At the beginning of the season I took a look at how I thought the Lions season was going to go and made some predictions. We are now half way through and the Lions have next week off so I thought Id check back in with them.
At this point in the season I had Detroit at 5-3. And, much to my delight, they have out performed and are sitting in really good shape at 6-2. They some how managed to beat the Chiefs, which I picked incorrectly. The following week they lost a heartbreaker to the surprisingly good Seahawks, which I also picked incorrectly. I got the wins over the Falcons and Packers correct but was wrong on my upset loss to the Panthers. An easy win over the Bucs followed by the complete inability to contain Lamar Jackson and the Ravens lined up exactly as I picked and then the made the Raiders look so bad that they fired their GM and Coach. (There is only one New England Patriots, people. Stop sending your shitty assistant coaches into the world to try and spread that mess.) All in all, I ended up picking five of the eight games correctly and the Lions are in second place in the NFC.
The Lions have their bye week this week and then play their final nine games. Five of those nine are against division opponents. Which, normally can be difficult. This season the NFC North is not looking good. The Packers and Bears have four wins between them. The Vikings, who won four of their last five, just lost their starting QB. I still think they lose one of these games, sweeping a division does not happen very often. Itll probably still to the Vikings on some bizarre turn of events. But maybe itll be because the Lions have the NFC wrapped up and are resting their starters week 18. Though I dont think thats the Dan Campbell way.
As for the remaining four opponents. The Chargers could be a problem. They are one of the teams under 500 that isnt playing to their potential right now. Im not sure what to make of the Saints at this point in the season. Theyre 4-4 but the only team with a winning reacord that they have played is the Jaguars. And that game was close. I still think the Lions should be able to handle them, but this could be an upset. The Broncos should be an easy win. Just ask the Chiefs. Then theres the Cowboys. Americas team is going to be put to the test in the second half of the season. They also have five divisional games including two with the Eagles. They play the Seahawks, Bills, Dolphins and Lions, all in a row. They could end up 8-9. Or, they could end up 12-5. I really dont know. I think Detroit can beat Dallas but its probably their hardest remaining game.
So where does that leave us? Im pretty confident that Campbell and the boys will hit my initial prediction of 12 wins. Hell, Im going to up the anti and say they finish 13-4 with a loss to the Vikings on Christmas Eve and the Cowboys the following week.
