🦁 Lion Kingmakers

The Detroit Lions are not NFL doormats anymore.

Sep 08, 2023

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🍿 Believe the Hype

The Detroit Lions are for real. And Lions fans aren't the only ones celebrating.

Beware of Lions. (Reed Hoffmann/AP Photo)

☀️ A new day: Forget about the Lions being NFL laughingstocks. Head coach Dan Campbell used the underdog moniker as a rallying cry to motivate his team, and their incredible turnaround was no fluke. Detroit picked up where they left off with a season-opening win over the defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs.

🏈 Air force: Jared Goff's stellar 2022 campaign is repeatable. He finished 6th in EPA last season and started strong again with a clean performance against the Chiefs. Expect him to get better as the season progresses and avoid a negative regression. He's a year sharper with more weapons for an electric offense.

💪 Big-time D: The Lions bolstered their secondary in the offseason and look better all the way around on defense. After finishing bottom-6 in EPA per play, pass EPA, rush EPA, and success rate last year, the Lions held Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs (minus Travis Kelce) to 20 points. Not too shabby.

🎯 Believe and achieve: The Lions have gone from one of the most difficult schedules to No. 18 this year. After going 9-8 in 2022 for their first winning season since 2017, 10 or more wins are possible for this team. Next up in Week 2 are the Seattle Seahawks.

🏆 North stars: The Lions started the season as the favorites to win the NFC North (+100), and that’s where they should finish. The last time they won the division was 1993, when it was the NFC Central.

NFC North 2023-24

Detroit Lions +100
Minnesota Vikings +370
Chicago Bears +425
Green Bay Packers +450

🙌 Home cooking: The days of Lions fans wearing paper bags are long gone. They sold out their season tickets for the first time since moving into the 65,000-seat Ford Field in 2002. After ranking 29th in average attendance with 63,429 fans per game in 2022 and 17th in average capacity percentage (98.3 percent), Detroit is moving up.

🔥 America's new team: The Lions have national interest now. Their Thursday night season opener against the Chiefs on NBC was one of four prime-time spotlights for the Lions this season. Add in their annual Thanksgiving game, and the Lions have five exclusive national broadcast windows to showcase their team for the whole country during the regular season. Getting all the way to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII is not an impossible dream.

Super Bowl 2024

Philadelphia Eagles +650
Kansas City Chiefs +650
Buffalo Bills +900
San Francisco 49ers +1000
Cincinnati Bengals +1100
Dallas Cowboys +1400
New York Jets +1600
Detroit Lions +1700

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💰 Lions Betting Insights

The Lions had a 12-5 record against the spread in 2022.
Last season, 10 Lions games went over the point total.
The Lions ranked 4th in the NFL in total offense with 380.0 yards per game in 2022 and 32nd in total defense with 392.4 yards allowed per contest.
The Lions scored 453 points (26.6 per game) last season (5th of 32) and allowed 427 points (25.1, 28th of 32).
The Lions went 5-4 at home and 4-4 on the road.
When underdogs, the Lions had nine victories (9-3) versus a 3-2 record when favored.
The Lions were 7-5 vs. the NFC, including 5-1 in the NFC North.
The Lions have a 12-27 record as underdogs at home since 2016.

RELATED NFL STORIES ON STADIUM TALK

🐅 Quote du Jour: Tiger Style

"This is where I want to be. This is where I want to be my whole career. We're working toward making that happen. You've seen what the front office has done and what Zac [Taylor] has done in their time here. I'm a small part of that. I'm excited to be a part of that."

—Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on agreeing to a record $275 million extension with the team that includes $219.01 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history.

🎧 Listen Up

💰 NFL knowledge: Sleepy J, Dave Essler and Steve Rieder have you covered with NFL action in Week 1, player props and more.

🏟️ College life: Dalton Brown and CLEPicks highlight College Football Week 2 and give their picks.

📈Number of the Day: 73.5 Million

Number of Americans projected to bet on the 2023 NFL season.

🧠 Sports Betting Tip

Bet between 1-5% of your bankroll per bet.

If you win a few small bets and then get brazen enough to bet a larger one, you are opening yourself up for a losing endeavor. Sure, you could win it, double up, and then bet it all again, but the odds are not in your favor.—Steve Reider, NFL, Betting Predators

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