Motor City madness: is the suggestion of Detroit making the postseason so far-fetched?

Just two seasons removed from an 0-16 record, are the Lions in with a shot of making the play-offs? The short answer is yes.

When Nick Fairley dropped out of the top ten in April’s NFL draft it was never going to be long before someone nabbed him. And when Lions fans saw him within their grasp as he slipped past the Texans and Vikings at 11 and 12 respectively, their eyes must have been watering with the sheer anticipation and giddiness of what the pick could mean.

Sure enough GM Martin Mayhew and coach Jim Schwartz selected the defensive tackle at 13, and suddenly coaches from around the league had their heads in their hands when the realisation of what the choice meant hit home. The Lions had teamed up Fairley alongside last year’s Pepsi NFL rookie of the year Ndamukong Suh (pictured right) to create a formidable wall which has every chance of dominating up-front for years to come.

Opposing offensive coordinators will need every ounce of their attacking nous if they are to run through that barricade. Suh and Fairley could be stuffing halfbacks for the next decade. Add to that an improving offense, which may become great if 2009 first overall pick Matthew Stafford can stay healthy, and it’s difficult to argue against them making a run at the play-offs.

There is one thing, however. The Lions are forced to share the NFC North with Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers. Ok, so this is less than ideal. Detroit are nowhere near the level of Mike McCarthy’s world beaters so they won’t touch the Packers for first spot. And yes, on paper, going up against two other teams who have reached the NFC Championship game in the past two seasons suggests their chances may be bleak. But the Vikings are the not the team they were in 2009 when they were buoyed by the resurgence of a battling Brett Favre.

After Brad Childress’ departure and the appointment of former defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Minnesota is in a rebuilding phase. They drafted quarterback Christian Ponder in the 2011 draft and have suggested they want the rookie to start from the outset. One thing is clear in this league: if you don’t have steady and experienced quarterback play, you won’t stand a chance.

Then there’s last year’s NFC Championship losers, and current NFC North champions, the Chicago Bears. At times last season Lovie Smith’s men looked unbeatable. In other games they were average. Despite having the experience of Jay Cutler leading Mike Martz’s offense, there’s something about the Bears which says they won’t be able to reproduce the form they showed last season in making it to the postseason. How accurate an assessment this is, only time will tell.

It’s clear the Lions need a lot to go right for them if they are to reach the postseason, and having the current lockout in place is just another hurdle this young group of players must overcome. But they appear to have the necessary pieces of the puzzle and, with a bit of luck, they may well be the surprise outsider to nick a wild-card berth alongside the Bucs in the NFC South.

Packers to repeat?

Last pre-season there were many analysts predicting the team with the best shot at Super Bowl glory was one of the NFL’s oldest and most decorated: the Green Bay Packers.

GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy had assembled a young, talented crop of developing talent – sourced mainly through the NFL draft, something Thompson believes in so admirably. Then came the injuries, the slip-ups against teams like the Redskins, Dolphins and Lions, and it suddenly dawned on the Packers faithful that the Wisconsin outfit might not even make the play-offs.

The hot team in the NFC were the Falcons, and the Patriots seemed unbeatable once again as they went on an eight-game winning streak in the AFC – one which would have been a 14-game run had they not suffered a surprising loss to the Browns in week 9. Suddenly nobody was talking about Green Bay as a legitimate Super Bowl candidate anymore: big mistake.

The Packers rallied behind their leader Aaron Rodgers late in the season. Having carried his team for most of the year, the quarterback who replaced Brett Favre at the helm was never going to let the two concussions he suffered keep him out for long. Despite a growing list of injuries to key players, Rodgers and McCarthy continued to defy the odds. It seemed that every time someone went down, McCarthy found a way to patch-up what appeared to be a sinking ship. Players such as undrafted rookie Sam Shields stepped up to the plate big time, and after a crushing win against the New York Giants in week 16 the Packers had their postseason destiny in their own hands. Only one team stood in the franchise’s way: arch rivals the Chicago Bears.

In what was a drab encounter Green Bay scrapped a 10-3 win at Lambeau Field and the rest, as they say, is history. Chicago’s loss came back to haunt them as they were outfoxed by Mike McCarthy’s team in the NFC Championship game. The Pack were on a roll, and after demolishing every team like a wrecking ball as they gathered momentum in the postseason, they went on to claim their fourth Super Bowl title, and as number six seeds nonetheless. The question is, can they repeat?

The last time a team won back-to-back NFL championships was six years ago, when the New England Patriots were victorious in Super Bowl XXXVIII and XXXIX. The 2010 champions, the New Orleans Saints, looked well-placed to do so in the eyes of many observers last season. But after a solid, yet unspectacular regular season, which saw them slip under the radar and into the play-offs hot on the heels of division rivals the Atlanta Falcons, Drew Brees and co. were unceremoniously dumped out of the postseason at the first hurdle. By a team who won the NFC West with a 7-9 record no less: the Seattle Seahawks.

The Packers have key players such as RB Ryan Grant and TE Jermichael Finley back from injury, and have once again added a strong group of rookies from the draft. Going by what the record books say, the smart money would be on a return to the play-offs, with the franchise falling just short of winning another Super Bowl ring. But then again, every time Green Bay has won a Super Bowl they have reached the big game the following year – winning one and losing the other. If McCarthy and co. can lead a team decimated by injuries and without a running game to speak of – at least until the arrival of James Starks in the postseason – to Super Bowl glory, then imagine what they could do with a fit and healthy roster.

And with Aaron Rodgers having finally stepped out of Favre’s shoes with a Super Bowl ring of his own, there is a real possibility this franchise could become a dynasty over the next decade – much like the Patriots team that dominated the early part of the last one, the 70’s Steelers and Green Bay themselves in the 60’s, when the franchise was coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi. If ever the franchise had a chance to recreate just a snippet of his success, surely this crop of players are the ones who could do it.