense ranked seventh overall, while their defense ranked ninth. A pair of top-10 units made the Lions the third-best team by DVOA. With a 9-8 record, it certainly did not feel that way.
Part of this comes from a tough schedule, but I think it also highlights the inconsistency with the Lions—after a strong start to the season, the team became riddled with it. The...
