Top teams to watch ahead of the 2025 NFL trade deadline
USA TODAY Sports’ Joe Rivera and Chris Bumbaca break down which teams to keep an eye out for ahead of the November 4th NFL trade deadline.
The Detroit Lions are off to their third straight start of 5-2 or better, one less than they had in all of the 2000s and 2010s. Here’s how their six previous 5-2 (or better) starts have worked out this century.
- 2024 (6-1): The Lions nearly ran the table over their final 10, with only a mid-December loss to the Bills sullying their final 15-2 record and a second straight NFC North title. (Don’t ask about the playoffs…)
- 2023 (5-2): The Lions closed with a 7-3 run to finish at 12-5 and claim their first division title since the 1990s, then got hot in the playoffs and reached the NFC title game.
- 2014 (5-2): A Thanksgiving win stopped a two-game skid and launched a four-game streak that sent the Lions back to the playoffs at 11-5 under Jim Caldwell.
- 2011 (5-2): A 1-3 stretch after the buy made it iffy, but Jim Schwartz’s Lions rebounded with three straight December wins to get to 10-6 and grab their first playoff spot since 1999.
- 2007 (5-2): The Lions won one more to get to 6-2 … then lost seven of eight to finish 7-9 that season under Rod Marinelli (and set up their 0-16 campaign in 2008).
- 2000 (5-2): After making it to 8-4 on Thanksgiving, the Lions lost three of their final four to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs on a last-second Paul Edinger field goal for the Bears.
So what will the Lions do the rest of the way this season? Five Free Press sports writers give their predictions.
Dave Birkett
Record: 12-5.
Final playoff result: Loss in Super Bowl 60 to Kansas City.
Here’s why: I had the Lions reaching the Super Bowl back in September and nothing I’ve seen to this point in the season makes me want to change that prediction now. The Lions are the best team in NFC, maybe the entire NFL, and injury luck is smiling on them this year after it torpedoed their season in 2024. I have the Lions going 12-5 – I might be light by a game – and winning their third straight NFC North title. They’ll beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game to reach the Super Bowl, but lose to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Travis Kelce’s last game with Taylor Swift in the stands.
Carlos Monarrez
Record: 13-4.
Final playoff result: ???
Here’s why: After playing Minnesota at home and Washington and Philly on the road, the Lions get three straight home games: Week 12 against the New York Giants, then a Thanksgiving payback game against the Packers, followed by the Cowboys in Week 14. The only loss I see in this six-game stretch is against Philly or Washington, which puts the Lions at 10-3 heading into their last four games: at the LA Rams (hey, Matthew Stafford!), home against the Steelers and on the road against Minnesota and Chicago. I only see a loss to the Rams in these four games. That means the Lions finish 13-4. They’ll win the NFC North and either get the second or third seed.
Rainer Sabin
Record: 12-5.
Final playoff result: Loss in NFC championship game to Philadelphia.
Here’s why: The Lions have rebounded from their poor performance in a Week 1 loss to Green Bay, reestablishing themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL. But their offense doesn’t look as smooth, consistent or powerful as it did last year. That could potentially become a problem if Detroit doesn’t capture the No. 1 seed and earns home-field advantage in the playoffs. Given the fact that the Lions have already equaled their regular-season loss total from 2024 and have several challenging matchups ahead, they will be hard-pressed to finish atop the conference standings. If they can’t attain that No. 1 spot, they’ll face a tougher path to the Super Bowl. And if their offense can’t maintain its steam, there is a good chance the Lions will flatline before they reach Santa Clara.
Jeff Seidel
Record: 14-3.
Final playoff result: Loss in Super Bowl 60 to Kansas City.
Here’s why: How the Lions beat Tampa Bay proved everything to me. They won even though they had a decimated secondary. But those injured/suspended guys are coming back. And defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is a heck of a coach. The Lions have the fourth-toughest schedule left, according to Tankathon. So, I would expect them to drop at least one game – I’m guessing the Eagles or Rams on the road. The Lions will earn homefield advantage through the playoffs and roll to the Super Bowl. But I see trouble on the horizon. Indy is for real. And the Chiefs are the Chiefs. I think Kansas City will beat Indianapolis and then the Lions. Because getting there is hard but actually winning the Super Bowl is something the Lions will have to learn.
Shawn Windsor
Record: 12-5.
Final playoff result: Berth in Super Bowl 60.
Here’s why: Health on the defensive side is critical for a deep run, obviously. But the key is the offense, where the production, especially in the run game, isn’t yet where it was a year ago. There are reasons to believe it will get there, and that assuming relative health, this team will enter the postseason with the best — and most balanced — roster in football. The Lions make the Super Bowl. That’s as far as I’ll go for now.
