2023 was a huge year for the Detroit Lions. Having been a perpetual loser for three decades, they finally secured their first division title since 1993 and fell just short of reaching their first-ever Super Bowl. It was a dramatic season that flipped expectations on their head. The Lions had swapped their reputation of NFC North whipping boys to NFC powerhouse, but with a new standing comes a new challenge. Can they handle being the hunted?
The Detroit Lions’ Historic Struggles
Despite being one of the NFL’s’ oldest franchises, the Detroit Lions have earned a reputation as one of the least successful. The 1966 merger of the National Football League and the American Football League marked the beginning of an unfortunate lackluster play for the Lions, who have won just three playoff games since, including the two they just won in 2023.
Their first spell of good play occurred in the early 1990s. Under the watchful eye of Wayne Fontes and with Barry Sanders at the peak of his powers, Detroit powered their way to two division titles between 1991 and 1993, resulting in one NFC Championship appearance and a Wild Card Round loss. While no Super Bowl appearances arrived, the team saw playoff action four more times in the six seasons between 1994 and 1999. It was a good decade for the Lions, but they had little to show and have enjoyed very little since.
Since the turn of the millennium, there have been just seven winning seasons, which have produced just four playoff appearances and only one division win in 2023. Fans such as Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson have at least enjoyed cheering on Hall of Famers, but team success has been greatly lacking. There is a lot of pressure on this new era of football under Dan Campbell to succeed.
Rise of the Detroit Lions
Head coach Dan Campbell adopted an underwhelming 5-11 Detroit team and promptly declined to register just three wins in his first season in charge. He arrived in Detroit alongside new general manager Brad Holmes, whose first big move was to send star Quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder, and Jared Goff as a throw-in bonus.
Goff was viewed as nothing more than a bridge quarterback to get Detroit through a tough stretch, but thanks to a couple of slam-dunk draft hauls, Goff and Campbell started to cook. A 3-13 record in 2021 turned into a 9-8 record in 2022 before securing a division-winning 12-5 record in 2023. It’s their first division title in 30 years.
The team got well over what they paid for in acquiring Goff, which was helped massively by the arrival of several superstars in the draft. 2021 welcomed left tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown into the fold, with edge defender Aidan Hutchinson joining one year later. The icing on the cake then arrived in 2023, with Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta on the offensive side of the ball and Jack Campbell and Brian Branch bolstering the defense. It was hit after hit for Holmes in the draft, resulting in a rapid turnaround for his team.
The Challenges of Being the Hunted
It is one thing to turn it around and succeed as the plucky underdog, but expectations are now completely different. The Detroit fanbase has hope for the first time in several decades, and with that hope and expectation comes a lot of pressure. The ambition of simply making the playoffs, which existed just two seasons ago, is now an ambition to win the Super Bowl, and that is no easy feat.
The fans, media, and opposing teams will all have higher expectations of the Lions in 2024. They will be quicker to praise but much quicker to criticize, which the team is not used to. When that criticism inevitably comes, can Jared Goff and his team handle it, stay calm, and plow on?
Strategies for Sustaining Success
The good news for Detroit is that they must keep doing what they’re doing. Brad Holmes is bossing the roster management side, dishing out the right contracts, and addressing the team’s weakness by drafting two cornerbacks with his first two picks in the 2024 draft. Dan Campbell is clearly a good leader of men who gets the best out of his team. There may be a few lessons for him to learn on the game management side of things, but there’s no reason to think he can’t do that after his first experience of a playoff run.
The best thing about Campbell is that he believes in his team and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He showed his trust in them by being aggressive on fourth downs and watching any of his interviews, which will tell you he is the right man for the job. He has experience as a player and has already had success in instilling his message within the team. After their narrow playoff loss to San Francisco, Campbell quickly reminded them that, despite their improvements, they would have to work even harder to get back to that same spot the following year. Expectations may arise from the building, but Campbell and his staff will keep the team grounded and focused on the mission.
Case Studies: Other Teams’ Experiences
The New Orleans Saints surprised everyone by going from a 3-13 record in 2005 to a 10-6 record in 2006, which saw them win the division and reach the conference championship game. For fans, they must have thought the arrival of Drew Brees and Sean Payton had blown open a new Super Bowl window, only for the team to follow it up with a 3rd and 4th place finish in the division in the following two seasons.
Expectations bring new levels of pressure and scrutiny, but there is quality in this Lions team, just like there was in that Saints team. And, after those two down years, they picked themselves back up and stormed to Super Bowl glory, once again rebounding after a 4th place finish.
Having won a Super Bowl, expectations then reset again, and more pressure is piled on. Despite having a Hall of Fame combination of head coach and quarterback, the Saints could not produce another victory. A similar thing happened to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. He is another Hall of Fame quarterback who turned his team around, and secured a Super Bowl, but could not repeat.
For Detroit, a trip to the NFC Championship game was a great reward for an impressively fast turnaround, but it is important to remember that nothing is a given in this sport. The pressure is now higher, which they need to ignore and keep laser focused on the mission.
Conclusion
The Detroit Lions have finally given their fanbase hope. A dream combination at head coach and general manager has produced the swiftest of turnarounds, treating fans to thrilling football and their first division title in 30 years. Now, though, the real challenge begins. Can they handle being the hunted?
Everything about the way they operate suggests they can. They have quality, young, home-grown players locked into the key positions, a quarterback who can operate the system, and a head coach who knows what it’s like to play in the NFL and how to win. It is the perfect blueprint for how to run a team, and the future is surely bright in Detroit.
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