ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Sorry to break the news, Detroit fans, but the Lions aren’t going 15-2 again. They might not even go 14-3, or 13-4 or, gasp, 12-5.

Sorry to break the news, division rivals, but neither are the Packers, Vikings or Bears. The NFC neighborhood looks tougher than ever, and it’s increasingly fashionable to predict a new bully on the block. The Packers have emerged as the favorites, based on the latest developments and odds.

Green Bay added sackmaster extraordinaire Micah Parsons, loudly declaring its championship intentions. Minnesota switched quarterbacks, turning a loaded offense over to untested J.J. McCarthy. Chicago raided Detroit’s house, swiping Ben Johnson to work his guru stuff on erratic young Caleb Williams. Johnson also plans to be the Bears rookie head coach, supposedly.

And the Lions? They did something others found peculiar, but they consider prudent. They basically did very little, other than filling spots with the same or similar pieces. This caused consternation for some, that a team struck by massive injuries that lost in its opening playoff game basically eyed its 15-2 roster and said, hey, we’re good.

They are good, potentially great. And while their rivals are betting on shiny new additions, the Lions are betting on themselves. They’re betting the rash of defensive injuries was a fluke, impossible to predict and unlikely to be duplicated. Frankly, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have been successful enough to make that bet.

It’s always incumbent on the challengers to be aggressive, and they were. It’s incumbent on the reigning division champ not to get complacent and not overreact. The first returns come quickly, when the Lions visit Green Bay for the opener Sunday, with the Packers the favorites — in the game and the division.

If that turns the target on Green Bay, fine with the Lions.

“Love it,” said Jared Goff, asked about the Lions’ newfound (and yet to be earned) underdog status. “It’s confusing because I don’t know where we stand externally, and I don’t really care. Are we supposed to be good, are we supposed to be bad, all these different storylines. You can’t ride that roller coaster and we don’t. But yeah, I like being on this side of it more.”

Kings of the North

If it’s true, it’s certainly new. The Lions are 27-7 the past two regular seasons, 11-1 in the division. In their last 18 games against North foes, they’re 15-3. Of their regular 22 starters last season, 19 are expected back, after Alim McNeill returns from his knee injury around midseason. The core of stars remains in its prime, although the Lions are dealing with key subtractions.

Both coordinators, Johnson and Aaron Glenn, departed for head coach jobs, but were replaced by familiar faces. New offensive coordinator John Morton worked with the Lions and Goff as a senior offensive analyst in 2022, and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was promoted from within. Two valuable interior offensive linemen, Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler, also are gone, replaced by a familiar veteran, Graham Glasgow, and a talented rookie, Tate Ratledge.

The Lions are rich with high-end talent, and subsequently mindful of long-term salary-cap issues. It would’ve taken major roster and cap reconstruction to make a Micah-type move. That certainly doesn’t mean their roster is complete, incapable of improving. They lost in the NFC championship game two years ago to the 49ers and were drubbed last year by the Commanders, as rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels exploited every hole in their depleted defense.

The only thing they haven’t done is the main thing, reaching the Super Bowl. So is it insane to run it back without major additions? Perhaps it’s the opposite for the Lions: The definition of sanity is doing the same thing with the same players over and over, and getting the same winning results.

“You can’t keep everybody, but I do believe in continuity as much as possible,” Campbell said Tuesday. “It doesn’t always work out that way, but I think when you’re around a group of guys for an extended period of time, you know what the other person’s thinking without saying a word. I think that goes a long way. And you know what you’re going to get out of that guy, you’ve been around him long enough, you’ve probably been through every situation.”

Familiarity is fine

From the 4-19 start under Campbell to a high-octane Super Bowl contender, the Lions have experienced the gamut, hardened but not necessarily weakened. They’re not in some manufactured one-year window but they will face tough decisions — personnel-wise and contractually. Parsons’ $47 million salary after getting traded from the Cowboys certainly will affect Hutchinson’s pending negotiations.

Holmes has chafed at criticism he needed to do more to pump up the pass rush. He’s counting on Hutchinson being dominant again (good bet) and Marcus Davenport being healthy again (questionable bet). The Lions brought back DJ Reader in the middle of the line, drafted big Tyleik Williams in the first round and are awaiting McNeill’s return. There’s also still a chance they’ll bring back veteran free-agent Za’Darius Smith.

Heck, the Lions even named the exact same five captains — Goff, Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell and Alex Anzalone — plus special-teams newcomer Grant Stuard. Familiarity breeds contention, as far as the Lions are concerned. Goff lost his coordinator and his center, and he’s already comfortable with Morton and Glasgow, mainly because they’re not new.

“I think (continuity) is important, I really do,” said Goff, who’s taking on more responsibility. “It speaks to who we’ve been the last handful of years. Upstairs has rewarded those players and kept them in house. It’s important for the locker room to have the same guys coming back, to have the same leaders in the room, all the same captains.”

Bringing the same players back only works if they’re really good, and the Lions had seven Pro Bowl selections last season. Yet it’s unlikely they’ll stomp through the North a third straight season because the division got even better, and the rest of their schedule is brutal. How about these non-division road games: Ravens, Bengals, Chiefs, Commanders, Eagles, Rams. Now that’s insanity. If the Lions finish 11-6, as I predict, nobody should complain.

Remarkably, the Packers (11-6 last season) and Vikings (14-3) face the same heavyweights — Commanders, Bengals, Eagles, Ravens — but get them all at home. The Bears (5-12) have the same gauntlet as the Lions.

A quick look at national projections finds the Packers suddenly the prevailing favorite, followed closely by the Lions and the Vikings. Reaction or overreaction? Parsons is dealing with a back injury that could limit him Sunday. The Packers also will be lighter against the run, having sent Kenny Clark to the Cowboys, and the Lions have won three straight at Lambeau.

“We don’t worry about what everybody else does,” Campbell said, reciting a line he’ll use often. “The moves they make, the rosters, that has nothing to do with us. It’s all about what we do and who we believe in.”

Others may be rising but the Lions aren’t retreating. They’ve been through this before, and are very familiar with the neighborhood.

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