4th and Super Bowl: A Detroit Lions Story
The Detroit Lions, at long last, are among the best teams in the NFL, and it’s certainly no accident. While the Lions were projected to be good after their NFC Championship loss a season ago, nobody predicted this. This team seems destined for the Super Bowl. The 2024 Lions squad has surpassed all expectations, and they haven’t let anyone stand in their way.
Dating back to 1929 In Portsmouth, Ohio, the Detroit Lions have had a lengthy history of greatness. After moving to Detroit in 1934, The Lions won their first NFL championship. Detroit’s championship came in 1935, just their second year in their new home. The Lions did experience around a 20-year championship drought after this, however. The 1950s brought much more success for the Detroit Lions as they captured 3 NFL Championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957.
The Super Bowl Drought
Since then, the Lions have had no championship or title. This is one of the longest droughts across all four major American sports. 66 years in the making, the Detroit Lions are poised to hang a banner up at Ford Field this season and capture their first-ever Super Bowl title.
AFL vs NFL
Unfortunately, no football fans care or count NFL championships when discussing the quality of franchises. This is not only because it’s been so long but also because of the introduction of the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy, or just “Lombardi” for short. The Super Bowl began in 1966 to settle the deep rivalry between the AFL (American Football League) and the NFL (National Football League).
The two best teams from each league would play each other to crown a champion every season. Nowadays, we have the NFC and AFC, just conferences within the NFL that serve the same purpose. Ever since the merging of the two leagues, the Detroit Lions have been without any Super Bowl titles, which has left many fans waiting a lifetime to see their team win it all.
New Age Lions
Fast forward to 202,4, and the Detroit Lions are the best team in the National Football League. Detroit won 11 straight games this year and has a dominant 14-2 overall record. Head coach Dan Campbell is exactly what this starved sports city needs, and he has this team firing on all cylinders. The greatest teams find ways to win no matter what. Compared to the Green Bay Packers, Detroit had 10 players down on the defensive side of the ball, and they still found a way to win the game. True champions win those hard-fought, against-all-odds type matchups. If this team keeps it up, the Detroit Lions will be your Super Bowl champions this season.
4th and Super Bowl
The Lions have been left out of the Super Bowl party for over 66 years. Detroit has long awaited the return of a top football team, and the 2024 Lions are just that. This team has so many things that it does so well that it has become incredibly hard not to consider them a Super Bowl favorite. Detroit has arguably the best offense in the entire NFL.
Their offense is so incredible due to their dominant offensive line, star-studded running back duo, and an underrated Wide Receiving core led by top 5 receiver Amon-Ra St, Brown. Of course, this is all tied together by veteran Quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions Quarterback has jumped from rising star to Elite status since his time here. Lastly, the offense works so beautifully together and accomplishes all they do thanks to the best offensive coordinator in the league Ben Johnson.
When you have a coordinator who’s good enough to be a head coach on your sidelines, it makes a hell of a difference. Of course, defense was the biggest reason this team made the jump from great to the best.
The Defense
Lions Defense Coordinator Aaron Glenn has turned this defense into a hard-hitting, tough coverage unit that doesn’t give an inch. They are the masters of the “bend-don’t-break” approach. Regardless of what the stats say, this defense is why the team was so dominant; it allowed for so much flexibility for their high-powered offense to do damage. Fast forward to now, this defense is full of injuries and, for the time being, relying on the offense a little bit more.
Some might say that this gives Dan Campbell even more reason to make a tough decision on 4th down an easy one. Watch the Lions take on the Minnesota Vikings in the biggest game of the year on Sunday at 8:20 P.M. at Ford Field. If the Lions can beat the Vikings, it will prove everything one final time. It will also showcase that the team will not let anything stand in the way of their march to their first Super Bowl championship by securing the number 1 seed in the NFC.