How much urgency are the Detroit Lions really feeling?

Every day we hear reports about the Detroit Lions being in ‘win now’ mode or patiently building, so which is really the truth?

The Detroit Lions are sending the message out to their fans that they expect to be championship contenders. What hasn’t been specified was when they expect to be contenders.

Two years ago Martha Firestone Ford started the Lions on this path. After doing the necessary dirty work of sending Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew packing, she then did something her late husband, William Clay Ford, would never have done. She appealed to the league to get help in the search for a new general manager.

This, of course, led to the recommendation of Bob Quinn, which Mrs Ford agreed upon bringing the former New England Patriots scout to the Lions.

Now just a few scant months ago Quinn finally brought in his own choice to coach his team, which of course was Matt Patricia.

Now the two of them are working hand in hand to make the Detroit Lions one of the league’s premier teams and a perennial contender.

Those goals have been clearly stated over the course of the last few months and really since Quinn’s arrival almost two and a half years ago. The Lions will no longer stand for being a punch line to a joke. They will be taken seriously.

Yet despite the improvement over the last two seasons, how much closer are the Lions to winning the Super Bowl? Will this be the season they finally break-out and take the league by storm? Are their strengths enough to overcome their weaknesses? And almost more importantly, are the Lions truly in ‘win now’ mode or are they just moving at their own pace?

These are all valid questions that deserve answers, but the real question is; are we prepared for the answers?