An AI Just Simulated the Lions Season and It Hurts Because It Feels Possible
Training camp opens in a few days and projections are everywhere. Someone decided to feed an AI platform all the Lions coverage from beat writers and national reporters and asked it to simulate the entire 2026 season. The result is a 12-5 record, an NFC North title, and a playoff run that ends one game short of the Super Bowl.
You know what the worst part is? It sounds exactly like something that would happen to this franchise.
The Regular Season
The 12-5 projection makes sense. This team has the easiest schedule in the NFL. The game-by-game breakdown has Detroit starting hot with a 31-20 Week 1 win over the Saints, then dropping a 31-24 Thursday night game in Buffalo. After that they rattle off wins against the Jets (35-17), Panthers (28-21), and Cardinals (27-24) before the bye.
They beat the Packers at Ford Field 30-23 in Week 7 and take down the Vikings in Minnesota 28-20 in Week 8. Then comes a Week 9 loss to the Dolphins 28-21 that feels completely random but also somehow inevitable.
After that Detroit beats New England 24-17 in Munich, handles Tampa Bay 34-27, and delivers what every fan dreams about: a 38-17 Thanksgiving blowout over the Bears on national television.
The season closes with road wins over the Falcons, a home win against the Titans, a 27-20 loss in Minnesota in Week 15, and then two straight wins to clinch the division. The final stretch includes a Monday Night Football rout of the Giants (35-10) and a Week 17 win in Chicago (30-27).
The Playoff Run That Will Haunt You
The Lions come in as the No. 3 seed and host the No. 6 seed Rams in the wild card round. They win 31-27 despite the Rams trading for Myles Garrett. Then comes the divisional round against the No. 2 seed 49ers.
The storyline writes itself. Revenge for the 2023 NFC Championship loss. The simulation has Detroit winning 27-23 with Jack Campbell forcing a fumble near the goal line, Sam LaPorta catching nine passes, and Jared Goff leading a 75-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive. That is the kind of detail that makes you forget this is a computer making things up.
Then it all ends in the NFC Championship Game. The Eagles beat the Lions 34-24 and go on to win the Super Bowl over Baltimore.
Look, making the NFC Championship is not a failure. But this franchise is past the point where getting that far feels like enough. The conversation now is about winning the whole thing. And a simulation that has the Lions one game away is both exactly what you want to hear and exactly what you do not.
The Stat Projections
The individual numbers are aggressive but not ridiculous. Jared Goff throws for 4,700 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions with a 70 percent completion rate. He finishes fifth in MVP voting after entering the race in December.
Jahmyr Gibbs gets 1,450 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 550 receiving yards, and 5 receiving scores for exactly 2,000 scrimmage yards. That conveniently round number tells you everything you need to know about what we are dealing with here. The simulation also has Gibbs in the Offensive Player of the Year conversation by season’s end.
Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the receivers with 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jameson Williams puts up 1,100 yards and 9 scores. Sam LaPorta gets his bounce-back season with 85 catches, 950 yards, and 9 touchdowns.
On defense, Aidan Hutchinson gets 13 sacks in what the simulation calls the best season of his career. DJ Wonnum adds 8 and rookie Derrick Moore gets 4.5. The team total comes to 48 to 50 sacks, which is right around where Detroit was last season when they finished 4th in the league. Jack Campbell leads the defense with 120 tackles and 3 sacks. Brian Branch returns with 90 tackles and 4 interceptions.
The Storylines
The simulation flagged a few narratives worth watching. It predicts Drew Petzing’s offense will stumble early before finding its rhythm. It says the offensive line will be good but not dominant. It projects Kerby Joseph’s knee becoming a weekly source of anxiety for fans, though he will not miss a game.
On the negative side it identifies the cornerback room as Detroit’s greatest weakness, even with DJ Reed, Roger McCreary, and Ennis Rakestraw starting. That tracks. Even with the additions this offseason, that position group is still the most obvious vulnerability on the roster.
We will revisit all of this next January and see how accurate any of it actually was. Until then, the simulation gave us exactly what Lions fans have been conditioned to expect: hope, talent, a deep run, and a final result that falls just short of the thing we have been chasing for decades.
Does a 12-5 season that ends in the NFC Championship sound about right or are we finally done settling for almost? Drop your take below.
