Notes: Lions face daunting history of NFC runner-ups

As pointed out by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Lions would have to break a long historic streak to reach the Super Bowl.

Detroit Lions ’ coach Dan Campbell made headlines at the end of last season when he said that it was “going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year.” And while some people seemed to misconstrue what he was saying, most of us picked up what he was putting down.

In his 2024 training camp preview, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press dove into just how difficult the path may be for the Lions. From strictly a numbers standpoint, Birkett pointed out that no NFC runner-up had gone on to win the Super Bowl in the following year since the Green Bay Packers did so way back in 1996.

“I mentioned this last year and I’ll say it again: It’s going to take a lot more than it did last year to get to where we were,” Campbell said earlier in the spring. “That’s just the nature of how it goes. But we’re going to be more than capable of doing that. Things got to go your way, but it does start with you. It starts with those players, starts with the coaches. We’ve got to put the work in.”

You can read the entirety of Birkett’s training camp preview here .

And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:

• Warren Sharp of The Ringer has the Lions checking in at fifth on his list of best front sevens going into 2024.

• Lions fans are the best and I will not hear otherwise.

• This post seemed to really anger fans of that team in Dallas, and that’s how you know it’s true.

• It’s been cool seeing a lot of Goff’s teammates give him his flowers over the last couple of years.

• Brent Sobleski of The Bleacher Report released a (way) way-too-early 2025 mock draft.

• Lions’ defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu joined the Football Analysis YouTube show to discuss expectations for the team in 2024.

• Arif Hasan wrote about why he thinks Lions’ quarterback Jared Goff receives the criticism he does despite his overall high-level of production.