The Detroit Lions missed the playoffs last season, but it's important to remember that the last time they made the postseason in 2024, they went down in flames.
Despite a thrilling win in the season finale to claim the NFC North and home field advantage over the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions were humbled in a big way against the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. Dreams of a Super Bowl were extinguished fast.
This season, the Lions are seen to have one of the brightest futures in the NFC, but even that might not be enough to guarantee they make a deep run this season. As the games get set to begin for 2026, analysts are making some predictions
ESPN's Bill Barnwell went through every team in the league and predicted their fate for this season. When it came to Detroit, he had the Lions as a playoff team, but not in the Super Bowl. A big reason that is the case is the battle he expects them to have with the Minnesota Vikings for making the playoffs.
As Barnwell writes, he chose the Lions to make the postseason over Minnesota, mostly because of their easier schedule as well as the fact that their offense is trending to be more explosive than that of the Vikings. He also feels as if health will reverse course this year, and believes Minnesota may wear down given their aging roster.
"The Lions should, at least in theory, be healthier on defense than they were in 2024 and 2025, when they ranked last in adjusted games lost in back-to-back campaigns. Admittedly, that starts with Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, so things aren't off to a great start, but the rest of the defense is healthier than it was a year ago."
"The Vikings, meanwhile, should be more banged-up by the end of 2026 after ranking fifth and fourth in AGL over the prior two seasons, respectively, even if they're healthier than the Lions to open the season."
Barnwell puts the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl instead of Detroit, but that projection is mostly a crapshoot at this point. The Lions have to focus on doing everything in their power to have a successful season and let the chips fall where they may later on.
Battle between Lions and Vikings might not be as close as Barnwell predicts
All the Lions can do is win the division, make the playoffs and then see what happens. Anything beyond that is simply a conversation for another day in the winter of 2027. When it comes to the division, things look more wide open in 2026.
The Chicago Bears may take a step back, and the Green Bay Packers weren't a juggernaut by the end of last season. That leaves the Vikings, who the Lions were 0-2 against last season. In spite of the bad record, both games were close, having been decided by a total of 16 points.
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The Vikings have gone with Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback, and he has a dreadful 0-3-1 record against the Lions in four games, having thrown six touchdowns and six interceptions while taking nine sacks. For whatever reason, Detroit struggled against Minnesota's offense in 2025 led by J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer.
Providing Drew Petzing can unlock the Lions offense against Brian Flores, Detroit should have a better opportunity to match up this season. It seems the Lions have the better trajectory than Minnesota this season, and should be primed to get back to their winning ways head-to-head.
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