Can the Lions Bounce Back After Falling Short in the NFC?

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00:00But Donnie, we almost forget, as the Birds looked like the best team all playoffs long,

00:04especially in a dominant and impressive Super Bowl performance over Kansas City,

00:09they weren't the favorites to win the NFC entering this year or even the postseason.

00:14They weren't the favorites to win the Super Bowl entering the playoff run.

00:18They weren't even a one seed in the NFC playoff bracket.

00:22In all three of those categories, it was the Detroit Lions, a 15-2 season,

00:27more history for the Lions becoming a one seed in a conference for the first time in franchise

00:33history. But the thing that has eluded Detroit, a Super Bowl appearance, having never even played

00:40in a big game, let alone won a Lombardi trophy. A 9-1 price for Detroit to try to rectify that

00:47this year, fifth best number, second best around the NFC. 28th overall pick, Howie Roseman has

00:54been great in the draft as has the GM in the Motor City in Brad Holmes and $45 million of

01:00cap space to spend to improve this offseason. But big question, number one, DRS, last year

01:08felt like that historical turning tide season for the Lions. Was 2024 the window

01:16for a Super Bowl in the Motor City? I mean, the window is still open, but my goodness,

01:22when you take a look at that, everything they needed, home field advantage lined up here first

01:28time, the crowd was amazing and they get dropped right on their head by Washington at home. But

01:32you could also say injuries played a big factor into that season. You know me, I backed the Detroit

01:37Lions before anybody else in this season back in late September, early October. That's my team

01:42that's going to get to the Super Bowl. But obviously in the NFL, you do have a lot of games

01:46played and a lot of attrition and there was no more attrition on that defense in the NFL than

01:50what you saw with Detroit. But here's my issue with Detroit moving forward. If they come

01:55back healthy and add a couple pieces, which we'll get to in a second, yes, that window is still wide

01:59open. But if you can equate it to like a reference on like a brand new Ferrari ripping around outside,

02:05it looks fantastic out of the garage. And then you say, OK, the following day you take it out.

02:10Hold on now, I don't have a dashboard, which means I don't know how fast I'm going. Do any gas in the

02:14tank? Does the oil need to be changed? Is it overheating? That's Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson was

02:19that regulator. I was like, you know what? I got weapons all over the place. I'm the maestro.

02:24We are going to play this thing right down the road. And they were fantastic. So I can't just

02:27look back at this Detroit offense and with confidence say they won't skip a beat. They

02:32had the best play caller. It was a perfect fit. And now they're starting to change up that unlike

02:38the players. My biggest worry is the coach and how he's going to be able to hold up as an offensive

02:43coordinator and say, you know what? I can do the same things Ben Johnson can do.