The Detroit Lions have produced winning campaigns and went to the playoffs two of the last three seasons. For a franchise that’s been marred in mediocrity seemingly forever, that’s a big deal. Jim Caldwell’s squad is predicted to finish third in the NFC North per the current divisional futures odds, but that won’t stop Matthew Stafford and company from going all out to prove them wrong. The team split its six divisional games last season and dropped both matchups to the Packers. If it can find a way to end its futility against the odds on favorite to win the division, the Lions will have a nice shot to surprise in 2017-18.
NFC North Odds at BookMaker.eu
Chicago Bears +1257
Detroit Lions +593
Green Bay Packers -229
Minnesota Vikings +390
Why the Detroit Lions Will Win the NFC North
The Lions marched out the No. 18 ranked total defense that forced less than one turnover per game last season, yet still managed to win nine of 16 games to punch its ticket to the playoffs. Much of that had to do with the offense which returns all pertinent players from a year ago.
Golden Tate and Marvin Jones Jr. combined to reel in 116 receptions for 1,641 yards and eight touchdowns. Eric Ebron took giant strides in the right direction with his route running to reel in passes for 711 yards and a score. Even with the 30th ranked ground attack, the Lions passed for an average of 252.5 yards per game ( No. 11 ).
The good news this season is that Theo Riddick is fully recovered from the wrist injuries that plagued him a year ago. He’s one of the best inside receiving backs in the game, and adds another huge weapon to the Lions offensive attack when healthy. Ameer Abdullah is also said to be 100 percent healthy after going on the IR in Week 2 due to a Lisfranc injury. The kid has speed to burn and could prove to be an even deadlier obstacle for opposing defenses to deal with if he can stay healthy, and most importantly, hold onto the football.
Bringing everything full circle on the offense is a front wall that dramatically improved this past offseason. Even with the off-season injury to last year’s first-round pick Taylor Decker, Detroit will enter the regular season confident about its O-Line after inking T.J Lang and Rick Wagner. Stafford’s been sacked an average of 42 times the last three seasons, so having these vets protecting his blind side is a major bonus.
Why the Detroit Lions Won't Win the NFC North
The team simply has no clue how to beat the Green Bay Packers. They were throttled in their trip to Lambeau Field 34-27 in a game that looks much closer on the scoreboard than it actually was. The home date in Week 17 saw them compete through the first half, but Aaron Rodgers and company put the game away when it mattered most in the fourth quarter. The pair of defeats dropped Detroit to 1-4 straight up and against the spread in the last five meetings.
Detroit will have no shot of beating their arch nemesis this season if the defense continues to play like it did last season. This is a unit that allowed better than 72 percent of the passes thrown against it to be completed. That simply won’t get the job done any time soon against an excelled quarterback like Rodgers who eats bad defensive schemes for breakfast. He threw for 505 yards and eight touchdowns against the Lions last season.
The poor secondary play had a ton to do with Detroit finishing the season ranked No. 30 in sack rate. Maybe Ziggy Ansah lives up to his high billing this season, but then again, maybe he doesn’t. Until Detroit shows it can play a much better brand of defense, it doesn’t matter who they’ll march onto the field offensively. They won’t be winning anything.
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