The Lions have the Super Bowl on their minds,
The Detroit Lions are one of four NFL franchises that have never appeared in a Super Bowl, but that isn’t stopping some of their newest additions from setting their sights on San Francisco and Super Bowl 50.
“As a team, we’re definitely expecting to go all the way,” wide receiver Andrew Peacock said when asked what the Lions’ expectations were for this year. “We got a great team, got a lot of young talent, got a lot of old vets that really control that locker room and even coach (Jim) Caldwell, he’s done an amazing job in transforming this team into what he wants and we definitely feel that we will definitely go a long way this year.”
Added first-round pick Laken Tomlinson: “It’s very possible that we can go to the Super Bowl this year, and we’re going to do everything that we can to get there.”
The Lions are coming off an 11-5 season. Though they lost their best defensive player in free agency and will welcome at least two new starters on the offensive line, hopes are high for an even better 2015.
Second-year cornerback Nevin Lawson said Caldwell didn’t really say anything directly about the Super Bowl during team gatherings this spring. But some of the Lions’ veteran leaders, including Matthew Stafford, have made it clear that’s a realistic objective.
“I think everybody that comes into camp, that’s everybody’s goal,” Stafford said after the final minicamp practice last month. “That’s everybody’s team goal, there’s no question about it, but you’ve got to make incremental steps. You’ve got to set goals that are attainable for each day. If you just have a long-term goal with no plan to get there, it’s not going to be successful. So we develop a plan, talk about it day in and day out on how to get better. And if you’re playing your best football at the end of the year, you give yourself a good chance.”
Stafford, of course, will be key to Detroit’s success.
Last year, the quarterback made big strides in the ball-security department, reducing his interceptions from 19 to 12, but saw some of his other passing numbers decline in his first year in a new offense.
Caldwell has said that he expects Stafford, in his seventh NFL season, to make more improvements this fall.
Defensively, the Lions are looking to build off their No. 2-ranked defense from last year, despite losing Ndamukong Suh.
They traded for Haloti Ngata to replace Suh in the middle of the defensive line and have promising in-their-prime talent at every level on defense (Ziggy Ansah up front, DeAndre Levy at linebacker and Darius Slay at cornerback) and a widely respected coordinator in Teryl Austin, who should be a head coach very soon. Ngata (hamstring) was placed on the non-football injury list.
Tomlinson and fellow rookies Ameer Abdullah, Alex Carter and Quandre Diggs are expected to play sizable roles for Detroit this year, too, and how quickly they develop will help determine how far the Lions go.
Tomlinson, Detroit’s expected starter at left guard, said he spent most of the last five weeks working out at Duke in preparation for the season. He didn’t do much beside study his playbook, hit the weight room and work on his blocking technique.
“The biggest challenge right now is competing against NFL defensive linemen, so that’s the next thing for me,” he said.
Detroit’s preseason opener against the New York Jets is almost a week away, and it won’t be long after that until the Lions set off in pursuit of another challenge, the one players young and old seem to have embraced.
“You got to think about it, as players,” Lawson said. “Of course we’re all professional and all that, but we’re all doing this job to be the best. And in order to be considered the best you want to win a Super Bowl. So that’s the goal, should be, of everybody, every professional in the league.”