Despite the Detroit Lions coming up one game short of the Super Bowl this season, Lions fans still have love for the franchise.
“I love them more than anything in the world,” junior Giuseppe Rizzo said. “I feel very optimistic for the team’s future because of their performance this season and because they outperformed my expectations.”
Not surprisingly, a lot of the love fans have for the Lions comes from their early memories.
“When I was a kid, my dad and I used to sit down and watch the Lions in the early 2000s,” Rizzo said. My earliest memories come from that, and those are my happiest memories, even though we were really bad.”
Notably, throughout the decade of the 2000s, the Lions only had a single winning season, as the team went 9-7 in 2000. When looking at the demographics of Oakland University, more than 60 percent of students weren’t even born yet to witness the only winning season of the decade.
This is a bleak fact compared to this year, as the Lions finished their regular season with a record of 12-5 and made an appearance in the NFC Championship.
When you compare this season to every season in the Lions’ history, it’s historically significant for the franchise. Remarkably, the Lions have only won 12 games and made the NFC Championship just one other time (1991).
“This season makes me proud to represent Detroit,” senior Marco Yu said. “To me, it feels like the first good thing that’s happened for Detroit sports since the Pistons won in 2004.”
A significant factor in the Lions’ success this year was how explosive the offense was. By the regular season’s end, Detroit finished in the top five for points scored per game, passing yards per game, rushing yards per game, touchdowns per game, and offensive yards per play this season.
Among all other NFL teams, not a single team placed in the top five in all of the categories mentioned above.
“I’m very proud to say the offense is doing this well,” Rizzo said. “There’s nothing to laugh at with how the team performed.”
Fans credit the success on offense this season to the Lions offensive coordinator and 2024 assistant coach of the year finalist, Ben Johnson. Johnson joined the Lions in 2019 as an offensive quality control coach and was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022.
“I love what he’s been able to do for the offense during his time here,” Yu said. “It’s something that I’ve never seen before as a Lions fan.”
Interestingly, just days after the Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, Johnson interviewed with multiple teams and was considered a favorite to fill many of the head coaching vacancies around the NFL.
Despite the chance to lead his own NFL team, Johnson chose to stay with the Lions for the 2024-25 season.
“It takes a lot to give up the possible promotion that Johnson gave up,” Rizzo said. “I was shocked to find out he’s coming back. It goes to show how much he has enjoyed his time in Detroit so far in his career.”
Although the future is uncertain, especially in the NFL, fans stay optimistic that the team will be back next season, not just to make the Super Bowl but to compete in it.
“I think we can make it to the Super Bowl next year,” Yu said. “The team has emerging stars like Amon-Ra St. Brown that have the potential to get better, and Jared Goff is still a part of the timeline we need him to be in to compete.”
