Season two is about to start - Let’s talk about predictions, the hype, expectations and more

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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The koolaid is full of sugar and being poured in large quantities this offseason. At times it doesn’t feel like Brad and Dan can do any wrong with many of the posters here.

We’re coming off a 3 win season. We’re on hard knocks and Lions fans are excited. Which is awesome to see considering how poorly we played last year and how down the fan base was just a year and a half ago.

We have hope. Most of us like the current staff regardless of their record because many of us feel things are moving in the right direction.

Let’s take a moment. Talk about the hype. The concerns. Expectation and more. I want to know where the fan base really is on the current team and staff. What do you like? What don’t you like? Concerns? What are you most excited about? And predict our record for this year and next.

The Hype - I like what I am seeing on hard knocks. I like what players are saying. Dan C. Is a bit of a meathead but he’s a likable guy that you just want to root for. Unlike MP.

The players seem to like the staff. They seem to be buying into the program. That’s no easy task. If we can continue to build on that then I like our chances.

I love the fact that we have Hutch. I think he’s a franchise level player, a difference maker. Williams has huge upside. He’s a risk vs reward pick but the reward is high. So I’m excited about that.

The Lions offense has enough pieces that they can be special this year. They should be entertaining and should be able to keep us in games. I’m expecting to see a much better Goff this year. I personally think Goff is under rated around here and I’m hoping he solidifies that he is our QB of the future this year.

The Lions have some momentum from last season. They finished well down the stretch and there’s hope. I want to see them build on that momentum.

The Concerns - Well I think I have more than most do in the staff, players and direction of the team.

My biggest concern is the direction of the build. It’s obvious the Lions are taking a slow approach to building the team. They feel they have time and their not rushing things. This can be viewed as a positive. Many here feel it is but I think it’s a bigger concern.

Maybe it’s the competitor side in me. Maybe it’s because I played organized football. Maybe it’s because I own season tickets. But I hate losing…. I dislike taking a lackluster approach to a season. I hate having gaping holes in the roster. I hate drafting players knowing they won’t contribute for a season or more. I hate going to home games and getting blown out. I want to win as many games as I can now. I want to be as competitive as possible and then continue to build on it. Personally I think it’s easier to attract quality FA’s when your winning and competitive. I also think it’s easier to build a winner. Winning encourages more winning and losing encourages more losing. We’re clearly taking a slow, long approach to building a winner and I dislike it. I just hope we don’t lose momentum or lose the players because of our approach.

With that said my second biggest concern is our defense. It has gaping holes and depth concerns at all levels. We have several key players coming off injury. We have players under achieving. We have draft picks who are question marks. My hope is that the defense can progress enough to get to average. If we can, I think this team can win some games. We do have some pieces and some youth that are progressing so, I still have some hope here but I wish we had taken an approach to find a little more proven help. Especially on the DL.

What am I most excited about?

This is the most likable staff I’ve seen in my lifetime. I just want to see them win and succeed. I really believe they can. I can admit it’s not all roses and their are plenty of concerns but I can’t help but like these guys. So this excites me but losing frustrates me and this staff could lose that respect by putting up another losing season or by getting blown out in games again. Just win damn it!

My expectations - I want to see a staff and team that’s growing. My expectations are much lower than I want them to be. I want to believe this team can go the distance but I do not. I do not think we did enough in the offseason that this team can make a huge jump. So I am a bit disappointed. But I think we have enough on offense to be competitive.

2022 season prediction - (and expectations) - I expect to see a team that can win at least 8 games. Anything less will be disappointing. I think we have enough pieces to do that. So I predict a 9-8 season and a playoff pretender.

2023 season prediction - (and expectations) - I expect by now that this staff will have a contender on their hands. We should be competing for the division and winning some playoff games. If some of our youth develops and we have a strong offseason than I think we could see the makings of something special. So I predict 11-6. Win the division and a playoff game.

Now pour me a glass of that koolaid please!

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Last year we had 3 wins that could have easily been 5 or 6.

The schedule is softer this year.

The roster is stronger this year.

8 or 9 wins should be par IMO.

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The offense having the tools to be special is a little too Kool-Aid-y for me. Top 12, maybe 9-12. Thats the ceiling with all the thus far injury history and inconsistency in the skill position groups.

Very good post. I expect 8 wins as well.

