Lions' recent run of success could end tonight.
The Lions have finally enjoyed some success in recent years after largely being a non-entity for six decades as Dan Campbell serves as the face that restored the roar. A trip to the NFC championship game in 2023 was followed up with a 15-2 campaign last year — though both of those rides ended with backbreaking playoff letdowns.
Much was expected from Jared Goff and Co. this season but things have not gone as planned.Lose this one, move to 7-6 and the prospect of making the playoffs gets extremely bleak. Win it, and it remains about a coin-flip. Thursday morning, Stephen A. Smith laid out the dramatic stakes that could be at play tonight at Ford Field. "What is going on with the Lions," Smith asked. "You're getting the impression you've missed your window of opportunity ... you're looking at the Detroit Lions and you're saying to yourself 'this is your opportunity' you're on the outside looking in." "With the Detroit Lions, this wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to be on the outside looking in with seven teams ahead of you record-wise." 😳"This wasn't supposed to happen," he continued. "You weren't supposed to be on the outside looking in with seven teams ahead of you record-wise. We didn't expect that. And the window of opportunity. We've been talking about Dan Campbell, how he resurrected this franchise, how he changed the culture etc, now you're looking at them and saying 'what is up?' This could be it for them." It could. It's tough to remain a serious contender in one's conference for three straight years. As of now it's looking like the Lions aren't going to play a huge part in who represents the NFC in the Super Bowl. A win changes that. A loss means panic time and a key offseason of uncertainty.Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros blog, and at Woven Digital.
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