The Lions are riding high after finishing the 2022 season on an 8-2 run and addressing their biggest weaknesses in free agency.
But analyst Mike Clay's 2023 NFL Projection Guide puts the Lions in a less-than-flattering light. Clay's model projects the Lions for 8.3 wins, good for 17th in the NFL. That would be a massive disappointment for Lions fans who expect a leap from last season's nine wins as well as the team's first playoff appearance since the 2015 season.
The model gives the Lions less than a 50% chance of beating Dallas, New Orleans, Denver and Minnesota. It also gives Detroit under a 50 percent chance to win at Chicago, the worst team in the league last season.
Aaron Rodgers appears to be heading out of Green Bay, but the model only gives Detroit a 50 percent chance of beating the Packers (presumably led by Jordan Love) on the road.
The projections are also down on many Lions position groups. The model uses a 1-4 scale and has little faith in Jared Goff and the quarterback room (1.8 grade). Detroit's tight ends group earned a 0.4 grade. The offensive line, meanwhile, received a 3.8 grade.
In 2022, Goff tossed 29 touchdowns and seven picks. In 2023, per Clay's model, he is projected for 25 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Overall, the model ranked the Lions' offense 15th, which would be a massive step back from last season. In 2022, Detroit ranked fourth in the league with 380.4 yards per game and averaged 26.6 points, fifth in the NFL.
Last year the Lions ranked last in defense, and the projection expects modest improvement to 25th in the league. The cornerback room, which added Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley in free agency, received a grade of 2. The linebacker group received a score of 0.6.
The model projects middling performances from the rest of the division, with Minnesota projected for nine wins, Green Bay 8.1 and Chicago 8.
For Lions fans expecting big things in 2023, this isn't good news.
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Matt LaFleur is earning the ire of several of his Green Bay Packers players early in training camp. On Tuesday, LaFleur punished offensive tackle Rasheed Walker for his altercation with defensive end Kingsley Enagbare. However, the most interesting interaction of the day came between LaFleur and tight end Tucker Kraft. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur called out Kraft for two questionable fumbles during the first week of practice. Both "fumbles" came after the play was over or when the ball fell out of bounds. "Certainly, we all know what kind of player Tucker Kraft is and can be," LaFleur said. "He can’t allow Evan Williams to reach around and punch a ball out, so it is challenging everybody and hopefully that makes us that much better.” The third-year tight end took issue with LaFleur calling him out in front of the media and blamed the coaching staff for implementing practice rules that made it easy for offensive players to fumble. "I’d say a lot of the times — there’s certain rules you play with in practice, like just letting the defense punch repeatedly," Kraft said. "You’re not allowed to stiff-arm. I guess all I have are excuses. Yes, I am working on not fumbling the ball in practice." Schneidman said Kraft answered the question with a tone of sarcasm. Kraft was frustrated that he couldn't defend the ball by stiff-arming a defender trying to poke the ball from his undefended arm. Kraft acknowledged that during practice, he has to "play by the rules" LaFleur makes and is trying to work on having a "yes sir, no sir" attitude with his head coach. He then made a vague reference about a "bus fine" and accused LaFleur of throwing him under the bus in front of the media. Schneidman believes the tight end might actually be calling for Green Bay to fine LaFleur after his discouraging quote Tuesday morning. "So yes, the Packers’ third-year tight end might be calling for his head coach to be fined — not by the league, of course, but by the team — for what he perceived as throwing him under the bus," Schneidman wrote. "Is Kraft being serious about fining LaFleur? "Probably not. Is he peeved LaFleur called him out? It sure seems like it." LaFleur might do better to have a conversation with Kraft before dragging his name into news conferences with reporters. It's clear Tucker doesn't see eye-to-eye with LaFleur about fumbles. This is a good reminder to those getting overly excited or nervous reading practice reports that what happens at practice should be taken with a grain of salt. Most likely, Tucker is going to be fine.
Love her, or hate her, Angel Reese is a WNBA superstar. She continues to fill stat-sheets while simultaneously landing in headlines seemingly on a daily basis. Reese's sophomore WNBA season started as a "rivalry" with Indiana Fever superstar, Caitlin Clark. The narrative surrounding Reese, however, has slowly taken a turn, with many seemingly taking shots at Reese. First, it was famed rapper, Ice Cube, founder of BIG3, who offered an unprompted quote about not having as much money for Reese to play for his league as they had for Clark last year ($5 million). And now, on Tuesday, WNBA legend, television personality, and soon to be podcast host, Candace Parker, filled her mouth with Reese's name. “Speaking about Angel (Reese) must be the only way to be heard on a Podcast or to stay relevant?” Parker said. Reese, who's fresh off extending her double-double streak to 11 games, appeared to fire back at Parker, putting out a mysterious tweet on Tuesday night. "clout is one helluva DRUG. like it really gets to a point." Reese posted on her official X account. Reese appears to be responding, in her own unique way, to Parker's comments. Parker's comments were pulled from her new podcast, "Post Moves". The new podcast is set to debut on Wednesday. It's a new podcast Parker is set to co-host with Fever All-Star center, Aliyah Boston. Less than hour after posting her tweet on X, Reese's message had over 500 comments. "Y’all need to put some respect on Candace Parker’s name. She just tells it like it is." one user posted. "Yeah Candace is getting weird. Stop showing her love it’s not reciprocated." another user posted. "Anything for views and likes," another user said. "If there was a get your money up without mentioning Angel Reese challenge, they’d lose," another fan posted. With Parker and Boston's first episode of "Post Moves" set to officially launch on Wednesday, time will tell how it is received given this ongoing back-and-forth between Reese and Parker. Reese, as usual, appears ready to defend herself on and off the court.
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