The Lions enter the 2025 season looking the right the wrongs of their 2024 collapse.
Detroit had a dominant 15-2 record in the regular season, despite having a league-high 16 players on injured reserve entering the playoffs, 13 of them coming on defense. The Lions would go on to lose to the Commanders in the divisional round of the playoffs, as the injuries became too much to overcome.
As we enter the 2025 season, people seem to forget how good the Lions were last season. When you lose unexpectedly in the playoffs, no one remembers that you had practice-squad players on defense; they only remember the loss.
Most believe the Lions are still among the NFL's elite, but not at the top
In recent power rankings following the NFL Draft, Eric Edholm of NFL.com listed the Lions as the fifth-best team entering next season.
Admittedly, I thought this ranking was a little bit too low. The four teams ranked above Detroit are the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, and Bills. While I don't have a huge problem with ranking the two Super Bowl participants above the Lions, I think the Lions are better than both Baltimore and Buffalo.
When you look at last year's Lions team, outside of the injuries, which were arguably the only reason for the Lions' collapse, there were not many holes in that team.
The secondary could have been better, as Terrion Arnold was in his rookie year and was inconsistent at times. The pass rush was one of the best in football before the Hutchinson and McNeill injuries, the run defense remained great even with the injuries, and the offense was one of the best in football all year long.
So, unless the Lions got worse on paper, it's hard to believe that the Lions would be ranked below Buffalo and Baltimore. Detroit signed D.J. Reed in the offseason, who undoubtedly would have been the best Lions cornerback last season, to replace Carlton Davis who went to New England.
Experts may be concerned about the interior defensive line with Alim McNeill being injured until December, but with the Lions having D.J. Reader and drafting Tyliek Williams, this isn't much of a concern to me.
The only valid concern is the interior offensive line, after the Lions lost Kevin Zeitler this offseason, but as Edholm mentions in his rankings, the Lions drafted both Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier for depth at that position.
Teams like the Bills and Ravens finished with 13-4 and 12-5 records, respectively, despite being healthy for most of the year. NFL analysts must view their offseason acquisitions of 30-year-old Joey Bosa and 33-year-old DeAndre Hopkins as enough to push them past the Lions in the talent department.
Regardless, I am, of course, nitpicking the Lions' ranking at five. Five years ago, Lions fans would be in shock to see us complaining about being ranked in the top five, but once you get to the top, you just want more.
Only time will tell, but I doubt that once teams take the field in September, that we will see four teams better than the Detroit Lions.
