Detroit Lions 2023 Season Thread

mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated
Welcome to the Detroit Lions 2023 season thread. As with any Detroit Lions fan, many of us have never enjoyed watching out team get to the Super Bowl, let alone hosting playoff games. Heck, it's been 31 years since the Lions last won a playoff game. We did manage to win the NFL championship in 1957. My former bowling teammate was 8 years old at the time and missed the game because he came down with the flu, and thus has been waiting for success like everyone else in Detroit.

Things are looking promising for the 2023 season. Lions are favored to win the division, I have them at +175, for the first time in as long as I can remember.

It's difficult to come to a conclusion of what the pundits say about the Lions 2023 draft, for everyone one gushes about it, you can find another who say the Lions flopped.

Guess we will have to wait how this all plays out on the field. Until then, it gives the talk show guys something to talk about, like Valenti, trying to figure things out.

 
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mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated
As many of you know, I've been a faithful Lions fan forever, and a season ticket holder for 20+ years. (you also know I will bet against them if that's the play too, i'm able to separate both emotionally, being a fan vs betting against them)

I've had prepaid parking for the last 15 years. The lot is a block from the stadium and with how the freeways are in the area of Ford Field, it's really easy in and out of this particular lot. I've paid $50 per game per year, it has never changed. I called to renew for the 2023 season. The parking lot sent an email back basically saying "we are not offering season passes this year at 461 Gratiot due to many online reservations. You can reserve at Spot Hero or Park Whiz. (these are places that are like stubhub, but instead of tickets, they offer parking spaces around town). You can also show up on game day and pay the daily rate. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me, regards."

So I went to these apps to see what they are about, and how they work. For the lot that I've paid $50 consistently over time, for the up coming USFL season games at Ford Field (Michigan Panthers and Philly play their home games there), my lot is charging $95! for a fu*king USFL game. when it comes to Lions game days, or even if they get a prime time game, what's it going to be? $150 to park there? Playoff game, $200????

I get they are trying to get all that they can, especially with the hype of a winning season, etc. But at least give your faithful customers some sort of a discount. I've supported this lot when at best they were 50 to 75% full because the team sucked that bad.

Anyway, plenty of places to park, it will be interesting to see if there's collusion around the stadium with all lots increasing their prices.

Finally, I'm a realist, and I know if you go to other NFL cities, parking as close as I am costs much more than I have been paying. We've gotten a pretty good discount due to the team being so inept for so long. Even the tickets have held their ground. If the team becomes a playoff team and improves, I know the tickets will increase dramatically because the Lions can do whatever they want.

Anyway, that's my rant....welcome to the Lions 2023 season thread!
 

Dell Dude

EOG Master
Last time too late, this time too early. I have some walking off to do before worrying about the Lions.
 

mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated
Lions will play at Kansas City Thurs Sep 7th in the NFL kickoff game! Will see what they are really made of then.
 

mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated

Niyo: Are the Lions ready for prime time in 2023? We'll find out​


Detroit — They weren’t ready for prime time before.
But they’d better be now.
Because when the curtain goes up on the NFL season in September, the Lions will take center stage in the spotlight. And this won’t be just a cameo appearance, either, as Dan Campbell’s team — a trendy pick to win the NFC North for the first time in 30 years and the source of so much offseason buzz across the league — is scheduled to make at least five national-television appearances in 2023, four of them in prime time.

