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Are the Detroit Lions ‘two players away’ as former QB suggests?

By Michael Kirkland

SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 5: Quarterback Matthew Stafford #9, left, of the Detroit Lions looks at a tablet device with quarterback Dan Orlovsky #8 of the Detroit Lions on the sidelines during a football game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 5, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks won the game 13-10. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 5: Quarterback Matthew Stafford #9, left, of the Detroit Lions looks at a tablet device with quarterback Dan Orlovsky #8 of the Detroit Lions on the sidelines during a football game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 5, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks won the game 13-10. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Orlovsky former QB
(Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /

How close are the Detroit Lions to consistent winning? Former Lions QB suggests that Lions are ‘two pieces away’, let’s discuss that this week.

The Detroit Lions are coming off of a major disappointment regarding their 2019 season. Going 3-12-1 after a 6-10 record in 2018 was not the plan. During Super Bowl discussions with Detroit media, former Lions player Dan Orlovsky made the assertion that the Lions are ‘two pieces (players) away’ from consistent very good football, so today we’ll dissect that statement and discuss how far they have to go still.

Orlovsky was a quarterback for the Detroit Lions from 2005-2008 and then in 2014-2016, overall playing twelve seasons in the NFL. Recently, Orlovsky has been garnering praise for his analysis of pro football on ESPN and been mentioned as a coaching candidate for open NFL jobs. Also noteworthy that Orlovsky is a huge Matthew Stafford fan but also a friend to the Lions quarterback.

Orlovsky is most famous for running out of the back of the endzone against the Minnesota Vikings prior to becoming an analyst for ESPN. He keeps a good sense of humor about that and provides good analysis for fans who want to learn about what NFL offenses and defenses are doing with personnel, more importantly.

Detroit Free Press sports writer, Dave Birkett, interviewed Orlovsky to get his thoughts on the state of the Detroit Lions franchise and Orlovsky obliged him saying that he thought the franchise had bad luck with injuries and if they get healthy, they’re two good pieces away from being consistent winners.

Orlovsky didn’t say anything about winning a Super Bowl and he did couch the statement with the point about the team’s health but has his relationship with Stafford made him go crazy? Kick In The Crotch Weekly tries to be fair to detractors and fans, alike but we must admit that this sounds like a sales pitch that we wouldn’t buy. No offense, Dan.

First of all, it seems far-fetched considering the 9-22-1 record over the last two years, even taking into account the ‘if they’re healthy’ condition. If we really count up how many things we can really count on as fans, it’s not a big number of sure things to count going into 2020. Stafford used to be a fairly sure thing but he too is coming off of another back injury which forced him to miss eight games.

Secondly, with half, eleven, of their starters missing large portions of the 2019 season it is highly likely that the Detroit Lions need to replace some of them before they can be consistent. The odds are not great that all of the infirmed players are 100 percent during all of 2020, regardless of players lost to free agency.

So, the real question is: ‘How many players away are the Detroit Lions?” Let’s make our best guess.

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