The Detroit Lions are one and done the rest of the regular season, because with their 8-6 record, the team has to win every game through early January to make it to the playoffs. Now, the Lions have a crucial game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, December 21, at home.
So, if the Detroit Lions drop this game against the Steelers, they won’t make it to the postseason. Both the Steelers and Lions have 8-6 records going into their Sunday showdown, but the Steelers have a better chance of getting to the postseason at 61%, according to research from the NFL. The Lions, meanwhile, have a 37% chance, and that will go up to 46% if they win.
Following the Steelers game, the Detroit Lions also have a Christmas Day on Thursday, December 25, against the Minnesota Vikings on the road and a January 4 game against the Chicago Bears also on the road. Now, ahead of their string of critical games, the Lions have shared exciting news about two of their players.
Detroit Lions Shares News on Star Players
On Wednesday, December 17, the Detroit Lions shared historic news about two of their own. Defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Al-Quadin Muhammad are the first Lions duo to each log nine sacks in a season.
It’s the latest in a string of honors. Amon-Ra St. Brown also made franchise history this week. On Tuesday, December 16, the Detroit Lions took to social media to announce that St. Brown notched the most receiving yards by a Lion through five career seasons, surpassing Calvin Johnson.
The team has also announced that St. Brown and Jameson Williams are the first wide receiver duo in franchise history to each produce more than seven receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
The Road to the Postseason for the Detroit Lions
So, if the Detroit Lions take down the Steelers on Sunday, they’ll still have a shot to make the postseason, and that’ll make the stakes for the Vikings and Bears games even higher. If they fall, they’ll simply be playing for pride against Minnesota and Chicago. But, either way, playing rivals in the NFC North always makes for exciting games. The Minnesota Vikings are already out of playoff contention, while the Bears and Packers both have strong chances of making it.
Following the team’s loss to the Rams on Sunday, December 14, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about where the team goes from here.
“I don’t even know what happened,” he said. “I mean, I just found out after the game about Green Bay and all that. So, you know, my message was don’t go numb to when you get these losses. You know, the win, lose, win, lose. Like we got to get out of that rut, and it can’t be okay. It should burn at you, you know? It should eat you up. And do not go numb to the losing.”
He added, “I think more than anything, we really just couldn’t get the run game going. That was going to be important and that that one hurt us.”
