Evaluating Analysts' Projections for Lions' Win Total

Our Dakota Brecht dives into various NFL pundits' win-loss projections for the Lions in 2020

Going into the 2019 season, the Lions’ players, coaches and fans had high aspirations.

The Matt Patricia-Bob Quinn culture was starting to be instilled, and with a healthy Matthew Stafford under center, the ceiling was deemed to be very high.

And then, disaster struck. The Lions lost a few close games early on, and then, Stafford went down with an injury that ended his season.

A revolving door of backup quarterbacks ensued, and a disgruntled locker room finished the year at 3-12-1 -- nowhere near where the Lions wanted to be.

Attempting to put the disappointing 2019 season behind them, the Lions look ahead to 2020 with high hopes.

It is a must-win year for the “Quinntricia” regime.

Let’s see now how some pundits have the Lions faring in 2020:

MLive 

Benjamin Raven and Kyle Meinke from MLive.com gave their game-by-game predictions, which both resulted in losing seasons. 

Raven: "Doing these predictions is a less than desirable task, and who knows? Maybe a healthy Matthew Stafford and some fresh faces on defense can help flip the script for Patricia and Quinn. Minnesota and Green Bay are two of the most potentially volatile teams in the league, and Chicago isn’t far behind. The Vikings will rely on a ton of rookies and as I pointed to with Carolina, that’s hard to count on no matter how much you liked a draft class. Detroit is going to be a competitive team if the offense can stay on the field, with the likes of Jamie Collins, Trey Flowers, Duron Harmon, Desmond Trufant, Justin Coleman and Jeff Okudah potentially bringing Matt Patricia’s defense to life. The parameters of that whole win-now mandate from ownership could be seriously tested."

FINAL RECORD: 7-9 

Meinke: “Predictions this early are completely and totally meaningless. I’m not sitting here proclaiming the Lions can’t make the playoffs. I think they have the talent to make a run, especially on offense. But their defense needs a lot of work, and I remain suspect they’ve done enough to make the leap from nearly the worst defense in team history to one good enough to beat some great quarterbacks on this schedule.” 

FINAL RECORD: 6-10

ESPN 

ESPN released its win totals for around the league, and had the Lions finishing with a more promising record -- all the meanwhile, fighting for one of the last NFC playoff positions.

Michael Rothstein gave the following analysis on the upcoming season: 

“In comparison to how some schedules have looked for the Lions at the time of release, this one seems fairly reasonable. Going on the road for four of the first six games is not ideal, nor is the early bye week that breaks some of those road games up. But the Lions avoid having to go to Green Bay in December, which is big, and opening against Chicago, which might have a new starting quarterback, could be an advantage in a year with shorter-than-normal preparation time.”

FINAL RECORD: 8-8

Bleacher Report 

For Bleacher Report, Maurice Moton offered a very bleak outlook for the Lions’ 2020 season:

“If Detroit has to lean on a ball-control offense to minimize pocket pressure on Stafford, the defense will need to perform a lot better than last year's group that ranked 26th in scoring and gave up the second-most yards… Without a consistent pass-rusher to team up with defensive end Trey Flowers, the defense may surrender a lot of points. And Quinn and Patricia could be on the way out.” 

FINAL RECORD: 5-11

Detroit Free Press

Free Press Lions beat writer Dave Birkett sees Detroit being competitive, but failing to be a legitimate playoff contender in 2020.

As he writes, 

"I think the Lions will be better this fall, and I don't think there's a great team in the NFC North. But with a little over four months to go until the start of the season, I can't quite see the Lions as a playoff team yet." 

FINAL RECORD: 8-8

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