Fact or Fiction: Have the Detroit Lions Peaked?
The Detroit Lions are not a football team playing their best football at this time of the season.
After struggling against the Chicago Bears, Dan Campbell's squad again struggled with turnovers in a disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers.
In his latest "Football Morning in America" column, Peter King ponders if the current NFC North leader has peaked.
"I think the Lions are regressing, which is an odd thing to say about an 8-3 team. But they can’t get defensive stops the way they did early in the year. I thought after last week, with the three picks thrown by Jared Goff, that it was a fluke event. But it’s worrisome that the Lions have turned it over 11 times in the last five games after turning it over six times in the first six," writes King. "They’ve given up 29.0 points per games over the last five games. The massive comeback against Chicago may have been a mirage."
Detroit's defense has allowed 38, 14, 38, 26 and 29 points in their last five games.
Among the biggest concerns is the lack of consistent pressure from the defensive line in losing efforts.
"I found myself wondering on Thanksgiving whether GM Brad Holmes will regret not going hard after a pass-rusher to bookend with Aidan Hutchinson down the stretch, or maybe corner depth," King pondered. "It’s one thing to get strafed by Justin Herbert, but another to get torched by Jordan Love."
For those believing Detroit has reached it's ceiling this season, the team has given them plenty of reasons to be concerned.
At this point of the season, Detroit's errors are the result of poor fundamentals and being on the wrong side of the turnover margin.
Despite a myriad of struggles and not playing their best football, Detroit is still five games over .500.
With additional time to watch film and work to correct the issues that have negatively impacted the team, Campbell will have his team playing better the next couple of weeks.
"Maybe it is a little bit that I’m an offensive guy, but I also hold our offense to a certain standard because of that offensive line, first and foremost," Campbell told reporters on Thanksgiving. "Because they’ve been here all together and I know what they’re capable of. (Jared) Goff has played a lot of football, and that’s the first thing I look at when I think of 'We got a function at a higher level, we got to be more efficient.'"
Detroit is not going to collapse, but expectations for the remainder of this season have become more realistic.
It is fair to admit Detroit is not the best or second-best team in the NFC.
But, winning the NFC North and hosting a home playoff game gives Campbell's squad their best opportunity to win a playoff game.
The next month of the season will go a long way in aiding Detroit meet those goals.
