Regular season grades for every NFL team
With the loss of Ndamukong Suh in free agency this summer and a couple of other key departures, the Detroit Lions were expected to take a large step in the wrong direction in the 2015 NFL season. While it may not have been impressive to watch, the Lions, however, had other plans for this season as they remained an undeniably mediocre football team.
With a victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 17, the Lions moved to 7-9 on the season and into a third-place finish in the NFC North. While that puts them well out of the playoff picture, that’s undoubtedly a better finish to the 2015 regular season than anyone could have expected from this team considering their offseason losses and considering the injuries to key players like DeAndre Levy that they started the season with.
The Lions have room for improvement moving forward and have glaring holes throughout their roster, notably in the running game, the offensive line, and on their defensive line. However, they performed quite well at times this season and finished the year strong under the direction of Jim Bob Cooter as the offensive coordinator. Considering how paltry people thought their record would be, a 7-9 finish earns them a solid, respectable C.
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