5 reasons the Detroit Lions will return to playoffs in 2017
By John Buhler
While the Detroit Lions lost their NFC Wild Card game to the Seattle Seahawks, here are five reasons that they will be back in the 2017 NFC Playoffs.
The 2016 Detroit Lions season came to an end on Saturday night, as they lost their NFC Wild Card game on the road to the Seattle Seahawks 26-6. Detroit stumbled down the stretch, but still managed to make the NFC Playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
Because both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Redskins lost crucial games in the final weeks of the 2016 regular season, Detroit was able get in the NFC Playoffs as the No. 6 seed at 9-7 on the year.
Many didn’t believe in the Lions in 2016, but they did have their moments this fall. Entering 2016, the Lions were probably a year away from contending for a playoff spot in the NFC anyway. Overall, this team exceeded expectations and had a great year nevertheless. Here are five reasons the Lions making the NFC Playoffs wasn’t a fluke and they’ll be back in 2017.
5. Navigable 2017 season schedule
Because the Lions didn’t win the NFC North –that would be the Green Bay Packers– Detroit won’t play a first-place schedule in 2017. That absolutely helps their cause in getting back to the NFC Playoffs.
Instead of drawing teams like the Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys next season, Detroit gets a bit of an easier draw in competitive balance, landing the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants as their other two games.
As for the 14 games that Detroit already knew it was going to play well in advance of 2017, the Lions will get the NFC South, the AFC North and its annual six division games. The NFC South usually has one dominant team, one playoff pretender and two teams that don’t know what they’re doing.
In the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers are strong, but the Baltimore Ravens are inconsistent, the Cincinnati Bengals might be rebuilding, and then there is science experiment gone wrong known as the Cleveland Browns.
The NFC North probably has two playoff teams next season, including Detroit. It could be either the Packers or the Minnesota Vikings. The Chicago Bears are probably hapless for the foreseeable future in a clueless rebuild.