Are the 2018 Detroit Lions really destined for a last place finish?

For most of the world the Detroit Lions are a ‘show me’ team. A franchise that has ridden such intolerable waves of futility that this team more or less has win the Super Bowl before anyone will accept they have turned things around. Then the media will jump on the bandwagon saying ‘I knew they would win it all’.

Yeah, right.

Let’s look at this whole situation in a reasonable light. The Lions hired Matt Patricia who was the hottest coaching candidate in the league this offseason, yet now he’s expected to be a failure. What changed other than the fact he is now coaching the Lions?

The Lions had one of the top scoring offenses in the NFL last season despite virtually no ability to run the ball. They added talent and depth to the offensive line and the backfield this offseason, so again, outside of being the Lions, how is this unit not improved?

The defense… well, that is still definitely a question mark, but Matt Patricia had an outstanding track record as a defensive coordinator who got everything he could out of his players. So why can’t the defense at least be respectable?

Outside of death and taxes, there are no sure things. When you look at the Lions with a reasonable and unbiased eye, this isn’t a bad team. I get that the Vikings are heavy favorites in the NFC North and should be, but the Packers aren’t world-beaters even with the return of Rodgers and the Bears may be laying the foundation to a better tomorrow, but today isn’t tomorrow.

These Lions are very capable of being a playoff team. Will it be easy with a very difficult schedule early? No, but it isn’t a mission impossible either.

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We won’t know for a certainty until the dust has settled on the 2018 season where the Lions will finish for sure, but if they indeed allow the lazy media the joy of seeing them finish last, it will be more about the Lions imploding than not being good enough to compete for the postseason.