People don’t want to admit it, but a lot of the NFL is decided by luck. If you’re one of the teams lucky enough to escape any major injuries in a season, there’s a pretty good chance you performed pretty well. Additionally, there’s fumble luck, referee luck, schedule luck, among plenty of other factors that are out of a team’s control.
But talent gives you a chance. With enough good players, teams can essentially become luck-proof and consistently win in this league.
The Detroit Lions clearly aren’t there yet. We’ve seen it with the years of referee screw jobs and season-crushing injuries.