Pride of Detroit
The pressure’s on, but not as much as you might think.
With training camp just a short time away, an NFL.com analyst has ranked the Detroit Lions as the seventh team in the league facing the most pressure to succeed in 2025.
NFL.com’s Tom Blair analyzed each team’s situation, taking into account factors like competitive windows, playoff droughts, and fan expectations.
When it comes to the Lions, the sudden success under the new regime was perhaps unexpected excitement, as they nearly snuck into the 2022-23 playoffs. They carried the momentum into 2023, reaching the NFC Championship for the first time since the 1991 season.
That brings us to last season, where expectations seemed to be at an all-time high. Even offensive coordinator Ben Johnson stuck around for it. But the Lions were quickly knocked out of the playoffs by Washington in a brutal upset, leaving fans high and dry.
“Now, they’re staring down another inflection point in the franchise life cycle: Will they overcome turnover at a few key positions to prove they belong as NFC heavyweights?” Blair writes. “Or will they fall closer to the pack and raise questions about their long-term future?”
The author argues the changes the Lions are facing this season—replacing both coordinators, retirements, etc.—are the kind of changes that dominant teams all navigate at some point. Dan Campbell is still steering the ship, Aidan Hutchinson is healthy once more, and the squad is overall pretty young.
“Detroit should be a lock to make the playoffs a third straight time, which would be the organization’s longest streak since 1995,” he writes.
So while many fans might worry it’s now-or-never to hoist the Lombardi, Blair doesn’t quite see it that way.
“Longtime fans who have suffered along with this team over the years surely do not want to think about the alternative possibilities that could unfold should serious cracks begin to form in the facade this season,” he writes.
You got that right!
And onto the rest of your notes.
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