With just seven games left in the regular season, the margin of error for the Detroit Lions is shrinking.
After a hot start to the season, the Lions have faltered over the last month. In Week 6, the Lions were outmatched by the Kansas City Chiefs (a team that has since fallen to 5-5 on the season). They rebounded with a one-sided win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Detroit fell flat against the Minnesota Vikings after the bye week. A play-calling change against the struggling Washington Commanders appeared to breathe life into the Lions, but that was just as quickly snuffed out in their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The roller coaster of wins and losses has Detroit sitting at 6-4 on the season and third in the NFC North. Not only have the Lions doubled their loss total from last season, but they are suddenly not in the driver’s seat with regard to their playoff fate. Detroit has fallen behind the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers in the division and out of the Wild Card picture entirely. The Packers are joined by the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers as the three Wild Card teams, and, after a wild overtime win, even the Carolina Panthers are nipping at Detroit’s heel.
While the season is far from over, some panic is setting in. At this point, the Lions do not look like a team capable of winning a Super Bowl. For as good as the defense has been this season, the lifeblood of the Lions is their offense, and they are in a funk. At their best, the Lions are on par with their 2024 selves, but those dominant, complete performances have been few and far between in 2025. Is there still some untapped potential in these final months of the season? Detroit better hope so.
Today’s Question of the Day is:
Do you expect the Detroit Lions to make the playoffs?
My answer: Yes.
Gone is any discussion about the top seed in the NFC. This loss to Philadelphia gives them a head-to-head advantage in the tiebreaker, so even if Detroit kept pace with the 8-2 Eagles, they would still lose out on the top spot. Given that the Eagles still have the Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, and two dates with the Washington Commanders, they should at least have four more wins on tap.
The two questions for the Lions are whether they can win the NFC North or whether they can claim a Wild Card spot. The truth of the matter is that the Lions need to be in contention for both routes come season’s end—if they fall behind in the NFC North race, that will likely mean falling behind in the Wild Card race, and vice versa.
Of the current division leaders, I think the Los Angeles Rams and the aforementioned Eagles are strong bets to remain that way. The NFC South is between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, somehow, the Panthers, but I still think that it is Tampa Bay’s division to lose. The Panthers, meanwhile, still do not strike me as a serious playoff contender yet. As for the NFC West, the Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers are neck-and-neck with each other. That looks like a division capable of sending at least two teams to the playoffs.
The Bears (7-3) hold a slight edge over the Packers (6-3-1) and Lions (6-4), and I would not be surprised if two NFC North teams make the playoffs. The Lions still have a game against each of their NFC North foes, and it will be crucial that they come out on top of those. After starting the season on a pair of losses, the Bears have turned things around as they have catapulted up the standings. The Packers, meanwhile, dominated the Lions in Week 1—Detroit will need to showcase some serious growth when they face them on Thanksgiving. I think the Lions can outpace either team, but to outpace both? The Lions would need to play phenomenal football down the stretch, and they simply have not done so consistently enough.
I think the likelier path is via a Wild Card spot, but that is an extremely difficult path to predict. Perhaps the best way to view the scenario is to look at the total number of teams in the hunt: we have four division leaders, three Wild Card teams, and two teams in the hunt that are above .500 (Detroit and Carolina). To make the playoffs, the Lions need to be at least seventh out of those nine teams (barring a resurgence from a tenth team like the 4-6 Vikings).
Looking at it through that lens, the Lions are in a decent spot, but they need some inter-divisional feuding to happen. Detroit needs one of the NFC West teams and one of Green Bay or Chicago to falter. With many divisional matches scheduled for the final month of the season, it is not out of the question for a team or two to fall off.
However, none of it matters if Detroit does not clean up their act. The Lions still have a tough docket ahead of them: three home games in a row against the New York Giants, Packers, and Dallas Cowboys, then three of their final four games on the road versus the Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers (home), Vikings, and Bears. On paper, the Giants and Cowboys games look fairly winnable, but their remaining games could each be a serious dogfight. Not only do the Lions need to win those winnable games, they need to walk away with at least two more on top of those—even then, a record of 10-7 might not be enough to secure a playoff spot.
I still expect the Lions to make the playoffs, but I am largely banking on them turning things around, specifically on offense. If they keep treading water like this, they might just sink before long.
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