To go where you’ve never gone before and do something you’ve never done before, you must first believe that it is truly possible. And that’s probably the hardest part of traveling: setting your sights on the most unlikely destination, drawing a roadmap, and then getting people to come with you. believing They are on the right path.
That’s what I thought Sunday night watching Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions. A head coach and a franchise that lost the NFC title game 344 days ago (victims of their own aggression and mistakes) and somehow came back and mapped out an even better road to the Super Bowl. They beat a 14-2 Minnesota Vikings team that looked ready to give Detroit all it could handle, only to be dismantled 31-9 in shocking fashion. In the process, the Lions clinched the number one seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time in team history, getting a much-needed bye week and forcing the conference’s path to the Super Bowl in New Orleans via Detroit.
None of this guarantees that the Lions will reach the NFC title game again, much less reach a Super Bowl. But it does cement one thing: that what we saw in Detroit last season — unwavering resilience and faith combined with talent and coaching — was unquestionably authentic. Not only because the Lions managed to raise a flag again in the postseason, but because they planted it in the most coveted and contested spot available. A number one spot that came down to the last game of the season, between two games that had, improbably, won 14 games. Forcing an NFL team, for the first time in league history, to have to win 15 games to secure first place in a playoff field.
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The Detroit Lions did this. Dan Campbell did this. General manager Brad Holmes did this. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch and a furious rotation of defensive players — they all did this.
These new “Lions of always”, established in 2021, who went from three wins in the regular season to nine. Then from 12 to 15. From the back of anything just three January ago, to maybe the front of everything a month from now.
Of course, it hurt me to get here. Even with the league’s highest-scoring offense, it wasn’t an easy 15 wins. It took some comebacks and some breaks and often took a heavy toll on the injury report. But as Campbell’s teams have done for two straight seasons, there was a stiffer response to adversity. In the language of Campbell’s introductory speech, Detroit was knocked down and lost defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, then chewed up a kneecap on the way back. He absorbed Goff by throwing five interceptions in one game, but got up to suffer another kneecap. He lost David Montgomery, Marcus Davenport, Alim McNeill, Alex Anzalone and many, many others, only to respond by rising up and taking another chunk away from the one who came next.
This is how the old “Old Lions” (repetitive losers, underachievers, and disappointments) became the new “Old Lions”… by accepting it and then In fact annoy. After being defeated by the Buffalo Bills 48-42 in Week 15, then closing the regular season by defeating the Chicago Bears on the road (34-17), settling a score with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title spot from last season. game (40-34), and then bury the Vikings with an incomprehensible defensive barrage that almost no one believed they were capable of.
And in this last point I mean no one. Because Glenn’s plan was the opposite of what the Lions should have been able to do. Despite a depleted secondary and a pass rush that often had to be manufactured to consistently apply pressure, Glenn chose to consistently deploy his corners in man-to-man coverage, often while running zero-coverage blitzes that were begging to be burned. But instead of seeing one of the NFL’s best two-wide receiver tandems feast on deep pass routes, the tactically constructed chaos sped up Vikings cornerback Sam Darnold’s clock. In turn, Darnold made mistakes. He threw too early or out of rhythm. The precision that made him so good all season was worn away. And with that, his receivers struggled to escape tight coverage that had the advantage of only needing to stay sticky for a few seconds at a time.
For Glenn, it was masterful and the kind of game that will raise his profile as he conducts head coaching interviews next week during the Lions’ playoff bye. That’s right along with the other side of the ball and Johnson, whose balanced scheme on Sunday (using his running backs, wide receivers and tight end Sam LaPorta to full effect) only served to once again make him the most coveted offensive tactician among the coordinators. that NFL teams in need of coaches will pursue in the coming weeks.
Those opportunities will be the fruits of their labor, along with the rewards in the win-loss column they helped provide for Campbell and the franchise. And we can also place Holmes right in the center of that equation, thanks to a roster that continues to find ways to produce. From the trade deadline acquisition of Za’Darius Smith at defensive end, to underrated players like defensive tackle Al-Quadin Muhammad and cornerback Amik Robertson, to stupidly maligned draft picks like running back Gibbs, linebacker Jack Campbell and safety Brian Branch.
Everyone is in the caravan — coaches, players, front office executives — along for the ride, believing in the possibilities of a destination no one really thought was attainable. On Sunday, Goff could have been heard talking about how nothing had been done yet and that this was just another item on the hit list. Or you could have absorbed Campbell talking about his pride at the moment in his assistant coaches and players. But what really needed to be done was go back to 344 days ago, when the Lions had barely gotten over their season-ending loss to the 49ers.
Nearly a year ago, after sleeping through a night and absorbing the deep pain of that loss in the NFC title game, Campbell stood in front of the media and framed the moment in a way that would foreshadow how the Lions came to where they are today. securing the number one seed in the playoffs, preparing for a return trip to the conference championship game. Truly, it’s a moment focused on the failure of last season and the statement that came from it.
“Unfortunately,” Campbell said after the NFC title game loss, “you have to live through that to really understand why you’re in this business. That’s what it’s for: playoffs, NFC championship game, Super Bowl. And now your eyes are open and our boys’ eyes are open. This should be the maximum motivation to keep going. And it will be for us. That’s what it will be like. We will learn and move forward.”
“…There are things that we will not have to start from scratch, but there has to be hunger, there has to be work, there has to be attention to detail, there has to be urgency. In that sense, you are starting over. And if you don’t, you think you’re just going out because you attended the NFC Championship Game, you’re in for something else. “That’s how you become average quickly.”
344 days and 15 regular season wins later, the Lions have No become that. If anything, they have improved, both in coaching and in experience and problem solving. And ultimately, without a doubt, in his resilience and faith in the face of anything. A resolute confidence that somehow, somehow, there is still a passable path to where they are headed. Even if they have to do it on the fly.
Now more than ever, these are the same old Lions. Stable as they go.