The first of those will feature the Lions making their inaugural appearance in the league’s 20-year-old marquee kickoff event, a Thursday night opener on Sept. 7 against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City.
You asked for it, Detroit, and now you’ve got it: Here’s another chance to prove to "Everybody" that you’re to be taken seriously. That last year’s late-season surge, in which the Lions won eight of their last 10 games to make a surprising playoff push, was no fluke. And that the Week 18 win at Lambeau Field — a victory that knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs and sent four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers packing for New York — was merely a dress rehearsal for Campbell & Co.
“The Chiefs we know. They’re the champs, right? They’re the team that everybody knows,” said Mike Tirico, the lead voice on NBC’s NFL broadcasts, as he unveiled the “NFL Kickoff Game” on the “Today” show Thursday morning. “The Lions? Very different story. … You know, there’s always a hot team. People say, ‘Hey, who’s the team everybody’s talking about?' It’s the Lions this year. So we’ll get to see them the opening night to find out if it’s real or not.”
Oh, it’s about to get real, all right.
Because that opener is just the beginning for the Lions, who were largely an afterthought in league circles a year ago. Sure, they’d been tabbed to appear on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in the 2022 preseason. But last May’s schedule release felt like just another cold shoulder in Detroit, as the league opted not to feature the Lions in any prime-time games in its 18-week schedule. There was the traditional slot on Thanksgiving Day — annually one of the NFL’s highest-rated broadcasts — but that was it for national TV initially (the Jan. 8 finale at Green Bay was later flexed to prime time due to its playoff implications). And with no West Coast road games on the 2022 schedule, there weren’t even any late-afternoon time slots for the Lions.
While disappointing, it wasn’t all that surprising, however. The Lions lacked star power, were coming off a 3-13-1 finish in 2021 — their fourth consecutive season with double-digit losses — and hadn’t finished with a winning record since 2017. “Unattractive is not the right word,” NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North insisted at the time. But “irrelevant” probably would’ve sufficed.

Buzz building​

Yet with interest spiking in the Lions after the “Hard Knocks” fanfare last August and their hard-charging finish last winter, that was due to change. The only question this offseason was how dramatically it would, and whether it would truly benefit the team on the field.
“Certainly the exposure is great,” team president Rod Wood told reporters at the NFL owners' meetings in March, when asked about the prime-time love that was coming the Lions’ way. “I'd rather have as many at home as possible. I mean, the road prime-time games are a challenge for travel. But if you earn the right to play on prime time, it's because of good things, not anything we should be worried about.”
And even though three of the Lions' four prime-time dates this season are, in fact, on the road, I expect that’s exactly what we’ll hear from these Lions, starting with their head coach, who’ll be a guest on the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” show Friday ahead of the Lions’ rookie minicamp this weekend.
Campbell kicked off last season's training camp with a passionate speech to his players about "grit" and a willingness to play anybody, anywhere. Home, road, grass, turf. "We’ll go to a (expletive) landfill," he said. "Doesn’t matter." And Campbell has spent this spring talking about “raising expectations” in Detroit, where he believes a young roster fortified through free agency and the draft is “positioned much better to swing with the big boys this year.”
The league and its broadcast partners are banking on it, clearly. The NFL could’ve kicked things off with a Super Bowl rematch between Kansas City and Philadelphia or had the Chiefs face one of their AFC rivals in Cincinnati or Buffalo. Instead, they picked the Lions, because as Onnie Bose, the NFL’s other VP of broadcasting, explained on “The Dan Patrick Show” Thursday, “We really like that narrative around that team. … There’s a lot of energy there, and we feel really good about starting the season with that energy against the Super Bowl champs.”
The Lions are listed as an early 7-point underdog visiting Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since 2003, back when Joey Harrington was their quarterback. Detroit hasn’t won a season opener since 2017, and Kansas City — coming off a third Super Bowl appearance and second title in four years — hasn’t lost one under head coach Andy Reid since 2014, when Patrick Mahomes was just a freshman backup quarterback at Texas Tech.
But this is a matchup of two of the league’s top five offenses last season, and it's worth remembering the last time Jared Goff faced Mahomes and the Chiefs in 2018 — he was still with the Los Angeles Rams — they produced an all-time shootout on "Monday Night Football." The only game in NFL history in which both teams scored 50-plus points — Rams 54, Chiefs 51 — featured 14 touchdowns, 1,001 yards and four fourth-quarter lead changes.

