Michael Brockers thinks the Lions are close to being a playoff team

Michael Brockers knows what a good team looks like, and he thinks the Detroit Lions are set to turn corner in 2022.

Over nine seasons with the Rams, Michael Brockers witnessed a process that led to becoming a perennial playoff team and a Super Bowl appearance. He was traded to the Detroit Lions last offseaon, and experienced a dismal 3-13-1 season as another rebuild has launched in Detroit.

But the Lions went 3-3 in their final six games of the 2021 campaign. Six of their 13 losses were by one score (five by four points or less, three on last play field goals), with two more by 10 points or less. There were a few blowout losses, but all in all the Lions were more competitive than many people might think.

Brockers is making media rounds in Los Angeles this week, with his former team and many former teammates set to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Appearing on “The Jim Rome Show” Tuesday, he thinks the Lions have the makings of a contender in 2022.

Michael Brockers thinks the Lions can be a playoff contender in 2022

Brockers was asked if the Lions can contend for a playoff spot next season (h/t to 97.1 The Ticket).

"Definitely. If you think about our season, we lost by a 66-yard field goal that bounced in, we were in that Ravens game. We were in a lot of games where we lost it in game situations, two minute, a lot of stuff where the young guys haven’t seen those situations before. Now that they’ve been through them, going into next season we can show tape of those situations, we can learn from them and I just think we’ll be a better team form those losses.”"

Speaking with the Lions’ website on Radio Row as well on Tuesday, Brockers thinks the core of a contender is in place.

"We have the core guys that we need. We need a couple more pieces here or there, but we have the coaches, we’ve got the guys. It’s just about now taking all that experience that we learned and all the lessons we learned from last season and applying them to this season and learn and be better from them.”"

The Cincinnati Bengals, the other team in Super Bowl LVI, are proof a turnaround can happen quickly and head coach Dan Campbell thinks the Lions can do it too. The lessons from the 2021 season will yield a step forward in 2022, and a push to playoff contention in Detroit can’t be ruled out.