The Lions blew past their win total of 6.5 in 2022 to finish 9-8, and it felt like maybe they'd be around a .500 team for a year or two before either taking another step forward or falling back to mediocrity. Instead, they blew past their win total of 9.5 again, finishing 12-5 and dominating the 49ers in San Francisco for one half of the NFC Championship Game before things fell apart. Again, the easiest thing to do would be predict some regression and expect the Lions don't make quite the run in 2024, but why not?

Offensive genius Ben Johnson, one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in football this offseason, bypassed the opportunity at a promotion to run it back with his top-five unit in Detroit. The defense, which went from bad to all right last year, added major pieces like DJ Reader, Marcus Davenport, Carlton Davis and first-round pick Terrion Arnold. The excitement around this team means that the Lions -- the Detroit Lions! -- are one of the top-five favorites to win the Super Bowl in betting markets at around +1200 as well as the clear second-favorite in the NFC behind those pesky 49ers, against whom the Lions have a revenge game set for the final Monday Night Football matchup of the 2024 season.

If the 49ers fall victim to the curse of the Super Bowl hangover, it could very well be the Lions in the Super Bowl for the first time ever, playing for their first NFL championship since Tobin Rote threw four touchdowns and ran for another in a 59-14 thrashing of the Cleveland Browns in 1957. That game was preceded by a semifinal much like Detroit's last year where the Lions were dominated for one half before things fell apart for their opponent and Detroit rallied back from a big deficit. That opponent? The 49ers. It's a small world after all.

Below, we'll go through the futures and win total markets for the 2024 Detroit Lions, sharing recently updated odds from major U.S. and Nevada sportsbooks as well as the SportsLine Projection Model forecast for each betting market. We'll then take a look through the schedule, share my power ratings line projections for every game and note any rest or travel advantages or disadvantages to remember. Then we'll examine the changes to the depth chart and what the effect of each could be, before wrapping up with our early forecast of what to expect from this team in 2024.

What are the key factors to consider before locking in Detroit Lions futures bets? And how does the SportsLine Projection Model see the season going? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Lions betting strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!