Defensive back Brian Branch has only know winning with the Detroit Lions. He arrived as a second-round pick before the 2023 season, which was Detroit’s first division championship season in 30 years. The Lions then posted a franchise-best 15-2 record during the 2024 campaign.
But the team’s first Super Bowl appearance has averted Detroit each of the past two postseason. The Lions blew a 17-point lead in the 2024 NFC championship game and then suffered a home upset loss in the division round this past January.
Branch told The Detroit Free Press those playoff defeats will only make the team stronger this fall and winter.
“I feel like we’re better than last year,” Branch said, via CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani. “We’re hungry, and I feel that’s gonna separate us. Our chemistry is on a whole ‘nother level.
“We went through the ups and downs,” Branch added. “We fought together in tough games. We have been in a game where it depended on us to win. So, it just makes everybody buy in.
“Once you have a group that has bought in and has gone through trials and tribulations, we feel invincible.”
Brian Branch, Lions Set for Playoff Rebound After Injury-Plagued 2024 Season?
It’s hard to believe a team that went 15-2 can get better. The likelihood of the Lions even repeating that record is slim due to their strength of schedule.
Detroit will have nine road games this season as opposed to the eight it had last year. Eight of those nine road opponents finished with a record .500 or better during the 2024 season.
Detroit’s road slate will include both Super Bowl participants from last season. The only below .500-club from 2024 the Lions will face on the road in 2025-26 are the Chicago Bears.
Not to mention, the NFC North is arguably the toughest division in the league. Three of the four teams made the postseason last season, and every squad may be better than a year ago.
The Lions could be too, though, because of who wasn’t on the field for them at the end of last season.
When Detroit faced the Washington Commanders in the postseason during January, the Lions were missing star defensive linemen Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill along with other key defensive starters such as Carlton Davis, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez and Marcus Davenport.
Not all of those players will return for Detroit this season (Davis left in free agency), but if the Lions experience better injury luck, they will have a better chance of being at their best in the postseason.
Lions Trying to Replace Both Coordinators in 2025
The Lions chemistry that Branch alluded to will be put to the test on offense and defense this season.
Detroit lost both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn this offseason to head coaching jobs. Both assistants received a lot of credit for the revival in Detroit the past few years.
Head coach Dan Campbell remains, but without Johnson and Glenn, Campbell might face his most difficult coaching job yet in Detroit.
The Lions brought back John Morton to replace Johnson as offensive coordinator. Morton was a Detroit senior offensive assistant in 2022 and left for the Denver Broncos for the 2023 season.
Kelvin Sheppard, who was a Lions linebackers coach the past four years, will serve as the team’s new defensive coordinator.
How Morton and Sheppard adapt to their new roles will greatly impact whether the Lions will be even better in 2025.
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