It’s been quite some time since we checked in with Detroit Lions fans regarding their opinion of general manager Brad Holmes. The last time we polled our audience was almost exactly a year ago, following the team’s 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, those poll results were lost to time (and a migration to a new content management system at SB Nation).
Detroit, MI
WATCH LIVE: Lions vs. Rams playoff preview, Madden 24 simulation
We are breaking ground here at Pride of Detroit this week. For the first time in site history, we are doing a Detroit Lions playoff Madden simulation. We’ve run “playoff” simulations before—last year, we lived in an alternate reality that Detroit had snuck their way into the postseason. But for the first time in site history, we’re previewing an actual, real-life Lions playoff game with a simulation via Madden.
If you haven’t watched our Madden sims before, it’s simple. We fire up Madden 24, we adjust the lineups based on injuries and our own projected depth chart, and then we let the computer face off against the computer, while I provide live commentary. It’s silly, it’s ridiculous, but it’s a lot of fun, and we chat about Lions football for about 90 minutes.
This week, it’s the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff against the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford. There will be EMOTIONS.
One additional note about these simulation: we’ve recently added a modification to Madden, as programmed by some superfans. This is supposed to give us a more realistic outcome than the normal game gives. And thus far, the results speak for themselves. Before the mod, Madden absolutely hated the Lions. Since the mod has been applied, the simulations have been 100% accurate in predicting the winner.
Check it out:
PRE-MOD ERA
Week 1:
- Madden: 38-21 Chiefs
- Reality: 21-20 Lions
Week 1:
- Madden: 38-35 (OT) Lions
- Reality: 37-31 (OT) Broncos
Week 3:
- Madden: 27-17 Falcons
- Reality: 20-6 Lions
Week 4:
- Madden: 27-9 Packers
- Reality: 34-20 Lions
Week 5:
- Madden: 24-17 Panthers
- Reality: 42-24 Lions
Week 6:
Week 7:
- Madden: 30-18 Ravens
- Reality: 38-6 Ravens
Week 8:
- Madden: 16-10 Raiders
- Reality: 26-14 Lions
Week 10:
- Madden: 28-7 Chargers
- Reality: 41-38 Lions
MOD ADDED
Week 11:
- Madden: 28-20 Lions
- Reality: 31-26 Lions
Week 12:
- Madden: 37-31 (OT) Packers
- Reality: 29-22 Packers
Week 13:
- Madden: 33-17 Lions
- Reality: 33-28 Lions
MOD BROKE
Week 14
- Madden: 28-20 Bears
- Reality: 28-13 Bears
Week 15
- Madden: 24-17 Broncos
- Reality: 42-17 Lions
MOD BACK
Week 18:
- Madden: 21-13 Lions
- Reality: 30-20 Lions
If you want to join us again to see who will actually win before the game starts, here’s how to catch our NFC WILD CARD EDITION OF THE MADDEN SIM:
What: Lions vs. Rams Wild Card playoffs Madden 24 simulation
When: 10 a.m. ET — Saturday, January 13
Where: Twitch.tv/prideofdetroit or YouTube.com/@Prideofdetroit (or embedded below)
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
But as you can see below, Holmes has been an extremely popular figure among Detroit sports fans for pretty much his entire career.
Although, if there was a time when Holmes’ popularity took a hit, it was likely during the 2025 NFL season, when the Lions took their first clear step back since he and Dan Campbell came to town.
Since last year’s data was lost to time, this is a good opportunity to check back in with Lions fans. While Holmes certainly deserves a ton of credit for getting the Lions back to relevancy and helping them produce four consecutive seasons with winning records, there are some serious blemishes on his resumé now. The 2024 NFL Draft class has not lived up to his high standards through two seasons, some of his riskiest picks over the last few years have all failed to pay off, and last year’s roster just wasn’t good enough to withstand the injuries.
But Holmes is also coming off a very crowd-pleasing draft. Detroit addressed their two biggest needs with their first two selections, and there were no crazy head-scratching picks or expensive trade ups. Many have categorized his latest draft as “back to business as usual,” which could have some fans he lost back on his side.
However, that is all up to you. Vote on your thoughts about Holmes’ time in Detroit below, and share your extended thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
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