NBC's Cris Collinsworth predicts Detroit Lions will be in Super Bowl

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — If the Detroit Lions are some kind of cryptocurrency ready for a meteoric rise in 2018, let the record show NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was in on it first.

Collinsworth, who will broadcast Sunday's Super Bowl LII between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, said Tuesday he expects the Lions to reach their first Super Bowl sometime in the near future.

"I just think the Lions at some point are going to make it happen," Collinsworth said. "They have too much talent there to not."

Asked what "make it happen" means, Collinsworth said, "Be in this thing."

How soon?

"I don’t know," he said. "We’ll see what old Matty can do."

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The Lions, one of four franchises to never reach a Super Bowl along with the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, plan to hire Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia once his season is done next week.

Patricia will inherit a Lions team that has won nine or more games in three of the past four seasons and has seen quarterback Matthew Stafford improve steadily, but missed the playoffs this season.

Defensively, Patricia is expected to oversee a new-look unit that returns Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay, top safety Glover Quin and could bring back sack leader Ziggy Ansah.

Collinsworth made his comments unprompted during a media event Tuesday when he fielded questions about many different NFL teams and players.

A reporter opened a line of questioning about the Lions by asking about rookie receiver Kenny Golladay, who Collinsworth said he hadn't seen enough film on to give an educated opinion.

Golladay missed five games in his rookie season with a hamstring injury and is expected to team with Golden Tate and Marvin Jones to give the Lions one of the best receiving trios in the league next season.

"Golden Tate’s one of the most unbelievable runners of the football that I’ve seen," Collinsworth said. "Not only is he tough, but he’s lightning quick. Our (Pro Football Focus) numbers, it seems like every year he’s right at the top of missed, forced missed tackles and all that. And Marvin, I think gave them that speed element that they needed. They needed both, and they had Golden so they didn’t want to duplicate that. I thought it was a good matchup. I think it’s going to get even better, I really do."

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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