Detroit Lions have second-best championship window according to NFL.com

Posted by author February 17, 2025 NFL

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The Detroit Lions are expected to be Super Bowl contenders again in the 2025 season despite losing in the divisional round of the playoffs last year.
The Lions return most of their starters on offense and defense, creating optimism for another strong season.
Only the Philadelphia Eagles, who are coming off a Super Bowl title, are viewed as a clearly better team in the NFC than the Lions.

The Detroit Lions ended their historic 2024 season with a disappointing playoff loss, but hope remains for the future because of the core in place.

In a ranking of championship windows by NFL.com, the Lions came in second out of eight teams, trailing only the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions return most starters on both sides of the ball from the 2024 team that went 15-2 in the regular season to earn the No. 1 NFC playoff seed.

“Despite the losses of a pair of exceptional play-callers (Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn), the Lions should be squarely in the Super Bowl mix on the strength of a roster loaded with blue-chip playmakers,” NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks wrote. “Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have assembled a gritty group of competitors with outstanding skills and big-play ability.”

The Lions had to replace coordinators on both sides of the ball. Offensive coordinator John Morton and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard will step into play-calling roles left by former coaches Johnson and Glenn, who are running their own teams now. Detroit moved quickly to re-form the coaching staff in an effort led by head coach Dan Campbell.

The new coordinators will have a full roster to work with. The Lions return all of their starters on offense outside of right guard Kevin Zeitler and third wide receiver Tim Patrick, who are pending free agents. On defense, cornerback Carlton Davis, defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike and linebacker Derrick Barnes are the potential departures, but most of the unit returns.

The success in the regular season didn’t carry over to the divisional round against the Washington Commanders because of five turnovers and a defense plagued by injuries unable to get off the field. The defense should be healthier, primarily with Aidan Hutchinson back in the lineup, and the offense returns the pieces that produced the highest-scoring output in 2024.

“While the loss of Johnson could take away some of the Lions’ trademark pizzazz on offense, the re-emergence of a healthy and destructive defense under new coordinator Kelvin Sheppard could enable the team to roll through the NFC with a blue-collar approach that would serve it well in the postseason,” Brooks wrote.

The Lions opened the 2025 offseasons in the top five for Super Bowl 60 odds because of the strength of the roster returning. Detroit remains the favorite in the NFC North after winning the division title the last two years, but the three other teams in the division are also coming off a playoff appearance or now have sky-high expectations entering next season (Chicago).

According to NFL.com and oddsmakers, the Eagles are the only NFC team clearly ahead of the Lions thanks to them returning nearly the entire Super Bowl-winning core.

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.