ESPN Prediction Model Still Has High Hopes for Detroit Lions

Arguably the greatest Super Bowl-era season in Detroit Lions history has hit a snag in recent weeks. The defensive injuries appear to be too much to overcome and a loss to the red-hot Buffalo Bills has raised many fans' panic levels a few notches.

It's not all doom and gloom. Detroit lost to Buffalo by just one score despite a thin hand to play with against a stacked deck. It's the nature of the NFL, and a 12-game winning streak set a franchise record and is something to hold some pride in.

Of course, head coach Dan Campbell and the Lions expect to be in New Orleans in February to play in Super Bowl LIX. Campbell may be playing with a full defense of career practice squad players by that point, but it won't make him flinch.

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There's plenty of reason to abandon faith in the Lions, but maybe that isn't such a good idea.

ESPN's Seth Walder released an article that used a predictive model to forecast the remainder of the 2024 NFL season through the Super Bowl. The model ran 10,000 simulations using ESPN's Football Power Index from which Walder plucked the most common occurrences from the simulations to see what will happen over the next and final eight weeks.

Last year, this exercise correctly predicted both AFC and NFC matchups and in turn the Super Bowl matchup and winner. Time will tell if it can go two for two, but the model is betting on the Lions.

The model predicts the Lions will win out in their final three games, securing the NFC North for the second consecutive season and clinching the top seed in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, ensuring the path to Super Bowl LIX goes through Ford Field.

Through the playoffs, the model sees the Lions squeezing by the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles to reach their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Their opponent? The Buffalo Bills, who rode the wave of momentum from their win to reach their first Super Bowl appearance in 31 years.

That's a Super Bowl matchup most fans want to see. Either the Lions are the feel-good story and capture their first championship or the Bills finally get over the hump and win their first championship after going 0-4 in consecutive Super Bowls in the 90s.

The model did predict the Lions would lose in the rematch.

Regardless of the outcome of the Lions 2024 campaign, it's been one of the most fun seasons in franchise history. Overcoming the adversity plaguing the team late in the season to still reach their goals would only add to the aura this campaign provides.

Sure, it won't be easy. But the Lions aren't dead until they are. They've been knocked down, so it's time to take another kneecap and get back up for more.