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Amon-Ra St. Brown #14 of the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are out to prove that the 2026 season will be different than how things ultimately wound up in the 2025 NFL season, going 9-8 and missing the postseason for the first time since 2023.

There are several new faces on the roster, along with the presence of new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.

And of course, it goes without saying that the Lions have yet to make the Super Bowl in their history. Just how primed are their chances to be a first-time title winner this season? They’re not far off, in the mind of one notable NFL writer.

The Detroit Lions Have A Prime Chance To Be A First-Time Super Bowl Winner

According to NFL Insider Eric Edholm, the Lions are the second team on his list most primed for the best chance to earn their first Super Bowl in team history.

“Even after a 9-8 slip-up season, missing the playoffs, the Lions appear well-equipped to bounce back,” Edholm wrote. “Some of that record might have come with bad luck. Detroit was plus-68 in scoring differential (eighth-best in the league) with a 3-5 record in one-score games. Head coach Dan Campbell’s hyper-aggressive approach backfired down the stretch with all the fourth-down failures. There might be some who believe the Lions are on the downswing, but Campbell has lived by this sword previously and had success. His team is also fairly loaded, everything considered, with a battled-tested QB in Jared Goff, other strong offensive components and some firepower on defense.”

Edholm continued by saying that, while the NFC North is a competitive division, the Lions are in good position to return to the top position that they held for two years before the Chicago Bears eventually overtook them.

“The division is a monster, and the Lions aren’t sneaking up on anyone these days, but the schedule lines up pretty favorably to take back the NFC North,” he said. “Even in the stacked NFC field, you have to give Detroit a chance at breaking a championship-less run that is going on nearly 70 years now.”

The Lions Were Forced To Look Inward After Their 2025 NFL Season Resulted In No Playoff Spot

Earlier this year in April, Lions general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell spoke honestly about the need to look inward and adjust with how things unfolded in the 2025 season.”

“The further you go, or the higher you go, it takes a little bit extra urgency and discipline to make sure that you’re keeping that instilled,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said in April. “Everybody’s a human being, and everybody can feel like, ‘OK, what we’re doing is working, so let’s keep doing that.’ And then you get hit in the face, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, maybe it’s not good enough.’ That was kind of the silver lining. As much as it sucked to end the season how it ended, it might have been what we needed.”

“When you’ve been able to hold a group together for a significant amount of time and then you don’t get the benefits you want, or the results that you want,” Campbell said, “it is probably time to shake it up a little bit.”