The Detroit Lions fell just short of reaching Super Bowl LVIII, with a narrow loss to the San Francisco 49ers are surrendering a big halftime lead. It was a learning experience for all involved, and the Lions are not going away as a contender.
Along that line, the Lions are among the top betting favorites to win the Super Bowl next season. Getting back to the conference title game, let along taking the next step to the Super Bowl, will of course not he easy but they know it and the moniker "unfinished business" has gotten some legs with players and coaches.
ESPN has already gathered a gaggle of their NFL writers and analysts to make some predictions for next season. More specifically, each writer predicted a Super Bowl LIX matchup, made an MVP pick, picked a breakout candidate for next season and offered a move they'd like to see this offseason.
Detroit Lions a popular early Super Bowl LIX pick among group of ESPN writers
11 ESPN NFL experts took part in the article-Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Matt Miller, Eric Moody, Jordan Reid, Mike Tannenbaum, Lindsey Thiry, Seth Walder and Field Yates.
Clay, Graziano, Reid, Tannenbaum and Thiry have the Lions as one of the teams in their early Super Bowl LIX matchup.
Clay has the Lions beating the Texans. Graziano has the Bengals beating the Lions. Reid has the Chiefs beating the Lions. Tannenbaum has the Lions beating the Chargers. Thiry also has the Chiefs beating the Lions.
Among the Super Bowl matchup predictions by these ESPN analysts, the Chiefs are also in five of them-and predicted to win all five. The Green Bay Packers are in three of the predicted matchups, with the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams in two apiece. The defending NFC champion 49ers are in one early predicted Super Bowl LIX matchup.
Making these kind of predictions for the next season so close to the end of a season is easy fodder to feed the ongoing appetite for NFL coverage. But it is interesting that so many of these ESPN NFL analysts think the Lions will take the next step and make, or even win, the Super Bowl next season.