In 2013 the Detroit Lions were 6-3 after the first ten weeks of the season. Things were looking good. Really good actually. Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler were both out for the majority of the remaining season with injuries, while Detroit was in the driver's seat in their quest to win their first NFC North Division title. We all know how the rest of the season played out. They absolutely imploded down the stretch, losing every game but one dominant performance against a Rodgers-less Packers team on Thanksgiving, going 1-6 to finish the season 7-9. The kicker of it all? The Packers won the division with an 8-7-1 record. The division was there for the Lions' taking, and they squandered it.
Fast-forward to the present and the 2014 Detroit Lions are preparing for a Wild Card game vs. the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday, having just wrapped up a very successful regular season campaign. Last week Detroit went into their Week 17 matchup with the Green Bay Packers sitting at 11-4 and in first place in the division, but their 30-20 loss to Green Bay gives them a final record of 11-5 and the 6-seed in the NFC bracket.
Despite an excellent 11-5 season that fell just shy of a possible 2-seed and bye week in the playoffs, a number of Lions fans are still skeptical about having any sort of sustained success in the postseason let alone this success carrying over to future seasons.
I personally am not one of those Lions fans who is skeptical about the team's chances in the playoffs. But I understand those that are. We Lions fans have been burned too often and at times this Lions team has been…not good. Because of that, I decided to look at this Lions team and attempt to discern whether or not they're a legitimate playoff team with a bright future or if they're just Lions in sheep's clothing. First we'll take a look at the methods we'll use after the jump.
