- Super Bowl Championships: 0
- Last Super Bowl Appearance: N/A
- Claim to Fame: Dating back to the 1930s, Detroit has played in (78) and won (37) the most Thanksgiving Day games
- Claim to Shame: One of two teams to ever post a winless season (2008), and the only franchise to have been in operation for all 52 seasons of the Super Bowl era without having appeared in one
It’s been a strange existence for the Detroit Lions.
After winning four NFL Championships from 1935-1957, the Lions would go through a lengthy stretch of playoff futility. That is to say, they wouldn’t win another playoff game until 1991.
After that NFC Championship loss to the Washington Redskins, it has been a mix of Wild Card game losses (eight), losing seasons (16, including one 0-16 campaign), and generational talents retiring too soon (Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson).
At least now, the Lions seem to have found some consistency.
After a Wild Card loss to the Seahawks in 2016, Detroit posted a second-straight 9-7 season in 2017, but then fell back to 6-10 (last in the NFC North) in 2018. All told, the 2018 season was a bad start to the Matt Patricia era.
Perhaps most concerningly, Matthew Stafford had his worst season in years, recording just 3,777 passing yards and an 89.9 passer rating, both his lowest marks since 2014.
The team really didn’t do anything particularly well, finishing the year ranked 23rd in Offensive DVOA and 27th in Defensive DVOA.
The hope in Detroit is that year two under Patricia will see the team get back to being competitive in the division. Stafford has a very good chance to up his production, at least, with Kenny Golladay emerging as a star receiver, the underrated Marvin Jones another reliable option on the outside, and highly-touted rookie TJ Hockenson at tight end.
If the Lions struggle again, the pass defense is likely to be their undoing. It finished 31st in the league last year and is basically running it back in 2019. Unless Trey Flowers vastly improves the pass rush, opposing QBs will be happy to see this team on the schedule.
