The Detroit Lions got their first win of the 2021 season in Week 13. This, somehow, kept their postseason hopes alive.
That’s right, a 1-10-1 Lions team, one loss away from a very sad palindrome of a record, could still make it to this winter’s playoffs. If 35 very specific things happen.
Detroit’s road to the postseason relies heavily on complete and utter collapse across the NFC’s middle class. It ranges from the plausible (the Bears and Giants win three games between them) to the extremely unlikely (the Eagles and 49ers lose out).
In the end, it all comes together to make Detroit the seventh seed in the NFC, fending off the Panthers and Falcons for the right to get trounced by the Packers, Buccaneers, or Cardinals to open the playoffs. Here are all the very reasonable steps that would need to unfold to make the Lions the most surprising playoff team in NFL history.