Between now and the end of August, TGS will offer up a quick snapshot of every NFL team heading into the 2015 regular season. Today, the Detroit Lions.
2014 in a nutshell: A traditionally offensive-oriented team is carried mainly by a surprisingly strong defense (they rank behind only Seattle on that side of the ball) to 11 wins and a playoff berth, but they lose a wild-card weekend heartbreaker to the Dallas Cowboys, extending their run without a postseason victory to 24 years.
Why 2015 could be different: They lost their best defensive player in free agency while also seeing Reggie Bush, George Johnson and Nick Fairley leave town.
Major additions: Five-time Pro Bowler Haloti Ngata has been added via a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, but at 31 Ngata’s best days are behind him. And he’ll be asked to fill big shoes.
Major losses: Those shoes belonged to four-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro Ndamukong Suh, who has taken his talents to South Beach, or thereabouts.
Breakout watch: The obvious candidate is Ziggy Ansah, who has 15.5 sacks in two seasons at defensive end but needs to do more in order to live up to his 2013 draft status.
Position to watch: They’ve made big changes to the interior offensive line, replacing veterans Rob Sims and Dominic Raiola with draft-day acquisition Manny Ramirez and 2014 third-round center Travis Swanson. Could that help a running game that ranked 28th in football last season?
Prediction: I can’t see that defense holding up without Suh and other key cogs, especially since that secondary isn’t as talented as the numbers might have indicated in 2014. They should still be competitive thanks to Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, but I think the Packers have a lock on the division and Minnesota might leapfrog the Lions as well. I’ll give them eight wins.
