When Your Enemies Predict You’ll Win 12 Games
Look, we’ve been hurt before. Hell, we’ve been hurt more than before. But here’s something wild: when writers from opposing teams look at the Lions’ 2026 schedule, they’re picking Detroit to go 12-5 or 11-6. These aren’t our people. These aren’t the writers who watched us crawl out of the Matt Millen pit or sat through Rod Marinelli’s 0-16 masterpiece. These are the folks who cover our opponents, and they think we’re going to win double-digit games.
The exercise here was simple enough. Take game-by-game predictions from SB Nation sites covering Detroit’s 2026 opponents and see what kind of record they’d give the Lions. The result? Even the people who want us to lose think we’re going to be pretty damn good.
The Good News From Enemy Territory
Most of these writers see what we see. A Lions team that should bounce back after missing the postseason in 2025. Drew Petzing taking over the offense gets mentioned as an upgrade. The defense still has questions, but Aidan Hutchinson leading the pass rush with D.J. Wonnum opposite him gives opponents pause.
Buffalo’s writer called us “a good football team” that plays “chaotic brand of football.” Fair enough. The Jets writer thinks we’re “a machine at Ford Field” and picked us to win by 17. The Falcons writer called us “just a scary team” with “a balanced offense, a talented defense, and a quality coaching staff.”
Even the Packers writer, who has watched Green Bay sweep us, thinks we’ll beat them twice. That’s some grudging respect right there.
The Reality Check Moments
Not everyone thinks we’re world beaters. The Patriots writer believes New England can beat us in Munich because we won’t have the Ford Field crowd advantage. The Giants writer thinks their young talent can catch us in December when “attrition could wear them down.”
The Bears writers split the season series, which feels about right for that particular brand of chaos. And there’s always the Panthers game where one writer picked Carolina and another picked Detroit, because apparently even Panthers beat writers can’t agree on the Panthers.
What This Actually Means
Here’s the thing about outside perspective: it cuts through our own bias. We know every reason to be optimistic about this team. We also know every reason to be terrified. But when Cardinals writers are calling us “a nice gift” for their schedule and Titans writers think we’ll “win this one relatively easily,” that says something.
These aren’t Lions fans talking themselves into another year of hope. These are writers covering teams that have to actually play us, and they’re not looking forward to it.
The consensus puts us somewhere between 11-6 and 12-5. That’s not Super Bowl champion territory, but it’s playoff contention with a realistic shot at something bigger. For a franchise that had a disappointing 2025, that’s progress worth believing in.
Brad Holmes built this roster. Dan Campbell is leading it. The schedule makers gave us some breaks and some challenges. And the people covering our opponents think we’re going to handle both pretty well.
Is this the year we finally break through, or are we setting ourselves up for another collapse? Sound off below and tell us whether you trust the enemy intel or if you think they’re underestimating just how Lions this could all go.
