I’ve covered the Detroit Lions for 10 seasons and three different head coaches, each with his own way of preparing for a critical divisional road game.
But I’ve never seen anyone approach it like Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell.
Yes, there’s always some recognition of how important the upcoming game is.
There’s always a statement about the desire to win and the difficulty of doing that—especially at Lambeau Field, where the elements can add to the challenge.
But Campbell doesn’t just accept it; he embraces it. He genuinely wants his team to face the hardest possible obstacles, believing that’s how things should be in the NFL.
“Just reiterating how exciting this is, you know, to be able to play these types of games.
These big-time games, environment, division game on the road at a place that’s, you know, it’s one of those things that God created.
You know, it’s where football began, a little bit, those types of things,” Campbell said. “We’re looking forward to this. We’ll be in the elements, which is great.
This is like one of those, you hope for this, you know. I think we’ll be in all white, so we’ll have the grass stains and everything rolling, man, it’s going to be good old football the way it’s meant to be played. So excited.
Great opponent, but our guys are fired up, man…This is the good stuff, man. This is the good stuff.
And, you know, like I say, we got two really good teams, man, fighting for the division, and it’s on the road, and it’s just everything about it is the ultimate competition, you know.
And the only thing better is when you start hitting the playoffs. But these types of games are what it’s about.
So I think our guys really enjoy it, you know, look forward to it. I know the staff does too.”
It’s rare to see this mindset. Few teams seem to truly embrace the challenge of a tough road game in adverse conditions, shunning a “razzle-dazzle” game for the gritty one.
This team talks a lot about being “hardened,” and I think it’s because they choose the hard road as another challenge to conquer.
This is how championship teams should operate. Too often, a team will rise only to stumble later because they start believing in their own hype.
The Lions would rather have you chop off their legs, so they can find a way to beat you without them. It’s that mentality that makes them a championship-level team.
