The Detroit Lions didn't enjoy the best season in 2025, struggling with health and consistency from beginning to end en-route to a last place finish in the NFC North.
Even though that was the case, the NFL always offers the opportunity for teams to flip the script in a quick way. Thus, with the amount of solid players the Lions still have on the roster, they cannot be counted out as a contender moving forward.
How much of a contender they are remains a matter of debate. Many believe the Lions still have the goods to be a Super Bowl team, while others remain skeptical and need to have their eyes opened with a run of solid play in 2026.
Recently, Chris Simms and Mike Florio discussed the Lions on an episode of "Pro Football Talk." Part of the debate revolved around whether or not Detroit's Super Bowl window remained open after a few frustrating collapses the last two years. Not surprisingly, they had similar answers.
"I'm going to say mostly open. Wide open was two years ago and the year before that. That was like, 'Gosh, they might be the best team in football. There's no doubt about it. They might be the best team.' Now it's like, 'Hey, they're really good. They're at the top of the list still, but there's some other teams that they're not.' You can't just go 'Oh, they're definitely one of the two or three best.' Not anymore. So, it's mostly open. It's not wide open."
In terms of Florio, he believes the Lions also have an open window as well. In spite of that, he believes there are a few critical questions the franchise has to answer once the games get going, especially relative to how Detroit finished last season.
"I'm going to say halfway open. They were last place last year. They lost their way post Ben Johnson. Offensively, they're going to have to show they have figured out how to deal with the Brian Flores defense. I think that was one of the more significant and overlooked games of the year even though it was widely watched on Netflix, the Christmas game when the (Minnesota) Vikings were done."
"It was an exhibition game. It was preseason to the 2026 preseason. The Lions went in there desperate to keep their playoffs hopes and the Vikings beat them. So that was depressing for the Vikings, but (also) depressing for the Lions."
The Lions do have significant questions to answer in the division, namely, can they beat anyone outside of the Chicago Bears? The Lions were 0-4 in divisional games not against Chicago last season. The last few years have featured big wins against all of the Green Bay Packers, Vikings and Bears.
Regardless, both analysts seem to believe the Lions remain at the top of the NFL's heap, maintaining a sliver of Super Bowl hope for next season.
NFL draft offers Lions a chance to restock and open Super Bowl window
While Simms and Florio might disagree on how wide Detroit's window figures to be open next season, the fact remains that both seem to agree that the Lions have a chance moving forward to break through to the big game.
Given the Lions haven't had a huge offseason thus far in terms of signings or trades, the best way for Detroit to take another jump toward Super Bowl Sunday is to have a solid NFL draft featuring multiple difference makers that play a huge role as rookies.
READ MORE: Analysis shows why Lions shouldn't be prepared to rely on Larry Borom for long
Detroit's roster took this exact sort of leap after the 2022 and 2023 drafts, so there's no reason to think it can't happen again, providing the Lions approach the draft in a similarly aggressive manner. The Lions have nine picks to work with, which should offer them a good chance to find difference makers every step of the way, whether they maneuver up or down to make it happen.
The fact that the Lions maintain an intriguing team despite struggling last season shows the major opportunity they currently have. A big draft will allow the Lions to perhaps change the mind of some analysts, and convince them during the year that their Super Bowl hope remains alive and well.
Add us as a preferred source on Google