Stirring slate​

So the intrigue is there, and win or lose, it should be when the Lions return home to Ford Field in Week 2 against Seattle, the team that snagged the final NFC wild-card spot over Detroit with the help of some controversial officiating back in January.
The Lions play three of their first five at home, but the other early road trip is another prime-time affair. Amazon Prime time, to be more precise, as the Lions return to Lambeau to face some screaming Cheeseheads in one of the NFL’s Thursday night streaming games.
They’ll also host the Packers on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2013, and in between, Detroit will play host to the Las Vegas Raiders for a Monday night tilt on Halloween eve. Assuming they're able to pick up anywhere close to where they left off last season, that should be a rollicking night downtown (the Lions haven't hosted a prime-time game since that disastrous debut for Matt Patricia in the 2018 opener).
All in all, the travel doesn’t look particularly daunting for the Lions, who will cross through fewer time zones (nine) than any other team in the league. The lone West Coast trip — at the SoFi Stadium against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 12 — even comes immediately after a Week 9 bye. The only cold-weather game on the schedule is an early December date in Chicago. And while they'll have short weeks to prep for both Green Bay games, they'll get extra time to get ready for three other NFC opponents in Seattle, Carolina and New Orleans.
Still, eight of their 17 games are against teams that made the playoffs last winter, and six of those will come on the road, including another prime-time game on a Saturday night in Dallas on Dec. 30. That's sandwiched between two divisional games against Minnesota, the reigning NFC North champion. And the last of those Vikings games, notably, is listed as time/date TBD at Ford Field.
The NFL wants to keep its prime-time options open to find the best matchups, you see, and for a welcome change, that means keeping an eye on Detroit. Everybody's eyes, actually.
john.niyo@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @JohnNiyo
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Scheduling oddity: the Lions play THREE Thursday games this season., including both games against Green Bay. The Lions also have a rough stretch in December, playing 4 road games in 5 weeks in December. They also have two opponents (Bears and Bucs) off bye weeks, so that's a negative.
 
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mrbowling300

EOG Dedicated

Detroit Lions betting odds​

(odds from DraftKings as of May 11, 4:00 p.m. PT)

Season Win Total Odds: 9.5 (-150/+130)

Super Bowl Odds: +1900

NFC Champion: +750

NFC North Champion: +110

Last season: 9-8, 2nd in NFC North

2023 Detroit Lions schedule​

  • Week 1: @ Kansas City Chiefs (KC -6.5, Total: 53.5)
  • Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks (DET -2)
  • Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons (DET -5)
  • Week 4: @ Green Bay Packers (DET -1.5)
  • Week 5: vs. Carolina Panthers (DET -5)
  • Week 6: @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (DET -3.5)
  • Week 7: @ Baltimore Ravens (BAL -2)
  • Week 8: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (DET -3.5)
  • Week 9: BYE WEEK
  • Week 10: @ Los Angeles Chargers (LAC -2.5)
  • Week 11: vs. Chicago Bears (DET -5)
  • Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers (DET -4)
  • Week 13: @ New Orleans Saints (DET -1.5)
  • Week 14: @. Chicago Bears (DET -1.5)
  • Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos (DET -2)
  • Week 16: @ Minnesota Vikings (MIN -1)
  • Week 17: @ Dallas Cowboys (DAL -2.5)
  • Week 18: vs. Minnesota Vikings (DET -2.5)
 

Dell Dude

EOG Master
Step back. Look at Lions history since 1957. 1 playoff win and the few times I remember during the Sims, Sanders, Stafford era they were considered contenders, they failed to meet expectations. This year they have the most hype of any year since 1957. The Central has been given to them practically plus 1 playoff win which would be their 2nd in 67 years.

Shorter version: paws on the hype. These are still the Detroit Lions until they aren't the Detroit Lions.
 

boston massacre

EOG Master

Detroit Lions betting odds​

(odds from DraftKings as of May 11, 4:00 p.m. PT)

Season Win Total Odds: 9.5 (-150/+130)

Super Bowl Odds: +1900

NFC Champion: +750

NFC North Champion: +110

Last season: 9-8, 2nd in NFC North

2023 Detroit Lions schedule​

  • Week 1: @ Kansas City Chiefs (KC -6.5, Total: 53.5)
  • Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks (DET -2)
  • Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons (DET -5)
  • Week 4: @ Green Bay Packers (DET -1.5)
  • Week 5: vs. Carolina Panthers (DET -5)
  • Week 6: @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (DET -3.5)
  • Week 7: @ Baltimore Ravens (BAL -2)
  • Week 8: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (DET -3.5)
  • Week 9: BYE WEEK
  • Week 10: @ Los Angeles Chargers (LAC -2.5)
  • Week 11: vs. Chicago Bears (DET -5)
  • Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers (DET -4)
  • Week 13: @ New Orleans Saints (DET -1.5)
  • Week 14: @. Chicago Bears (DET -1.5)
  • Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos (DET -2)
  • Week 16: @ Minnesota Vikings (MIN -1)
  • Week 17: @ Dallas Cowboys (DAL -2.5)
  • Week 18: vs. Minnesota Vikings (DET -2.5)


Not A Lot Of Hall Of Fame QBS On That Schedule.

