Every Saturday during the season, we take some questions for a Detroit Lions Mailbag. To ask a question for a mailbag, use the hashtag #LionsMailbag on Twitter or email me at michael.rothstein@espn.com.
Now to this week’s questions.
My question is this... All five remaining opponents have losing records, what makes anyone excited that they have to rely on thst to make the playoffs against EVERY team that beat them already #LionsMailbag @mikerothstein
— Timothy Ray Brandon (@TBrandon84) November 23, 2017
There’s the biggest overall issue for the Lions when it comes to the potential playoffs. I do believe if Detroit wins out, it makes the playoffs. Likely doesn’t win the division unless Minnesota falters greatly, but 11-5 should be good enough. A 10-6 record would be a bit difficult, because the Lions would have to hope for a three-way tie with at least one team from the NFC East or NFC West because they haven’t played those that are in contention so it would go to conference record instead of head to head, if my understanding is correct.
A two-way tie with any of Atlanta, New Orleans or Carolina will go to the NFC South team due to head-to-head tiebreakers. The good thing for the Lions here is the Saints, Panthers and Falcons all have games against each other – and the Rams and Seahawks both have difficult closing stretches, too.
Basically, for Detroit to get in at 10-6, the Lions need to become big Minnesota Vikings fans the next two weeks (games against Atlanta and Carolina) and potentially hope the Saints pull away, too. At this point, in my opinion, anything less than 10-6 for Detroit and the playoffs are very unlikely to happen.
As for why you should believe in the Lions? I can't answer that for you -- that's a personal thing and considering the team's history, do so at your own risk.
#LionsMailbag why don't the @Lions seem competitive the first 2 quarters of football games?
— Dalodownfomotownball (@Detlionsbrief) November 24, 2017
This has been one of the biggest problems for Detroit this season and it’s something I’ve asked multiple people, both on the record and on background, about in the past month. The thing is, no one seems to have a concrete answer. That doesn’t surprise me, especially considering if they had one, they’d likely fix it. But the most common answer I’ve heard is attention to detail from the start. That, to me, seems to be a player issue.
How do they correct it? I’m not entirely sure. They could try being more aggressive at the start, but if that fails, it’s the same old situation. Having a dynamic run game would help, but that doesn’t seem to be materializing out of what Detroit has put together so far. In many ways I really am starting to believe that this is just what this team is – and has been for a while.
And against good teams, as I’ve written a bunch over the past few weeks, that’s going to be a problem.
@mikerothstein do you think that theres any chance Kerry hyder or haloti ngata return this season? We could use their help considering how bad we are at run defense #LionsMailbag
— Andrew Goeckel (@andrew_goeckel) November 24, 2017
Thanks for the question. It’s one I’ve gotten a few times. Kerry Hyder can’t return this season because he was placed on injured reserve before the regular season began. Also, with a ruptured Achilles, he’s not going to be ready anyway. As far as Haloti Ngata, nothing I’ve heard leads me to believe that’s possible, but he has been hanging around the locker room/facility a lot. At this point, I’d be very surprised if Ngata returns. Talked with a few players about Dwight Freeney in postgame on Thursday. I’ll have more on that soon but they seem to believe he’ll make a difference in the pass rush at least.