Lions predicted to buck a major trend in latest 2025 season outlook

While the Detroit Lions are expected to take a slight step back this season due to a stronger NFC North and the loss of both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn in their coaching tree, one prediction has them landing back atop the division for a third straight season regardless.

Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr pieced together a prediction for each and every NFL teams' schedule. For the Lions, Orr predicts that they'll still face some adversity to begin the season but will ultimately finish out the year with a record of 10-7 - best in the NFC North, per Orr's projection for the entire division.

SI predicts not much backslide for the Lions, despite losing Johnson and Glenn

Here's Orr's projection for the entire Lions season, with weeks against divisional rivals asterisked:

Week 1*, 2*, and 3: Losses
Week 4, 5, and 6: Wins
Week 7: Loss
Week 9*: Win
Week 10 and 11: Loss
Week 12, 13*, 14, 15, and 16: Wins
Week 17*: Loss
Week 18*: Win

So, tons of streakiness is fortold in Orr's projection for Detroit in 2025. But, where is this streakiness coming from?

According to Orr, "I wanted to begin the season with a bit of drama, having the Lions lose the opener at Green Bay and then get leg-swept by the Ben Johnson–led Bears, which will create some horrible Freezing Cold Takes. Eventually a five-game winning streak toward the end of the season will push the Lions into the playoffs, a bit shaken, à la the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles."

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The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, per Orr, were tied at 9-8 when he first ran his projections for this season and these records. That's a fair assessment of those teams' improvements considering the Vikings are chock full of talent on both sides of the ball, and with the Packers set to get another year of improvement from Jordan Love - or so they hope.

The Lions are, therefore, expected to buck the trend that befalls teams that lose their top coaching staff. Detroit has far too much talent and established chemistry to regress to the point of relinquishing their division title because they've lose Johnson and Glenn.

They are huge losses, to be sure, but nothing that can't be overcome by Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Jameson Williams, Brian Branch, Amik Robertson, D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold, Aidan Hutchinson...you get it.

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