By Mark Halpern
The Detroit Lions, their organization, and its fans missed heading to the Super Bowl by three points. The season that this team had was nothing short of spectacular, and from the way the first half ended, it looked liked things were headed that way, but again, the Defense just broke down, and a couple of players missed some passes that would have turned the tide more in the Lions’ favor. That said, the impression they left on the entire NFL basically stated that the King of the Jungle has returned.
The Offense broke camp as one of the youngest on the field this season. From the first time he stepped on a field till the moment he stepped off, Jared Goff has been a true leader and the captain of this high-powered Offense. He had a spectacular year throwing for 4,575 yards with 30 touchdowns and only 12 Interceptions. Goff used the talent that was known and returning from last year. The Offense broke camp with a 1-2 punch at running back that would see it become one of the most dangerous duos by the end of the season. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs shared the spotlight this season, combined for 1,960 yards and 23 TDs (1015 yards for Montgomery, 945 yards for Gibbs). You don’t always need a valid number one when two number twos combine to be better than almost all of the #1’s ranked this season. Gibbs got his shot early in the season when Montgomery suffered a thigh injury, and this gave Gibbs the time to show why they needed to split time. This will be the same two next season. Goff had some major talent at Wide Receiver this season with St. Brown, who caught 115 targets for 1500 yards and ten touchdowns. He is one of the most feared wide receivers in the game to go along with Lamb, A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, and Justin Jefferson, to name a few. What was supposed to be their starting #2 wide receiver, Jameson Williams, was often injured and still needs to find his footing, but he will. He finished with 40 catches for 350 yards and only 2 TD. This won’t cut it; this is one area of the Offense they will need to look at again.
Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond made up to combine for a number three and had decent seasons, but none better than Goff’s second-favorite target, Sam LaPorta. LaPorta was drafted in the second round and made his presence felt early on in the season. In his rookie season, he had 86 catches for 889 yards and ten touchdowns. Detroit saw the presence of a tight end of this caliber when they had drafted T.J. Hockenson but traded him to Minnesota (Still scratching my head on that one), leaving a very vacant hole that was filled, which was surprising. Most of the focus was on Mayer of LV, Kinkaid of Buf, and Schoonmaker of Dallas. This kid surpassed all of them and put him in the running for NFL ROY, but it will go to Stroud in the end. All in all, this Offense is just going to get better next season. The question becomes, do they bring in a #2 WR and move Williams to Slot?
Now, the Offense had a great year, and the Defense started out playing at a high level against some solid teams and was showing this team could match up with any Defense in the NFL. Sophomore Defense of end Adian Hutchinson looked like a season primetime diaper dandy (thanks Dick Vitale) and had a season that should be compared to Fred Warner of the 49ers, Micha Parsons of Dallas, and Roquan Smith of Baltimore. Hutchinson must rush the quarterback and also drop back in Defense. He had a spectacular year with 11.5 sacks and 43 solo tackles, including more than 10 for loss. Linebacker Alex Anzalone had a great season with 129 total tackles and was one of the most consistent players at the center of the Lions’ Defense. Defensive Back Kerby Joseph was their best defensive player in the secondary unit. The term roaming free safety fits him well because he was at the center of every defensive play. Totaling 82 tackles (69 solo) and four interceptions, he will help lead them into next season. Now, if the Offense weren’t as good as it was, they would have lost most of the last seven games. The Defense would start great (the NFC Championship Game) and end in disaster. My most feared word in the NFL is a comfortable cause, which is when you make mistakes. The Lions’ secondary over those last games was a significant disaster and could have cost them the entire division.
The Lions need to focus on a few areas of Defense. They need another end rusher to compliment Hutchinson; they should invest in a player like Stephon Gilmore, as he most likely won’t be back in Dallas, and would give them a player who proved he could play last season still at a high rate. The Lions also need some help on the offensive line, and the draft is full of good linemen to have; with the most prominent name, Joe Alt out of Notre Dame will be gone by the 7th, and with Det not picking until the 29th, they might be in a position to move out of the first round and grab an extra two and a 3rd and a 4th 2025 would get that done. Dan Campbell has his hands full and is probably already burning the midnight oil, preparing for next season.
I expect to see this team in the thick of it next year and very well could be in the NFC title game and, dare I say it, a Super Bowl appearance. Catch you next season, Lions fans, and thank you for reading.
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