When the Detroit Lions lost in a heartbreaker to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game during the 2023 season, Lions head coach Dan Campbell admitted that it may have been his team’s “only shot” to reach the Super Bowl.
Campbell’s words looked prophetic last season when Detroit lost in its first playoff game against the upstart Washington Commanders — despite entering the postseason with a 15-2 record.
Then in the offseason, the Lions lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs, leading some to question whether the team’s window was closing — questions that grew louder after a Week 1 thumping to the Green Bay Packers to start the year.
On Monday, however, the window appeared wide open once again, as Detroit pulled off its second straight convincing win with a 38-30 road victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
“I just thought it was an outstanding team effort, man. I was proud of the players, I was proud of the coaches,” Campbell said postgame. “It’s just a huge win.”
It was an impressive effort on both sides of the ball for Detroit, and it had all the hallmarks of a Campbell-coached Lions squad: aggressive yet disciplined play with a high level of execution.
On its 10 offensive possessions Monday, Detroit scored on six, with five touchdowns and a field goal. Two of the touchdown drives were longer than 95 yards. And the Lions converted all three of their fourth-down attempts — including two in the fourth quarter — all of which led to touchdowns.
“I got a tremendous amount of trust in those guys, and that’s been built up now in five years,” Campbell said of his continued confidence in do-or-die downs.
Over its last two games, Detroit combined to score 90 points after putting up only 13 in Week 1. And the Lions did so with the panache people came to expect from previous offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. (On one of the fourth downs against the Ravens, Detroit converted using a trick play: a double pitch.)
After fears of offensive slippage without Johnson (whose Chicago Bears lost 52-21 to the Lions in Week 2), Detroit is now tied for second in the NFL in points scored through three weeks.
The defense, under first-year coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, also held its own against Baltimore, which had its lowest scoring output of the season.
While quarterback Lamar Jackson finished with great numbers — 21-of-27 for 288 yards and three touchdowns — he had trouble against a ferocious pass rush. The Lions sacked Jackson a whopping seven times, the most in a single game since 2021.
Detroit also held the elusive Jackson to only 35 yards on seven rushing attempts, his lowest yards per rush in a game this season.
“That’s what happens when good coverage marries good rush,” said Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who also forced the game’s only turnover when he punched the ball out of running back Derrick Henry’s hand in the fourth quarter.
Campbell said: “Those guys were very disciplined. We didn’t have anybody jumping up in the air, diving. They all bottled [Jackson] up, they were disciplined, and guys made huge plays. And he had nowhere to go.”
Most notably, even with the new coaching staff and the heartbreaking finishes to the last two seasons, in the game’s biggest moment, the Lions leaned on the identity that’s made them one of the NFL’s best teams since 2023: playing with no fear.
Leading 31-24 with 1 minute and 56 seconds to go, Detroit faced a fourth-and-2 from its own 49-yard line. Instead of punting the ball back to Jackson, Campbell opted to go for it.
Not only did the Lions make a gutsy decision, they called a gutsy play, running a play-action fake and chucking the ball downfield.
Quarterback Jared Goff found receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 20-yard completion on the play. One snap later, running back David Montgomery took a handoff 31 yards for a touchdown, icing the game for Detroit.
“I don’t know if statement, all this and that,” Campbell said after about the victory against a foe he called “the cream of the crop” in the AFC.
He added, though: “The better you get at winning, the more you win.”
