Nick Hopkins; Co-Founder; 10/31/2017

PLAYOFFS?! PLAYOFF?! Yes. That’s right. I am going to make a case that this DETROIT LIONS team, the 2017 DETROIT LIONS will make the playoffs AND they will do so as the NFC North Division Champions for the first time ever (They last won a Division Title in 1993 in the when it was called the NFC Central).

What must Lions do to Win the NFC North?

Well the obvious answer is Win. They must win. There. Article over. Just kidding, it’s not over but that really is what they must do. I’ll go a little deeper than that though. The Lions must find a way to score in the Red Zone. It won’t be running the ball. It’ll be throwing the ball. The inconsistent offensive line doesn’t allow them to run the ball when they need to run the ball. Matt Stafford IS going to have to be what he has shown he is for the last 2 years. He is an ELITE Quarterback and he will prove it this year (even though Detroit Fans won’t call him elite until he wins his second Super Bowl).

Kenny Golladay is the answer in the Red Zone and he should be back within the next two weeks. Lions have nursed his hamstring to ensure he is 100% when he’s back and my guess is, they knew the schedule sets them up for major run.

Golladay is really the only receiver on this team with his skill set and playing style. He is a longer receiver and he can go and get the football. No one else fits that bill. Since he has been hurt, our offense has been rather mundane.

Aren’t the Vikings in control of the NFC North?

The Vikings have a brutal schedule the rest of the way. They happened to get the teams the Lions have the rest of the way early. Here is who they’ve beat. Saints (at home, when Bradford was at the helm and perfectly healthy), Bucs at home, at Bears, Packers at home without Rodgers for most of the game (Might be the biggest game the Lions didn’t play in all year), Ravens at home, Browns in London. That doesn’t impress me in the slightest. The cake walk is over for the Vikings and if they survive that ringer with Case Keenum and a fresh off injury Teddy Bridgewater then they might be best team in NFC. They are not. They will not survive that gauntlet. Here’s how their schedule plays out.

Home Games: Rams, Bengals, Bears

Road Games: Redskins, Lions (Thanksgiving Day), Falcons, Panthers, Packers (I anticipate this will be Rodgers first game back off injury).

In case you struggle with math like I do. 3 home games of their last 8. All their remaining opponents are either Division games or Playoff contenders. The Vikings are currently 6-2. It isn’t hard for them to get to 9 wins. Maybe 10 wins. For the sake of argument lets give them 10 wins. That’s 4-4 over last 8 in a brutal schedule. More than fair.

Here is how the Lions schedule plays out.

Home Games: Browns, Vikings (Thanksgiving), Bears, and Packers

Road Games: Packers, Bears, Ravens, Bucs, and Bengals

4 Home games and 5 Road games. Their remaining schedule is the easiest in the NFL by win/loss record. They get the Vikings at home and a sweep means they hold a half game advantage at the end of the year. So, lets get the Lions to 10 wins shall we. Starting at 3-4. Packers on the road in the never bet on the Lions game. WIN. They finally beat a Brett in Lambeau and on Monday Night Football to boot. Browns at home, WIN. Bears in Soldier Field for a sneaky difficult game but 10 passes will not beat the Lions in this one. WIN. Vikings at home on National Television. WIN (We will get to my reason for this later). So now they are at 7-4. At the Ravens. WIN. Mini bye week after the Turkey Day win and won’t suffer a letdown game. At Bucs. LOSS. Again, a tough road game but one that could easily go either way. 8-5 and everyone is scared out of their mind of another collapse. Meanwhile the Vikings are sitting at 7-6 as well and heading back home to lick their wounds against the Bengals. Division is up for grabs and the Lions have a magic number of 2 with 3 to go. Home vs the Bears. WIN. Ford Field will be loud and Trubisky won’t be able to handle the noise. At the Bengals. WIN. This team will have nothing to play for and most likely an interim coach. Then they come home to face the Rodgers led Packers popping champagne after a division win. They rest Matt Stafford and let Jake Ruddock start his first career game ensuring he gets a game under his belt before the playoffs. They lose a close one. Finish 10-6 and WIN THE NORTH.

How do they beat the Vikings and go 5-1 in the Division?

The Vikings game is probably the biggest game remaining, although this will bring out the SOL statement partiers. “SOL won’t win on primetime against a team with a winning record.” “Sweep the Vikings, not in my lifetime”.

They win because Stafford makes them win. His sheer determination launches this team for the rest of the year. He gets a turkey leg and gives it to his, fresh off injury, LT Eric Decker. Decker will be back by then and no way they give up 6 sacks in this game again. They find a way to win with AA’s first 100-yard game of his career running behind Decker. A complete win and on a National Stage against a playoff contending division opponent. Statement win if there ever was one.

What about the Cheeseballs?

Bold prediction time. Rodgers will return this year for two games. The last two of the year with the final game obviously being in Detroit. They will be out of the playoff hunt by then but Rodgers is too proud to sit out any game especially one where he can beat the Lions. This isn’t that bold of a prediction. The bold prediction is that this game will not matter because the Lions will already have the Division won.