From this morning, on the Fox Sports NFL pregame show, FOX NFL Sunday
Jimmie Johnson on the NFC playoff picture:
“Seattle is going to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. New Orleans is going to be the No. 2 seed – all they need to do is split the two games with Carolina. The third seed is going to be the Detroit Lions – they’ve got the best team and could win it all. Dallas is going to take the fourth seed. If they stumble, Philadelphia could take it over by winning that last ball game then San Francisco and Carolina will be the two wild cards.”
Pretty high praise for the Detroit Lions from Jimmy Johnson there. He later doubled down. With a further explanation of his opinions. After all, the Detroit Lions have just one playoff win since 1957. And just one postseason appearance since 1991.
Analyst Jimmy Johnson assesses the Detroit Lions:
“Detroit might be the most talented team in the entire league. They’ve got enough talent to win it all if they weren’t a sloppy team. They’re undisciplined. They turn it over, 25 turnovers, 80 penalties and a sloppy, undisciplined team is easily distracted.”
Oh, and then an hour or so after JJ made these comments, this happened to the Lions.
And calling them sloppy and undisciplined….well, they are kind of like the NFL version of the NBA ‘s Brooklyn Nets. In more ways than one.
For the Detroit Lions to be the best team in the NFL….to have the realistic potential to win it all……Don’t know about that. Those are some bold statements. They are the first and only NFL team to finish 0-16 in a season. And that was just five years ago! Maybe the hyperbole we’ve heard about Calvin Johnson is justified. The Lions need to worry about the Cowboys vs Bears tomorrow night. Although the loser of that game is in real trouble for a playoff spot (preview and prediction here)
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan