Lions GM addresses hype ahead of 2023 season

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes understands fans and analysts alike are predicting the club will pursue more than just a playoff berth this season. 

"We're not scared of the expectations," Holmes told reporters Friday, as shared by Eric Woodyard of ESPN. "The expectations are earned through, I think, what we've built and what we've done up until this point in terms of how we finished the end of the season and through our player acquisition process. But now we've got to just prove them right."

The 2022 Lions went 8-2 after Halloween and finished at 9-8. As of Friday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the current Detroit squad as the betting favorite at +145 odds to claim the NFC North title. According to Woodyard, this is the first time since the division was formed in 2002 that the Lions are favored to win it. 

Back in July, Lions cornerback Jerry Jacobs confidently said "We are going to show the world, the NFL, and anybody else in the way that you know we are here." Teammates Aidan Hutchinson and Jared Goff later insisted that Detroit players weren't spiking figurative footballs ahead of the season, but franchise legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders suggested in August that "the sky is the limit" for this year's team. 

The Lions haven't participated in a playoff game since January 2017 and last earned a postseason victory in January 1992. Despite that, Holmes seems to be embracing what he called the "hype train" as the Lions prepare for the regular-season opener at the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs next Thursday night. 

"I didn't think it would be to this magnitude, but regardless of whatever or how much positive news is coming out, we'll still keep that same mindset that we'll always be the hunters and we're not succumbing to the targets on our back," Holmes explained. "We'll always be hunting and aiming for the target, and it doesn't really change."

On Friday, OddsChecker listed the Lions as big underdogs (+240, +6.5) for the Week 1 matchup at Kansas City. Bet against Detroit at your own risk.