Historically, the Detroit Lions football team has been seen as a joke. They are one of  four NFL teams to never make it to the Super Bowl – the others are the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Houston Texans. However, something has happened with the Lions that has football fans all over the U.S. shocked.

The Lions have become the NFC North division champs, and it’s the first time since 1993, before the NFC North even existed. 

Before the Christmas Eve game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions only needed to win one of their last three games, with the other two being against the Dallas Cowboys and the Vikings again. If they didn’t win any of them, they would’ve had to hope that the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers lost one of their games.

Fortunately, the Lions defeated the Vikings 30-24, sealing their place as division champions. Fans were relieved, as their team has had the second-longest championship drought in NFL history. 

The win against the Vikings may have given them the division title, but a win against the Cowboys would have given them a chance to win the number one seed. On a two point conversion to win the game for Detroit, Taylor Decker, an offensive lineman for the Lions was reported as an eligible wide receiver. But the referee’s confirmed that Dan Skipper, another offensive lineman, was the one reported as eligible and not Decker.

With the Lions and Cowboys resulting in the Lions losing, Molly Fritz, Denver Broncos fan, analyzes, “I think the Lions’ success has been a team effort.” 

The team has produced some Hall of Famers, such as Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, but the team as a whole has not won a single playoff game since 1992.

Optimistic fans are hoping that the Lions could be on their way to winning the Super Bowl, or at least their second playoff game win since 1991. Football analyzers have attributed the team’s lack of success to two things: management, and surprisingly, the fans.

For those who blame the organization, they look to team owner William Clay Ford. He took over in 1964, and has been the only thing that has stayed the same about the team’s management. Bleacher Report describes Ford’s rapid firing of coaches as “perfunctory, to appease an angry fan base that has supported this poor excuse for a NFL franchise for too long.”

In conclusion, fans are hoping that the Lions will be good in the playoffs. Even without the fans deserting the stadium, the team has gotten their act together and delivered the fans a winning season. The Lions might be on their way to the Super Bowl.