(CBS Detroit) — The Detroit Lions have never been to the Super Bowl, but could they make it this season?
Sports Illustrated believes the team has the potential to make the Super Bowl, and their Football Preview issue includes an article titled “Revival Drive: The Lions Resurrected: Right Team, Right City, Right Time,” with the main characters being Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jared Goff and Penei Sewell.
Sports Illustrated reporters Greg Bishop and Connor Orr examine the success of the Detroit Lions’ historic season and their chances of making a Super Bowl appearance this year.
“They are ready to take the wheel from Campbell and lead this team to New Orleans in February and the Lions’ first-ever Super Bowl,” Bishop and Oh said in the article. “This offseason, Goff, Sewell and St. Brown all signed big contract extensions, securing their status as mainstays on the team for years to come.”
The Lions had their best season in decades, winning two playoff games and making the postseason for the first time since winning the title in 1957.
The Lions lost 34-31 to the 49ers in the NFC Championship, ending a successful season that left the team one game away from making it to their first Super Bowl appearance.
Discussion of the Lions’ loss in the NFC Championship Game 06:14
The team is one of only four NFL teams to never play in a Super Bowl, but the Lions have played in every season of the Super Bowl era.
“We know we can win a Super Bowl,” St. Brown said after the season. “We have the team, we have the coaching staff. We have everything we need in this building to win a Super Bowl. That’s our goal and that’s our focus.”
If a Detroit Lions player had said that years ago, people probably would have laughed and ignored it, but they’re not the “same old Lions” anymore.
“Detroit drafted Decker 16th overall in 2016 and made the playoffs in his rookie season. The following year, after a 9-7 season, executives fired head coach Jim Caldwell, and life got even worse for Lions fans. A dark period for the franchise began. They finished last in the NFC North in 2017, followed by the same in ’18 and ’19. Then Caldwell’s replacement, Patricia, didn’t last until 2020, when the team gave up 142 more points than it scored,” the Sports Illustrated reporter explained. “Of course, Detroit fans were no strangers to dark football stories. In 2008 and 2009, the Lions won a combined two games, but those were their worst seasons ever, statistically. Fans needed a time capsule to find the franchise’s last postseason win (1991), which was the longest drought in the league until last season.”
Detroit Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker receives three-year contract extension 00:44
Head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes joined the team in 2021 to lead the program to success.
“We are very pleased that Brad and Dan have signed on for the next four seasons,” Detroit Lions president and chairman Sheila Hamp said when the team extended Campbell and Holmes’ contracts through the 2027 season. “They have been driving forces in the rebuild of our football team and the success we have enjoyed. The continuity they bring to our football program will continue to be key to our success on the field.”
The duo has a reputation for identifying key talent and rewarding them for their work, highlighted by the huge contract extensions given to Goff, St. Brown and Sewell.
Campbell accomplished his goal and led his team to a Super Bowl appearance.
“At first there was a lot of anger. There were many failures. But now everything he promised is coming true,” the article states.
Writers at Sports Illustrated have praised Detroit’s recent resurgence: When Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was elected in 2014, he told voters to judge his performance as mayor based on whether the city had grown in population.
Last year, Detroit’s population grew for the first time since 1957, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Officials have addressed the city’s vacant building problem by demolishing or renovating properties. Earlier this year, Michigan Central Station reopened on June 6 after being closed for 36 years. Ford purchased the building in 2018 and restored it. Though it no longer functions as a station, it serves as a mixed-use space for employees, entrepreneurs, and students.
Detroit sees first population growth since 1950s 03:59
“In 2013, I would say in every speech that I was born in Detroit in 1958, and yet the city’s population has decreased every year of my life,” Duggan said after announcing Detroit’s population growth. “So it took longer than we thought it would. Not only has our population increased, but we’ve jumped from 29th to 26th in the nation. I’m happy to see Detroit move up on the list of most populous cities and not fall any further.”
Duggan also said pride in local sports is one of the reasons the city has experienced such growth.
“We have all four professional sports teams in the city, we have beautiful restored parks, and there’s a spirit here that people want to be involved in,” Duggan said.
Detroit hosted the 2024 NFL Draft and set a new attendance record, with more than 700,000 fans flocking to downtown for the event.
Fans can catch the Lions’ final preseason game this weekend in Detroit. The Lions open the regular season on September 8 against the Los Angeles Rams. Fans in Detroit and across the country will be watching to see if the team has a shot at a Super Bowl appearance.
You can read the full article on the Sports Illustrated website.
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Sarah Powers