ALLEN PARK — With the Detroit Lions sitting at 7-5 and third in the NFC North, ESPN gives them an 8 percent chance to win a third straight division crown and a 44% chance to reach the postseason.

If the Lions hope to achieve their goal of making the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance, odds are they’ll have to do it as a wild card team — assuming they make the playoffs at all.

Given their inconsistency across all three phases this season, combined with key players expected to miss time in the near and foreseeable future, that path seems unlikely. Those same projections give Detroit just a 5% chance of reaching the Super Bowl.

But it isn’t impossible, and if there’s anyone in the building who knows what it takes to make a run from the wild card, it’s Lions defensive tackle D.J. Rea

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