When the time comes to make it happen, you have to make it happen. Although I believe the Detroit Lions will be one of the better teams in the NFC next year, I am afraid their Super Bowl window has closed. It was right there in front of them the last two years, but they only have one NFC Championship Game appearance to show for it. This has everything to do with coaching attrition affecting the team.
By losing stars coordinators Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears and New York Jets jobs, respectively, how sure are we Dan Campbell can effectively replace them from within, man? Kelvin Sheppard will be calling the shots on the defense, while it will be John Morton on offense. Despite all this, team leaders like safety Brian Branch are not thinking twice about the moves.
Here is what Branch told Rainer Sabin of the Detroit Free Press about what he thinks about his team.
"I feel like we're better than last year. We're hungry, and I feel that's gonna separate us. Our chemistry is on a whole 'nother level."
Branch may have played his college football at traditional power Alabama, but he is about to find out that not all teams have it as good as the Crimson Tide — or the Lions in recent seasons. Admittedly, the expected pull-back from the Lions should be minor. Campbell is a great head coach, Brad Holmes is an outstanding general manager and Sheila Ford Hamp is the owner they deserve.
My concern is that Super Bowl windows are never open for as long as you think, and once it's closed, it's closed for good.
Detroit Lions cannot expect this window to be open forever
This is where disappointment is bred. It is when the outcomes do not measure up to a certain set of expectations. Not to say that the Lions have anything close to grandiose or unrealistic expectations, but nostalgia is one helluva drug. These may be the glory years of Lions football as we know them, but guys like Glenn and Johnson are not walking through that door. The 2023-24 Lions are no more.
Right now, I would still have the Lions as my pick to win the NFC North, but I struggle to see them getting past whoever comes out of the NFC East between the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles or the up-and-coming Washington Commanders. Detroit fell at home to Washington unexpectedly in January. They will not be caught by surprise, but will they catch them?
While I would fully expect for a star player and a team leader like Branch to speak this glowingly about his team, I have watched the NFL long enough to know that replacing great coordinators is not as easy as it seems. This is especially true when it comes to franchises that are not exactly known as winning organizations historically. Detroit may be turning a corner, but I do have my concerns here.
If Detroit wants to keep its closing Super Bowl window open, the Lions must take it to another level.