ALLEN PARK, MICHIGAN - JULY 29: Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions smile while answering questions from reporters during the Detroit Lions Training Camp at the Lions Headquarters and Training Facility on July 29, 2022 in Allen Park, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
Are the Detroit Lions a legitimate contender in 2023?
When the NFL schedule for the 2023 season was released, many were surprised to see the Detroit Lions kicking off the new season against the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs. The league had many directions they could have chosen to go; they could have picked a replay of the AFC Championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals or a replay of the Super Bowl against the
Philadelphia Eagles, but it was the Lions that were picked to open the 2023 NFL season.
In previous seasons, this wouldn’t have even made sense because the Lions were so bad. In fact, in 2022 the Detroit Lions weren’t scheduled to have a single game in primetime. Fast forward one year and they have five including the season opener.
This is a testament to the job head coach Dan Campbell and his staff have done to improve a team
that went 3-13 in 2021 to the brink of a playoff berth in 2022. The Lions went 8-2 in their last 10
games in 2022 to finish 9-8. These late-season heroics, coupled with a few good additions in the off-season through free agency and the draft, all of a sudden people view the Detroit Lions as a serious contender in the NFC.
But how good are the Lions really? The resurgence of former number-one overall pick quarterback
Jared Goff has gone a long way in allowing the Lions to be a good football team. It always helps
when the quarterback is protected by one of the best offensive line units in the league. Goff was just 1.35 times a game, the third lowest in the league.
Scoring points and gaining yards were far from the issue for the Lions, they ranked third overall on
offense in 2022 behind just the Chiefs and Eagles who were both in the Super Bowl last season. The hype surrounding the Lions is understandable, but unless they have managed to improve on the defensive side of the ball, it will be difficult to live up to the expectations.