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Good post @Air2theThrown

I am trying to temper my expectations… but I do like the moves Holmes has made in general… and I agree that I really want this staff to succeed because they are great guys and seem to truly care about the players. Patricia was so toxic I nearly stopped watching Lions games. That slob made me lose all hope.

The injuries killed us last year… so I teally just hope to get through this season without many major injuries so we can see how the team performs with the expected starters in the lineup.

If the Lions stay somewhat healthy… I agree that 8-9 wins should be attainable with the schedule.

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I have us at 7 more because Vegas is seldom very far off than what I think is possible. Cruised a site today that had us at 7 after losing TWICE to the Bears. Well, they got me to click so good for them. The D is the wild card, I hope they get Brown after game 1 because running on us was way too easy last year and a great way to put the game away with a late lead. The O should be fun, we need first downs out of the shoot when we hit the field, field position can be the difference all day long in close games. You can’t go 3 and out to start games, the D is going to have a hard enough time as it is, we can’t make them play on their heals.

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Let me start with my expectations, i think the team can win about 10 games, though my expectations are they will win 7. i expect the defense to improve and end the season with a ranking of 18th to 22nd. The offense should be a top 15 unit, if Goeff is as good as some believe.

When it comes to concerns regarding my expectations i really don’t have any. My one concern would be how to deal with Packer fans here in Wisconsin, when the Lions roll over them 2 times this season. :grin:

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Lions had 7 games last season where they gave up 20 points or less. They gave up 349 yards or more in all but 1 game out of those 7…… so I think the key to winning games may rest on the ability of the defense to force FGs instead of TDs.

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The Hype
I like the foundation that is being laid by current front office and coaching staff. I expect mistakes to be made but also improvement in decision making by the staff on game days. Basis for that belief is what happened in season last year with regards to the offense and certain disconnects were corrected mid stream. I also like that they looked at last year’s defense and changed the approach. They seem to be willing to correct as they go.
I really like the culture that they are working hard to instill in the team, top down, and it shows in Hard Knocks and various news articles (player comments).
Offense has real potential, upper half of the league I’m guessing 11-12-13 as there are way to many other existing offenses that have gotten stronger or at least not lost much if anything.
I think Goff will have a strong season due to OL and skill positions and will take step forward in leadership.

Concerns and unknowns Added that to concerns as it is more accurate for me.

Biggest one is the defense, just really not knowing what we have and players being relied on don’t have a proven history. Most of the belief in the defense comes from last year and the team never quitting and keeping close in games where they had lost multiple starters and veterans were there but not there. Does Charles Harris take another step or was last year the exception?
While I love Hutch I really don’t know what to expect from the interior of the line and the LB’s. I expect numerous mistakes from MR and DB not to mention AA and you know Philly is going after that from snap one.

Most Excited
The vibe just seems different and I’m buying in. From Shiela correcting Quintricia decision to bringing on Spielman, Holmes, Campbell and staff. In 55+years of following this team it is one I am most excited to see. Probably because it seems like there is a long term and short term plan and they are staying with it.

My Expectations
Growth in players
Growth in Coaches
More W’s.

2022 Season prediction
8-10 wins. I have said 10 as I believe that is legitimately possible for a variety of reasons.

2023 Prediction
Same as Air’s although I think 23 will be more difficult than 22. In 22 we saw most of the high end FA go to the AFC. We have the second easiest schedule in the league. In 23 if we hit the 10 win mark as I stated in 2022, then the schedule gets harder. Good news is the team will continue to get better, more experience another draft and possibly better FA signings. Biggest question for 2023, again based on 22 record being 8-10 wins, what staff members are here or better put who left? Hard knocks was an advertisement for Glenn and Duce but also for Shephard and Fraley.

Random comment on last sentence, I was surprised we didn’t see much of Pleasant.

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Expectations - Improvement + not last in the NFCN.

What am I most excited about - Having some playmakers. I think the Lions have had some solid players at core positions ever since Bob Quinn got here but they have desperately been lacking in the playmakers dept. Quinn and Patricia ran our playmakers out of town + failed to draft and develop any to replace them. We now have a few in Hutch, Jamo, St. Brown and we will see if anyone else emerges in that category this year. Playmakers are what separate the good teams from the great ones, so I’m excited to see if these guys turn out to be playmakers + if any others we’re not expecting emerge.

Predictions - Maybe it’s a cop out to say this, but if they get by the injury bug I can see a 5-12 season. If they can avoid the injury bug I waver between 8-9 and 9-8.

