The Lions won 11 games last season for the first time since 1991, which was good enough for a playoff berth in Jim Caldwell’s first season as the team’s head coach.
There haven’t been consecutive playoff appearances for Detroit since the 1995 team capped a three-year run of trips to the postseason with a loss in the Wild Card round. Wide receiver Golden Tate says that the team is shooting for the same kind of sustained run of regular season success right now while trying to establish themselves as the team to beat in the NFC North.
“I think it’s time for us to consistently, year in and year out, win ballgames,” Tate said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I think we have the personnel. I think we have the coach, the coaching staff. I think we have a heck of a fan base. It’s time. We’re trying to shake ‘the same old Lions.’ We’re trying to become -- I thought we were good -- I think we’re trying to become elite now. I think we’re trying to compete with the Packers and give them a run for their money and take over our division year in and year out.”
The Lions won’t be able to lean on Ndamukong Suh up front on defense this year, which means they’ll have to plot a different course to the playoffs in 2015. One hope is that the offense will be more effective in offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi’s second year at the reins, something Tate and other Lions receivers will work on with quarterback Matthew Stafford in Atlanta before training camp.
