Sports Illustrated Says the Lions Are About to Dominate
Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr just dropped his 100 bold predictions for the 2026 season, and apparently someone over there has been drinking the Honolulu Blue Kool-Aid. Three separate predictions have the Lions not just bouncing back from finishing last in the division, but straight up owning the league.
First up: Detroit wins the NFC North for the third time in four years. Sure, we finished dead last in the division after our midseason offensive coordinator change, but Orr sees something brewing. His reasoning about momentum and runway schedules reads like optimistic coach-speak, but hell, I’ll take confident predictions over the usual “Lions gonna Lion” nonsense we’ve heard for decades.
But Orr doesn’t stop there. He’s got Detroit leading the entire NFL in regular season wins. That’s not just winning the division, that’s being the best team in football when the dust settles in January.
The foundation for his confidence? That plus-68 point differential from last season. Despite everything going sideways with the midseason offensive coordinator change, despite finishing last in the North, this team still outscored opponents by 68 points. That was better than seven teams that actually made the playoffs while we were watching from the couch.
The Offensive Firepower Prediction
Orr’s third Lions prediction might be the boldest: Detroit will score more points than any other team in the league. He points out that even with an abysmal schedule and a coordinator who needed to be replaced mid-stream, the Lions still scored just two fewer points per game than the Rams and totaled roughly 400 fewer yards.
Now we’ve got a new offensive coordinator calling plays, Jahmyr Gibbs coming off a strong season, and Amon-Ra St. Brown ready to terrorize defensive coordinators for another year. The pieces are there for something special on offense.
Look, I’ve been hurt by this franchise in ways that require therapy. But when you look at the talent Brad Holmes has assembled and what Dan Campbell has built in Allen Park, these predictions don’t sound crazy. They sound overdue.
Think SI is onto something or are we setting ourselves up for another year of beautiful heartbreak? Drop your take below and tell me why I’m either brilliant or delusional for believing in these predictions.
Okay I’m not gonna lie, seeing SI actually put out predictions like this instead of the usual disrespect gets me hyped. The talent is legit there on offense and if the new coordinator can keep things rolling, why can’t we be the best team in football? Brad and Campbell built something real.
I want to believe this so badly but finishing last in the division last year still stings no matter how many point differential stats you throw at me. That said, I’m not gonna trash Holmes and Campbell like some people do – they’ve actually shown they know what they’re doing. Just need to see it happen on the field first before I’m ready to coronate anyone.
Man, I’ve watched this team go through some real rough patches over the years and let me tell you, the difference between what we’re watching now and what came before is night and day. Campbell and Holmes actually have a plan that makes sense. These SI predictions might sound wild but at least we’re not watching total chaos anymore like the old days.
The fact that we outscored teams that made the playoffs even with everything going wrong tells you something. Now throw in a real offensive coordinator and we’re cooking. This ain’t disrespect to call us the best team, it’s just what the numbers are showing.