After last season, when the Detroit Lions earned their first division title in 30 years and their first playoff victory since 1991, some fans, analysts and Michigan sportsbooks customers might have wondered if coach Dan Campbell's squad could maintain that level of success in the 2024-25 season.
The answer is a resounding yes, despite Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills. That defeat, against one of the league's best teams, will do little to dent their championship push. But injuries might.
The Bills came into Ford Field on Sunday and won 48-42, ending Detroit's 11-game winning streak, as the Lions fell to 12-2. That's still the best 14-game start in franchise history and this is one of only three times that the Lions have compiled 12 victories in a season. They have three more games to reach 13 wins for the first time ever.
Only 14 teams have ever had a longer single-season winning streak than the one that the Lions just had snapped. At BetMichigan.com, the home of the best Michigan sports betting promos, we used the Champs or Chumps website to see how teams ended up after starting 12-2 since the 2019 NFL season.
Situation | Number of Teams | Percentage* |
Making The Playoffs | 1 | 100% |
Advanced Past Wild Card Round | 1 | 100% |
Winning Divisional Round | 0 | 0% |
Winning Conference Championship | 0 | 0% |
Winning Super Bowl | 0 | 0% |
*Rounded to nearest whole number
Only one team in the NFL, from the 2019-23 seasons, started exactly 12-2. That was the 2019 Baltimore Ravens, who finished 14-2 but lost to the Tennessee Titans in the Division Round of the playoffs.
Digging deeper into ChampsorChumps.us data, we find 94 teams in NFL history that have had a winning percentage of .857 or better through 14 games, which is Detroit's current number. Only 20 teams have ever started exactly 12-2 and had a better points differential than Detroit, which is at a league-best plus-177.
But Sunday's loss dropped the Lions to +400 odds, down from +250 last week, to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl, according to BetMGM Michigan Sportsbook. Detroit is still the slight favorite, with the Bills (+425) and Philadelphia Eagles (+450) right behind.
The Lions are trying to reach the Super Bowl for the first time. They have not been among the final two teams left standing since 1957, when they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, nine years before the Super Bowl existed.
Detroit increased its league-best scoring average to 32.8 points per game with Sunday's 42-point output, keeping the offense going even in defeat, but the banged-up defense kept piling up the injuries. According to reports, defensive tackle Alim NcNeill tore his ACL and cornerback Carlton David II broke his jaw. That further hampers a defense that has already lost several standouts, including star defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson.
The Lions visit the NFC North division rival Bears next Sunday, Dec. 22, at Chicago's Soldier Field. The Lions are a 7-point favorite at Caesars Michigan Sportsbook. Keep track of the Detroit Lions Super Bowl odds all season with us at BetMichigan.com.
USA Today photo by Kimberly P. Mitchell
Author
Jim Tomlin writes and edits for BetMichigan.com. In 30 years as a journalist he has worked for publications such as the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Tradition, Saturday Down South and FanRag. He now lends his sports and gambling expertise to BetMichigan among other websites.
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