Coming off an exciting past couple of seasons, Lions fans are expecting more from their team than ever in the past decade, but is this young Lions team overhyped? Or are they really a Super Bowl contender this 2025 season?
The Lions have never won a Super Bowl; the closest they have gotten in the Super Bowl era is in 2023, where the team made it to the NFC Championship Game and were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers with a score of 34-31. This was a heartbreak for the Lions’ fans, who finally had a team that could compete with the top teams in the NFL. They seemed to be so close, but also so far from the ultimate goal, the Super Bowl. But could this change this season?
The Lions on paper have a great roster, with new additions such as the 28th pick in the 2025 draft, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams out of Ohio State, to go alongside returning star Aidan Hutchinson. And DJ Reed, who signed a three-year, $48 million deal with the Lions. The question is, will this young talent make up for some of the losses over the off-season? Some major losses just on the offensive line include Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow, who retired over the offseason, and another Pro Bowler, Kevin Zeitler. The question raised by critics and fans is whether this season’s roster is better or worse than last season’s team, which only made it to the divisional round, which is a step down from the previous season, where they lost to the Washington Commanders with a score of 45-31. And was a surprising loss so early in the playoffs after the previous season’s success.
According to ESPN’s recent odds, the Lions have the 5th-best chance to make it to the Super Bowl, with about a 10 percent chance. Behind the Kansas City Chiefs, who have 3 Super Bowl wins in the past 5 years. These odds are a huge step up from their 2023 prediction of having the 9th best odds to make it to the Super Bowl, about 4 percent, which is the season where they made it to the NFC Conference Championship. This places them in the top 5 teams right now, which rivals them with the best teams in the league.
The main criticism of the current Lions team is their loss of Ben Johnson, their offensive coordinator, who was a main piece of the team when they became one of the best offenses in the league. With this lost asset, the Lions will hope their new Offensive Coordinator, John Morton, will carry the success of the past seasons of the Lions’ offense. Another is the recent loss in the Lions’ first regular-season game against division rivals, the Green Bay Packers, with a score of 13-27. However, even though this wasn’t an especially close game, the Green Bay Packers are great this season and contenders for the Super Bowl in their own right. And most of the blame for the loss was on the poor red zone conversion rate, which could be a fluke, or a sign of more to come with this new OC.
Overall, the Lions have a real shot at making or even winning the Super Bowl, following a decent off-season. But may be restricted by the loss of key figures in the success of the last couple of season, including Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow, and one of the best offensive Coordinators in the league, Ben Johnson; the recent loss brings up more questions for this season, but Lion’s fans will hope for continued success from last season and possibly a first time Super Bowl.
