Barry Sanders believes the Detroit Lions are set up for success moving forward despite their recent … More
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Barry Sanders is impressed by the Detroit Lions’ recent success in the Dan Campbell era.
Although the Lions had a disappointing finish to last season after losing their first playoff game against the Washington Commanders, their recent two-year run has been their most successful stretch since the start of the Super Bowl era.
The Lions finished with an NFL and franchise-best 15-2 record and advanced to the Conference Championship Game in 2023 after winning their first postseason game since 1991 — when Sanders was in his third year in Detroit.
“Absolutely, because I think even though there’s just been two playoff runs, before that we saw improvement,” says Sanders in a one-on-one interview when asked if he’s been impressed by this golden era of Lions football. “You look at the season before we made the playoffs and we go into Green Bay and beat Aaron Rogers and we won nine games. you could see that that team was building towards something.”
The Lions have the most wins of any NFL team over the past two seasons with 27 total victories. That’s more than the Kansas City Chiefs (26) who have been to the past three Super Bowls. After entering the playoffs as many peoples’ pick to win the Super Bowl, Detroit lost at home to the wild card Commanders.
As disappointing as their finish to the season was, the Lions are built to be Super Bowl contenders for the next several years. They have a young nucleus led by quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown along with potential Defensive Player of the Year Aidan Hutchinson, who was lost for most of last season due to an injury.
“When you look at NFC Football over the last handful of years, the Lions have played as well as anyone, maybe with the exception of the Eagles,” says Sanders. “We’re right there in the conversation.”
It’s worth mentioning that the Lions — in the Super Bowl era — have never been a winning product. Prior to Sanders’ arrival in 1989, Detroit had just three playoff appearances since 1958. They didn’t win a playoff game after winning the 1957 NFL Championship until 1991.
