Barry Sanders sends message of urgency to Lions over Super Bowl chances

Barry Sanders believes the Lions need to win the Super Bowl this season even without Aidan Hutchinson.

The Detroit Lions are dreaming about a trip to the Super Bowl in 2024 just like they did in 2023. Detroit is 8-1 heading into Week 11 and is well-positioned to wrap up the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Unfortunately, they'll have to battle their way towards the Super Bowl without their best defensive player in Aidan Hutchinson.

Lions legend Barry Sanders believes the team needs to strike while the iron is hot. Sanders explained why the Lions need to win the Super Bowl this season on a recent episode of Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch.

“It has to be; it has to be absolutely,” Sanders said about the Lions needing to win the Super Bowl in 2024. “In this game, nothing is promised. You look at going back three years ago just how they’ve slowly just build and constructed this roster offensively and defensively.

“Every year, they’ve added a few more wins, and two years ago going into Green Bay, Green Bay had a chance to go to the playoffs. We were knocked out, but we were still fighting for respectability. Then last year come back, NFC Championship game, we don’t have to go through the details of that game and how we were in command at halftime.”

The Lions have a chance to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history this year. They currently have the second-best odds (+460) in the NFL to win the Super Bowl this season. Detroit falls behind only Kansas City (+430) in Super Bowl odds per FanDuel.

Lions hope Za'Darius Smith will help make up for loss of Aidan Hutchinson

The Lions are obviously saddened to be without Aidan Hutchinson for the rest of the regular season.

“Obviously we’re really crushed about what happened to Aidan Hutchinson,” Sanders continued. “You know he was the best player on the team, and we feel for him, and we know he’ll be back soon.

“We’re definitely going to miss him, but to answer your question, we’ve been building for this moment for this season. We’re off to a great start so yes, this is the year, absolutely yes because we don’t know what’s going to happen next year, so this is this year.”

Thankfully, the Lions added reinforcements in the form of Za'Darius Smith. Detroit traded for Smith ahead of the 2024 NFL trade deadline.

Smith brings veteran leadership and a well-rounded set of skills to a Lions team that desperately needs juice on the defensive line. He cannot replace Hutchinson, but he gives the Lions a chance to generate some pass rush while they make a deep playoff push.

Next up for Detroit is an easy matchup against Jacksonville in Week 11. This will be Smith's first game in Honolulu Blue.