NFL Analyst Explains How Lions Can Go from Worst-to-First in 2021

Read more on how the Detroit Lions can improve upon their last-place finish in 2020.

Every season, most NFL teams have a significant opportunity to retool, with the hopes of being a team that can learn from past mistakes in order to earn a division title.

In 2020, the Washington Football Team proved with its late-season heroics that a team can quickly turn around its fortunes and find itself in the playoffs.

For the Detroit Lions, that feat might be a bit more challenging, since nearly the entire coaching staff has been overhauled and there will be a new signal-caller under center for the first time in over a decade. 

In his latest piece for NFL.com, analyst Gil Brandt ranked the eight teams that finished in last place in 2020 and their chances of winning their respective divisions in 2021.

"The Lions haven't won a division title since 1993 (27 seasons), the second-longest such streak in the NFL. Can they finally snap that skid in 2021? Much will depend on whether head coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn can help new quarterback Jared Goff curtail the turnovers that helped pave the way for his departure from the Rams," Brandt explained.

"I think Goff is good enough to get Detroit to 8-8, but for the Lions to compete with the likes of the Packers, Bears and Vikings, GM Brad Holmes and Co. will have to really rejuvenate a defense that ranked 32nd last season and 31st the year before," he explained further.

Campbell & Co. are hoping that by placing the current members of the roster in better positions to succeed, the over-thinking that plagued the team and slowed down its play out on the field will be a thing of the past. 

More from SI All Lions:

All Lions Mailbag: Best Available or Defense in Draft?

Roundtable: How Big of a Downgrade Is Jared Goff from Matthew Stafford?

How Jared Goff Impacts the Detroit Lions' Salary Cap

Ranking Detroit Lions' Offseason Needs

Lions Select Trey Lance in Birkett's First Mock Draft

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