The Detroit Lions are playing like the best team in football. With the dream of a Super Bowl title getting closer and closer, what remains their biggest hurdle to winning it all?
It feels like a faux pas to talk about the Detroit Lions and the Super Bowl in the same sentence, but when you are a football team that can score 52 points and make it look casual, the inevitable thought will arise.
The Lions walked away from their Sunday victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars with plenty of points and plenty of records. Following the Kansas City Chiefs losing to the Buffalo Bills and falling from undefeated grace, the Lions now boast the best Super Bowl odds. The concept is surreal to many within the Lions community, having spent many exhausting seasons reaching mediocrity at best and putrid at worst. Now that Detroit has turned their franchise around, the hope and optimism are at all-time highs.
If Detroit play like they did against Jacksonville, they would coast to a dominant Super Bowl victory. Yet as we learned from the week prior against the Houston Texans, there are many different ways to win a football game. Great teams know how to win anyway possible, and the Lions certainly look like they fit that description. From blowouts to comebacks, these Detroit Lions fight for every snap and every down.
Detroit might be a Super Bowl favorite right now, but they are still a long way from achieving that goal. If the Lions want to make history, there is no shortage of hurdles they will need to overcome.
Today’s Question of the Day is:
What is the Detroit Lions’ biggest hurdle to win a Super Bowl?
My answers: Injuries and pass rush.
I’m cheating by giving two answers, but they are related. The Lions have suffered multiple injuries to key players this season. Missing a player like Aidan Hutchinson would be devastating to any football team, and while the Lions have suffered a steep decline in their pass rushing prowess, Detroit has truly thrived with the next-man-up mentality. The Lions will be without Alex Anzalone for many weeks due to a broken forearm, but the Lions have talent like Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez capable of stepping up. The depth of this roster has been tested, and they have largely succeeded.
However, one has to wonder how far that depth can go. Detroit has now lost three important linebackers to long-term injuries (Derrick Barnes, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and now Anzalone). The pass rush is missing Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, and John Cominsky. How many more injuries can the Lions incur before the depth becomes depleted? You can credit Aaron Glenn for building a defense capable of weathering such storms, but I am concerned that the defense is becoming very banged up on all fronts.
Even with the addition of Za’Darius Smith (who was himself hurt for a little while against Jacksonville), I do not feel overwhelmingly confident in the Lions pass rush, and I truly believe it is the most important part of a good defense. If the Lions lose a player like Alim McNeill or Levi Onwuzurike to injury, can they really muster a capable replacement? At some point, the well is going to go dry.
This does not even touch upon how pivotal an injury on offense would be. Jared Goff is the obvious key cog, but losing anyone like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Frank Ragnow, Jahmyr Gibbs, or David Montgomery would hamper a truly elite offense as well.
Injuries will always play an important role in the success or failure of a sports team. For these Detroit Lions, they have done well to overcome the absence of multiple critical players. That being said, their biggest hurdle to winning the Super Bowl will be health. If this lineup can stay relatively healthy, there are not many things that can slow them down.
Your turn.