I like Holmes. I like this coaching staff. I’m really hoping they show enough improvement to warrant continued and increasing confidence from the fan base.

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I’m clearly not the one to ask. I get sucked in by the paper Lions every year, only to open my eyes after camp with a massive Koolaid hangover.

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But, just wait until next year!

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I like the growth I saw from the coaching staff. They were able to make difficult decisions and adjust on the fly. For such a rookie coaching staff I thought they handled a very tough situation all year with a limited roster and crushing injuries.

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Actually based on that I would say that the key wasn’t about FG’s over TD’s, I would say it’s more about the O scoring more points. In those 7 games we won 1 and tied 1 and lost 5.

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for sure…. and I think we all expect to score more point sthis season… assuming injuries don’t hit us hard.

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Concerns Still the defense, LB play, stopping the run and the CB play. If they can’t get off the field doesn’t matter how good the offense is.

Expectations: Still a 6-8 win season, anything else is great but not an expectation. I do expect our DE’s to be much more disruptive this year, and more QB pressure than the last several years.

What I am excited about: The culture change, that is a long term change that will pay dividends for years to come.

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I jumped off one ledge. I’m hyped. I’m excited. I WANT to watch.
But I’m predicting bad just to keep my hope grounded. 5 wins.

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6 wins is the hurdle for me. more than 6 wins this year and we are moving in the right direction.

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It’s hard to put a win total on things, so much stuff goes into it like injuries, bad luck, etc… There’s a number I’d be happy with but in the end what really matters to me is:

  1. We compete every game. We did this last year so I fully expect it to continue.
  2. We improve across the board. Better execution, better strategy, fewer mistakes.
  3. Our young guys develop.
  4. We figure out, one way or the other, what we have at QB.
  5. We begin to develop a winning culture. Hold onto a ten point lead in the 4th quarter. Extend it. Come back when we’re down. Convert on 3rd downs, stop others on 3rd downs. If that happens I expect the wins to follow.

I think it’s possible if things break right for us to get up to 10/11 wins. It’s the NFL, anything can happen. I also think we could win 2 or 3 games if everything goes against us and Goff gets hurt. Those are the extremes of our range of outcomes IMO, anything between those two is more likely.

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I’m excited because it feels like a “TEAM” not a random assembly of players collecting a pay check.

We watch our guys with passion, anxiety, and frustration every year. We envy the quick turnarounds the Bengals or Rams made in 21’ and 17’, and want it to be OUR TURN….

I think Ben Johnson and Pleasant are likely our OC and DC next year…. It’s possible we lose Duce and likely we lose Glenn. If lose lose both it means we likely won 10 plus games and we’re good on O and D….

THE HYPE- is real because the energy is real!

THE CONCERN- guys coming back from, and avoiding new injuries… we either need 19’ Chark or a healthy Jamo early on… but we NEED ONE! I’m not as worried about our DL as some. I AM WORRIED ABOUT ELLIOTT AND ANALZONE STARTING.

PREDICTION 22’ We go 8-9 with a few nail biters. If we get Paschal, Okwara, Jamo, Levi all back after week 4, and the rest remain pretty healthy- I’d say 10-7….

PREDICTION 23’ we go 11-6…. When Goff returns to 2017-2018 form, the trade up for a QB stuff will stop. When we have some money to spend, some contracts to cut and others to extend and restructure, then next years draft could be fun….

  • let’s say we pick #14 and #28….

D Payne in UFA
Elite S and LB in round 1
Elite RB in round 2
Solid WR in round 3
Solid OG in 4

Hutch
Payne
McNeill
C Harris/Paschal

Rookie LB
Rodrigo/Barnes

Okudah
AO
Jacobs
Rookie S
T Walker.

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Such a simple and good post. Nice work!

It’s one thing to start guys like Cominsky, D Taylor or B Jones because you have too. It’s another to make them take snaps from Brockers, and hold off Levi when he’s ready

Goff
Swift
Hock
Chark
Asb
Reynolds
Decker
Jackson
Ragnow
Big V
Sewell

  • I think that offense puts up 24-27 points week one.

Hutch
McNeill
Brockers
C Harris

AA
Barnes
Rodrigo

Okudah
AO
Elliott
Walker

  • I think that defense is better than anything we put on the field, at any point last year…

The fact that we have starting level, or impact level guys coming back soon only improves this

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