The Detroit Lions were right at the door. After an impressive 2023 regular season, they made a run to the NFC title game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers and seeing their Super Bowl dreams come to a crushing end.
This offseason, they seem determined to get back to the playoffs and this time to get to the Super Bowl. Lions star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson spoke about the expectations while at the Rocket Mortgage Classic (h/t Brad Galli of WXYZ Detroit).
“I feel like it's the year. With every fiber of my body, I feel like it's the year. From this year on, every year is the year. With the guys that we have, I hope that we are going to sustain this success for a long time.”
The Lions finished with a 12-5 record and the NFC North crown after a terrific season. After that, they defeated the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before losing to the 49ers. Hutchinson was a huge reason why as the 2022 top overall pick finished with 36 solo tackles and 11.5 sacks in just his second year in the NFL.
Lions 2024 expectations
This offseason, they have been very busy as well, so there are a lot of reasons to jump on board the Lions' hype train. They re-signed Amon-Ra St. Brown to a whopping extension, as well as paying Jared Goff and Penei Sewell, the top protector for Goff.
After losing to the 49ers in the NFC title game, the Lions get a revenge game against them on December 30 on Monday Night Football in San Francisco. Penei Sewell expressed his desire to get the win and how bad that loss burns inside of them (h/t Eric Woodyard of ESPN).
“Honestly, I watch that game a lot. I let it burn, just because of how close we were, but I watch it a lot, not only from that standpoint, but just trying to get better and seeing what went wrong and what we could work on. So, yeah, I say this all the time, it's on. It's simple as that.”
That sentiment is probably consistent for the other Lions players and coaches after the heartbreaking loss. But, as Hutchinson mentioned, he feels like it's “the year.” If so, that would be a massive milestone for the Lions, Dan Campbell, and everybody in Detroit who has been waiting for a Super Bowl trip.
The same predictions by Eric Woodyard even had the Lions pegged as winning the NFC East: ‘Detroit will win the NFC for the first time in franchise history. After experiencing a heartbreaking loss to the 49ers on that same stage last season, the Lions return with the right mentality and have added the right pieces to punch their first Super Bowl ticket.'
Dan Campbell has worked wonders in a short amount of time in Detroit, and he has this team right on the doorsteps of a Super Bowl. The way everything looks for the Lions is promising entering the 2024 campaign.
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