Looking back at how the Pride of Detroit staff predicted the 2024 season for the Detroit Lions. Who came out looking the best?
The 2024 NFL regular season has concluded, and the playoffs are here! Forever, Detroit Lions fans have either enjoyed wildcard weekend watching their team play or sat watching, wishing their team had a chance to play for the Super Bowl. Well for the first time ever, the Lions are the top team in the NFC, getting the bye week and fans can sit back and watch the games and do some possible scouting on who their next opponent is.
So while the NFL season isn’t over, I figured now would be a fun time to look back at the early season predictions made by the staff at Pride of Detroit to see how we did. While not all of the questions will be answered yet, we can at least look at the questions we were asked and how we all did with our guesses. Who nailed their prediction and who is looking back scratching their head wondering what they were thinking?
Offensive MVP Prediction (see our explanations here)
- Jahmyr Gibbs – Brandon, Jeremy, Jerry
- Jared Goff – John, Meko, Hamza, Max, Alex, Al
- Frank Ragnow – Ryan
- Penei Sewell – Morgan
- Amon-Ra St. Brown – Erik
Half of the staff put their eggs in the basket of quarterback Jared Goff, while a group of members thought running back Jahmyr Gibbs would be the top player on offense. I will say that Goff was the offensive MVP this season with how he did. Sure, how he finishes the season will be important too, but to get the team to 15-2 and be an MVP candidate is a surefire way to be the top guy on offense.
Goff threw for 4,629 yards (third-most in his career) and a career-high 37 touchdowns, but it’s not just that. He had the second-most passing yards in the NFL this season, behind Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He was second in yards per attempt among all 32 starting quarterbacks with 8.6, behind Baltimore Ravens quarterback, and possible MVP, Lamar Jackson, and he was second in completion percentage behind Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. With a year like that, it makes sense why he would be the top option.
Gibbs is a good runner-up as he stepped up from his impressive rookie season in 2023. When fellow running back David Montgomery went down with an injury, a question was if Gibbs could take on an extensive workload, and he proved he could. Gibbs finished the season with 1,412 yards (fifth in the NFL), and 16 touchdowns (tied for first) on just 250 carries. His receiving role moved up, getting 52 catches, 517 yards, and four touchdowns. If Goff wasn’t having an MVP-level season, Gibbs would be a strong candidate for this award.
Defensive MVP
- Aidan Hutchinson – Brandon, John, Jeremy, Morgan, Erik, Max, Alex, Jerry
- Brian Branch – Ryan, Meko
- Alex Anzalone – Hamza
- Alim McNeill – Al
If defensive end Aidan Hutchinson hadn’t suffered a freak leg injury against the Dallas Cowboys, he would have won this award easily. He was having a monster start to the year, getting 7.5 sacks in five games. Hutchinson was on pace for 25.5 sacks this season, which would have broken the NFL record for most sacks in a single season (22.5).
While I am the lone judge in this situation, I think the defensive MVP this season would be safety Kerby Joseph. He led the league in interceptions with nine and earned First-Team All-Pro honors. He made plays when the team needed someone to, and with fellow safety Brian Branch next to him, that certainly helped. Branch had a good sophomore season, but I don’t think he was the best player on the field this year.
Anzalone can certainly be respected as a possible candidate here as well, considering when he returned the Lions defense has seemed to be improved. If he played the whole season, he could have given Joseph a possible run for his money.
Breakout Player
- Jameson Williams – Morgan, Brandon, Jerry, Alex
- Jack Campbell – Jeremy, Al
- Levi Onwuzurike – Meko, Erik, Hamza
- Terrion Arnold – Ryan
- Derrick Barnes – John
- Sione Vaki – Max
Wide receiver Jameson Williams was the one most of the staff leaned towards in this category, and understandably so. Williams was coming off an injury-filled rookie year as he recovered from an ACL tear he suffered in college and a gambling suspension that he saw in 2023 that reduced his season by four games. Williams got himself in hot water again in 2024, getting suspended for two games for violating the NFL’s PES policy, and was in police custody during a traffic stop. Williams was able to overcome all of that and have his best season yet.
Williams finished with 1,001 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, getting 11 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown to go along with it. He got to 1,000 yards on just 58 catches, averaging 17.3 yards per catch. One of Williams goals for 2024 was to hit 1,000 yards and he did that, giving him motivation to shoot for higher numbers in the future.
I would put linebacker Jack Campbell as second place for this one, as he had a better sophomore season—not that his rookie year was a disappointment. He had 131 tackles, five pass deflections, and a 1.5 sacks. He had to fill in for Anzalone when he was out, and we saw Campbell do well in that role as the player with green dot. He certainly has a future in it, and I could see him having an even bigger role and impact in 2025.
NFC North Winner
- Detroit Lions – Everyone
Nobody on the staff thought anybody but the Lions were going to win the division this season. In most of the comments, people were worried about the Green Bay Packers, while multiple (including myself) didn’t believe the Minnesota Vikings had a chance.
Record and playoffs?
- 13-4 and SB – Erik, Al, Meko, Brandon, Jerry
- 12-5 and SB – Morgan, Alex
- 11-6 and SB – Jeremy, Ryan
- 12-5 and NFCC – Max
- 11-6 and Divisional – John, Hamza
Only five staff members came close to predicting how the Lions season would go, as nobody expected them to go 15-2, with 13-4 being the closest anybody got. Despite a difference in a few wins and losses, a majority of the staff believed that the Lions would play in the Super Bowl. While that isn’t known yet, they will at least make it to the Divisional Round, thanks to their first-round bye. That is where John and Hamza thought the Lions would lose. Max took it a step further and thought the Lions would once again lose in the NFC Championship game. Let’s hope the rest of the staff is correct about the Lions making it to the big game!
Super Bowl 59 outcome
- Lions over Chiefs – Al, Morgan, Meko, Erik
- Lions over Ravens – Jerry
- Lions over Texans – Alex
- Lions over Bengals – Brandon
- Ravens over Lions – Ryan
- Chiefs over Lions – Jeremy
- 49ers over Texans – John, Max
- Ravens over 49ers – Hamza
Another thing that isn’t known right now is who is playing in the Super Bowl, but we can still go back and see who people thought would be in the big game. First, John, Max, Hamza, and I all got our Super Bowl matchups incorrect, as we have teams in it that aren’t in the playoffs. The matchup that was the favorite out of the staff is the Lions taking on the defending back-to-back Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs, and Erik, Meko, Morgan, and Al all believe the Lions take them down.
Ryan and Jeremy both think the Lions get to the big dance, but they can’t overcome either the Chiefs or the Ravens. John and Max have to hope the Texans make it in order to look almost right, and Hamza seems to be thinking it’s the year for the Ravens with Ryan.
Overall, nine of the 12 staff members at least think the Lions are going to the Super Bowl. They will have to win only two games to get there. While the opponent for the Divisional Round is unknown, it’s not going to be easy no matter who it is. Thankfully, the Lions play at home for these games, so they have a slight advantage. Will the POD staff get the postseason and Super Bowl predictions correct? We will find out in less than a month.
