How Detroit will fare in the NFC North
By Andria Dolan
How Detroit will fare in the NFC North
The 2017 schedules were dropped last week and the Detroit Lions rank 21st easiest in the league. The schedule will have a huge effect on how Detroit will fare in the NFC North. Since the Lions finished second in their division last year, this may seem like a simple road to another postseason berth. However, the Lions reside in a fairly difficult division. They play two strong contenders twice annually who almost always have a chance to make the postseason. In the case of the Green Bay Packers, they’re always atop the leader board. But Detroit has a very real chance of making it to the playoffs, and possibly the divisional round, even if it’s met with some resistance.
Related Story: Detroit Lions 2017 Schedule
NFC North – Difficult division to get around
Detroit has a big task in making their way to a second consecutive playoff visit, a feat that they haven’t been able to replicate since 94-95, when they were able to post two trips in a row to the wild card round. They haven’t advanced past wild card since the 1991 season, where they lost in the conference championship to the Washington Redskins. In order to get the golden ticket, the Lions have to get past a Packers team headed by Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers has only missed the playoffs twice in his career, and just once since he took over at the helm. That in and of itself makes Green Bay a nightmare for division rivals.
Second in line are the Minnesota Vikings. True, the Vikings have not posed much of threat recently, but they’re working hard to improve their offense, their biggest weakness. They started off 5-0 last year and fell short down the stretch. After drafting Dalvin Cook and signing Latavius Murray in the second round, Minnesota could be improved on offense.
Then there’s just the question of “what else can we do?”. If the Lions want to make it past the Packers and NFC as a whole, they first needed to improve on last year’s defense.
The Lions added plenty of help in this year’s draft, selecting linebacker Jarrad Davis and cornerback, Teez Tabor in the first two rounds. Both were positions of need for Detroit.
With a lot of injuries last year, this Lions team wasn’t a good picture of what they could be. You’ll hopefully see a healthy Ziggy Ansah. And Theo Riddick is looking to rejoin the team at full speed. There are some very serviceable options at receiver with Marvin Jones and Golden Tate, as well as Kenny Golladay — Detroit’s third-round pick. Detroit beefed up their offensive line this off-season. A well-protected Matthew Stafford promises to lead the team to wins before the 4th quarter this year.
-Follow me on Twitter @fandria7 & Like the SideLion Report Facebook page!