Who Scares You ?

Mahomes ?

Who Else ?

LaMar ?

Anybody Else ?

Herbert ?
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
the concern is the spotlight is very bright now, they won’t catch anyone by surprise. The schedule looks soft, but them you start playing the Sunday and Monday night games that they never had to deal with. The division is totally up for grabs now With Minn and GB taking a step back. it will be interesting if they start off 0-2, Seattle is no pushover.
 

choslamshe

EOG Master
the concern is the spotlight is very bright now, they won’t catch anyone by surprise. The schedule looks soft, but them you start playing the Sunday and Monday night games that they never had to deal with. The division is totally up for grabs now With Minn and GB taking a step back. it will be interesting if they start off 0-2, Seattle is no pushover.

Agree with this, but I'm not sure Minny took a step back. They got rid of the aging, injury prone Cook and Thielen. They got younger in key offensive positions (Mattison and Addison), and Hockenson will be more involved and playmaking from week 1.

The bigger issue with this team obviously is on the defensive side. And while there are a lot of new names and question marks remain, it will be difficult for them to be any worse than they were last year. Their biggest defensive 'player' this year will be Brian Flores. If he can change the culture even a bit from what it's been the last couple of season, I still think this is a 10-7 team at worst.

GB is going to suck, but Da Bears 'might' be due for a tick up as well.

Nonetheless going to be a fun division this year.
 

IWishIWasAPro

EOG Master
That division is a complete coin flip now. Pick any team and you can make a case for them to win it. It will be interesting to see.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Bears are the hot sexy team for next season...show me

They aren't the Vikings or Packers. And the Lions in very unfamiliar territory. Last place schedule, and lots of potential impact players. Maybe they suck. But they appeared to be tanking last year and accidentally could've won several more games.
 

blueline

EOG Master
One thing in bears favor is they play teams with question marks.
They have a RB playing QB along with all of the other holes
 

blueline

EOG Master
Exactly...where are the sacks going to come from?

Reportedly from minicamp on one blog Wes were breaking open and fields was indecisive and holding onto the ball...
plus the mechanics havent improved
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
Exactly...where are the sacks going to come from?

Reportedly from minicamp on one blog Wes were breaking open and fields was indecisive and holding onto the ball...
plus the mechanics havent improved
they were talking about that on The Score last week.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Exactly...where are the sacks going to come from?

Reportedly from minicamp on one blog Wes were breaking open and fields was indecisive and holding onto the ball...
plus the mechanics havent improved

They are well under the cap. Plethora of edge rushers who are free agents. I would be shocked if they didn't sign one.
 

blueline

EOG Master
I dont listen to 670 anymore....think the last time was early April for a few minutes...instead of local sports I shifted that to VSiN.....dont know whats available as far as free agents....guess who they choose to sign would be an indication of how far away the front office feels it is
 
You guys are greatly underrating the Bears.

New Starters:
WR DJ Moore
LB TJ Edwards
LB Tremain Edmunds
OG Nate Davis. This also allows others to move to natural position.
DE DeMarcus Walker
DT Andrew Billings

Backups or split time"
TE Tonyan
RB D'Onta Foreman
LB Dylan Cole

Cap space to get top edge rusher.


Tight losses last year:
Lions by 1
Mia by 3
Falcons by 3
Wash by 5
Eagles by 5
Vikings by 7

OL will be much better with the addition of Davis. Fields was awful passing. This will get better. Fields can really run.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
You guys are greatly underrating the Bears.

New Starters:
WR DJ Moore
LB TJ Edwards
LB Tremain Edmunds
OG Nate Davis. This also allows others to move to natural position.
DE DeMarcus Walker
DT Andrew Billings

Backups or split time"
TE Tonyan
RB D'Onta Foreman
LB Dylan Cole

Cap space to get top edge rusher.


Tight losses last year:
Lions by 1
Mia by 3
Falcons by 3
Wash by 5
Eagles by 5
Vikings by 7

OL will be much better with the addition of Davis. Fields was awful passing. This will get better. Fields can really run.
I'm not underrating them. I bet them over 7 1/2 wins (-120) before the draft. And that's only gotten better when the schedule came out. Not one single opponent plays them off a bye or even a Thursday nighter. Like the position of the bye week (week 13). I also bet them at 4-1 to win the NFC North.
 
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