Head coach Dan Campbell led the Detroit Lions to the best regular season record in the NFL last season. But it’s been hard to tell that fact since Sunday.
The Lions lost by 14 points to the Green Bay Packers in the season opener. Instead of faith in a team that went 15-2 last season, the reaction to the loss over the last few days has been close to panic for the Lions.
Campbell could use that response as motivation for himself and his players. A reporter asked the Lions head coach if he considered that possibility, using the “outside doubt,” entering Week 2.
But Campbell made it clear in front of the media Wednesday he finds his motivation elsewhere.
“What fuels my tank is losing. That fuels me,” Campbell said. “Because I don’t like losing. Our players don’t like it, and you go back to work, man.
“You get back to the basic of what you do, man, and you hit it head on. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We’re all accountable, and if we want to win, we got to do the little things right. Prepare that way, and then we’ve got to play that way.
“That’s what gets me going.”
Dan Campbell Says Lions Standards Are Higher
While Campbell stressed that he and his team can’t be concerned about the negative reaction to Week 1, he also turned the “outside doubt” into a positive while answering another question Wednesday.
The Lions head coach argued because of the team’s success in 2023 and 2024, the expectation is that the organization will have that every year.
“That’s where the standards are at now. That’s the nature of what we’re in right now,” Campbell told reporters. “That’s a good thing. That means we’ve risen above what we were at one time.
“That’s our world.
Campbell then emphasized again that the outside view of the team doesn’t matter.
“I know if we felt that way and acted that way, we’d be in trouble. We can’t worry about all that.
“All you worry about is getting better.”
Campbell added that fundamentals and execution are the two biggest things his players must improve on for Week 2. If they do, Campbell said the results should be much better in Week 2.
Then, the team will have something to build on to continue to improve every game.
Lions Set to Face Another NFC North Opponent
First-placed teams in the NFL always get the most difficult schedules the following season. Still, the league didn’t do the Lions any favors with their September slate.
Facing the Packers at Lambeau Field is always tough. Drawing the Packers the week after they traded for edge rusher Micah Parsons was an extra challenge.
In Week 3, the Lions have a Monday Night Football matchup looming with top AFC contender, the Baltimore Ravens, who routed the Lions the last time they played in 2023.
But this Sunday, the Lions will face another division opponent for their home opener — the Chicago Bears. Former Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is now Chicago’s head coach.
That will add a ton of familiarity between two teams that already know each other well.
“He knows what we’re about, we know what he’s about and because of that, you’re going to play that game a little bit,” Campbell said Monday. “But the game doesn’t matter if you don’t master the basics inside the game.
“That’s what we have to get back to. We have to worry about ourselves right now and just home in on the little things.”
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