So now we bring another NFL team preview on line, with the 2015 NFL season nearing with the Lions of Detroit who last 2014 season had a strong defense, that took them to a wild card spot, but a portion of that defense is no longer, as N. Suh has taken his talent to the Dolphins of Miami, and you ask can the make a comeback to equal last season without the talented Suh.
Last season the Lions with new head coach J. Caldwell they had 11 wins and 5 losses and made the playoffs for the 1st time since back in the 2011 season. They got their with the 3rd ranked defense in the NFL as they only allowed 69.2 running yards and were 2nd in yards allowed each game at 301 as well as points at 17.5 per game.
The defense for the Lions allowed their low scoring offense that average 20 points per game and were 28th in run offense at 89 yards each game, still made it to the playoffs. Thus, for the 2015 season the predictions for the over/under for the regular season is at 8.5 victories for Detroit, as their still remains questions pertaining with the loss of a major defensive player in N. Suh?
In the offseason with the defensive loss of Suh and tackle Fairley the defense of the Lions were left with a vacancy in the DL. So, the Detroit management moved rapidly to fill that gap as the traded for Veteran H. Ngata, signed T. Walker and drafted G. Wright in the offseason. Then they made an effort to strength their struggling OL to improve their running offense, thus they made a trade with the Broncos that brought them M. Ramirez, a veteran and then drafted highly recommended guard in the draft in L. Tomlinson. Additionally the y drafted a RB A. Abdullah in the 2nd round of this year’s draft.
The important player for the Lions this season will be RB C. Johnson who struggled with injuries last year, but with the loss of their defensive star, the offense needs to start playing as they did in years previous to 2014, and that means that RB Johnson will have to become the game changing player, that he is capable of being this 2015.
An important and key game comes in the 2nd week of the Lions season as the travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings. Three of their first 4 games are on the road with the Chargers 1st, the Vikings 2nd and the Seahawks 4th, while their 3rd game is with Denver in Detroit. Thus, with their record for 2015-16 it would not surprise me to see them start out the season at 0-5 right off the bat. Imagine 4 of their 1st 5 games are with team that had winning records in 2014. So in Week 2 and their game with the Vikings should be their best chance to get a win for their first 5 games in 2015.
The best result for 2015 would be for the Lions to get a wild card spot for the 2nd straight season, and the worst they could do is to fail to beat their season of 2014 which is highly unlikely, and their star running back is injured again, thus the finish last in their division in the 2015-16 season.
For the Lion fans of Detroit, who Bet on NFL at an Online sportsbook the experts are predicting that the Lions offense improves, but they are not able to fill the gap of N. Suh on defense, and they will finish the season with 8 wins and 8 losses!