The Lions still achieved what many thought they might not be able to do, especially after their run-game became decimated by injuries prior to and during the first-half of the season.They went on to clinch a WC berth, albeit being greatly helped by the Bears having also sustained key injuries on offense and their troubles on and off the gridiron. The Lions most certainly weren't on anyone's list of conference or divisional challengers, much less Superbowl contenders this season, having both the prior year's Superbowl champions and the NFCC runner-ups in their division.
So although the team did not advance in the playoffs, nor did they defeat most of the other teams that they played who did clinch a playoff berth, the Lions managed to end the season having both a winning home and road record, and only a few teams did better on the road, than the Lions had. Their season showed that they are improving as a team overall, and there is not any reason to believe or indicates that they won't continue to improve next season, as well. The Lions defense was quite a bit disappointing overall, IMO, with all of their post-draft NFL hype after picking Fairley in the first round, when even fans of other teams had posted online that the Lions defense, particularly their DL, was becoming much more fiercer and fearsome, and instead it actually became less effective than the previous season, especially as the season wore on during the second-half, and the Lions D faced better competition, but with the possibility of gaining some new aquisitions during the off-season in trades, FAs, and/or the draft, probably a few players not being retained or leaving, and as the unit performs and practices together during camp, there is also good reason to expect to see some hopefully marked improvement from their defense during next season.
The Packers and Bears failed to accomplish their goals, while the Lions team overall managed to succeed in doing so, although they did have a few chances to do even better and just could not take advantage of them. As disappointing as the Lions defense became, most notably late in the season, their offense, mostly in the air by Stafford to his TEs and WRs especially to CJ , instead was simply incredible and truly exciting to watch. I can't imagine how much better it could be, except if Matthew manages to avoid having any nagging injuries, like his mid-season gloves games, and the Lions having a run game to match next season.
