Judy Battista: Don't sleep on the Lions
NFL Network's Judy Battista shares expectations for Detroit Lions in 2026.
Video Transcript
I mentioned injuries, I mentioned coaching changes last year, what I didn't mention was an incredibly difficult schedule last year.
This year, it's a lot different.
If you look at the projected wins, our friend Cynthia Freeland uh always comes out with those, and when you do it based on who they are playing, this is one of the easiest, I hate saying that about an NFL schedule ever, but this sets up a lot differently than last year.
What are you expecting from the Lions in the bounce back year?
I feel like we are totally overlooking the Lions because there's so much news coming out of this division with the other teams.
Don't sleep on the Lions.
This is still a really high powered offense, and I think you mentioned the coaching changes, you mentioned the changes on the offensive line.
I think with all of those changes, if they all stabilize, you're going to see a more consistent offense.
It was still really.
Explosive last year, but if you remember, there were peaks and valleys, and they would get into lulls and they couldn't run a consistent offense.
They were struggling to run the ball consistently, but the offense just couldn't get into a rhythm and so they would have these great explosive plays , but then they would go into these valleys where they couldn't do anything and they couldn't hold the ball and they couldn't, you know, seize the clock.
If they can just steady out, run the ball more consistently, and of course they've got Jamir Gibbs on the roster, they should be able to do that and run a more consistent offense where they're just humming along rather than going up and down, that will help everything.
That should help the defense as well.
I would expect that this is a bounce back year for them and that they are a potential playoff team again.
and I know they still feel really good about Kevin Shepherd on the defensive side of the ball.
Dan Campbell had to take over play calling, uh, from John Morton in the middle of last season.
They feel really good about Drew Petzing on that side of the ball as well.
So they feel like from a coaching standpoint, they're in a lot better spot than they were the previous year when both of their coordinators became head coaches.
