Notes: Various NFL analysts hammer Detroit Lions in 2019 predictions

Let’s see, where do we start? The Detroit Lions kick off their season this Sunday against the Cardinals. So, of course, it’s time for the national writers to get all of their predictions out in the world. Not one was good for the Lions... at least none that I could fine.

(Editor’s note: Well, except for that one really good one from Football Outsiders)

Here’s what some of them had to say.

We’ll start with probably the harshest. Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman spoke with NFL insiders to see what their thoughts were on each team. He spoke with an AFC scout to see what they thought of each NFC North team. Here’s the entirety of their Lions analysis:

“They’re gonna win four games. An awful roster.”

I reached out to Freeman to see if the scout may have elaborated on this take, but they did not. It’s interesting considering the Lions has a pretty good offseason that included pickup up some very talented players. We’ll see.

• Speaking of new players, CBS believes that while the Lions did add some good talent, it won’t be enough. They argue the Lions’ problem is that the Bears, Vikings and Packers are all better teams, and the Lions won’t be able to win a divisional game in 2019 because of it.

• The predictions aren’t all bad though, ladies and gentleman. I scoured the internet looking for something good today, and I found it. It’s Bleacher Report again. They did their expert consensus predictions on the entire NFL season. We’re talking regular season awards and the whole cha-bang-a-bang.

While I mentioned there was good news here, it’s nothing major. Kerryon Johnson received one vote for breakout fantasy player. Oh, and hey, the Lions weren’t even considered for their worst team in the NFL category. So things are looking up.

Long story short—and to quote an Ice Cube song—“Here’s what they think of you.” The Lions have a long way to go before they start getting some respect in 2019.

• They also have a long way to go before they’re respected at the billionaire’s bank club. Forbes released its annual most valuable team in the NFL list today and the Lions finish pretty damn low on the list. 31st, to be exact. The Athletic’s Bill Shea has some good notes on the subject here.

• Sometimes notes is good time to highlight some of the fans that take time out of their busy days to be super smart about football and brave enough to put themselves and their words out there. I’ve been following the posts of Brian Bartell for sometime now, and Wednesday he put out a pretty good piece highlighting why the 2019 season is a mulligan for Matt Patricia.

One of the major premises here is that Matt Patricia took over a team that did not have the players in place to execute the game plan he wanted to execute. You can make an argument that he also didn’t have much time last season to work that plan in. He was dropped into Jim Caldwell’s team months after other new coaches had already been to work. Give it a read. There are some good thoughts in there.

• Lastly we end today’s notes with some sad news. The Lions have been known for years for their rabid super fans that dress up in extravagant outfit and never miss a game. One of those fans was Donnie “Yooperman” Stefanski. Donnie made the 325-mile trek from his home in the Upper Peninsula every home game and was usually shown on TV in some way nearly every time. Sadly, Stefanski passed away this week at the age of 61 years old. Our thoughts go out to the Stefanski family today.

The Lions put out a great tribute video to Donnie Stefanski Wednesday morning. Everyone should check it out to see just how big of a fan he was.