Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The NFC North can be described as wide open with the departure of Aaron Rodgers and everything the Vikings lost on offence with Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook going separate ways. Justin Fields will have to take a step forward for the Bears to contend in the NFC, which leaves one team left, and maybe the division favourite, at least the fan favourite, the Detroit Lions.

Detroit started last season 1-6, before finding a rhythm to the offence I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted, and winning 8 of their last 10. Jamaal Williams who’s now in New Orleans rushed for 1066 yards, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 106 passes for 1161 yards, and despite a defence that gave up 25 points per game, they scored 26 and found themselves taking care of what they had to late in games and ending on the good side of luck in several occasions.

The NFL thought their season was so much of a success despite falling short of making the playoffs due to a Seattle result the afternoon before their week 18 game against Green Bay, that they said “let’s have them kickoff the season”. So now the Lions open the NFL season on Thursday night, against the Super Bowl champs Kansas City Chiefs who will be celebrating another championship in their dynastic run, but with some questions that may open the door for a hungry Lions team to make it one step further than they did last season.

The Lions lost Jamaal to New Orleans, but they got a guy in Jahmyr Gibbs who ran for 926 yards in his 2022 season at Alabama, but probably more notable to the Lions, made 44 receptions for another 444 yards averaging 10.1 per reception. With the running of David Montgomery as the second back, the versatility of Gibbs may help the Lions offence get into short yardage situations, and give them a answer to the loss of red zone production that Jamaal gave them.

They keep their leading receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown and have yet to see the ceiling for their drafted star Jameson Williams who will spend a chunk of the season suspended for violating gambling rules, but against the Chiefs, the running game may assist the weapons out wide, particularly due to the absence of Chris Jones.

Chris Jones is one of the best defensive tackles in the league, there’s no questions about it, and as he is in discussions with the Chiefs, they may take the field on Thursday without him, which opens up the trenches for the Lions running game. While the defence will of course need to step up more than they did last season against Patrick Mahomes, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Lions offence were able to make this a shootout, and let the world know that there may be a new owner of the division.

The Lions are being given a shot to put everything they’ve developed on display for a lot of people, and make a statement before any other team has the opportunity to. Lions fans are rightfully excited, and I for one am not doubting Dan Campbell’s ability to make this kick-off game one we’ll talk about throughout the entire season. The Detroit Lions are going to be fun to watch.