Detroit: our biggest challenge?
 

Pro football focus has ranked Detroit as having the most players under 25 in the top 25 with 5. Sewell, Hutchinson, St Brown, Laporta, and Gibbs. Thank goodness they didn’t throw in a bit of extra draft capital When they traded up for Williams and then they might’ve picked Wilson.

They should have been our opponents in last year’s Super Bowl and this year. I think they will be. They won’t have Reynolds whose 2 drops cost them the game against San Francisco. and Williams might even come into his own this year. if not free agent Donovan peoples- Jones will probably be an improvement over Reynolds.

They had a great draft this year and should have improved their weakness at DB with their top two pics. The Canadian University of British Columbia tackle they got at round four may also end up surprising long-term. Davenport from the Vikings and Reader from the Bengals should improve their DL.

They also seem to have locked in most of their top players so they will be a threat, not only this year, but for several years to come.m

The lions are still the lions, and always will, be the lions

Do they have Patrick Mahomes?

No. Their head coach is a ****ing idiot.

Their coach seems like a dumber version of Brandon Staley.... and we all know how Roster Champions vs Mahomes have done in years past, especially if the HC is a dumbass.

For any NFC team, I'd take the field over the team to make it to the SB.

For the AFC, I'd take the Chiefs over the field.

No, it's still the 9ers in the NFC. Lions do have a really good roster though.

GB is kind of a dark horse if their QB plays like he did down the stretch last year.

Mental reerunation: OP's biggest challenge?

9ers barely scrapped by both GB and Det in the playoffs. Literally fluke plays had to go SFs way for them to beat Det in the NFC championship game.

No.

Their coach is a reerun and Goff is a pussy.

The Lions may struggle to even win their own division this year. Probably the favorites, but Green Bay is an expected playoff team. Bears and Vikings could both be tough, and in another year or so if their QBs hit that division could be a 4-headed monster.

Agree they should be a very good NFL team, but it's hard to get to the Super Bowl even when you are. Dan Campbell really blew it last year in the NFCCG. Such a golden opportunity missed.

Let's worry about the AFC first. In the AFC, it's the Bengals, Bills, ravens, and maybe the Jets if they can put it together. Don't get me wrong, we can take care of all these teams but right now these are the ones that are the biggest test.

The AFC is gonna be a gauntlet again.

The Colts, if Richardson stays healthy, have a really good roster. The Texans may take a bit of a step back but they're gonna be really dynamic.

The AFC North is gonna be a bitch of a division and the Bills will be good.

Richardson is a beast but we still don't know if he can make it happen down the field.

Houston is improved, but their schedule is BRUTAL.

The AFC piling on more good teams doesn't even mean that much any more. They all eat each other. We know that every year we're probably going to have to knock out 2-3 very good teams with Top-6ish QBs to get to the Super Bowl. There we will typically face the 49ers as they are the best mix of competence at all levels of their organization in the NFC.

I think the AFC South is gonna be a gauntlet too. I expect the Jags to be a team contending for a playoff spot again. Titans will make teams earn their wins IMO

I like what the Packers are doing, some question marks but if Love keeps improving and their WRs stay healthy they're going to have a tough offense. That WR group is a good mix of weapons. But the same is true of the Niners really, they always have injury problems. The years they make the Super Bowl they avoid it just enough to make it through.

The DC wasn't very good last year

And Jared Goff is always gonna have games where he turns into a complete pumpkin

I definitely agree. Campbell made some very dumb calls and he needs to stop losing them games. But I think he’s a far better coach than Staley. He did take Detroit from a doormat team to a contender, allbeit of course with good roster building by the GM.

I definitely agree with many comments that there are other potential Super Bowl teams in the NFC and Detroit is by no means a shoe in. But assuming Campbell doesn’t blow it again I think it will be Detroit’s turn this year because I think they will have improved more than Green Bay or San Francisco. It’s interesting that no one put Philadelphia into the mix of teams we might face. I think they need to be added to the list as again they have had a great draft and improved, presumably they will have fixed the coordinator problems they had last year and also whatever it was that caused their meltdown.

It looks like most see San Francisco returning to the Super Bowl and that is certainly possible and they will probably have an easier time in their division than Detroit so will probably get home field if the two teams play in the championship game for the NFC. But I think Detroit will win it this year

The comment that we have to get through our own AFC first is absolutely right and I’ll probably post something in the next couple days about who I think our challengers are there.

This is premature, but I’m hoping to put something up on the board to get some football talk in this doldrums part of the year.

I expect Keon Coleman to be really good. I think the Bills drop off a tad but not near as much as people think.

I think the Lions missed their window last year with the Packers struggling early and the Vikings losing their QB. I see the Packers as more of a threat now than Detroit. It’s too bad the Lions coach is such an idiot that he threw away their first opportunity to make a Super Bowl in 30 years because he decided to coach the game like he was playing Madden.

The Lions are absolutely going to be a problem. They have the most "25 under 25" players in the league.


Their coach is an idiot! Okay well he beat us last season and made the NFC championship?

Their QB is a pussy! Okay well he has beaten Mahomes twice now in huge nationally televised games.


I think the Lions are like the Texans. I'm more worried about them than say, the Dolphins or Jags.


I mean, they should be more worried about the Chiefs than they other way around but they still are a great team and on the rise.

[QUOTE=Spott;17527033It’s too bad the Lions coach is such an idiot that he threw away their first opportunity to win a Super Bowl because he decided to coach the game like he was playing Madden.[/QUOTE]
Um, we played in the
SB

And a fluke play could have been the reason they lost the SB. SF has been the most consistent team in the NFC since Shanahan got there. KC is the only reason that franchise doesn't have 7 Lombardi trophies.

They have a lot going right but Lions usually do Lions things......

The Lions are a very good team with an excellent roster and will be a tough game for everyone this year (barring injuries). People talk about Campbell's decisions in that NFCCG, but if Reynolds catches a pass when it matters or if Gibbs doesn't fumble on the Detroit side of the field they are in the SB.

In hindsight it's easy to say what he should have done, but had the players executed then it would be all a moot point. It's not like they were going for it on 4th and 20.

Remember when everyone said Reid was a coach who made too many idiotic decisions to win a SB


People love their hot takes as if coaches are not capable of getting better

Maybe a year or two from now. This season it's till SF. Sf was simply the better/more talented team and better coached in the NFCCG last year, and they're probably still going to be this year.

You can win a lot of regular season games in the NFL despite your coach and quarterback and can even make it to the NFCCG when you don't play a team that won more than 10 games in a 17 game schedule.

Just like the Ravens and every other team, they could absolutely prove they're a problem when the opportunity presents itself, but they haven't really so far.

And the coach being an idiot or QB being a pussy doesn't make it a cakewalk... it could come down to knowing the overtime rules or not overthrowing your receiver by 5 yards on a crucial play.... Mahomes is inevitable, those guys aren't.

What worries me most about the season is the schedule...not the opponents but the way the games are set up. Chiefs play on every day of the week except Tuesday. Lots of short weeks.

If the Chiefs make it through the murderer's row of afc opponents, no nfc team will stand a chance.