pThe 2020-21 Detroit Lions had an incredible season. With the new front office, the team reached over ten wins and a fifth seed in the NFC playoffs. They made it to the divisional round, in which they lost to the Green Bay Packers. Originally, the DET front office planned on this season being a rebuild one and overachieved that. The main thing that threw off the entire scope of their season was the trade market. The GB front office entertained a Jordan Love trade all the way until Week 1, to where they stated he wasn’t moving. This is the thing that really threw the entire season off for DET. They went into the season thinking they could attempt to trade for a franchise QB but really got played by a division rival. In turn, the front office signed the worst QB on the FA market, Trace Mcsorely. DET only lost 2 games with him starting at QB for them. He carried the team all the way into the playoffs. Which is something HE WAS NOT supposed to do. Now the roster has been set back in terms of rebuilding. Their playoff run against the Bucs and Packers showed how much work needs to be done with this team. The front office feels like the only thing holding them back in the division is roster, not coaching. It is hard to do anything when your line gets mauled by Kenny Clark, Zadarius Smith, and David (I can’t spell his last name). The NFC north has some of the best rosters in the league and DET has a long way to go. However, this overachieving season has let them develop key players like TJ Hockenson, Ty Johnson, and Jeff Okudah. The future is bright for Detroit, but the far future, not near. I would like to put out an alert and say the DET Lions are officially on tank watch for the 2022-23 season. The other teams in their division are just too strong for their current roster. The playoffs proved why this team should not have made a run this season, at all. I expect them to be a contender again two seasons from now. p
