What the Lions accomplished in their first year under head coach Jim Caldwell and his staff cannot be discounted, but it isn’t something they can count on or take for granted as they open training camp.
Making the playoffs as a wild-card team with a record of 11-5 and playing with more purpose and a higher level of discipline than in recent seasons was a good starting point, but it was just that – a starting point.
If they have a sense of arrival – which does not appear to be the case – they can drop back in the standings just as fast as they jumped from a 7-9 record in 2013 to last year’s 11-5.