Detroit Lions update

Roughly a third of the way through the 2017 season, the Detroit Lions pose their usual quandary. Now with a 3-2 record, can these guys make their way into the playoffs and, if so, once there, make any serious noise?

Or will they choke and fold like they have so often before?

It's truly difficult to predict, even assuming quarterback Matthew Stafford stays healthy -- never a given.

Let's take a look at their schedule, past and forthcoming, and try to make a semi-reasonable guess.

Sure, the glass half-fullers will say they could easily be 4-1, maybe even 5-0. The last second touchdown that wasn't against Atlanta cost them a win, and if only they hadn't fallen so far behind Carolina early.

But there's a flip side. It turns out Arizona isn't very good. The NY Giants are god-awful. And the Minnesota Vikings were down to their third string quarterback. These were all Ws for the Lions, but against the only two quality teams they've faced, the above mentioned Falcons and Panthers, they've had Ls draped on them. Interesting as well is both those losses came at home for the Lions. Never a particularly good omen.

Yet the remainder of the season looks promising. Two games with the Bears, and one each with Cleveland and Cincinnati should be relatively easy wins. Besides the mandatory two games with the Packers, who look good but not great this year, the Lions don't have to face any REALLY good teams.

True, the Steelers, Ravens, and Saints remain, but all of them are suspect this year. Pittsburgh just got blasted by Jacksonville. Jacksonville! Drew Brees ain't what he used to be down in New Orleans, and Baltimore seems to have regressed in recent years.

Throw in a road game at Tampa Bay, which hardly seems like a huge obstacle, and another go-round with Minnesota, this time in Detroit. Add it all up and what do you have?

Who knows? Besides, it's the Lions, remember? The very same that hasn't won a playoff game in over a quarter century. Then again, the Chicago Cubs hadn't won the World Series in over 100 years and we know how that turned out in 2016.

Thing is, the Lions will likely never have a better shot at going far than they do this year. That's because the rest of the NFC is pretty much underwhelming.

In the East, Dallas is certainly beatable. The Skins look maybe mediocre. The Eagles have jumped out to a 4-1 record, but does anybody really think Philly is a contender?

Out West, Seattle is struggling. The Rams are playing well but have a ways to go.

True, Carolina and especially Atlanta loom in the South, but hey, if you want to be the best, you have to beat SOMEBODY good, right?

In the Lions own division, the Bears remain, well, Da Bears. The Vikes lost Adrian Peterson in the off-season and have virtually no shot with their QB situation, much like the Lions would be goners if Stafford were to suffer a serious injury. Though he seems to have outgrown his former "China doll" persona, one never knows in the NFL. Any particular play could trash the Lions season if their Georgia Peach were to come up lame.

That leaves the Packers. Aaron Rodgers and Co. are pretty good, but don't appear to be as dominant as they have in the past either. Nevertheless, the Pack are a big hurdle for the Lions. They broke their Lambeau jinx a while back, so the Lions know they can play with them, but those two games will be key to their chances. They have to at least split.

It should also be noted Sports Illustrated had the Lions finishing dead last in their own division with a woeful 5-11 record. We also know SI seldom gets anything right. Their in-house football prognosticator Peter King sometimes appears as if he couldn't pick his own nose with a power auger, let alone accurately handicap games.

Yet for all the above reasons, yours truly thinks the Lions have a better than average shot at making the post-season. Maybe even doing some damage once they get there. The Super Bowl remains a stretch, let alone winning it. Whoever emerges from the vastly superior AFC will be formidable indeed.

But every half-full glass has to be half-empty as well. And again, it's the Lions. The wheels could fall off at any moment. Their reputation over the last 60 years or so isn't exactly glowing. Far more often they've been a laughingstock than any sort of contender, with a parade of clown head coaches (and front office personnel) along the way. Current head coach Jim Caldwell remains an enigma as well. It has been argued in this space that he's been a good coordinator when working elsewhere for a successful head coach in the past, but was over his head when he'd held the reins himself. Though the Lions recently granted him an extension, time will tell if he's truly got what it takes to mold a championship caliber team. Count me as still skeptical.

Some have claimed the failure of the Lions over the years is tied to their ownership. True enough, the late William Clay Ford presided over decades of futility. The fact that the team is now controlled by his 90 year old widow Martha and their daughters isn't exactly a comforting thought. They probably don't know a football from a foosball. Their hiring of an "estate planner" (who has admitted to knowing very little about the game) to be the president of the team hardly improves the overall situation either.

Yet this is shaping up to be a very interesting year for the Lions. With the rest of the conference having no steam-rolling teams, they're just about good enough to make a run at something serious.

Or fall flat on their faces -- again.

Got a lucky penny?